Wednesday, October 22, 2014

FROM LETTER WRITING TO TEXTING

FROM LETTER WRITING TO TEXTING

Our son from Texas faced-time us the other night and it was so good to see him and know that his family was fine. Our daughter called and we could talk about her family and how they were doing. I began to think about the time my brothers and sisters left home and the only way my parents had to be in contact with them was to write letters. There were no phones in the country, only in towns, which were from twelve to fifteen miles away. Those phones were party lines and usually it was very expensive to call from a pay phone.

Every Sunday night my mother got her stationary pad and pen to write to her children. My dad would tell her some information to tell them. Sometimes he would add a note, but was reluctant to do so as he was left handed and his teachers back then, forced him to write with his right hand, therefore his hand writing was very poor. He used his left hand after he got out of school.

She would ask if we wanted to add a note to our older siblings. We would scribble a few words about school or something exciting that happened on the farm or some new products in the store. Often our older sisters and brothers would send pictures of their families in the letters. That was exxciting as my parents could see how the grandchildren had grown or what activities they were participating in at school or the community.

When I went to college, I still had to write my parents each week. They would write me to tell me what time they were picking me up to come home. since I was the youngest, they expected me to come home almost every week-end to help with the store or written work for the business.

Today, parents are so blessed because they can keep in contact with their children by texting, cell phones, or face-time. I wonder what it would have been like when I was young to have had those conveniences. However I would not trade my letter writing for anything. 

I love the convenience of keeping in touch with our children and grandchildren through the modern media. My, how times have changed!  I remember the discussion of how one day we would be able to talk on the phone and see the person with whom we were talking. It is a reality and I have lived to experience it.

Wednesday, August 20, 2014

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL


As school begins a new year, I remember when I first started school at the age of five. I was in first grade because we had no Kindergarten. I felt so excited to get to go to school with my two older brothers and my older sister. We had to walk to school which was a litle over a mile. It seemed a lot longer to me. My sister was in third grade and my brothers were in fifth and seventh.
The school was a two room schoolhouse with two teachers. One for grades one through four and the other for grades five through eight. We had to take our lunch as there was no cafeteria. Theres was no refrigration so we had to take lunch which would not spoil in the late July heat. Which meant we took peanut butter and crackers or biscuit and jelly with some kind of fruit or vegetable, if in season. Mama always had cookies baked for our sweets. In the winter we could take ham, bologna, or egg sandwiches.
I was anxious to learn but I loved to play at recess. We had a short morning recess and an hour at lunch time. In the afternoon we had a short break. The school was surrounded by large oak trees, which provided us with plenty of shade for playing tag, red-rover or house. Because I was one of the youngest, I got to be the baby of the family when we played house. The older boys and some girls played solftball or kick ball. We were a close knit group with the older children always looking out for the younger ones. In the winter we played games inside at recess.
The restroom facilites were outside. One for the girls and one for the boys. At recess we were to take advantage of the facilities. Sometimes we were excused to take a necessary break.
In the winter the schoolhouse was heated with a coal or wood stove. The older boys were usually paid a small fee for getting the fire started and cleaning the building. Each one had chores to do as assigned by the teacher or chosen by the students. Everyone took turns doing a job. There was a well for getting drinking water. Each one brought their own private cup for drinking.
The school day lasted from eight until four. It was a long day for a five year old. We were always looking down the road toward the post office to see if our dad was on his way home when scool was about to be dismissed. We liked the ride back home becasue it was up a long hill.
 Often we would meet strange dogs on our way to or from school and the fear of one being rabid was always present, as we had been taught to avoid the dogs which we were not familiar with. Sometimes the older boys would scare us by saying a dog was rabid or it was going to bite us
There were several house along our walk to school. We lived at the top of the hill, which was the farthest away. The Baker's lived at the bottom of the hill. They had a boy and girl who were in school. Sometimes we walked with them. Aunt Stella lived down the road from the Baker's. All of  her children were grown and she lived alone. Sometimes there was a rental house on the road, which was usually empty. The Climax Store and Post Office was next. We went to the right there and passed the Mullins' home and the cemetery. There were lots of children in the last house across from the school, but most were too young to go to school. Some children came from every direction. There were probably twenty to thirty students in each room.
We all had our books assigned to us. We were given instructions and the teacher used the blackboard for directions, tests, math, and whatever they needed to do. We did not have a copy machine. The older students helped the younger ones with reading and math.
This was how I got my start in public education. I feel like I had a pretty good background for learning to be able to go on to college and get my Degree in Education as well as a Master's Degree. I thank the Lord for schools and teachers. I was blessed to be able to teach thirty years and retire.

