Several inches of snow on the ground and the temperature in the teens—a perfect day not to go outside if you don’t have to. And hot soup seems to be the perfect accompaniment for such a day. I decided this would be a good day for potato soup. Then I looked in the cupboard and found I had one potato and one onion. One onion was okay, but one potato wouldn’t go very far, would it?
I don’t buy a lot of those items at one time because they tend to go bad before I can use them all. I usually buy only a few at a time. However, when the grocer has a bag of potatoes for $1.00 or $1.99, I buy them anyway, because even if I can’t use them all before they go bad, I more than get my money’s worth, over buying them individually.
I thought I still had several potatoes from my most recent purchase, but it seems not. At first I thought, oh well, I’ll just have to do something else. My next thought was: one person, not a large eater, really wouldn’t need much, so why not see what I could do with one potato and one onion.
When I make soup, I like to make enough for at least two or three servings, so after it started cooking, I began to think of what I could do to make a bit more. I decided to throw in some broccoli, seasoned it to my taste, and when it was done cooking, I added some cheese. It all turned out to be good choices and my taste buds are well pleased. If only other choices would work so well at times!
Later this afternoon, i think I’ll make some cornbread to go along with another bowl of soup for supper, maybe have some broiled tilapia, and that will take care of that. I hope your cold day is a good one for you.
Friday, January 21, 2011
Tuesday, January 18, 2011
Children - Nutrients and Health
Have you ever heard of “Vitamin Angels?” It is an organization that provides vitamins to young children because they believe it can make a vast difference in their health and life improvement.
I found out about the organization when ordering vitamins online, where the company I order from has an item you can check to add $1.00 to vitamins for Vitamin Angels. I think it says that just 25 cents will provide enough vitamins for one year. Unbelievable! As I said, in my facebook post, a dollar doesn’t hurt much [if at all] even if you don’t have a lot of them.
I don’t know if it is against the rules to list the name of the vitamin company within the blog, but you can ask me about it. There are other ways you can donate, as well as directly to the organization if you like. It seems like a worthy cause to me. You can check out Vitamin Angels on their web site at the URL at the end of this blog. Their mission statement is listed immediately below.
“Our mission is to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance availability, access and use of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, by newborns, infants and children in need. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under five. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.”
http://www.vitaminangels.org/
I found out about the organization when ordering vitamins online, where the company I order from has an item you can check to add $1.00 to vitamins for Vitamin Angels. I think it says that just 25 cents will provide enough vitamins for one year. Unbelievable! As I said, in my facebook post, a dollar doesn’t hurt much [if at all] even if you don’t have a lot of them.
I don’t know if it is against the rules to list the name of the vitamin company within the blog, but you can ask me about it. There are other ways you can donate, as well as directly to the organization if you like. It seems like a worthy cause to me. You can check out Vitamin Angels on their web site at the URL at the end of this blog. Their mission statement is listed immediately below.
“Our mission is to mobilize and deploy private sector resources to advance availability, access and use of micronutrients, especially vitamin A, by newborns, infants and children in need. Vitamin Angels reduces child mortality worldwide by connecting essential nutrients, especially vitamin A, with infants and children under five. Essential nutrients enable young immune systems to fight infectious diseases, helping children attain good health and the opportunity to lead meaningful and productive lives.”
http://www.vitaminangels.org/
Friday, January 7, 2011
Christmas Cards
Christmas Cards: Economics of mailing them and what to do with old cards.
Is sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives through the mail becoming obsolete? Or has it already done so? Did you send as many cards this year as usual? Did you receive as many as you usually do? The answer for me to the last two questions is “No,” in both instances. I did receive a few cards, and sent a few cards. I still have a couple to send because they need ‘catch-up’ notes to go with them, and I haven’t quite got them all done yet. To friends in the complex where I live, I sent cards, but they were hand delivered to the villa or apartment.
