Mom's Memories
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The "wanna-be" author
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  Mom’s Memories In January 2001 my friend, Debb Elgin, and her daughter, Denise, of Freeport, IL gave me a book that sort of doubles as
a journal. It asks questions that set your mind in gear and you fill in the rest of the page with your own memories of your
life in answer to those questions. Due to copyright laws, I cannot reproduce the questions but I can print my answers here.
The pages were filled at various times throughout the past 3 years, hence the dates appearing with most of the entries. Some
of the entries may be duplicates or variations of those found in other sections of this website. I write from the heart and
the heart does not always pay strict attention to grammar or punctuation so, please cut me some slack! This file is dedicated
to and written for my five kids but you are free to peek into my life along with them. I hope this file sparks some of your
own memories. Debb is a special friend who began her Micro Switch (Honeywell) career the same night as me and we were an unbeatable
duo when it came to getting our way at Micro. We took on the “suits” and generally won our arguments. What fun!
What memories! Since this file is a work in progress, tune in for updates. Mom’s Memories 2/24/01 My favorite pastime as a kid was laying in the cool grass of the lawn south of the house and watching big puffy clouds
form shapes of animals and whatever else my childish imagination could conjure up across the sky. Being an only child, this
was an experience I never shared and, in later years, it didn’t happen either. I do remember one warm summer night when
you five were in my life and we snuggled on blankets on the front lawn on Florence Road, watching meteor showers until very
late. 03/22/04 My dad was a farmer all his life. In fact, he started that responsibility as soon as he got out of grade school because
his father was ill. Mostly I remember my dad in a pair of blue bib overalls and a long sleeve shirt (rolled up to his elbows).
He did not have fancy modern machinery but kept at the job until it was finished. Mom was always at his side. When I was about
Junior High age, they built an addition to the barn and doubled their milking herd. The eighty acre farm kept him busy but
he and Mom still had time to visit relatives about once a week in evenings. Life was simpler then. 03/22/04 Mom was always at Dad’s side. She didn’t often drive a tractor but had a hand in everything else. Chickens---lots
of them!-- were always her job and she sold eggs for over thirty years. Her gardens were huge and supplied all of our vegetable
needs. The freezer was packed and the basement was loaded with home-canned goods by fall. Mom still found time to sew 99%
of her own clothes, most of my clothes, and lots of Dad’s shirts. She baked her own bread and always had cookies and
cakes and pies on hand. She was still baking and cooking 3 weeks before she died. Crafts and crocheted things were a big part
of her life. She and her sisters and friends exchanged ideas and patterns. For many years she had a massive strawberry patch
and sold berries every June. 03/21/04 I can vividly picture our living room when I was a kid. The walls were papered then (paint jobs came during my high school
years…and Mom painted those walls some wild colors…the worst I can remember was chartreuse). Curtains were plastic.
A blue couch was along the west wall and a big green chair was in the northeast corner. An old wooden forerunner of the modern-day
recliner sat in the northeast corner. That was Dad’s spot and he had a magazine rack and his pipe smoking supplies beside
him. Mom usually sat on the couch with her crochet projects and Gramma Pieper used a small gray wooden chair with arm rests
that sat beside the large bedroom doorway. That doorway used to have rolling doors but Mom didn’t appreciate the cold
drafts that came out of the pockets during winter so she nailed pieces of tin over the openings. An oil burner was along the
north wall. The floor was covered with a flowery linoleum rug. After fifth grade, a TV had a place of honor along the east wall. My usual spot was sprawled out on a quilt on the
floor or at a card table with jig saw puzzles or my favorite white plastic building blocks. A relative from Chicago was a
salesman for a plastic company and gave me several sets of those blocks. One of you kids has them now but I can’t remember
which one of you ended up with them when I left Freeport. 08/30/04 As early as I can remember, my mom taught me the prayer: Now I lay me down to sleep. I pray the Lord my soul to keep. If I should die before I wake, I pray the Lord my soul to take. And I was scared to death every night that I would die in my sleep! My kids did NOT learn that prayer. 03/13/03 My childhood home was on Edwardsville Road, near German Valley, IL. It wasn’t fancy or modern or even insulated but
it was filled with love. It was my parents’ first and only home together. My great grandparents built it, several sections
at a time, more than a hundred years ago. Then it stood vacant for about twenty years until my folks were married and made
it into a home again. All that is left of the farmstead of my youth now are several outbuildings and a lone mulberry tree
by the road. 03/21/04 I had no brothers or sisters but found a “brother”, Reuben Bolen, in high school. We stuck together like glue
and I loved him dearly! In Biology I filled in the workbooks and he cut up the nasty frogs so we both got through the class.