Monday, August 4, 2014

HOSPITAL

Recently, as I was going into the hospital for a test, I remembered the first time I was admitted into the hospital. I was eight years old and very scared.

It all started with a headache and a temperature. It was a very nice summer day and I didn't feel like going out to play. Mom helped me get a bath and put on a cute frilly dress and she braided my hair and put ribbons  on my braids. She thought it would make me feel like playing, but I only wanted to lay in the chair and do nothing. She gave me aspirins for my headache and some kind of tea, but I didn't get better. The next morning my mom and dad took me to see Dr. Baker. He was the best doctor around and they didn't make appointments. People came from long distances to be treated by him. He examined me after a lengthy wait in the crowded waiting room. He said I should go to the hospital because I had a kidney infection and they could better treat me with Penicillin shots in the hospital.
 
The hospital seemed so huge to me. It was my first visit to a hospital. They put me in a private room. After I was settled in, my parents said they had to leave. I cried because I had never been by myself . I begged mom to stay, but the staff insisted she could not stay the night with me. She agreed to stay in town with my dad's sister, Aunt Rose. My dad had to go home to the other children and to the chores of the farm. Mom would visit me in the morning and dad would come later in the afternoon. We lived twelve miles from town. Half of the roads were narrow gravel roads, therefore the travel time took at least half an hour or more.

I was given shots every three or four hours. They were given in the thighs alternating with the butt. They were very painful to me as I have a low tolerance of pain anyway, even then. I felt afraid all night. I had a nightmare or a bad drem. I thought a black cat was in the room with me. I thought it was trying to attack me. I was trying to escape from it. I tried to scream but nothing came out. I managed to call the nurse and asked her to leave a light on for me. It must have been the effects of the medicine. You can imagine how an eight year old would feel, being alone with strangers.

Mom came the next morning and sat with me until my dad came. They both went home that day and the doctor thought I could go home the next day. I was in a hurry to get back to my house with my brothers and sisters. Two nights in the hospital seemed like a long time but I was getting better and anxious to get back to playing again. I had been confined long enough. I was released the third day with a perscription for medication.  Thankfully, I recovered and haven't had a kidney problem since.

Monday, July 21, 2014

BATTERY OPERATED

One morning when we awoke to play golf, the coffe pot, which had been set to come on at six o'clock in the morning had been shut off during the night as well as the other clocks. The electricity had gone off during th night, so everything went off for a few seconds or minutes. I called the electric company, Duke Energy, as this had happened several times, with no storm or hurricanes. They drilled me on exactly what had happened. I relayed my story to two individuals. They said they could see nothing wrong but would send someone in the morning to check. At five o'clock in the evening a Duke Energy repairman appeared, I said, "Good Morning". He apologized. Said he had checked and there was no problem to be found. A few days later, a female called me from the Duke Energy Office, inquiring about the power outage. Again, I retold my story of the power just going out at night between midnight and six in the morning and shutting everything off.  She said they did not find a problem, so she suggested that I get a battery back-up. I laughed and said, "That's why I'm paying these expensive Duke Energy bills, so I can have a battery back-up when there is no storm?" Yes, that was her suggestion. With that I hung up and remembered living in those days when we had no electricity. Everything was battery operated or kerosene for lights.