In my case, many of the people I formerly sent and received cards to and from are no longer around. To others, it is simpler and less costly to email a greeting. I sent and received some of those too. And I received and sent Christmas and New Year greeting on Facebook. However, I did enjoy the attractive scenes on the cards I received,and the sentiments inside; not to mention reading the notes included, when the person took a moment to fill us in on the happenings in their life. But, when you mailed a number of cards, the postage was a bit costly, especially when the postal rate just kept going up-up-up. To be fair, everything else has done the same.
Not mailing cards saves the former sender money. Not sending cards costs the postal service revenue. So, it’s more of the good news – bad news situation. We have been hearing recently that the postal service revenue is declining. One of the suggestions has been to cut Saturday delivery. At least one postal worker, and there were likely others who felt the same way, didn’t like that idea because she received overtime for the working Saturday and depended on the extra income.
I can understand that, but I don’t think they should pay overtime for working an Saturday. It could be they thought the overtime for Saturday was less expensive than the expenses of hiring the requisite extra employees. Perhaps another way could be found if Saturday delivery was a necessity. But is it?
In my opinion, dropping Saturday mail delivery is a good idea under the present circumstances, and individuals losing Saturday overtime for that one day is preferable to someone losing thier job altogether.
Retailers work on weekends, but most offices don’t. How often do you get ‘important’ mail on Saturday. If you do get something from a business on Saturday, the office is likely closed, and you can’t act on it until Monday anyway. Since most offices are closed on Saturday, they generally speaking, don’t need delivery, though you can still mail a letter if you want to. If we have mail to send to an individual, we can just adapt to sending it so they will receive it by Friday. After all, that is what we do now for Sunday, when we don’t expect to receive mail
I should think that the cut back on mailing Christmas cards would affect the greeting card industry as well as the postal service. If this trend continues, the following probably will fall by the wayside too. However, if you currently have used Christmas or all-occasion cards on hand, and don’t know what to do with old cards, you might consider sending them to the organization listed below.
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005
The children redesign the used cards and sell them as fund raisers.
All Occasion cards can be mailed to the organization the year round.
Is sending Christmas cards to friends and relatives through the mail becoming obsolete? Or has it already done so? Did you send as many cards this year as usual? Did you receive as many as you usually do? The answer for me to the last two questions is “No,” in both instances. I did receive a few cards, and sent a few cards. I still have a couple to send because they need ‘catch-up’ notes to go with them, and I haven’t quite got them all done yet. To friends in the complex where I live, I sent cards, but they were hand delivered to the villa or apartment.
In my case, many of the people I formerly sent and received cards to and from are no longer around. To others, it is simpler and less costly to email a greeting. I sent and received some of those too. And I received and sent Christmas and New Year greeting on Facebook. However, I did enjoy the attractive scenes on the cards I received,and the sentiments inside; not to mention reading the notes included, when the person took a moment to fill us in on the happenings in their life. But, when you mailed a number of cards, the postage was a bit costly, especially when the postal rate just kept going up-up-up. To be fair, everything else has done the same.
Not mailing cards saves the former sender money. Not sending cards costs the postal service revenue. So, it’s more of the good news – bad news situation. We have been hearing recently that the postal service revenue is declining. One of the suggestions has been to cut Saturday delivery. At least one postal worker, and there were likely others who felt the same way, didn’t like that idea because she received overtime for the working Saturday and depended on the extra income.
I can understand that, but I don’t think they should pay overtime for working an Saturday. It could be they thought the overtime for Saturday was less expensive than the expenses of hiring the requisite extra employees. Perhaps another way could be found if Saturday delivery was a necessity. But is it?
In my opinion, dropping Saturday mail delivery is a good idea under the present circumstances, and individuals losing Saturday overtime for that one day is preferable to someone losing thier job altogether.
Retailers work on weekends, but most offices don’t. How often do you get ‘important’ mail on Saturday. If you do get something from a business on Saturday, the office is likely closed, and you can’t act on it until Monday anyway. Since most offices are closed on Saturday, they generally speaking, don’t need delivery, though you can still mail a letter if you want to. If we have mail to send to an individual, we can just adapt to sending it so they will receive it by Friday. After all, that is what we do now for Sunday, when we don’t expect to receive mail
I should think that the cut back on mailing Christmas cards would affect the greeting card industry as well as the postal service. If this trend continues, the following probably will fall by the wayside too. However, if you currently have used Christmas or all-occasion cards on hand, and don’t know what to do with old cards, you might consider sending them to the organization listed below.
