I turned six in 1941, so I finally was able to attend school. I loved first grade—and every grade thereafter, though I have to admit, it was the “extras” that I loved the most—decorating the windows, straightening the books in the library, cleaning the chalkboards. I thought I was the [...]

Growing up in Northern Wisconsin was mostly great, but If I had a complaint, it would be the short summers. A good hot day seemed never to occur before the 4th of July, and one could expect a killing frost early September. So, we had to make those few short [...]

My six-month dental checkup occurred this morning December 14, 2014 with Dr. Green in Austin. I no longer dread such appointments—is there any profession that has undergone such a transformation? When I was a kid, we only visited the dentist following days of excruciating pain and all the home remedies [...]

Growing up in Ogema we had a piano in our living room -- actually it was a player piano. One would open the sliding door above the “regular pedals” and lift the hinged pedals forward. Then the fun began, we’d have to “pump” the pedals in order to have music. [...]

When we were kids in our very small town of Ogema, one without a library, theatre or high school, our exposure to things cultural was scarce. But we had our mother. Probably once a week or so we’d snuggle up to her on the davenport and she’d read us stories [...]

I was a member of the Loyal Workers 4-H Club. My projects were sewing and cooking -- I didn’t excel at either. But I was a pretty good member, and mostly I enjoyed the camaraderie, the fairs, the EXTRA things!  My parents, particularly my mom, would have liked it if [...]

A wedding gift Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa E.B. received in 1926 was a bisque China teapot in the shape of an elephant. Very fitting, considering they were lifelong Republicans, but on the other hand, they were not tea drinkers. No matter, because the lovely piece was destined to become my [...]