I got a sister-in-law in 1961 but she didn’t become my “sister” until about 1987. Marion was so special
to me and my world changed drastically when she died. How I wished for her counsel in ‘98 and ‘99! 07/27/04 Some important lessons in life have been absorbed by me: All change is for the better --no matter what. It may not look like it when it is happening but, six months or a year later,
you are actually OK and probably better off to boot. The only change this does not always include is death. When you are in
a corner, look around you. God always provides a door but you need to have the guts and faith to walk through that door. Scripture
states, “This too shall pass.” That works for both bad and good times. Be good stewards of the good times because
someday they will change too, just as the bad things will pass eventually. Plan for tomorrow but be sure to live life today. 01/01/04 My first Bible came from my parents but was partially paid for with gift money from Suzie C/J’s great grandma. It
is still in use and is kept beside the couch in our den. It is read each morning. Anna Janssen is long gone but her gift lives
on. 03/14/03 The scent of fresh bread reminds me of coming home from school to find “squeeze bread”. To eat it, you simply
pulled a section from the loaf, slathered it with butter, and enjoyed! A sound that mentally sends me back to German Valley
is the sound of vehicles driving through fresh snow. It is a muffled sound and I can almost hear the cars and trucks, with
their chains thudding and clanking, as they glided down the long hill in front of my birthplace. All was well in my world
then and I felt protected in a cocoon of soft snow. Even today, a soft snow seems to muffle the glare of the world around
me. A sight that still transports me to my childhood is a big full moon. Dad kept his threshing machine in the cattle yard
and, when my folks were milking late, I used to crawl up into the machine and stretch out on a wide conveyor belt. The only
sounds around me, as I watched the clouds float over the big white moon, were the rustling of the cattle and the whirring
of the milker motor or the mewing of a kitty. In my kids’ imagination, I was in a rocket ship, soaring through space
-- until Mom called me to go to the house for supper. 11/14/03 There were so many favorite foods in my childhood. Sometimes, when I got home from school, Mom had fresh squeeze bread
ready. She arranged chunks of dough tightly in a pan and baked them. You just pulled a soft piece from the loaf, slathered
it with warm sweet butter and maybe a slice of Velveeta. Mmm! She also made huge pots of vegetable soup. This stuff was not the watery orange-colored concoction from a can! It was full
of hunks of tender beef and veggies from her own garden. My mom made her own cottage cheese from fresh milk. She had a flat silver-colored pan and I remember it sitting on low
heat at the back of the stove until it “clabbered”. She drained it through an old dish towel. This product was
nothing like today’s commercial cheese. It was harder and chewy. She put onions and celery salt in it and covered it
with top cream (Mom brought a quart jar of fresh milk from the barn every morning. After it sat a few hours, the cream rose
to the top - a product equivalent to today’s whipping cream.) 07/29/04 My first job that actually paid money was picking strawberries in Forreston when I was in high school. That only lasted
a couple of days. I do remember earning enough money to buy three decorative plates to hang on my bedroom wall. After graduation
in 1961, I worked for a short time in the office at Burgess Battery (This company is long gone.). In 1988 I worked as a cashier
at Freeport’s Ben Franklin, then at Twigg Accounting for several years. After we quit farming I got jobs through Kelly’s
and Manpower at MTX (as in car stereo speakers), Thermos, and Furst-McNess. Then came Honeywell and Rainbow Ridge (caring
for disabled adults). Once I got to Virginia, the jobs were with Ericsson, TransWorld, and now Intercon. From June 1961 through
July 1998 I was a farmwife, etc. and did all books for the farm and Country Communications (the family business). Between
those duties I chased pigs, kept a large garden, froze 400 pints of corn most years and chased you kids around. My highest
wages were at Honeywell -just under $13 an hour --- better than the $10 a day picking strawberries. 08/27/04 We had some dandy winter storms in the Midwest and a few jump out in my memories. One time school was closed and my folks
and I tried to go to Freeport. We got stuck about a mile west of home. I don’t think I have ever had such cold feet.
I remember sitting in front of the oil burner in the living room and my feet were bright red. During adulthood, I vividly
remember several storms. Once a storm hit during the day and word was out that school was closing. Your dad and I took off
on the John Deere tractor for Baileyville and German Valley to pick up you kids. The tractor had a large cab and we ended
up with your dad and me, you 5 kids, and Dave and Sue Meyer. We had to come through Drakes’ field because the road past
Seurings’ was blocked with huge drifts. Another storm blew shut Highway 26 west of our farm. One vehicle got stuck and
more came behind and also got stuck. Finally the entire mile was full of cars and they were there almost 8 hours. Gary Greenfield
was in that mess so your dad took him food with the snowmobile. 08/27/04 My favorite dessert recipe is fairly complicated. It consists of my five kids, their spouses, all of my grandchildren,
Jill and Dave, Jim’s son Scott, and numerous friends and relatives gathered around Jim and me. Who needs sweets with
all that love? 03/25/04 My favorite dress-up outfits as a child were varied. One that sticks out in my mind was a hot pink water-marked taffeta
dress. Another was a light pink silky dress with rhinestones at the neckline. Very early one Easter morning, I woke up to
find a gauzy white and lavender dress hanging in front of my bedroom window. Behind it was a huge green shamrock plant and
it was framed with white lace curtains. It just glowed in the rising Easter sun! To be honest though, most of my clothes the
first 7 or 8 years were made from feed sacks and they were pretty. Chicken feed came in cloth bags and you simply picked out
which sacks you needed so you had enough fabric to sew the garment. Each bag was about a yard of fabric. Naturally, the bag
you needed was at the very bottom of the pile of feed sacks and the dealer had to move many bags around to get to it. I still
have a booklet advertising Simplicity patterns that called for a specified number of feed sacks for each garment. 12/13/03 When my dad built a new corncrib, it was finished well before the harvest. I claimed it for a playhouse until I was forced
out by ears of corn. I had such fun designating areas for the kitchen, dining room, etc. I used Crayons to write words all
over the inside of that building --- even going so far as “painting” certain areas with my Crayons. That corncrib
was mighty colorful on the inside. Then Dad filled it with corn and I never played in it again. Years later (about 45) I looked
inside it after it was no longer in use and found traces of my artwork still there. Smokey, my faithful companion when the
crib was new, is just a pleasant memory now but his name still is visible. One more thing to add to this: during the summer,
when the lightning bugs were plentiful, I remember catching those bugs, dismantling them, and smearing the phosphorous parts
all over my dogs. Smokey was especially stunning with yellow glowing blobs all over his long black fur. 08/27/04 I wasn’t in as many extracurricular activities as most teenagers but I did manage to keep busy. There was Girls’
