One exchange student guest at dinner

When our children were in high school we were very involved with the American Field Service and the students. We would try to have the students for at least a couple of meals a year. Sometimes more. One year we invited a student from Thailand. During the day I had looked at my dining room chairs and realized they needed a little repair. I got out my glue and glued them. Then I put large rubber bands on the backs to hold them until they were set. In the afternoon we got a call from Susan that they were closing KU early for Christmas vacation as there was too much flu. She was bringing a friend home to stay until she could get a plane out to Chicago so we put a couple more plates on the table. I picked up the student AFSer and told him we were going to have a little larger party. During the mealtime the rubber bands broke on the chairs and shot across the room. It did not bother anyone. The student was listening to Susan's friend explain the "Virgin Birth". He was fascinated. I think he got a little more education that day then he was supposed to. His American host mother told me the next time I saw her that he said he had a wonderful time. He said he would like to come back again.

Ray Beautifying America

One of the things Ray enjoyed was being one of 500 on Mrs. Lyndon Johnson's Committee to Beautify America. He went back to Washington and learned how Mrs. Johnson wanted to make the roads of America more beautiful. He was serenaded by both the Air Force and the Navy bands. He learned how she wanted them all to go back to their states and make the roadsides more attractive. While he was there he also attended Vice President Hubert Humphrey's birthday party. He had to hurry home because our oldest son, Steve, was graduating from high school.

On the political trail

When Ray wrote for the Star, during pre-elections he used to travel around Kansas. The year he drove the racing car on Labor day and the axle broke on his racing car he was not in good shape to drive. He had a broken shoulder where they pulled him out of the blazing car. My mother-in-law was living in Shawnee now as she was a new widow and wanted to live near her son. After Ray was in the hospital for a week he was home but could not drive and our family doctor thought he needed to get back to work while he healed so I became his driver. We traveled around Kansas with me driving. I think we visited every town. I know Ray always headed for the barber shop as that was the best place to find out how the town felt. I would get sleepy driving so he would give me chocolate squares. At many towns they gave us a box lunch for our noon meal. Senator Carlson was with us and his driver was a former Highway Patrol person. He did not like the lunches and always gave me his and he went off to a restaurant to eat. I remember in Western Kansas Bob Dole would speak. He was very good and funny but sometimes I was the only one laughing and Ray told me to laugh quietly. We attended the State Fair in Hutchinson. We went to Wichita for Goldwater. We went to Hutchinson for Miller as he was running for vice-president with Goldwater. Sometimes Ray went with Jim Pearson and I stayed home. Finally Dr. Leigh had to give me some green and white pills because the election was making me nervous. President Johnson went into Wichita but I did not go to that. Hubert Humphrey came in Topeka on a hot day. Humphrey was speaking on the state house steps and a lady fainted. He just kept on talking.

Kleenex

When I was growing up I always had a nose that ran and it was embarrassing to take toilet paper with you, My uncles Percy and Fred were druggists as their father was in Topeka, Kansas. One lovely day my Uncle Percy turned up with a box. He told me "I have found something for your runny nose." I met Kleenex for the first time. It was actually invented in 1924 and movie stars used it to take their make-up off. I've loved it ever since. In 1928 they invented the pop-up boxes. They surveyed their buyers and found more of them used it for disposable handkerchiefs then makeup so they have aimed at that audience ever since. I stopped having a red nose all winter as Kleenex is softer. When I went to China in 1979 with all the travel agents, you could not get Kleenex there and the travel agents that were with us always had the pink toilet paper that seemed to be in our hotel rooms. It made me realize how much I missed Kleenex. I am still very fond of it.

The Pieta

I hope I spelled that correctly. In 1967 New York had a World's Fair. Every state was honored. When Kansas was honored Ray was going back to cover it. He took us with him. We camped on the way but stayed at the Statler Hilton in New York City. It has since been torn down (the hotel not the city) for the Madison Square Garden. There were many nuns staying in our hotel and I know when my beads broke they ran across the floor and under the nuns' outfits. They all tried to help me but the beads only cost $2.00 and were not worth it.

At the fair Italy had brought The Pieta and they wanted the crowds to move so they had moving things you stood on so you just went across and did not dwell. Cindy has now seen it in Italy so it got returned. There were many Japanese at the fair and Scott had very blond hair so they were always taking his picture. He turned seven while we were on our trip but celebrated at Niagara falls when we were back in a tent.

^ Bronze baby shoes and five kids

On a high shelf in my bedroom is lined uo six pairs of bronze baby shoes. I don't know if they do that anymore but we use to bronze the first pair of shoes. One set is my husband Ray's with his picture, When our first child, Steve, was born we had his first pair bronzed and his grandmother wanted a pair also so she bronzed the second pair. I hope my children some day will like to take their pair and they won't end up in a dumpster. I think I have a great many things that will need to go into a dumpster but would hate to see the shoes end up there.

My desk

I was the youngest of four. I had a brother 10 years older, a sister, Ethel 7 years older and a sister Helen three years older. Along with that I was cross-eyed and always had a cold. My dad made me a neat desk with a drawer. He did not try to make a chair. He bought that. I used to sit there and color. I had great crayons in the desk drawer. I didn't bother any of my older relatives. It was in my mother's sewing room by the window at the bottom of one set of stairs. At Christmas the chair held my Christmas gifts. My mother did not wrap gifts. You had brown sacks with your name on them. I did not find out about wrapping paper for family gifts until my brother started going with his future wife and she wrapped gifts. They were so pretty I used to stare at them for awhile before I unwrapped them. The desk still sits by the window and my sister Helen's great grandchildren play there, I hope.