St. Jude's Ranch for Children
Recycled Card Program
100 St. Jude's Street
Boulder City, NV 89005
The children redesign the used cards and sell them as fund raisers.
All Occasion cards can be mailed to the organization the year round.
Thursday, January 6, 2011
A Miracle for Josie
Plain Paradise by Beth Wiseman
This blog is about a book I recently read. We probably all have heard of the unexplained recoveries that sometimes occur in the lives of people with severe illnesses. Sometimes the hoped for miracle does not occur and we must find our way to acceptance and 'keeping on.'
I read various types of books, such as romance, mystery, western, biographies and current topics of interest. With the vision problems I’m having, I read mostly large print books. Many of the new books that have just come out are available to me at the library, if I don’t want to spend the money for them. However, most of the ‘just out’ books are in finer fonts that have become more and more difficult for me to read. Likewise the older books that I would like to go back and reaquaint myself with another look. I read recently where book publishers were espousing more and more the use of the types of fonts that use less ink. So I don't get to read some of the books I might like to. Makes a difference in the profit line, don't you know!' Never mind that it is a strain on the eyes.
The book mentioned in the title is a family love story of an unwed 17 year old girl, forced to give up her baby [apparently at a time when attitudes were much different than they are at present] and the Amish family with whom she was placed. The Amish couple hadn’t been able to have children, but after adopting the baby girl, they later had two sons. The 17 year old went on to marry a good man and they were devoted to each other. However, she was never able to have another child.
Josie never got over the loss of her child and resented her parents for forcing her to give away her baby. She longed to establish a relationship with her lost child before her impending death, due to an inoperable brain tumor. A prayer chain for Josie was established all over the country, begun by her daughter, Linda’s, Amish family and their friends. Linda was approaching her 18th birthday, and Josie wanted very much to celebrate that one birthday with her, and watch her blow out the candles on her birthday cake for the first time. Time was running out and seizures were becoming more frequent. You will need to read the book for yourself if you want to know more..
In the notes at the end of the book, the author reveals that she was an adopted child also. And while the book is fictional, a miracle in her own life occurred after her son was diagnosed with a tumor, spent a lot of time in hospital and many prayers were said for him. The tumor disappeared and he made a full recovery. The author says, “Josie’s story is my son’s reality.”
This blog is about a book I recently read. We probably all have heard of the unexplained recoveries that sometimes occur in the lives of people with severe illnesses. Sometimes the hoped for miracle does not occur and we must find our way to acceptance and 'keeping on.'
I read various types of books, such as romance, mystery, western, biographies and current topics of interest. With the vision problems I’m having, I read mostly large print books. Many of the new books that have just come out are available to me at the library, if I don’t want to spend the money for them. However, most of the ‘just out’ books are in finer fonts that have become more and more difficult for me to read. Likewise the older books that I would like to go back and reaquaint myself with another look. I read recently where book publishers were espousing more and more the use of the types of fonts that use less ink. So I don't get to read some of the books I might like to. Makes a difference in the profit line, don't you know!' Never mind that it is a strain on the eyes.
The book mentioned in the title is a family love story of an unwed 17 year old girl, forced to give up her baby [apparently at a time when attitudes were much different than they are at present] and the Amish family with whom she was placed. The Amish couple hadn’t been able to have children, but after adopting the baby girl, they later had two sons. The 17 year old went on to marry a good man and they were devoted to each other. However, she was never able to have another child.
Josie never got over the loss of her child and resented her parents for forcing her to give away her baby. She longed to establish a relationship with her lost child before her impending death, due to an inoperable brain tumor. A prayer chain for Josie was established all over the country, begun by her daughter, Linda’s, Amish family and their friends. Linda was approaching her 18th birthday, and Josie wanted very much to celebrate that one birthday with her, and watch her blow out the candles on her birthday cake for the first time. Time was running out and seizures were becoming more frequent. You will need to read the book for yourself if you want to know more..