Chorus, Choir, FHA (Future Homewreckers of America), Pep Club, and Yearbook for two years -- one year as co-editor with Ron
Ludwig. Chorus was fun. One year Judy Trei Meyer, Carol Lee Asche Garnhart, and I entered contest as a trio. We got a third
and I remember one of the judges’ comments on our rating sheet. “Smile! You are alive, you know!” I attended
lots of basketball games but very few football games because I despised the game and got no thrill out of standing around
in the cold, watching the boys purposely mashing into each other. More fun was the Junior Play. 03/21/04 The hardest thing I ever had to do was divorce your father. I had to admit to the whole world that I had utterly failed
at my marriage. In my mind and up-bringing, that was unforgivable. I am not proud of breaking up the family unit and causing
you five to have to travel two directions to see your parents. I only hope you have forgiven me and can understand the personal
pain that went into that decision. Divorce is always wrong if there is any chance of change in one of the partners but, sometimes,
I believe God uses a “lemon-flavored” experience to help us grow. I love you all so much and am
sorry for all the things you had to see and hear. I also believe God has given me a second chance at happiness. Please learn
to love and respect Jim as I do. 03/21/04 I don’t remember any crazy fads during grade school but do think of some in high school. The guys wore their jeans
LOW and had “D.A.“ haircuts (D.A. as in duck’s a__). The hair was combed back from the face and made
kind of a curl at the back of their head. Girls wore crinolines which were VERY full half slips under their skirts. They were
made of ruffles of net and some gals soaked them in sugar water to make them stiff. When they sat down, the net crackled as
the stiffness gave way. Any girl going steady wore the guy’s class ring on her finger and wrapped the back of it with
yards and yards of dental floss or yarn to make it fit. You could buy bright colored feathers and stick feathers around the
ring (so the ring was more noticeable!) in colors to match your outfit. We wore penny loafers or black and white saddle shoes.
When the white of those saddle shoes started looking ratty by spring, you could put a drop of food coloring in the white polish
and match your outfit. VERY UPTOWN! 06/06/04 My first date was with Fred Lindenman. His sister, Barb, and I were good friends and I had gone to spend a few days with
her in her home near Cedarville, IL. Fred offered to take us skating at the Pines. Barb got sick on the way there so we never
did get to skate. Barb slept all the way home and Fred and I chatted. About a week later he found me at a church youth group
play practice and asked me to go with him to the county fair. WOW!! My first official date! And we had a ball! The next year
I went to the fair with Ron Smith. In between was skating with John and Frank. So much for first dates… June 2004 Yes, I DO remember my first kiss and it “ain’t none of your beeswax!” 06/05/04 Birthdays were a big deal when I was growing up. My mom always made a fancy cake. Because my day was just after Christmas,
Mom hit some great sales and I got more loot. Always the Cornelius family came for a party. I do remember three parties with
classmates and they were such fun. Once, during high school, my girlfriends surprised me. I don’t remember any special
gifts --- just being made to feel special myself on those occasions. Now I appreciate birthdays because they mean God has
given me another year to watch how much my grandkids have grown, how much my kids have succeeded and I had another year with
Jim. Trust me: at sixty one, you DO appreciate birthdays! 06/05/04 What decorating and gardening tips????? I’m still trying to figure the stuff out myself! For years my home was decorated
much in the “Early Garage Sale” style. It does look better now. Gardening???? Plant the seed and pray. 02/25/01 Books were simply not a large part of my early childhood. At home there were only a few books that I remember ---- the
Bible, a very old dictionary, and Mom’s Betty Crocker cookbook. Oh, yes, and a very old cookbook that was stored way
up high in the cupboard. (That one was won in a Bingo game in Nebraska for my mom by her dad. It was full of hand-written
recipes and I now have it in a place of honor in our library.) Several farm magazines came each month but reading just wasn’t
a big deal. Evenings Mom crocheted or sewed and Dad smoked his pipe and dozed when they were not chatting (this was before
TV). Once somebody gave me Alice in Wonderland but I didn’t like the story -- no idea where that book went. At school
I read most of the books in the library --- but there weren’t all that many. As a little kid, most of my “reading
time” was spent assembling jig saw puzzles or designing miniature houses with small plastic blocks (the forerunner of
today’s Lego Blocks). Oh, and I drew oodles of house plans. TV -- all three channels -- was my window to the world after
fifth grade. 11/14/03 I know that money was very tight when I was a kid but I never felt “POOR”. There was always good food on the
table and the necessities of life were available. When I left Freeport I came across the box that my parents used to budget
their finances during their early marriage years. It was wooden with small saucer-shaped compartments. Each section was marked,
one for electricity, one for Linda’s insurance, one for groceries, etc. You must realize those sections were only large
enough for coins so you understand the scope of their income. Mom and Dad were good at recycling. We never had a fancy car
or nice furniture or a modern kitchen but it never seemed a hardship. My parents rented thirty acres to the west of our farm
and I vividly remember their conversations when that land came up for sale. They simply could not justify the cost and the
debt. But I never ONCE heard them lament the loss of those acres. Life seemed to go on exactly the same as before except Dad
didn’t have to work in the field quite as much. The riches in my family did not show up on a balance sheet and Uncle
Sam never got to assess a tax on them. 08/27/04 I used to get into hot water with Mom and she used to spank me but I don’t remember the infractions. What I DO
remember is the time I headed down the road with my doll buggy toward the neighbors. Dad caught up with me and
spanked me right there in the middle of the road. My feelings were hurt a great deal more than my backside and I NEVER ventured
out on that road again. I discovered that, if I walked along the cornfield and climbed through the fence, I could get to the
neighbors without going on that road. By the way, my dad only spanked me once and I never forgot it. Mom was always the disciplinarian. 07/26/03 I was never a rebel but, in the late 50’s and early 60’s, there were no curfew laws and it is a wonder I didn’t
find trouble. We kids used to go skating at The Pines (about 30 miles from home) on Saturday nights. The late session ran
from 10 until 12:30 and we girls came close to problems several times. We also tore around the country late at night when
we were supposed to be at slumber parties. The big thing then was “bush-whacking” -- sneaking up on parked cars
out along dark country roads, yanking open the doors, and yelling, “Bush-Whack!” at the startled couple. We had
no clue the risks we were taking. Curfew laws are marvelous! But then, so is the wisdom that comes with age --- and being
a parent yourself. 07/26/03 When did I first learn about sex? Oh, my! Such a subject for a mother to reveal! I was totally innocent (and ignorant).
