(1994 October, memoir)
One time [my mother's] sister Olga came to visit but was so quiet she didn't cheer us up much. "Don't you have any little chain to wear around your neck, Carolyn?" she would ask. She would sew for all of us, and, tho she was so very quiet and she brot little joy, we were sorry to see her go, except for my father -- I think he felt easier. I think any man does.
November 21, 2012
November 20, 2012
Minnie solitaire
(1994 October, memoir)
[Minnie, my mother, was] solitary and none of the neighbors good enough to invite over. To tell the truth, that's the way it was. She was above them in education, had taught school, and read every book she could. She even tried Christian Science, but it never quite came off.
[Minnie, my mother, was] solitary and none of the neighbors good enough to invite over. To tell the truth, that's the way it was. She was above them in education, had taught school, and read every book she could. She even tried Christian Science, but it never quite came off.
November 19, 2012
White
(1993 May 5, memoirs)
[On the Lawson estate] when prize Jersey cows were milked, the men were obliged to wear pure white suits. The inside of the barn was kept pure white. It was said many people did not have such a good house.
[On the Lawson estate] when prize Jersey cows were milked, the men were obliged to wear pure white suits. The inside of the barn was kept pure white. It was said many people did not have such a good house.
November 18, 2012
Playmates
(1993 May 5, memoirs)
One time [when we lived at Green Lake] my parents were worried I had no playmate, so I was dressed prettily and taken half way to Lone Tree Point, where another girl my age met me. I recall the white clovers. We were unloaded and left alone for 2 or 3 hours. We tried to play together but very dull and my mother said I never had to go again. ... We lived in a "house in the woods." I recall it had a porch on two sides of the house, and Lyn's buggy was there for naps.
One time [when we lived at Green Lake] my parents were worried I had no playmate, so I was dressed prettily and taken half way to Lone Tree Point, where another girl my age met me. I recall the white clovers. We were unloaded and left alone for 2 or 3 hours. We tried to play together but very dull and my mother said I never had to go again. ... We lived in a "house in the woods." I recall it had a porch on two sides of the house, and Lyn's buggy was there for naps.
November 17, 2012
Summer evening
(1994)
Would you like to hear about a sweet thing that happened to me years ago? It was a calm quiet summer evening and Lorin and I were in our white house on Grove Street. It was summer and very quiet and yet balmy in our part of the evening. Lorin had been stamping; and of course I was knitting. I put this down and went out hoping to catch our cat and bring her in for the night. As soon as I left the house behind me, I realized what a heavenly night it was -- quiet and wondrous. The stars were large and low, and the sky holding them a midnight blue. I called inside, "Lorin, come here." He put down his book and slipped outside. "Look," I said. "I didn't remember it was like this," he said, putting his arm around me. We kissed and stood for a while feeling our love and our creator's.
Would you like to hear about a sweet thing that happened to me years ago? It was a calm quiet summer evening and Lorin and I were in our white house on Grove Street. It was summer and very quiet and yet balmy in our part of the evening. Lorin had been stamping; and of course I was knitting. I put this down and went out hoping to catch our cat and bring her in for the night. As soon as I left the house behind me, I realized what a heavenly night it was -- quiet and wondrous. The stars were large and low, and the sky holding them a midnight blue. I called inside, "Lorin, come here." He put down his book and slipped outside. "Look," I said. "I didn't remember it was like this," he said, putting his arm around me. We kissed and stood for a while feeling our love and our creator's.
November 16, 2012
Bicycle
(1990s memoirs)
I was sitting around in the lobby [at the Schmidt Home] watching the clock go around when suddenly a man approached me to ask whether I was not the mother of Skip Kay, who bought a bicycle from him while he was at the time [1942] working at the Coast to Coast. I said I probably was and he said, "I knew it, I knew it!" ... He was Ed Hanson by name. Of course I didn't recall any such thing. ... I remember Daddy asking you if you were sure, and you said yes, that was the only one for you. And you said it was, that you had gone over it.
I was sitting around in the lobby [at the Schmidt Home] watching the clock go around when suddenly a man approached me to ask whether I was not the mother of Skip Kay, who bought a bicycle from him while he was at the time [1942] working at the Coast to Coast. I said I probably was and he said, "I knew it, I knew it!" ... He was Ed Hanson by name. Of course I didn't recall any such thing. ... I remember Daddy asking you if you were sure, and you said yes, that was the only one for you. And you said it was, that you had gone over it.
November 15, 2012
The wicked glint
(1995 March 13)
Skip, I want to tell you about how you behaved to the delight of all assembled when you were eating. Sometimes I would take you to visit Grandma Rosa Kay and her daughter Lee, and of course you were the prime show. I fed you first and got you off for a nap or there was no peace. So -- you were with your bib tied firmly on and a dish of cream of wheat before you. Lee and Grandma seated on one side were ready for a show. I was the one with the apron and the spoon in hand. So -- open wide -- a spoonful of cereal -- equal to your role of entertainer -- as soon as you had a mouthful, you loqked as wicked as ever you could, took a deep breath, and let it all out, admiring ones beware! -- Then Grandma and Lee would howl with laughter! Later on in the week when Lee went out with her friend Arabella and Grandma would invite Mrs. Watkins over, she would tell the whle story including the wicked glint in the big blue eye. Also when Lee was at her bridge party she would entertain all with what Skippy was able to eat and drink and how he managed those things. So -- if it were early enough, Lee would walk to the street car with us and see us safely on our way to Whitefish Bay, or sometimes Lorin came to eat with us, and of course then we would all three ride home together and get a tired little boy washed up and tucked in.
Skip, I want to tell you about how you behaved to the delight of all assembled when you were eating. Sometimes I would take you to visit Grandma Rosa Kay and her daughter Lee, and of course you were the prime show. I fed you first and got you off for a nap or there was no peace. So -- you were with your bib tied firmly on and a dish of cream of wheat before you. Lee and Grandma seated on one side were ready for a show. I was the one with the apron and the spoon in hand. So -- open wide -- a spoonful of cereal -- equal to your role of entertainer -- as soon as you had a mouthful, you loqked as wicked as ever you could, took a deep breath, and let it all out, admiring ones beware! -- Then Grandma and Lee would howl with laughter! Later on in the week when Lee went out with her friend Arabella and Grandma would invite Mrs. Watkins over, she would tell the whle story including the wicked glint in the big blue eye. Also when Lee was at her bridge party she would entertain all with what Skippy was able to eat and drink and how he managed those things. So -- if it were early enough, Lee would walk to the street car with us and see us safely on our way to Whitefish Bay, or sometimes Lorin came to eat with us, and of course then we would all three ride home together and get a tired little boy washed up and tucked in.
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