My Life as I see it

I have had a great life and hope it will go one for awhile. I am 87 and still have many things to learn. I was the 4th child of family of 3 girls and one boy. I was born in Topeka, Kansas, the capital of Kansas. My father had a garage. Both my mother and father graduated from Washburn College. I was not a particularly attractive child as I was crosseyed and had to wear a pirate's black patch over the right eye. My hair was straight and blonde and was not real smart book wise as was neither my brother. Both older sisters were very smart and Helen even skipped a grade. In Topeka High school I met my future husband who did not have a high opinion of my writing ability and assigned me girl;s sports. He met me again n college and still did not think I was a great writer but liked me. He went into the Field Artillery in the middle of his college life and I went on the graduate and become the teacher of a country school. During the war I was a Red Cross nurses aide, a bank clerk, worked for the telephone company in the engineers office draw blueprints. After I was married we had five wonderful children, 13 grandchildren, 2 great grandchildren, Our children and grandchildren are lawyers, writers, and one teacher. I have traveled the world. I have seen and walked on the great wall of China, visited Palaces, The Statue of Liberty. Seen the Mona Lisa in the Louve, climbed the Eiffel Tower, Counted elephants in Africa, been chased by lions and crocodlles, visited all 50 states of the US, Been to many Worlds Fairs, seen many Movie Stars and politcians, a few Presidents and inaugurated a few when I witnessed their Inaugerations, Had our car picked up by a tornado and turned around between Kansas city and St Louis. Attended our children's graduations and weddings. Now am watching our grandchildren graduate from High School and College. Got to celebrate a Golden Wedding Anniversary. I have met many authors and Movie Stars along with the Presidents. Got to be a Campfire leader and a den mother, Got to sell Pop at baseball and football games. Was the President of the PTA. Saw Zebras running in a herd in Africa. Had five exchange students so have been on every continent. I went to South America where I saw that Mars was really red when it was close to the earth, I was bitten by a llama. In Monte Carlo I attended their International circus. I know there is still a great deal to learn and hope I have a few more years and even though I am in a wheelchair now and can not leave home it is a happy life for me and my dog Buster

The big peppermint stick

I have a nephew named Chris who is only a few months older than our son, Steve and when they were very young my brother in law Roy won a huge peppermint stick. My husband thought it was worth a news story and had the photographer from the Topeka Daily Capital take a picture of Chris sitting in a little chair licking the huge peppermint stick. Newsweek picked it up and ran it on the cover of Newsweek. I guess my sister, Helen, had to throw it away eventually because it was huge. It was a very cute picture of a cute little boy.

Fall

I was going to write about Autumn, but was not sure I would spell it correctly for a title. I have always liked it. Leafss falling do not bother me because soon the snow will fall and cover them up and maybe they will blow into the street and far away. If they stay they keep the grass warm.. It give my neighbor something to do when they blow over in his yard. When it comes time to mow it will cut them up into little pieces and not show any bare lawn. The birds like me as I heat my birdbath and help pay for the bird seed my neighbor buys, I have lots of robins,bluejays, cardinals norning doves and a few squirrels and rabbits. There is one little chipmunk, It hailed this morning but my marigolds are still holding up. Buster likes the grass being a little tall since the last mowing and rolls in it. He thinks I have a farm and it is hay. I nay think about autumn again and give you another chapter.

Steve's birth

Today is my oldest child's birthday. I was going to name him David I name I liked but the Society Editor on the Newspaper where Ray worked said everyone was naming their sons David so I picked Steve. My husband also had a contest with a friend who;s wife was also pregnant as to who would have one first. She won. When I went to the Topeka Hospital. St Francis Steve chose to come feet first and weighed nine pounds two ounces. My roommate had a son also she named Steve but my Steve weighed more. Those Days when you had a baby you were in the hospital for ten days. You did not even sit up until the eighth. On the 8th I went to visit my Doctor as he was also in the same hospital with a strained back as Steve weighed nine ounds two ounces and strained the doctor's back.

Halloween

Halloween has never been one of my favorite holidays, When I was young we had sacks of corn kernels we got from my grandmother;s farm and threw at neighbor's windows to frighten them and had parties at school but did have refreshments. I started dating my husband after a Halloween party at our church. I think our five children enjoyed them and the school parties had improved but I still think of it as a mean Holliday where you just try to scare people, I do not care much for TV around this time and on Halloween night I like to turn off my lights in the front of the house and retire and read in the back part. My husband Ray had me enter a contest at the Municipal Auditorum and I won twenty five cents in prize money. I gave the name of one of my girl friends when they asked me my name and she made me give her 13cents of my prize money (a Quarter). Ray won first prize and had a dollar. His mother use to follow him around hiding behind trees when he went out as a child and he got arrested one time.He lived on the South end of Topeka they lived and where there were outhouses which the older boys pushed over and he lived at the end of the trolley line and the older boys knocked off the wire of the trolley and he was the one caught and taken to the Topeka Police station. Since his mother was hiding behind a tree and saw what happened she was able to go bail him out. They did not have a car and I always wondered how they got to the police station.