About fifth or sixth grade my mom decided it was time to tell me about the “Birds and the Bees”. She began the
subject by telling me that, out in the barnyard, “Bullie” was not playing leap-frog with the cows. Hey, What did
I know? My dad always told me that he and Mom had found me in the garden in the cabbage patch. At the time I was convinced
that God just placed a baby over night in a family. I remember once praying for a brother or sister and telling Mom that I
wanted a sibling by morning ---and then being angry when no baby was there. It must have really hurt Mom because she had had
several miscarriages. But back to the leap-frog revelation: It all sounded so yucky and I remember laughing at the whole idea.
But I learned! By the way, not too long ago a good friend in Freeport told me that, until her first child was born, she honestly
thought babies were born through the mom’s belly button. Such a surprise she had! 04/19/04 I wish I had not been so self-conscious about my height during my adolescence. I should have had the guts to go to dances
and not be such an egghead. I wish, too, I had respected myself more and stood up for myself. People are treated badly because
they allow themselves to be trampled on a continuous basis. If you roll over and play dead all the time, there will always
be somebody who will be only too willing to take advantage of a dummy. It only took me 55 years to learn this -- a real quick
study! 04/19/04 These are things I am MOST glad I tried, though not necessarily in the following order: + Sex - no comment necessary here + Learning to master the press machine at Micro Switch. The first night at that job, I just knew there was NO WAY I could
ever make those electrodes fit in that press wheel and I was ready to walk out, then got up some determination and came back
the second night when a few more electrodes actually fell into place. Oh, the wonderful friends I would have missed if I had
not tried again! + Learning to solder - How else would I have ever met Jim? + Riding a roller coaster - I don’t HAVE to do it ever again. + Pizza - YUM! + The decision to move to Virginia - Oh, what a good decision that one was! + Roller skating - I loved it! + Speech Class in high school + Airplane trips and train trips + Learning to sew + Dancing with Al Weigel at Muskego, WI + Cake decorating + Weight Watchers + Getting on the internet + Driving alone to see my kids + A second try at marriage! 02/25/01 My mom got dressed in her very best for church each week. Her home-sewn dress was usually mostly blue because Dad liked
blue. Her church dresses were generally made of a fabric that was shiny - and she carried her BEST! purse. That purse could
be any color - often home-made - but her shoes were always sensible and black. She always put on very tiny ear
rings (Never any expensive jewelry), a pretty necklace, and often a pin of some sort. None of the above three items were a
set but the colors usually matched her dress. Anytime she wore a coat - and I only ever remember her having ONE coat that
she did not sew herself - it, too, had a pretty pin attached. The only time I ever remember seeing her wear her engagement
ring was at her funeral. Always it was in a tiny box in the dresser drawer. She bought herself a wedding band in later years
but that was only worn occasionally. By the way, those purses were always called “Pocketbooks”. 08/14/04 Dad’s usual attire on workdays was bib overalls when I was growing up. They were usually striped or solid blue -
with scads of patches. His shirt was generally home-sewed. High-top laced work shoes (ALWAYS brown) were his normal foot attire.
