MY OLDEST SISTER

Things were not always perfect on the farm. There were lots of trials and disappointments. As a child I didn't realize the mental frustrations my parents endured as they raised us nine children. My mother related the story of my oldest sister to me when she felt like I was old enough to handle the problems they had dealt with as she was growing up. All of this happened before I was born.
My parents had been married over two years and no sign of a child. They began to think that they would not have children. My mother became pregnant and just before their third anniversary she gave birth to this beautiful  curly black haired, green eyed, full of energy baby girl, Lou. They were so blessed and she was so cute that they admired everything she did. From the beginnig she learned how to twist them around her finger. Eighteen months later another baby girl was born. She was fair skinned with blue eyes and not nearly as energetic or out going. Therefore she did not try ot compete with her older sister but quietly took on her own personality.
Lou loved people. She began dating at an early age. She met boys at church and at school. She was dating a very nice boy whose parents were well respected in the community and my parents expected she would marry him eventually. Some of the boys from our area had gone to Ohio to find work and would come home on the week-end driving a nice car. One of the boys, Wil, was wanting to date Lou but my parents objected because he had a bad reputation of drinking, fighting and causing trouble. Lou began to sneak and see him on the week-ends when he came home.
One Sunday after my parents and siblings attended church, my aunt and uncle and their children came home with them for lunch. My mother was busy cooking for the big families. The children were out playing. The men were talking farming, economy or politics. When dinner was ready and mom called everyone to eat, Lou did not show up. After much inquiry and probing from all those present, it was revealed that Lou had left for Ohio with Wil. Mom was so upset she ordered my dad to get in the truck and go after her. The two cousins who had helped her hide her secret and get away, said it was too late, he would never catch them as they had been gone an hour and  would be well on their way to Ohio. This devestated my mom. She was heart broken. She had such hope for her oldest daughter and now she had eloped with someone who had a bad reputation. She was only sixteen and gone with a man of worldy wisdom.
Lou left Wil after four months of being married. She eventually wrote home. Things were not going well. Wil would not work. He would not let her go shopping. She didn't even get a new dress. She didn't know what to do. She went to the Miami River and thought of drowning herself. She was so miserable and realized she had made a dreadful mistake. Mom and dad wrote her and asked her to come home. They told her how much they loved her and wanted her back with the family. She was able to get a divorce from Wil without too much trouble. 
Lou came home and later got a job in town. She would visit on the week-ends.
Lou was twenty when I was born. She came home after my birth. My mom turned me over to let her look at me and she said, "I did not come home to see that little baby, I came to see how you were!" Later Lou learned to love me and we were close. She was like a second mother to me.
Lou went to Ohio to work and met a nice man, whom she married and they had three sons. She was an excellent mother but never told her children about her teen age escapade.

Moving

My husband and I have purchased a new home and are getting ready to move again. This move caused me to remember the first move of my life.
When I was five my parents bought another farm. We moved about two miles from where I was born. The new farm house was a one story home upon a hill. I thought you could see  forever. It was fun to look down in the valley at the land, the other farms and a few houses.
At this time there were only five children left at home as my two oldest sisters were married and my oldest brother was in the Army and the second brother had joined the Navy. My dad was self employed as a "Huckester". (He traveled the country roads buying produce, animals, cream, and butter, which he took to town and sold.) We still farmed, growing tobacco, hay, and corn. Mom still raised a great garden which she canned the excess vegetables. We had a huge apple orchard so there was plenty of fruit in the summer and the excess was put aside for the winter. Apples could be stored in a barrel of hay for winter days.
We had honey bees. When it was time for the bees to swarm and the other family members were working in the fields my sister and I had to watch the bees. If they started to swarm, we were to beat on a big galvanized tub with a spoon so they could hear and come catch the bees before they flew away. The new bees were put into a new hive which meant more honey.
In the summer the cows were kept outside in the pasture and we walked about a fourth of a mile to the milk gap. It was fun to tag along with mom as she carried her milk pails. After milking and straining the milk it was put in a huge limestone hole to keep cold until needed the next morning. It was a lot of work to walk to the cold storage to get the milk but it worked.
I started to school that fall when I was five. There was no kindergarten so I was in first grade. The walk was about a mile or more. I was accompanied by my sister and two brothers. The school was a two room school house. Grades one through four were in one room with their teacher while grades five through eight were in the second room with another teacher. We all had lunch and recess at the same time. So we interacted with each other. We played ball, tag, house, or other games. My favorite was "Red Rover".
I loved school but didn't like the walk home. It was a joy when we could get a ride with a neighbor or family member.
My mom got her first washing machine with a gasoline motor at this farm. She kept it on the back porch. On wash day, the water was brought out of the well and heated over an open fire then put into the washer. The motor was started and it began washing. This was a great help to mom. She had a rinse tub with a ringer to get the water out of the clothes. The clothes were then hung on the line.
There were advantages to this farm but I missed the old house.