Written in 1983
Times were somewhat different when we were growning up than they are now. We didn't have all the modern conveniences we take for granted but we did have fun together. I was born on August 14, 1933 on the parent's 5th and my Grandma Herlein's 30th wedding anniversaries. I am the middle child, Bill and Emily older and Marty and Kathy younger.
One of the first things I remember was Emily and I making wonderful stick-together mud pigs with the eggs we gathered from the chicken coop. I also remember one time when I was about 5 years old, climbing to the top of a big tree in our front yard to retrieve a priceless "Jolly Joe" parachute.
We went to many one room schools. The first was Wilson School near Whitehall. We walked 1 1/2 miles to school in good weather and bad. I remember wearing long brown stockings and walking in deep snow drifts along the road. I remember Mr. Gifford, our teacher, writing KESTELOOT on the blackboard for me to learn to spell. At recess one of the boys and I would stand on the swing and get it going so high that we'd go over the bars. Mr. Gifford wasn't happy about us going over the bars. I didn't know why then. I know now! The neatest part about the one room country school was that when each of the 8 grades would go to the front for their lessons, everyone could listen. That was an advantage students are missing now days. We learned a lot that way.
We didn't always get to go to Sunday School, so I remember my mom setting up chairs in the kitchen and teaching us the memory verses of the church calendar and teaching us choruses. How we loved to sing! With five children we made a pretty good class!
Much of the time when we were small we didn't have electric lights or indoor plumbing but it was cozy sitting around with the glow of the lamps and we always had a broom handy to sweep a path to the outhouse and to sweep the snow off the seat! Our mom or dad had to get the stove going in the morning to heat some water to thaw out the pump. Then we'd carry the water we needed into the house in milk cans. We would all gather around the wood stove. (Sometimes we burned coal, too!) I think almost every dress I had when I was a girl was scorched from getting too close to the stove! We also had jello in the winter when we could set it outside to harden (if the dog didn't get there first!)
When we lived in Sand Lake we had a huge garden. We grew a lot of green beans. I think I was 25 before I could face a green bean again! When we lived there we had a big barn and we had loads of fun swinging on the hay ropes from haymow to haymow. My dad drove a school bus and I remember having the big bus parked at our house.
We lived on a farm in Armada when I was 9. We took turns having scarlet fever. In those days when anyone had a contagious disease a big red "QUARANTINED" sign was tacked up on your house and no one could come or go. Those of us who were well had a great time making a huge fort and a snow caterpillar that went clear across the front yard.
When I was in the 5th grade we moved to New Haven. I remember Jack coming around to take my brother Bill for a ride in his horse drawn cart. Who would have thought he would some day be my husband!
We moved to a 160 acre farm on 26 Mile Road when I was 12. We called it Thorn Valley Farm because it had quite a few thorn apple trees. We had 50 acres of woods with a stream going through. The rest of the fields we raised corn and hay and used for pasture. We milked a lot of cows and shipped milk each day. I can still remember the smell of silage and the fresh smell of hay. (Some of the smells I'd rather not remember). We used to argue about who had to milk Lizzie, the cow known to kick you off your 3 cornered milk stool and spill the whole bucket of milk. I also remember squirting fights and getting slapped in the face with a sloppy tail. Sometimes the cows would come when we'd call "Come Boss" but sometimes we had to go way to the woods to find them relaxing, chewing their cud under some big tree. It wasn't always peaceful in the country, especially when the cows got out and the horses ran away with the hay wagon.
We didn't always have a car (quite a difference from our 2 car families of today). When we did have a car and went some where we always had to take a spare or 2 along. We rarely went somewhere without getting at least one flat tire. Many times we came home on a rim. We could almost sing loud enough to drown out the clanging noise with "I had a car and it was a Ford, the cutest little Ford that you ever did see- The seat was on the Ford and the Ford was on the wheels and the wheels were on the ground and the engine and the Ford made the wheels go round. Boom to de ah da, Boom, Boom!"
We didn't have television in those days but we used to all gather around the radio to listen to Let's Pretend, Fibber Magee and Molly, The Shadow (that was scary) and the Hit Parade! The sound effects were so realistic you could use your imagination and really picture what was going on in the story.
We went to the Methodist Church in New Haven and sang in the choir and were in the Youth Fellowship. We had a lot of fun with activities each week. I especially remember a sleigh ride we had at our farm with the horses and sleigh bells and all. My dad drove the horses and afterward we all had hot chocolate and goodies at our house. Jack and I started dating while we were in the Youth Fellowship and were married when I was 17 and he was 20.
Yes, many things have changed over the years but not the things that matter most - The love of God for us and the love and caring of our wonderful family and friends.