In the winter he wore wool underwear (called Union Suits) but complained about them itching until he learned to wear cotton
one-piece suits under the wool. His winter coat of choice was a black garment that he called his Mackinaw. I don’t know
if that was the brand or what. Most of the year he wore a denim baseball-type cap, but, when it was really hot and he had
to work in the field, he wore a wide brimmed hat that was constructed with a solid hard plastic-like material -- and he had
painted that hat with aluminum paint. When it was raining or snowing, he had five-buckle overshoes. I can’t remember
seeing him with gloves but he must have worn them during winter. And he usually had a wad of Rite-Cut tucked between his cheek
and his teeth. Sometimes the Rite Cut was replaced by Black Jack gum. His church attire was a suit and a blue shirt. I never
saw him wear a white shirt. He always said white shirts were funeral shirts -- and he did not wear a white shirt to his own
funeral either. My dad went to his grave in a nice blue shirt and suspenders with his beloved Antique Engine Club commemorative
buttons pinned to those suspenders. 08/14/04 Weekends always started on Sunday morning with church. Afternoons might include visits to or from relatives or a long drive
to check out crops. Saturdays were just another work day on the farm. Never do I remember Dad doing field
work on a Sunday! One year the harvest was running late and I can still picture my parents deciding if it would be OK to pick
corn on Thanksgiving Day. They agreed that it was not a Sunday so it would be acceptable and Dad picked corn all day. Snow
came a few days later. 03/11/03 A favorite dish that Mom used to make during my childhood was Pigs In The Potato Patch. You kids were often served it and
now Jim enjoys it too. Slice left-over boiled potatoes Add some diced onion Toss in a couple of sliced wieners Add milk to just about cover the ingredients. Season with salt, pepper, celery seeds, and butter Heat till hot and thicken with a bit of flour or corn starch or instant potato flakes. My concoctions never taste as good as my mom’s did, but, perhaps, I am remembering the love more than the food. 08/30/04 I never went to a dance in my life. I went to the Junior and Senior proms (Jr. with your dad and Sr. with my mom) but we
left after the banquet both times. An earlier entry in this boring saga which you are now reading alludes to dancing with
Al Weigel. This was after a snowmobile race. The sponsors had a tent set up with a live band to entertain us while we were
waiting for our trophies. Al grabbed me by my hand and gave me no choice but to go with him. It was such fun and I knew then
how much I had missed by not going to dances in school. That was at Muskego, WI and anybody who attended those races will
remember the WONDERFUL chili those people sold. YUM! What? Why are we talking about chili in a paragraph about dances? Oh,
well. 07/24/04 Actual family reunions were rare. The one I remember most happened in the mid 80’s when I took my folks to Nebraska
for a reunion on Mom’s side of the family. We gathered in a church basement and played games on the lawn. It was great
to see my cousins but it was over way too soon. Better would be the opportunity to talk to each cousin for a few hours without
the rest of the herd. Family reunions lately have been you kids’ Faist Kids’ Annual Reunion and I’m so honored
that you allow Jim and me to be a part of it. I hope you keep up the tradition. You have started something good and worth
the time. Getting together with family when I was a kid was mostly when a relative from out of state showed up. 03/01/04 My dream was to become a journalist but, instead, I got married 3 days after high school graduation. Our lives steer us
in the direction that God wills so I don’t think I was cut out for that career. Besides, I would have missed having
you five! I never went to college but do feel I have picked up a few skills anyway. In the early sixties college was not the
sacred cow or “be all” that it is today. But I often wonder how far I could have flown with the right training.
It is fun to muse and dream of such things, but my life today is A-OK too. 06/05/04 I do remember sitting in Iler School in third grade with the assignment to draw a picture of what I wanted to be when I
grew up. The picture I drew was of a farm and a woman feeding chickens -- well, I thought they looked like chickens anyway!
The farmer was on a tractor. In another 8 or 9 years I actually was a farm wife and I always loved the land. Now I live in
Virginia, far from that farm, but still go out in the yard to do my farming -- planting flowers, watering my tomatoes, pulling
weeds, etc. And I spot every cow along the mountain roads. 05/02/04 Best friends in grade school would have to start way back in first grade. My dad, Menno Miller, and Ernest Hageman were
the three school directors of Iler School so the Miller kids (Norman, Roger, and Marilyn), the Hageman kids (Joyce, Glenn,
and Gene) and I often had the chance to be together. For most of my twelve years of school, those kids were part of my day.
Marilyn and Roger now live in California and we often correspond by e-mail. Glenn was born one day after me so we have had
quite a few friendly discussions about who is the older and who is the smarter. 12/02/02 In high school, during the late 50’s and early 60’s, the girls all wore skirts and sweaters after Labor Day
--- and those skirts had better touch the floor when you were on your knees or you were sent home! I remember one gal being
sent home for wearing black hose. The skirts were either very straight woolen ones or extremely full with miles of net crinolines
underneath. The slips were soaked in sugar water or a gummy starch solution before being stretched out to dry to achieve the
desired stiffness. And you could hear the sugar crack when you sat down. But it was high style! 01/10/02 What I love best about your father is you five kids. 04/05/04 When I was a kid the fireworks in Freeport, IL were set off across the Taylor Park Lagoon. Everybody brought blankets to
sit on and it was either freezing or mosquito heaven. Well I remember hurtling up River Road toward East Freeport after a
hot day of making hay and rushing through evening chores. I used to watch the first flashes in the sky as Dad barreled the
‘38 Buick westward. Later years, when you kids were younger and the fireworks were launched from the fairgrounds south
of Freeport, we spent the evening at Uncle John Faist’s home on Factory Street. A mob of people descended on John and
he spent most of the evening hauling old chairs from his basement so everybody could sit comfortably. Each family brought
along snacks and you kids spent a good bit of the time rolling down the grassy hill by his grapevines. Beginning in 1999,
you have included me in your Faist Kids’ Annual Reunion (‘99 at Sandi’s in GA, 2000 at Cindy’s in
VA, 2001 at Sandi’s again, 2002 at Larry’s in northern WI, and 2003 and 2004 at Randy’s home in Janesville,
WI. I hope you keep up the tradition long after I am gone and that you keep inviting me until then. I see you all together
and feel the pride flow over me. 05/01/04 Me participate in a rally or demonstration? NEVER!!! There are better ways to deal with problems without making a scene. 07/25/04 My uncle George was a radio repairman in England during WWII. It was his job to get the radios running again when the bombers
limped back to England. He told stories of having to clear radios of body parts sometimes before repairing those radios. He
also would not touch Brussels Sprouts because he had to eat so many of them when supplies were cut off to his base. Uncle
George was a favorite of mine and I think I knew him better than any other of my uncles. He lived in Freeport but was at our
home 3 or 4 times a week when I was a kid. He took me to so many parties and school functions while my parents were
still doing evening chores. Once he brought me a ’78 record of Libarace because he felt that I needed to listen to better
music than the music most teenagers of the times. I never listened to that record and wish I had it now. During summer Mom’s
chickens roosted in the trees overnight I remember the night Uncle George arrived, made a quick trip into the darkness under
the trees in the chicken yard, and got plastered from above. He always wore a crew cut so this time he came sputtering to
the house with “whatever” dripping down the sides of his head. I had NEVER heard him swear before. Never did again
after that either. In later years Randy was in the military but that would need at least another whole page to tell that story.