My sister, Helen

Helen sighed she longed to go outdoors and play but she was 15 and much to old to play with neighbor children. They were only 13 and fourteen and she was 15. Why she even knew how to dance and had dates. She went to high school and they called her a subscrub. The first day she had walked into the wrong class because there had been seniors in the class. She told the teacher she was suppose to be in room 231, The class had laughed and the teacher told her she was in 331. She had said Oh and run out. Helen thumbed through a book. It was grand to be 15 but it had its drawbacks. She would like to go out snd show those boys how to punt. Oh dear here comes that horrible Joan Hugg that she had looked up to. Helen's mother was always holding her up as a good example and here comes Helen's mother now. "Helen put that book down and. Hello Joan come in and have a Coke." But we only have Ginger ale. Joan said thanks but she really did not like ginger ale.(Then my last page disappeared somewhere so we will have to finish this later when we get some coke. Needless to say my teach gave me a C minus and was kind enough not to comment.

What Uncle Sam means to me

To me Uncle Sam is a symbol. A symbol that is as old as time itself. He got my attention about the time the government needed to blame the depression on someone. The Democrats and Republicans had to blame someone besides each other and picked on Uncle Sam. He is the familiar face that peers out of posters along with posters that tell me to join the navy and see the world. During a depression he is ragged and unkempt but when some cartoonist portrays a capitalist he is dressed like Daddy Warbucks. Shirley Temple in one of her movies as the man next door who needed help. Being an American isn't just shouting around it's proving it that counts. When there is a war we salute the flag and sing patriotic songs, watch pictures with tears in our eyes. We believe the country will be alright.

Another lesson - Who Will Take Susan?

Susan Jane was mad and she was in no condition to go shopping.

"Where you going asked Helen? "

"Christmas shopping," said Susan.

"That is nice. What are you getting me?"

"A present."

"That is enlightening. Who are you mad at?"

"Men"

"And you so young. Hasn't Peter paid any attention to you or does Peter ignore you?"

"Neither"

"Well don't tell me then. What would you do if every man you know is going out of town the night of the party ?"

"Go find a new one."

"Right before Christmas you would not. Everyone is looking the other way so they do not have to get you a present .bout B ob".

I got him a date with Mary Anne. Here is your chance to have a date with David. I could not. He has a crush on a Theta. There is Mary Anne now. Bye."

When she was thru shopping she arrived at her front door and balancd the packages as she opened the door. Two packaged slipped off. She finally got the door open and put the packages on the dining room table.

"Is that you Sue? I have a date for you for the party. He is a soldier. No thanks. He is Steve's cousin.

It was the night of the party and Susan Jane was finishing dressing when the doorbell rang.

"Hello Steve. Why Peter, what are you doing here."

"I came to take you to the dance. You did invite me did you not?"

"Yes but you were going to be out of town."

The doorbell rang again and it was Jimmy. He had come to take her to the dance also. The doorbell rang again and it was Steve. She has fainted.

Mr. Zimerman, if you are tired of me writing about Susan, I will try something else.

Theme in Freshman class==Norma Jean

Norma Jean is 10. She comes to the office every Saturday to help me. She is afraid of the other office girls so she will only come on Saturday afternoons when they are off work. She lives across the street from the office on the second floor of a cafe. Her mother works and her father does not see her often. Until five she is left the run of the streets with her sister who is a year older and a brother a year younger.

The first time I saw her she came in and begged me for something to do. Her face was covered with butterscotch candy. Her hands were filthy and she was chewing a piece of the candy. Her hair was dirty and looked like it had not been combed for weeks. Between the dirty hair and the butterscotch mouth was a pair of bright blue eyes that were continually asking the way of things. Her dress was dirty and looked like she may have been going down a slippery slide at the Providence child care on her stomach. Her pockets were full of more butterscotch candy. One leg had a long scar on it. She runs barefoot as long as the weather lets her. As the weather gets colder she wears the kind of shoes that poor children are given, heavy and awkward. All she has to keep the wind away is a light sweater. If she has a coat it is saved to go to school.

She told me her favorite holiday was the month of July. She said she is saving her money that she is given or finds to buy firecrackers. One year her mother sent her to California a week before the fourth of July to stay two weeks and they only had fireworks at Christmas in California. She was hit by a car this summer and spent two weeks in the hospital and missed the Fourth again.

Promptly at five each week she leaves with the promise she will be back next Saturday afternoon.

( I received a B minus on this and think I must have made it up watching the kids that had a city daycare center.)

Freshmen English 3 B plus - Tryouts

We trotted up the stairs of the chapel and into the music room. Two other girls were waiting "Hi Jean, Hi Catherine." "Hello Mary." We sat down on the window sill to wait. Jean glanced at her watch. "You suppose she will be on time?" "Sure, are you scared?" "I guess not, are you?" "I don't see why I should be. I cannot sing anyway. I would not be here at all if my sorority did not nake me."