In the notes at the end of the book, the author reveals that she was an adopted child also. And while the book is fictional, a miracle in her own life occurred after her son was diagnosed with a tumor, spent a lot of time in hospital and many prayers were said for him. The tumor disappeared and he made a full recovery. The author says, “Josie’s story is my son’s reality.”
Saturday, January 1, 2011
Happy New Year – 2011
2010 went out with a bang in this area with its tornadic activity on the last day of the year. Fortunately, it was loss of property and not loss of lives here, but the last day of 2010 was definitely a bad-weather day.
I had a nice Christmas with my son and his family. My daughter and her husband came over on Sunday for a late Christmas, which was also nice. We all got together with my son and his family on Monday for a Christmas-continued-celebration. We came back to my place late afternoon, and only two of us went back to watch the football game that evening. By late day my energy level is pretty well spent, so a quiet evening at home worked for me.
New Year’s Day: For the most part spent doing ordinary things. I make it a point to call and talk to each of my children on New Year’s Day, but didn’t catch up with one of them when I called today.
I grew up in a household where superstitions abounded. I don’t know how seriously the family took these superstitions, but one of them was that whatever you did on New Year’s Day would set the pattern for the entire year.
We had to do the necessary chores of cooking, doing dishes, straightening up the house. In between came playing games, listening to favorite radio programs [no television just yet], telling stories: whatever we could think of that we thought was fun. We tried to pack as much fun stuff into the day as we possibly could.
For the most part as an adult, I still try to balance the day between the necessary and “just what I wanna do.” Today, I think I’ve leaned a little towards chores over “wanna do.”
I wish you a blessed New Year!
I had a nice Christmas with my son and his family. My daughter and her husband came over on Sunday for a late Christmas, which was also nice. We all got together with my son and his family on Monday for a Christmas-continued-celebration. We came back to my place late afternoon, and only two of us went back to watch the football game that evening. By late day my energy level is pretty well spent, so a quiet evening at home worked for me.
New Year’s Day: For the most part spent doing ordinary things. I make it a point to call and talk to each of my children on New Year’s Day, but didn’t catch up with one of them when I called today.
I grew up in a household where superstitions abounded. I don’t know how seriously the family took these superstitions, but one of them was that whatever you did on New Year’s Day would set the pattern for the entire year.
We had to do the necessary chores of cooking, doing dishes, straightening up the house. In between came playing games, listening to favorite radio programs [no television just yet], telling stories: whatever we could think of that we thought was fun. We tried to pack as much fun stuff into the day as we possibly could.
For the most part as an adult, I still try to balance the day between the necessary and “just what I wanna do.” Today, I think I’ve leaned a little towards chores over “wanna do.”
I wish you a blessed New Year!
Sunday, December 19, 2010
Merry Christmas Everyone
I wish you a good Christmas with your family. If it is not possible to be with family, then I hope you will enjoy the spirit of the season in whatever circumstances you find yourself.
For those with good incomes, be glad for what you have and perhaps share a bit with someone less fortunate. If you find yourself unemployed or with a job where the salary just won’t stretch far enough to meet basic necessities, I pray that circumstances will change for the better for you.
When we were raising our children, our gift giving at Christmas was modest. I had three basic tenets on Christmas gift giving. Each child should have three things: something I knew they wanted, something they would not expect, and at least one book. There probably was something new to wear and there might have been some small items or family gift such as a game. We did not have a lot of money, but I believe our children enjoyed our family Christmases. Except that one Christmas was very hard financially. It broke my heart at the time, so I can understand a bit of the struggle that some are having.
Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, I wish you good health, enjoyment with family and friends, sufficient funds to provide for your family, peace of spirit and joy in your heart. To quote: “I wish you enough” in all areas of your life.
Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to all.
For those with good incomes, be glad for what you have and perhaps share a bit with someone less fortunate. If you find yourself unemployed or with a job where the salary just won’t stretch far enough to meet basic necessities, I pray that circumstances will change for the better for you.