At first my family had a small table model battery operated radio, but when my brothers went into the service in World War II, my parents got a big floor model radio which took one huge battery. The reception was better and they listened to the news every night to try and find out where my brothers were serving. They listened to the news on WLW in Cincinnati, as well as WJJD, I believe, in Chicago, and WHAS in Louisville. We were told to be quite when the news was on. Our brothers were not allowed to tell where they were but by listening to the news and knowing what batillion they were with, gave my parents a good idea of there whereabouts. One evening I was making a lot of noise, arguing with my sister, Lorena or playing with my dog too loudly, and my dad threatened to whip me if I didn't quite down so he could hear the news. Often the stations were very staticy because of being so far away as well as the poor reception.

The radios were good entertainment. We listened to the "Mid-Day Merry-Go Round" from Knoxville TN each day. We listened to "The Grand Ole Opry" in Nashville on Saturday nights. We listened to some comical shows, such as "Lum And Abner".  We had to be careful and not waste the battery too much. Therefore our programs were selective. Mom and Dad listened tosome gospel music in the mornings.

We also had battery powered flash lights. But if we were on a walk to our grandmothers or friends at night we would use a lantern powered by kerosene. Our lights for reading were kerosene powered. My mom had a special lamp which gave more light than normal that she used for quilting and sewing. Those days seems remote and unmodern but they were fun and I am glad I have experienced them. I don't want to go back to those battery powered days, so I hope Duke Energy gets their wires straightened out soon.

Tuesday, July 8, 2014

PAPER DOLLS AND LOVE

                                                                   PAPER DOLLS

When I was a little girl I loved to play with paper dolls. My first dolls were cut out of catalogs which came in the mail.We would find the people with underwear and cut them out. Then we would match the dresses, pants, coats and what other clothes we wanted to those models.

My older sisters bought me some Dagwood and Blondie paper dolls, which were a delight. I started a collection of paper dolls from catalogs as well as store bought. I loved the Lana Turner doll as well as Gene Tierney. I also had a book of paper doll babies. I loved babies, whether real, dolls, or paper.

The dolls I liked the most were the ones I cut from catalogs. I always named my paper dolls. I  pretended to have twins, a boy and a girl. My favorite names for the twins were, Judith Kay and Johnny Keith. I thought if I ever had twins, I'd name them that. 

What a surprise it was, when I went to high school and met a handsome red head with a fantastic physique, whose name was Johnny Keith. I thought it must have been a sign. At first we just talked and walked from the restaurant, where everyone gathered before school, to school. He was a basketball player and when I could get to the games, I was thrilled to watch and maybe we could have some time after the game to be together. It all depended on how late it was and how I was going to get home. We would sit in the restaurant and have a coke or go for a ride in someone's car.

We began going steady when I was fourteen and he was fifteen. We had a study hall together and we would  hold hands and whisper. The teacher, an old maid, fussed at us and said we should be doing somethin beneficial. She wanted me to go practice typing and him to go practice basketball. After that semester we were never together in any class or study hall. I guess they didn't fancy first love.

There were many ups and downs in our relationship, which will be in a later blog, but true love won, even though it could have started from an imaginary paper doll, named Johnny Keith.


Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Sweet Memories of Fritzie

One of my first memories is receiving a gift from two of my older cousins, Claude and Blufford Sexton. Claude and Bluff were in their twenties and regarded me as a special little girl. They were the sons of my Dad's sister who lived two miles away. I always thought of them as the best cousins because they came to visit and teased me. When I was two they brought me the cutest and smallest puppy. I fell in love with her immediately. I carried her everywhere refusing to let her go. Eventually she used the bathroom on my bare foot. I decided it was time to let her down when she wiggled uncomfortably. We named her Fritzie. She proved to be the best friend I ever had. She was not only a friend to me but to the entire family.

Fritzie barked to alert us of people coming into the yard. She did not like mice, so she chased them out of the corn crib. She hated snakes. She learned to grab them by the neck and shake them and bite up and down their spine until they were dead. She was an asset on the farm as she went with us to the barn to do the milking or care for the horses. She always went with the workers to the tobacco or corn fields. She loved to go to the garden with Mama and me. She was always with those picking blackberries in the wild. She would watch for snakes or anything that might harm the pickers. Her favorite thing was to curl up in a chair on the porch and take a nap after her work on the farm.

