FAMILY CHATTER

September, 1987

Guest Editorial

Memories Fran Williams Helsten

Memories, memories beautiful memories. Memories that are sweet and warm, memories of the long hot summers spent with grand kids on "The Farm." (Editor's Note) To those subscribers of the Family Chatter who are not family members, let me introduce you to the grand kids that are in these memories.

My parents are Harry and Gwen Williams. Allott, Jack, Vernice and Elvertis (Vee) are the offspring of their oldest daughter Annie and her husband Henry Eden. Andy and Janet Easterbrook (the next daughter) are the parents of Andy, Harry, Isabelle, Barbara, and Arvella. Frank and Myrtle Aldous (another daughter) are the parents of Frank, Glen (Chick) and Don. Of course there are other grandkids, but to me they belong to another generation. These are the grandkids I remember an the farm.

It will be hard to limit myself to one memory of each of them, but I must remember this is a guest editorial and not a family history.

My memory of Allott and Vernice on the farm are like double exposures. They are both in the same picture. Soon after Annie's death at the age of 29, I remember being in the Cleveland Church. I was sitting by mother, she had Vernice, who was three years old at the time (she at that time was living with us), on one side of her and Vee, who was just past nine months was an her lap. Just before meeting started, Henry and Allott came in the Church and sat down on the back bench. Vernice saw them come in and started to fuss to go to them, and I don’t suppose there was a dry eye in the Church when mother got up and walked

back to them, Vernice running and jumping into her father's arms, Vee on seeing them began kicking her legs and waving her arms that mother had a hard time holding her until she got so Allott could take Vee from her.

The other double expose is the Christmas Eve's Henry, Allott and Vernice spent on the farm with

us. I don't remember a Christmas Eve they missed and in as much as Christmas Eve was also my parents wedding anniversary, we celebrated it more than we did Christmas Day. We always opened the gifts Henry brought because that was the only part of the holiday they could be with Jack and Vee. I wonder now if Jack was always our Santa Claus or was it just one Christmas that Gay made a fire place in front of the stairway and we heard a noise on the roof top and some bells, jingling and Jack came down the stairs and through the fireplace with his jolly Ho! Ho! Ho!. oh, what fun!!

My memory of Jack was his preaching. When we would have our home evenings, he would stand on a stool and wave his arms and tell us some of the tallest tales you ever heard. Billy Sunday (the most popular evangelist at that time) couldn't have completed with him.

Vee - I can see her sitting on mother's and Dad's bed soon after she came to live with us in a little white dress, her red or was it orange hair in tiny curls, a pair of brown and black button shoes, regardless how late or how cold she always sat so quiet and patiently, never fussing or crying until mother had the horse unhitched and put away and the rest of us taken care of.

Andy - He used to tease me and when he would finally get my dander up I would go after him but never able to catch him. Around and around the house we would go and as we would pass the kitchen door he would cry out to mother, "Grandma, open the door next time around, she is after me." But mother never opened the door. This went on until we were both exhausted.

Harry - The day school let out Harry had to be brought to the farm and he was the only one that remained on the farm until school started in the fall. He always came with a sack of peppermints and it made no difference where Dad was, Harry made a bee line for him' the peppermints were put under lock and key in Dad's trunk and if you were mighty good you just might get one.

Isabelle and Barbara were like salt and pepper. You don't think of one without the other. I see us playing house in the wagon bed. Isabelle, the fussy one, everything had to be just right, no muss or mess. Barbara in stripped bib overalls could jump on a stick horse and ride to the blue yonder whether the playhouse was in order or not.

Arvella - My favorite memory of her is when she was just learning to walk. I can see her in a little white dress with pink flowers, her dark curly hair and her walking so carefully between the house and the wood pile. What a doll.

Frank - I see him sitting on the back of Ol’ Blue (our milk cow) coming home at evening, she so full after grazing all day (maybe in someone's hay field) his little short legs almost straight out on her broad back. I can see his red hair and freckles and that cute little grin.

Glen (Chick) - I can still hear him screaming. Chick was near a nervous break down when he came to the farm one summer, and when mother would notice him becoming nervous, she would take him out in the back yard and tell him to scream loud and see if he could make our neighbors, the Larsens, hear him who lived two miles away. It was good medicine, a treatment psychiatrists use today.

Don - I can see Don sitting on the wagon seat by Dad coming around the pond. I don't know whose hat he had on, but it was a wide brim hat too large for Don.

Too bad there isn’t room to tell you about the smokes we made out of horse manure rolled with paper from a catalog, or all the other fun things that happened, but I promised only one memory. Gay and bud are wrapped up in all these memories too. How wonderful!!