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.