In those days we did not keep our dogs in the house at night. They slept on the porch or in the barn. Fritzie loved to sneak under our bed and try to outsmart Mama to sleep inside. Mama would catch her and put her out.

As I grew older, I loved to roam the woods and fields. Fritzie was always with me.  I was the youngest, and  I was often left to play alone or with my dog. In the winter, Fritzie and I would sit under the quilt Mama was quilting. I would play paperdolls and Fritzie would sleep or dream of what excitement she might encounter later.

When I was in High School, I had less time to spend with Fritzie. She always welcomed me as I got off the school bus at 4 in the afternoon and was usually there to see me off in the mornings at 6:45. All day she would go to the field with the work hands or to the garden with mama,  then spend her time on the porch of the house or the store. 

One afternoon we missed Fritzie. We called and called and she did not come. We searched everywhere in clouding the barns, corn cribs and the smoke house, but Fritzie wasn't to be found.  I cried and was worried thinking someone had taken her, because people were always wanting a dog like her. I thought she may have been run over by a car somewhere because she would go in the road from the a house to the barn which was about five hundred feet apart. Searching a left us helpless and me almost hopeless. She had never run away before.  The word got out that my dog was missing. All the neighbors were alerted.

Finally word came that a dog of her description was at a grocery store about ten miles away.  My dad went to see and it really was her.  She had crawled into a grocery delivery truck that was backed up to our store to unload groceries. Evidently she fell asleep on that cold day and got a ride to the next delivery stop. I was so happy to get here back.

On a spring day when I was sixteen and had gone to school, Fritzie passed away.  My dad awaited my arrival home and told me the sad news. I missed my wonderful friend who had been such a loyal friend tome as well as to the family.

Friday, June 6, 2014

High School Graduation

At this time of year as graduations are taking place, I can't help remembering my High School Graduation. I was only sixteen, as I started school at the age of five and skipped the eight grade. I took the test to go to high school after seventh grade and all of my scores were in the eleventh and twelfth grades. My parents assumed I was ready to go to high school. I may have been ready mentally, but physically I was not ready, but I would never admit it at that time. I was sad to leave my friends because we were all going in different directions. Some we're going to work, others were getting married, and a few we're going to college. 

I had enjoyed high school very much and my life was built around school, reading,  friends, and learning. Four of us girls were good friends. We had done everything together. We even bought matching outfits for our Junior class trip with our initials on them. Dot and Lorene were getting married right away. Flo was going to Ohio to work as a secretary. I was going to college. Dot met a musician who lived in Northern Kentucky so she would move there. Lorene was marrying our class mate, Fred. They would live in the county.

I had seen a beautiful white dress in Seventeen Magazine and I wanted it for graduation so my parents got it for me. We ordered it by mail. My sister, Lorena got the same dress in blue for the event. We felt so fashionable to think that we were wearing dresses pictured in Seventeen. I bought rhinestone earrings and a necklace for the occasion. I got white pumps to dress up my outfit.

My parents planned a big dinner the day of the Baccalaureate. All of my brothers and sisters from Ohio were in attendance with their children. They had come for the Baccalaureate  on Sunday night. We lived fifteen miles out in the country on a gravel road which was narrow in many places. As Ruby and Ves were going to the Baccalaureate they had a minor accident but no one was injured. They could not all come back the next week on Friday for the graduation. We celebrated with them before graduation. It was a delight to have their support. 

I was very sad and cried almost uncontrollably as my name was called and I received my diploma. It meant my current life style was over and a new one must begin.

The saddest part was that Keith and I had broken up a month earlier and he was dating another girl. He came through the reception line and told me he missed me. My heart rejoiced momentarily but then I felt the let down. Life was definitely changing. On Monday I would start my college career. I was excited about that but uneasy about the unknown.