I was a preemie and weighed 4 lbs. 2 oz. I was told my mother's sister, Mabel (a nurse) came to live with my parents to take care of me for a year. Not much was known about preemies at that time – I had trouble with formula and my father traveled to other towns to get goat milk for me. I remember hearing how tiny I was – that I could fit in a shoebox. I have always had problems with my feet and some doctors felt it was caused by my premature birth.

We moved to Milwaukee when I was nine months old. I don’t remember much about our first location other then getting a splinter in my buttocks and standing up on the streetcar all the way to the doctor’s office. I was a happy child, and always had friends. I was a fast runner, good at baseball and soccer, and always quickly chosen to be on someone’s team. When the teacher would ask us to line up according to height I always ran to the end of the line knowing I was the shortest.

Doris was my oldest sister – she was tall, lean and pretty. When she finished high school she went to work for the Standard Oil Company and as soon as she could, she helped us move into a duplex on Hampton Avenue. That’s where I lived during my high school years. Even though it was crowded it was a step up from the old one room apartment. Jeanne and Doris had a bedroom, and my mother and father had a bedroom. Paul slept on a porch that was off the back of the house. This was probably wonderful during the summer, but I’m sure he was miserable at times during the winter. Carol and I shared the sofa that opened up. It was an attractive white house with a front porch lined with beautiful bushes of bridal wreath. The end of the street car ride was across the street. I remember the sound of the seats as the conductor walked through reversing them. We later moved to an apartment nearby and even there Carol and I slept on a Murphy bed that pulled down from the wall.

I can’t imagine where or how our clothes were kept, although I do remember arguing with Doris and Jeanne when on Hampton Ave. about clothes, so we must have shared their closet. I walked to school when we lived probably a mile away. Everyone walked in those days. Our high school was new, and there were only 69 in my class.

I remember Carol often had leg aches and during the night when they ached I would rub them for her. She is now in her later years and has such problems with her legs.