07/19/04 I never learned to swim but always wished I could. When you kids took lessons at Oakdale Park, Opal Wilhelms, the teacher,
tried to teach me, too, to no avail. I panic when my face gets under water -- maybe that is why I despise overhead showers.
As a little kid I was deathly afraid of water puddles and crossing bridges. I claimed the “sissles” would get
us. No idea where that came from. I can float just fine -- as long as my fingers can touch the bottom of the pool. 07/27/04 The trip -- or a tiny part of it -- that sticks in my memory would be a couple of days after Thanksgiving 1998. My plane
was clearing the mountains west of Roanoke, VA and it struck me that this was the last time this would be my return trip home
to Freeport. Plans were in place for me to move soon to Virginia. It was the strangest feeling -- not scary, but exciting
-- and I’ve never regretted that decision to move. When I was a kid there were numerous trips to Nebraska by car. Since
I married Jim, we’ve taken three trips to Illinois by train plus one trip there by car. 03/13/03 I was never out of the United States until Randy and Monica took your dad and me to Vancouver (oh, you spell it).
It was a marvelous city with its French influence and buildings. There were lots of boats on the water and we were viewing
them from a park that was “miles” in the air above the water. If Canada qualifies for the term “abroad”,
then I’ve been. Otherwise, forget it! There are so many things in the USA that I’d love to see before venturing
abroad. I just want to dip my toes into the Atlantic and the Pacific. I was about 60 or 70 feet above the Pacific on a rocky
outcrop on the Olympic Peninsula once but we couldn’t find a road down to the water. 07/21/04 In the mid-80’s, I was a chaperone on a youth mission trip for Faith Methodist Church. We spent a week in Farmington,
NM but, on the way there, we stopped in the Colorado Springs area at The Garden of the Gods Park. Never before, nor since,
have I seen such an awesome place! Another marvelous place was way up on Pike’s Peak. Below us was Colorado Springs.
It was pitch dark on that mountain but the lights of the city actually twinkled in the crystal clear air. I can close my eyes
still and see it again in my mind. 03/17/01 My mom’s relatives were from Nebraska so most summers found one branch of the family in our home for a visit. About
every other summer we visited Nebraska for a week. One of those times was my folks’ fifteenth anniversary and my aunts
held an open house in their honor. Years later I took my parents there for a family reunion. It was their last trip. Once,
when I was in sixth grade, my folks sent me by train to Nebraska about two weeks before they came to get me. Such an adventure!
Uncle Reinold’s pony stepped on my foot and I never cared much for horses since then. Mom’s cousin visited often
but they always pulled a dilapidated old home-made trailer and my dad snorted that it looked like Gypsies had invaded. That
camper may not have looked very classy but it got them where they needed to go. 03/21/04 I can’t remember any tragedy in my life as a kid but life got hard when my dad was diagnosed with cancer in ‘76,
then my mom in ‘86. I guess those aren’t tragedies either -- just a normal progression of life -- but it makes
you face your own mortality. And you better make the most of today with special people in your life because life can change
so quickly. 03/19/03 To me a perfect day would be about 72 degrees, with a gentle breeze, and plenty of sunshine with whipped-cream clouds waltzing
across the sky. Maybe I’d be sitting in the swing on our carport with a glass of diet Coke and a good book or a plastic
canvas project. Because this is 2003, I’d sure want you kids and Jim near. It would be nice to hear neighborhood kids
-- or grandkids -- laughing as they play. My pals, the birds, would be having a committee meeting at the birdfeeder in the
apple tree and that gentle breeze might be causing the wind chimes to serenade me. I’d want to know that the bills were
paid and supper was brewing in the oven. Bright pink petunias would be blooming all around the house and the mountains would
be visible in the distance. Oh, and a loaf of bread would be baking in the bread machine and it would smell sooooo good! 10/19/03 I despise raking leaves in the fall (spring is OK though). If the Good Lord did not want those leaves there, He wouldn’t
let ‘em fall there! My favorite outdoor job was hauling in corn from the field. The colors are gorgeous, there is a
nip in the air, it smells SOOOO good with wood burners fired up, the grain dryers are humming, and there is a sense of urgency
to get the crop out of the field. You kids were safely in school, the house was warm, and there was usually something good
brewing in the oven for supper. Now I rarely see a cornfield but the memories still reside in my heart. 01/01/04 If I could choose to be a patron of a charity or organization, I would adopt a battered women’s organization -- no
explanation needed. My life now has NO similarity to my life of so many years. 04/02/03 I never owned a bike because my folks didn’t think I had a safe place to ride it. This puzzles me yet. They had an
80 acre farm with a lane clear to the south end. Oh, well! No water ski or snow ski experiences either but I LOVED to roller
skate. Most Wednesday nights during my high school years my folks took me to the rink at Elroy, IL and I had a ball! There
was something called the Grand March. Everybody had a partner and you did all sorts of fancy skate steps. A guy from Prophetstown,
IL and I always went out for that -- we were both lousy but we sure had fun. We never skated together any other time during
the evening and I don’t even remember his name -- just that he worked in a factory that made mailboxes. 03/21/04 When I was growing up, my parents weren’t much into games as a family. I do remember summer nights, when we were
together with Aunt Rose and Uncle Harold Suess, the cousins and I used to play out in the lawns way after dark till it was
time to go home. We tried to turn cartwheels and played rousing games of hide and seek. Most fun, though, were the games of
“Mother, May I?” I loved being around those kids! Still today, I cherish getting e-mails from Sylvia or Dick.
