Crystal
Clarkson
Quincy
My Grandfather
Glen Chandler was born in rural Quincy. Though separated by
over 60 years, his life is similar to that of today's rural
children.
Living in a wooded area, he was comfortable with many animals,
including skunks. His chores included chopping wood and caring
for the animals. Most of his time was spent in a pair of
overalls.
Even with all his chores, his mother still found time for him
to go to school. My grandfather excelled in History, but not
math. Though he had trouble with numbers in school, he always
managed to have money to buy candy. Whether it was change from
trading farm products for groceries or money slipped from his
Sunday school donation, he never missed a chance for sweets.
The summer was spent fishing and playing marbles. Weekends were
spent at the movie theater and winter was spent on a sled pulled
by his father's Model-T.
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Wessie
M. Johnson
Springfield High School, Springfield
Marie -- a young girl in the early 1900's.
Christmas is a special time of year. Families come together
to feast, share gifts, and spend time with loved ones. Marie
has an enormous family. When they sat down to dinner, there
wasn't enough seats so they sat on wooden boxes. The gifts they
exchanged were home made or very inexpensive because her family
was poor. She always looked forward to her cousin's present.
Her cousin was a millenary. Every time her cousin came to visit
she would make Marie a beautiful, new hat. Christmas was also
a time when Marie's family gathered together around the player
piano, that Marie's rich Aunt gave them. Her whole family would
clap and sing as joy continued to fill the air.
Marie helped me to realize that maybe something's should be
the way they used to be. Families should stay closer together.
I miss the closeness my family used to have. As I was leaving,
she told me, "If you can laugh and keep laughter in your heart
you will be rich."
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Karla
Grimsley
Quincy VO-TECH Health Occupational, Quincy
"Mom"
Juke boxes, cars and Elvis galore,
Yes, it's the 60's need I say more.
The drive-in, A&W, and the 5 & Dime,
Make me wish I could go to that time.
Christian brothers together with Quincy Notre Dame,
Yes, that's when all the girls came.
Everyone had dreams and wishes they hoped would come true,
Like women as doctors and men on the moon, too!
The 60's came in and out,
And the 70's brought stuff everyone talked about.
Time just keeps passing by,
It's now the 90's, boy how time can fly.
I never knew how much this time meant it her
Until she told me, and to me most of it was a blur.
From talking with mom, I learned both time and again that it's
great to listen and learn no matter how far apart we both did
begin.
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Heather
Grimmett
Porta High School, Petersburg
Just My Mom
The day was sunny and bright and it seemed to linger toward
the afternoon. As we dressed to get ready to go, I could see
my mom fighting with my dad's tie; she was so nervous. Her eyes
were real glittery and dancing as she announced it was time
to leave.
We crammed in the car and took off. We arrived at Sangamon State
about 6:00 pm, and hurriedly us kids and dad took our seats.
The graduates began to enter the auditorium. The line seemed
to never end, the all were robed alike.
Everything got quiet as they began to announce the names. All
of the sudden as I looked to the podium, I realized at the front
of the auditorium filled with thousands of people stood my mom
poised to be awarded with her diploma.
Something she had worked so hard for, but was coming about 15
years after her class graduated from high school. She choose
a different road and married soon after high school. She then
became the mother of four daughters. Her life evolved around
us and our school activities. Until today she had never taken
the limelight away from us. Today was her day, just my Mom.
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Mary
Huckstep
Quincy
Desie Walker
Desie Walker was born in Shelby County, Missouri, in 1910. Desie
had to help out on the farm by feeding chickens, pumping water,
and raking hay. She said she didn't really have much fun when
she was young, but could remember going to dances on Saturday
nights. She called them platform dances and said they were similar
to barn dances or square dances, where they would all dance
in a circle. On those special occasions, Desie would wear a
ribbon in her hair.
Desie said that Roosevelt was the President when she was growing
up and also remembered that it only cost three cents to mail
a letter! Her favorite memories were of Christmas. For Christmas,
Desie and her sisters only received an orange, some candy, and
one gift, but they were always thankful for what they got.