When we were raising our children, our gift giving at Christmas was modest. I had three basic tenets on Christmas gift giving. Each child should have three things: something I knew they wanted, something they would not expect, and at least one book. There probably was something new to wear and there might have been some small items or family gift such as a game. We did not have a lot of money, but I believe our children enjoyed our family Christmases. Except that one Christmas was very hard financially. It broke my heart at the time, so I can understand a bit of the struggle that some are having.
Wherever you are, whatever your circumstances, I wish you good health, enjoyment with family and friends, sufficient funds to provide for your family, peace of spirit and joy in your heart. To quote: “I wish you enough” in all areas of your life.
Merry Christmas and a blessed New Year to all.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
How Did I Ever Grow Up
What is a puny kid doing, still hanging around in her mid-eighties? I weighed about five pounds when I was born and it took me thirty years just to get to 100 pounds. I had a bad round of flu and laryngitis every winter. I had several near misses as a kid, but the skinny little girl that Grandpa Stricker wanted to feed-up a bit when we visited them, is now well into senior adult status. I had a bout of pneumonia at age six months. Not a lot of medical help for pneumonia in those pre-antibiotic days, but I survived it. If there were other circumstance those first few yearss, they are beyond my memory, or as told to me by anyone else.
At age five, during my first year in grade school, I was well on my way to freezing to death. It was the winter of 1931/32, bitterly cold, but at five I had no idea how cold. We did have a radio, but there were no school weather reports. I heard no talk of should we, or shouldn’t we go on to school. My two older brothers and older sister and I were of school age. We didn’t all walk together, we just got ready for school and left at the appropriate time; perhaps joining up with a friend or two on the way. We lived about a mile across town from the school. I had no concept that a kid shouldn’t try to walk that far; I had no idea of how cold is too cold. What I found out later was that Dad had planned to drive us to school, but the car wouldn’t start. The older three kids seemed to know that and stayed home. Perhaps I was in the bedroom getting ready and didn’t hear the talk. Apparently no one saw me leave and thought to say, “Hey, you stupid kid! Don’t you know it’s too cold out to try to walk to school?”
I think I got about half-way, when I became awfully tired and sleepy and decided to sit down on the curb and rest a bit. As fortune would have it, not long after that a Mr. Scott, who lived a block or sobehind us, came along taking his granddaughter, Sammy Lee Mason, to school. His car was in a garage and didn’t succumb to the cold. Sammy Lee was a school friend, and she and her grandfather coming by when they did, quite possibly saved my life. When I got to school I must have exhibited some signs that were not good; I think I must have been in a semi-stupor. They decided I needed to be warmed up. They took me downstairs to the furnace room, parked me by the furnace, and left me with the janitor for several hours. Can’t you just see someone doing that in today’s world! How could this happen? I have no idea, but in a casual household of several family members, they did not immediately notice I wasn’t there. Perhaps Mr. Scott, or the school, notified them of what had happened. I can only hope so, because I can’t imagine Dad not making an effort for me once he knew I had gone on by myself. In defense of my mother, in addition to the four school-age children, there were three younger brothers, Bob, Pres and new-baby Tom in the household.
Not long after that, pneumonia struck again; apparently, much more serious this time. I was out of school for more than two months. When I got my year-end report card, the grades were okay, but on the Promoted To line, there was a qualifier. Since I had missed so much of my first grade year, I was Promoted – On Condition. The condition was that if I could do the second grade work, I could stay in the class; but, if after 30 days, it was determined I couldn’t do the work, I would have to go back to first grade.
In the second grade, there were two reading classes: Class A and Class B. Since I had been promoted on condition, I was put in the B group, and would be reevaluated in 30 days. At the end of the 30 days, I was promoted to the A class and no one said anything more about kicking me back downstairs; figuratively speaking. I was glad because I liked school and I liked learning to read.
