Judy
Quick
Salem
The most important life lessons my mother has taught me is based
on the old saying, "Use it up, Wear it out, Make it do, or do
without."
Mom never wasted anything in her life, even frayed shirt collars
were removed and replaced wrong side out to "save the shirt."
Old shirt tails were recycled to be used for baby diapers. We
made "do" with frozen Kool-aid ice cubes instead of expensive
treats. We "did without" going into debt.
If we couldn't afford it -- we didn't get it. We had fun. She
taught us the joy of playing paper dolls made from old catalog
pictures. Clothespin dolls decorated with bits of cloth was
another favorite. We had no TV, but we had a lively Grandpa
who entertained us with wild west tales.
Mom steered us through a life of hard times in such a manner
that we arrived safely to this moment, secure in the skills
required to survive.
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Johnson
(Jack) Levering
Oak Park
Memories
Within my private self
I carry a basket-full of treasures,
Sprinkled all over with the sheen of
Summer Sun.
Often, in quiet moments,
I cannot resist taking a peak
At these delights, which bring me
So much pleasure.
At night, when I am snug in bed,
And the dark has taken all the day away,
I hold my treasures close.
I may extract one or two, and place them
On the pillow.
I try to carry them with me into the land of dreams.
In waking hours, I step forth
With a touch of pride,
Because I am conscious of all these riches
I possess.
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Melva
Beckham
Bonnie
Ethel Nichols
Ethel Nichols was born February 11, 1895. She married at age
fifteen, and had four children, several grandchildren, and great
grandchildren. She worked in a defense plant during World War
II.
One Christmas time she and her husband had a wreck. He died
the next day. She was in the hospital with head injuries. She
has a wonderful, alert mind and a sunny disposition. She uses
a walker but is able to stay alone.
She has crocheted forty four afghans, and many other things.
She keeps up with today's news. Her favorite program is "Wheel
of Fortune." She had a big 100th birthday party with so many
cards and congratulations from the President and Congressmen.
She planned to ride in the Sweet Corn and Watermelon Parade,
but was canceled because of the heat. . . She's looking forward
to her next birthday. I'm glad she is my friend.
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Nancy
Claire McLoud
Springfield
Spanish Influenza hit had in 1918, Springfield. A boy of nine,
I brought the infection home from Converse School. "If I had
the flu, I wouldn't let it get me down!" boasted Bertram, 13,
my brother with the long eyelashes and winning grin, encouraging
me to recover.
At Fifth and North Grand, three blocks from our Second Street
house, stood Springfield Hospital, dreaded last resort, commonly
call the Pest House -- corridors packed with beds during the
epidemic. My uncle, desperate hallway patient there, survived.
Everyone else in our family was home then, down with the flu.
To nurse the others Mother rose too soon, straining her heart.
On December 13, Grandmother's birthday, pneumonia, flu complication
killed my wonderful brother Bert, first grandson, family glory.
Living two blocks from Monument Avenue, we had to hear, day
after day, the horse-drawn funeral processions, without intermission,
ceaselessly clop-clopping into Oak Ridge Cemetery.
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