I feel so fortunate to have had those wonderful summers on the farm because so many never get to experience times like this. Paul spent an entire summer on the farm one year when he was a teen, and I missed him so. When we were asked to write about our summer vacation at school I was never at a loss as I had so many great experiences to write about.

Through the years my grandmother always sent me a hanky and $1.00 for Christmas. Is this why I love hankies? She always wore a dress, pearls and gloves on Sunday to church. Her first husband died at the age of 28, then she married his brother, Martin. This was a Norwegian area and I remember the Olsens, Johnsons and Petersons – her name was Carrie Nelson. Her favorite saying was “Uff Ta.” I think it meant “Oh Dear," although my children think it means “Oh Shit.” Martin played the guitar, and was a quiet man but he loved to introduce us to the cows and horses – he named them all.

My father’s relatives lived in Milwaukee. His brother, Robert and wife Dena had four children, Robert, Mavis, Louis and Beverly. I never got as close to them as my sisters because of the difference in age.

My father used to sing little songs to us, and I specifically remember, “I went to the animal fair.” He was a good man but life was hard for him during the Depression. When I look back I can’t imagine how they stood it. We were living in a very lovely area called Whitefish Bay (Wisconsin). We lived in the back of his barbershop, all in one large room. I think I may have blocked out that part of my life because I honestly can’t recall exactly where I slept. I do remember taking baths in a large tub, having one bathroom, and we also had the basement.

This was all through grade school, so I never had friends over, when someone dropped me off I would pretend I lived next door. It hurts me now to remember one time when a teacher asked us to draw our bedroom and I had to make one up. I guess the up side of all this is that I feel it has enabled me to have more tolerance, compassion, and understanding that was needed in my role as a minister’s wife. I know I certainly appreciated everything I had. I remember my father outlining my shoe and putting cardboard in it because there was actually a hole in the bottom of my shoe. Depression times created many problems. Haircuts were $.25, and my father sometimes pretended to cut my hair so he would look busy. He would talk and forget to pretend, so my hair was often pretty short.

My mother died at the age of 72, and my father remarried and lived in California with his new wife Lillian. Daddy had a real talent for telling stories of his life in Ramsey, Illinois, and our children were always amazed with this. He died at the age of 94, of congenital heart failure.