"I tried out for cheerleader last night."

"Did you get it?"

"No. I certainly made a fool of myself, But I did get pledge points."

The room was quiet again. I stared out the window and wondered why they did not make a sidewalk from the gate opposite Mulvane Street.

Two more girls came into the room. Our Hi was answered with a week Hello. The sound of a door shutting made us all look up. The music teacher was entering the room.

"Good morning girls." She walked across the room to the piano and took off her gloves. She opened her purse and then turned to smile at us. "Which of you is first?"

I volunteered because if you are first they forget how bad you are.

"All right. Write your name on this paper."

It never seemed so long and hard to spell before. I like that because I could do the scale without squeaking.

She smiled and said, "Can you read music?" I said I could.

"Can you carry a part?" "I think I can if I am close to a strong singer."

"Be at rehearsal tomorrow night."

Next My knees shaking I left the room. I was only trying to get three points. Outside I met a friend and said, "I made it, Margaret."

(I got B-plus and "Good")

Freshman English #2

What does religion mean to me? I like religion. I don't understand it but I like it. I used to understand religion. I believed there was a God who would do anything I wanted, from blue skies for a picnic to owning a pony. To me God was sort of a Santa Claus. I thought he had his eye on me all the time and if anything bad happened he knew it. That never bothered me except on my birthday and Christmas. But now I don't understand religion. It's hard to tell what you believe. All my Sunday School theories have been blown up. My memory verses don't mean as much. The Golden Rule seems a little out of place. The Bible stories don't seem as true. Still I believe in things, that there is God and Prayer. Prayer is the backbone of religion. If you want things you have to go out and get it, but instead of having it handed to you I realize you have to go out and help God get it for you. But going back to religion. Just what am I to believe in? That religion tells right from wrong and right will prevail. If so, are Japan and Germany right and America wrong? Is it right for two countries to destroy the people of the rest of the world? Religion as I understand it helps others but this seems an act of help yourself first. Is religion something that only the very young and the very old believe in? All these things need to be straightened out in mind before I can decide what to believe. I received a B-.

My early writings as a Freshman

When I was at Washburn College we wrote weekly themes and I think they are kind of funny now. First one I received a C. It was called my introduction to Washburn College in Topeka. I first met Washburn at the age of two. We had moved from Polk Street to Jewell which was 4 blocks from Washburn where my parents had met. "In the summer when my father was out of town my mother took us on picnics. We went and sat on the hill and Mother would tell us stories about Washburn. Later when I was older I rode my bike up there. I would climb up the metal fire escapes and peek in the windows. Once we went up the one on Rice Hall and a professor opened the window and invited us in to see his snakes. When my parents had attended they had a fire there and threw out the chairs and carried the rocks down carefully. Along with the snakes he had a new crate of monkeys but they were dead. When they played KU football they beat them. That was 1913. I do not think my coming to Washburn but a meeting of new friends. She gave me a C and said I left out stuff.

Swear words in the Kansas City Star

When the Star went on to computirs they did not want swear words in the paper so Ray and another reporter had to make sure they did not. He was well chosen as was the other reporter Bill Vaughn. I wonder who keeps it up to date now days

Blue Pears

When Ray and I were first married I read an article in a magazine of how to spruce up your menu and it was to add blue coloring to canned pears. I did it and Ray did not react. I found out later he was color blind and it looked the same to him, grey. His newspaper use to send someone along with him if they had to describe anybodys outfit and the ball as he could not tell what color the dresses were. I learned that he knew traffic lights as the red is on the top and the green on the bottom or it it the other way around. Cclor blindness is passed on by his mother as women carry the gene but do not have it. There went excitement in the food in our marriage but everything else was fine.

Ray and the Detective Magazine

When Ray worked for the Topeka Daily Capital, when he was not covering legislature, he had the Police beat. One night they had a shooting outside our Grand Theater (our best theater in town). The Detective magazine had a picture of him and another reporter looking at the blood. I do not know if the crime was ever solved but I kept the magazine. However a mouse has eaten part of it but the mouse missed the page his picture was on. I have not looked lately but another mouse may have come back for another meal.

Camping when invaded by a buffalo herd

We had many exchange students and one we had from Norway had camped a lot in Europe with her parents so we decided before we sent her home to show her the USA. Ray had been in the Field artillery in Oklahoma and knew there was a state park near the camp so off we went and reached Oklahoma the first night. The Buffalo were off in a pasture and we checked into the campground. We were awakened by the sound of buffalo and they went through the campground headed for a lake. The rangers did not want them there and used a helicopter to drive them back to their pasture, right back thru the campground. We heard them and all got into the car in time. They did not knock down the tent but stopped and licked the clothes on the clothesline. Ingrid was frightened as all of us were and we kidded her about Norwegians being very brave and discovering the world and her answer was they did not send the women.