Back to summer memories -- when my folks and I went to Freeport for groceries and supplies, the last stop before leaving town
would be at the Union Dairy for a HUGE ice cream cone. Oh, it was such a treat! -- and we hurried to lap the rivers of yummy
treat as it ran down the sides of the cones. Sometimes, when chores were done and it was already dark, we used to sit outside
(air conditioners were unheard of in those days) and watch the heat lightning in the distance. That is when my parents got
into some of the grandest discussions about growing up so many miles apart and I loved to listen to them chat. 03/17/03 I was born on the farm and lived on a farm 55 years. Cows and I go way back.. My dad used to have me milk “Box Car”
by hand because he said a milker would not work on her. I spent most of chore time dealing with that cow. One day I came unexpectedly
to the barn and discovered the milker on Box Car. The jig was up and I never had to milk that dumb cow again. To Dad’s
credit, it was a great way to keep me occupied while my parents worked. When I was a teen-ager, my job was to pitch enough
corn silage out of the cement silo for the cows. That silo made an echo sound and I used to sing at the top of my lungs while
I worked. The neighbors probably thought somebody was getting killed with all that racket. I used to love looking out the
hay mow door and getting a bird’s eye view of the countryside. The fields looked like a giant patchwork quilt. 12/01/03 The summer after sixth grade my parents sent me to Nebraska on the train by myself. The conductor seated me beside a young
lady named Leanne and I just loved her. After about 2 weeks my parents came to take me home. I remember Aunt Alma letting
me wear my cousin, Karna’s, dress to church. It was a “big girl” dress and I felt so grown up! This trip
was when Mother Nature chose to show me for the first time that I would someday be a woman. My mom had explained to me a few
months earlier that such an event might happen but it still shook me up when it actually came into my life. One other trip
that stand out in my mind was in Aug. ‘98 when I first realized that I could leave Freeport and be at Larry and Ellen’s
home in six hours and I could do it any week-end that I chose to. Such a feeling of freedom and release! 03/16/03 Someday I would like to visit Montana and see “The Big Sky Country” for myself. In my mind’s eye it is
filled with mountains and cattle but I suspect I might find much more. Maybe someday Jim and I can ride a train there. When
Randy and Monica moved from Washington to Minnesota, Cindy and Larry took time off work to help them make the trip with two
Ryders. They made a marvelous video of their adventures and I am hooked! 12/01/03 Tips for successful entertaining? Very simple! Invite folks over for an evening affair, turn down all the lights, set out
oodles of candles -- and they won’t spot a single cobweb. Only invite people who are worth your effort. If you invite
someone who makes you uncomfortable, no mater how hard you try, it won’t be quite good enough. Entertaining should
be about being with people you enjoy and people who don’t give a hoot if your roast burns or the dessert is a flop.
