A Desperate Situation in Iowa

For some reason, I am reminded of a time when we were visiting family in Iowa. We were on Hwy 380 heading North into Cedar Rapids to visit my late mother. We had to take two cars and we women were in the second car. We happened to notice a car stopped on the edge of the four lane and in the ditch was a man just pulling his pants up and heading back to his car. We got a full mooning in broad daylight! LOL
After we arrived at our destination, we were relating the story to the men folks who were in the lead car. The guys told of how they saw a man leaping into the ditch pulling his pants down practically in the same moment.
It was obvious that he had an immediate need to relieve himself. We howled with laughter at the poor guys predicament.

More Stories of my Youth

I remember the day when Daddy brought home a new puppy. We were the proud owners of a beautiful, female Collie. Everyone was trying to think of the perfect name for our new companion and I thought I had had come up with the winning name of Goldilocks. “Goldilocks!” my brothers wailed, “We can’t call her such a sissy name like Goldilocks!” I was determined to have my way, but I did relent and chose “Goldie” which was accepted by my siblings.

I can also remember walking to school, with my brother Gerry, to St. Mary’s when I was six years old (I was in second grade and Gerry was in first grade). Somehow I felt responsible for both Gerry and myself, and Gerry managed to lose his new mittens on the way home from school. I can remember searching in vain for brother’s mittens and feeling so bad about allowing him to lose them.



St Mary's Church, Pierce City, Missouri...

Some outstanding memories of going to school at St. Mary’s in Pierce City, Missouri include hearing the other children tease me with the horrible sing song chant of “Kathleen…Vaseline! Kathleen…Vaseline!” during recess. How embarrassing for me. I was mortified beyond words.

Once there was a magic show and everyone was excited. The special event was held in the church auditorium and school was put on hold for this happening. The magician astounded all with his magic. I was chosen to go onstage along with another child. The magician’s trick was to break two eggs into a special pan, closing the lid, and then when he lifted the lid, all was on fire. He immediately put the lid back on the pan and then when he lifted the lid again, why, Lo and Behold: there were two small baby chicks softly peeping. We were each given a baby chick to keep and at the end of the day I took my new possession home. We kept the baby chick and he grew bigger and was starting to get some feathers when he died from some affectionate wallowing and slobbering by our dog. How sad I was when this accident took place.

Our school in Pierce City, Missouri had a small creek that ran behind the school. I can remember once in the winter when there was snow on the ground and parts of the creek was icy, we children were outside during recess. I was playing with others near the creek and my foot slipped and almost went into the icy water. It scared me and I spent the rest of the play period sitting on the wooden school steps.

St Mary's is a parochial school in Pierce city which was taught by nuns. There were two grades to each classroom in St Mary’s when I went to school. First and second grades were in the same classroom. I was in second grade and my brother, Gerry, was in first grade. There was a problem for which I should have known the answer, but I could not come up with the answer. The teacher called on my brother, Gerry, who happened to know the answer and I was shamed in front of two classes.

I was four and one-half years old when my sister Betty was born on July 4th, 1945. I have a vivid memory of being allowed to hold her as a newborn babe. I cannot remember if Mother had Betty at home or in a hospital, but I was proud as punch to be allowed to hold her in my arms.

At the end of each school year at St Mary’s there was a picnic and games and prizes. All the children eagerly looked forward to this last wonderful day, myself included. The nuns that taught us were strict and we had to follow all their rules without complaint. When the wonderful time came to go outdoors, we were all lined up and started to be marched outside. We had gotten outside and I was chewing some gum (quite a prize in those days), and the boy behind me gave me a mighty shove causing me to lurch forward and the gum catapulted out of my mouth into the dirt at our feet. Immediately I yelled, “Hey!”, the nuns heard me and sent me back into the school room. Not one would listen to my explanation. After a suitable time of suffering and agony, I was allowed to join the other boys and girls at play.

The Beginning

I think I'll post a few of the stories I wrote about when I was young.

Past Memories
Here are a few stories of when I grew up in a small town in Missouri. We lived at the edge of town and I had moved here with my parents and brothers after the war was over. My parents were trying to resume their life and support their family.
One of my earliest memories took place in 1944. We had moved into a nice little house, but I had never before seen a home with a hallway that connected all the rooms, enabling one to go in a complete circle through the house. Round and round my brothers, and I ran, trying to catch the one ahead of us. What great fun, but Mother and Daddy soon put a halt to our festivities with a few stern words.
Our next discovery was of the stairway light that could be turned on or off from either the top of the stairs or the bottom. These were the type of switch that could be pushed to control the light. My brothers and I were greatly entertained by pushing the lights on and off while we giggled in delight. These antics caught our dads attention and was quickly stopped, and we had to return to helping carry our belongings into the house.
Once, at this same house, my Mother was ironing clothes and her old frayed ironing cord caught fire at the outlet in the wall. Mother was yelling at me to unplug the cord, but of course, there was NO way I was going to touch that sparking, fiery contraption. Someone must have pulled the cord out of the wall, but you can be certain it wasn’t me!
We had a very large strawberry patch in the field behind the house. It was too large for Daddy and Mother to pick alone, and I can remember pickers coming to help harvest the plump, juicy fruits. I also remember accompanying my father while he transported many flats of strawberries to the train depot in Pierce City to be taken elsewhere.
Behind the strawberry patch was a pasture where we kept our milk cow, Bossy. I was somewhat frightened of her and I can remember once going to the back pasture to explore and found the barb wire gate open and laying on the ground. I ventured further into the pasture, and Bossy decided to investigate her new visitor. When I saw Bossy ambling toward me, I panicked and immediately started running toward the house. I had forgotten about the barb wire gate on the ground and proceeded to trip on the gate and wound myself up in the barb wire cutting my legs in several places. I jumped up and disengaged myself and ran like the wind to the house and safety. I never did tell anyone that I had injured myself because I had heard stories of being “sewed up with a big needle & nothing to kill the pain.” I still have the scars to this day.
There are more memories to be recorded, but these will have to do for now. I could probably elaborate and perhaps some day I shall, but now have to return from the past into everyday life.