The next incident I remember occurred when I was about six. This time it was a near drowning. We lived not far from Big River, and our family and some of the neighbors were having a swim-fish-picnic outing. One of the neighbor boys was hassling me, trying to do something he shouldn’t and I was struggling to get away from him. No one seemed to see that either, although my sister and several other children were playing on the gravel bar and in the water. When I managed to jerk free from this kiddie-masher, I ran. And I ran to what was in front of me – the river. I ran right into water over my head, and I couldn’t swim. I struggled up out of the water, but immediately went down again, and then again. My sister, who was four years older than I, saw the commotion and managed to get to me and hauled me out of the water. Scolded soundly, I was!
Near drowning incident number two: same river, different place - about five miles west when we lived at Stony Point.I was now age nine. I still couldn’t swim, although I tried. I just couldn’t get it. We were allowed to go swimming in the Big River without adult supervision, but with the older kids in charge of the younger ones. Most of whom could swim. This time I wasn’t running from anyone. We were just having fun, playing in the water, when all at once I stepped in a chug-hole or chuck-hole, putting me in water deeper than I was tall. Chug-holes are treacherous things and this river had a lot of them. You’re standing ther one minute, then you take another step, and trouble rears its ugly head. You’ve probably heard the old “going down for the third-time” thing in relation to water and drowning. I was down under for the third time, when this same sister, now age 13, managed to grab hold of me and dragged me out of the water again. She did a lot of things I didn’t like in her role of older child helping look after a younger one, but she did literally save my life - twice.
There were other minor happenings, but no more major incidents that I recall. The next hazard happened after I married. I had spent some months in Texas, while my husband was stationed in Camp Howze during WWII. When the unit broke camp to head for Europe, the wives headed for home. The bus I was riding on developed a problem that let exhaust fumes into the bus. Several people complained of headaches and nausea. Some with nausea did more than complain, but the drivers stopped somewhere to make a call, then the bus kept on going. I wasn’t nauseated, but when we finally stopped and I walked off the bus, my head wasn’t quite with me. Someone seeing I was woozy, jerked me around and sat me down on an overturned soda case. I heard an odd sound, which I later realized was the bottles rattling as I fell, and then I was kissing the concrete. I didn't know that yet because I was out cold. I was later told that if I hadn’t got fresh air when I did, I would have been in big trouble. We were at this place for quite a while. They wanted to wait until I could see a doctor, so they said. When he arrived, the only concern they seemed to have was that I sign a paper releasing the company from any liability. The doctor behaved like a lawyer, not a doctor.
If I hadn’t got off the bus when I did and the fumes had overcome me for good, it would have taken out my daughter, Barbara too, since I was a few weeks pregnant. There would have been no Barbara, no Carolyn and no Russ. I believe my children appreciate me as their mother. I hope so, because it certainly seems I had a number of chances not to become anyone’s mother.
At age five, during my first year in grade school, I was well on my way to freezing to death. It was the winter of 1931/32, bitterly cold, but at five I had no idea how cold. We did have a radio, but there were no school weather reports. I heard no talk of should we, or shouldn’t we go on to school. My two older brothers and older sister and I were of school age. We didn’t all walk together, we just got ready for school and left at the appropriate time; perhaps joining up with a friend or two on the way. We lived about a mile across town from the school. I had no concept that a kid shouldn’t try to walk that far; I had no idea of how cold is too cold. What I found out later was that Dad had planned to drive us to school, but the car wouldn’t start. The older three kids seemed to know that and stayed home. Perhaps I was in the bedroom getting ready and didn’t hear the talk. Apparently no one saw me leave and thought to say, “Hey, you stupid kid! Don’t you know it’s too cold out to try to walk to school?”
I think I got about half-way, when I became awfully tired and sleepy and decided to sit down on the curb and rest a bit. As fortune would have it, not long after that a Mr. Scott, who lived a block or sobehind us, came along taking his granddaughter, Sammy Lee Mason, to school. His car was in a garage and didn’t succumb to the cold. Sammy Lee was a school friend, and she and her grandfather coming by when they did, quite possibly saved my life. When I got to school I must have exhibited some signs that were not good; I think I must have been in a semi-stupor. They decided I needed to be warmed up. They took me downstairs to the furnace room, parked me by the furnace, and left me with the janitor for several hours. Can’t you just see someone doing that in today’s world! How could this happen? I have no idea, but in a casual household of several family members, they did not immediately notice I wasn’t there. Perhaps Mr. Scott, or the school, notified them of what had happened. I can only hope so, because I can’t imagine Dad not making an effort for me once he knew I had gone on by myself. In defense of my mother, in addition to the four school-age children, there were three younger brothers, Bob, Pres and new-baby Tom in the household.