I enjoyed talking with Desie. She remembered many things about
her life, and I could tell she liked talking about them. I could
also tell that she had worked very hard in her life, but also
had some good memories. I hope that when I am as old as Desie,
I'll still enjoy life that way she does.
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Jessica
Whitham
Rich East, Park Forest
The Pain of Surviving
On May 5, 1945, the SS led my grandmother, Margaret (Gee) Ring,
to the Czechoslovakian border and handed her freedom. Unfortunately,
this was all she possessed. Gee's mother, father, sister and
husband were dead. Margaret questioned how fortunate she truly
was. Painful memories and loneliness were destined to linger
throughout her life as a survivor of the Holocaust.
Eventually, Gee was able to create a new family to repress her
memories. Her second husband, Andrew, and their three children
became the focus of her attention. This joy lasted until Andrew's
death.
Living alone, Margaret Ring cannot help but relive the past.
The memories flood her consciousness and began to consume her
life. Luckily, she concentrates on her children and grandchildren
who often visit. When I observe my grandmother's bravery, I
am inspired to express the pain of surviving and help people
remember what she cannot forget.
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Jennifer
Buss
Quincy High School-Health Occupation, Quincy
When I was in fourth grade our class went to the Veterans Home
to visit with our buddies. It was a program that you just go
and play games with the residents.
My buddy's name was Ed. He was neat, he always had a unique
story to tell. The stories usually were about the war. Some
of them I didn't understand, but he told them anyway. I think
I listened because I knew he liked me listening. I also liked
to hear him talk. He had a southern accent and he always used
sound effects with his stories.
One of the stories was about how his wife died when he was away
at the war. He was so sad and he didn't get to say good-by.
He was crying, but he didn't tell me how she died. I wasn't
going to ask. I had the feeling his wife died during labor.
He kept saying my son died too.
All in all I loved talking to Ed. I hoped I could continue to
talk to him, but I moved away. I wonder how he is.
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Amanda
Terry
Mt. Vernon High School, Mt. Vernon
"A Basketful of Memories"
On the eve of my parent's 25th wedding anniversary, I decided
to interview them about their nuptial event. It was a typical
south St. Louis Catholic wedding. It was held at Epiphany Church
in St. Louis, Missouri, on September 19, 1970. It was a long
wedding. Long enough for one of the groomsman to fall asleep
and almost fall off the kneeler.
The reception was held, of course, at the American Legion Hall.
Being a typical south St. Louis wedding, there was dancing and
beer. Dinner was a buffet line of roast beef and lasagna, (south
St. Louis weddings have been known to be annulled if lasagna
was not served at the reception).
My fathers family is Methodist. When they saw my mother's relatives
drinking and dancing to the polka band, they thought for sure,
God would strike them all dead, right then and there. Of course,
they all survived, which is probably obvious since I'm here
to tell the story.
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T.J.
Zimmerman
Porta High School, Petersburg
Life is filled with many questions. For instance is there a
heaven or hell? My dad knows there is a hell and discovered
it on the way to a business meeting in Denver. It all started
the night before the trip--the weather report called for heavy
snows. While he was waiting for his plane, the man next to him
had a heart attack and died. Finally he got on the plane 4 hours
late then arrived in Denver but the landing gear wouldn't go
down. They circled the airport and he saw emergency vehicles
waiting for them to crash. Finally they manually lowered the
landing gear and landed safely. When he finally arrived in the
hotel he walked in the meeting just as everyone was pushing
in their chairs to leave. Other than that he said the trip was
great!
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Delaine
Hummel
Quincy High School, Health Occupations
As the years go by, we don't realize how much things change.
Subjects in school, church faithfulness and even society changes
as a whole. The things that stay the same are people's favorites.
I interviewed my mom and this is how it turned out: My Mom's
favorite song when she was little was the Beatles, "Twist and
Shout." She went to the movies a lot with her grandma which
made her favorite movie star Kurt Russell, while mine is Brad
Pitt. My mom's hairstyle as a girl was always long, while mine
is a shag. The skirt length she likes is long. But my favorite
skirt length is short, above the knee. We had (have) the same
chores basically, to dust vacuum and do the dishes.
So as you can see, our parents and maybe even there parents
did a lot of similar activities as we do.
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