Not long after that, pneumonia struck again; apparently, much more serious this time. I was out of school for more than two months. When I got my year-end report card, the grades were okay, but on the Promoted To line, there was a qualifier. Since I had missed so much of my first grade year, I was Promoted – On Condition. The condition was that if I could do the second grade work, I could stay in the class; but, if after 30 days, it was determined I couldn’t do the work, I would have to go back to first grade.
In the second grade, there were two reading classes: Class A and Class B. Since I had been promoted on condition, I was put in the B group, and would be reevaluated in 30 days. At the end of the 30 days, I was promoted to the A class and no one said anything more about kicking me back downstairs; figuratively speaking. I was glad because I liked school and I liked learning to read.
The next incident I remember occurred when I was about six. This time it was a near drowning. We lived not far from Big River, and our family and some of the neighbors were having a swim-fish-picnic outing. One of the neighbor boys was hassling me, trying to do something he shouldn’t and I was struggling to get away from him. No one seemed to see that either, although my sister and several other children were playing on the gravel bar and in the water. When I managed to jerk free from this kiddie-masher, I ran. And I ran to what was in front of me – the river. I ran right into water over my head, and I couldn’t swim. I struggled up out of the water, but immediately went down again, and then again. My sister, who was four years older than I, saw the commotion and managed to get to me and hauled me out of the water. Scolded soundly, I was!
Near drowning incident number two: same river, different place - about five miles west when we lived at Stony Point.I was now age nine. I still couldn’t swim, although I tried. I just couldn’t get it. We were allowed to go swimming in the Big River without adult supervision, but with the older kids in charge of the younger ones. Most of whom could swim. This time I wasn’t running from anyone. We were just having fun, playing in the water, when all at once I stepped in a chug-hole or chuck-hole, putting me in water deeper than I was tall. Chug-holes are treacherous things and this river had a lot of them. You’re standing ther one minute, then you take another step, and trouble rears its ugly head. You’ve probably heard the old “going down for the third-time” thing in relation to water and drowning. I was down under for the third time, when this same sister, now age 13, managed to grab hold of me and dragged me out of the water again. She did a lot of things I didn’t like in her role of older child helping look after a younger one, but she did literally save my life - twice.
There were other minor happenings, but no more major incidents that I recall. The next hazard happened after I married. I had spent some months in Texas, while my husband was stationed in Camp Howze during WWII. When the unit broke camp to head for Europe, the wives headed for home. The bus I was riding on developed a problem that let exhaust fumes into the bus. Several people complained of headaches and nausea. Some with nausea did more than complain, but the drivers stopped somewhere to make a call, then the bus kept on going. I wasn’t nauseated, but when we finally stopped and I walked off the bus, my head wasn’t quite with me. Someone seeing I was woozy, jerked me around and sat me down on an overturned soda case. I heard an odd sound, which I later realized was the bottles rattling as I fell, and then I was kissing the concrete. I didn't know that yet because I was out cold. I was later told that if I hadn’t got fresh air when I did, I would have been in big trouble. We were at this place for quite a while. They wanted to wait until I could see a doctor, so they said. When he arrived, the only concern they seemed to have was that I sign a paper releasing the company from any liability. The doctor behaved like a lawyer, not a doctor.
If I hadn’t got off the bus when I did and the fumes had overcome me for good, it would have taken out my daughter, Barbara too, since I was a few weeks pregnant. There would have been no Barbara, no Carolyn and no Russ. I believe my children appreciate me as their mother. I hope so, because it certainly seems I had a number of chances not to become anyone’s mother.
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