When you have to “try”, the event only ends up being “trying”. Mary Kay Owens once suggested letting
the cobwebs remain for a Christmas party and just suspend ornaments from those webs. Good idea! 08/22/03 I learned to sew on Mom’s old treadle by trying to sew a straight line on some old rags. Gramma or Mom was usually
using the machine to sew clothing, quilts, and craft projects. Mom got a new fancy, dandy electric model and junked the old
treadle. Can you imagine the value of that machine today if she had just kept it? The new one was made in Japan and she called
it ’The Darn Jap” whenever it balked -- which was fairly often. The last time I saw that machine, it was in the
chicken house on Florence Road. When I was a freshman at Forreston High School I took Home Ec and our first project was to
sew a cobbler’s apron. I also sewed a straight wool skirt that year but never really sewed much until after I married
your dad. My folks gave us a sewing machine for a wedding present and I LOVED IT!. About the time you kids were in grade school
I bought my Kenmore with its fancy stitch disks. That machine sewed PJ’s, shorts, slacks, tops, shirts, numerous
Homecoming outfits, prom and spring dance dresses, Barbie clothes, and patched oodles of jeans and coveralls. It also
sewed Lori’s wedding gown. 03/26/04 The Christmas of my freshman year in high school my mom and I rode the “Land of Corn” train to Chicago to see
the Christmas lights. Oh, such a wonderland! We were two country hicks from the sticks but strangers helped us catch buses
and find our way around town. It’s a wonder we didn’t get mugged! We went to Garfield Conservatory and saw thousands
of poinsettias, bought some bird ornaments at Marshall Fields ( I still have them.) and took in all the sights and beautiful
window decorations. Such a marvelous trip! Many years later Sandi and I walked Michigan Avenue late one night after taking
Lori to O’Hare. The magic was still there! Just this past December Randy and Monica drove Jim and me along Michigan
Avenue. It was alive with millions of tiny white lights -- still the magic! I sat in the backseat and was mentally transported
to that day so many years ago and was re-living the trip with Mom. I think the magic I felt was my memories of Mom. 03/27/04 My favorite subject anytime in school was English. I love the way words flow together and you can find a word for any emotion
or idea. Give me a good book to read and I’m a happy camper. Classical literature doesn’t excite me though. My
dream, as a teen-ager, was to become a journalist and I inhaled anything in the local paper written by Olga Carlile. Many
years later she and I corresponded. What a treat! I never became a journalist -- never will -- but the pages of this book
prove what a nut I am about words. 06/28/04 I left my childhood home June 3, 1961 when I married your dad. We moved into a 10’ X 50’ mobile home (purchased
used in German Valley) that was set up northeast of the house at 455 W. Florence Road, south of Freeport, IL. It was exciting
to be the “lady of the house” and I thought it was BEAUTIFUL!” It was such fun to use the things in my “Hopeless
Chest”. In those days young girls had hope chests. From a very young age, girls collected dish towels, measuring spoons,
anything that might someday be used in their own future home. I had a lot of “stuff”. My dad called my collection
the “Hopeless Chest” though. The appliances in my new home were all turquoise and I had to learn to cook on a
gas range -- didn’t like gas then and still don’t. Even the kitchen sink was turquoise. Everything in the bathroom
-- tub, sink, stool -- was bright pink. Now, four houses later, I think my present home is the prettiest ever. 07/10/04 I don’t think I had a best friend during adulthood until the first Nancy Becker came on the scene. I loved her but
was completely fooled by her and it took me a long time to let my guard down again. Years later found Edna, Max, Debb, Lottie,
and Bev in my world. Today my best friend is Jim, even though the others remain a part of my heart family. One gal who has
been a part of my world since about 1980 has been Sue Pickett. Sue and I have the type of friendship that endures long periods
of no contact. When we do get together, it seems as if there has been NO lull in time and we can just pick up the threads
of mutual thoughts. There are so many people in my life like that. I cherish Donna Cornelius, Judy Meyer, Kathy Merrill, Linda
Goodman, Lorraine Swalve, Jane Stembridge, Jane Wright, Todd Clancy, Sylvia Hillman, Liz Koehler, Lois Covault, Papa Bear
Smothers. All these plus so many more are the pearls in my necklace of life. Just thinking of them keeps my heart warm. 03/31/03 What would I like to learn to do? Not so much learn to do but simply learn. I want to know about underground streams
which feed wells; why five kids in the same home with the same parents can be so different; why the sun or moon sometimes
looks so much larger when in the exact same position; why artesian wells are not more common; why my cookies are generally
lousy; why the prevailing weather pattern is west to east but hurricanes go east to west; how a flower grows; how sound travels;
why it is so much easier to gain weight than lose it; why the last ten minutes before you leave the house go SO fast. 10/24/03 This page -- or the whole book -- isn’t big enough to address the subject of what I would do differently in life
if I could. I’d like to think I’d respect myself more if given the chance to do things over. I’d probably
make the same bone-head mistakes again, but, in reality, our mistakes are not really that. They are a vehicle of our life
experiences that make us unique and prepare us for later life. Mistakes are not something we consciously set out to do. They
are what we call our experiences later when we look back and realize we made lousy choices. Marrying your dad was NOT
a mistake! Without that part of my life, you five would never be the five that you are. I might have five kids but
they would not be YOU FIVE. However, my past does make me appreciate my present “BIG TIME!” 01/01/04 My personal style in clothing, makeup, etc. isn’t so much style as it is whatever I have. No, that isn’t accurate.
You will rarely see ruffles or lace on me. Ninety nine percent of my clothes are solid colors, those being clear or bright
or pastel rather than muted or smoky. Rarely am I without ear rings -- and I have about a hundred pairs. None of those pairs
are expensive so I can wear them without fear of losing something valuable. And I am not above wearing two different ear rings.
My ear rings need to be fairly small and not overly gaudy -- except some of my Christmas ones. Generally there is a chain
and pendant or tiny heart around my neck. On my left hand are my engagement and wedding rings -- on my right hand is my beloved
Mother’s ring. These NEVER come off! 08/31/04 The best speaker I ever heard would be Pastor Keith Boyer at Crossroads (New Covenant) Church north of Freeport, IL. When
Keith is on a roll, you are so involved in his thoughts that you lose track of time and are disappointed when he closes. He
teaches rather than preaches. 02/25/01 I am a person who has had very little formal education and my life has not been a picnic, but God gave me five wonderful
kids. I like to think I’ve influenced them a bit toward being hard-working, honest, and gentle people who love their
own kids as I do mine. One person’s fame is worth nothing more than a page in a history book but my kids have the potential
to make a mark on this world and be decent God-fearing citizens today. What more can any mother ask? God has protected me
in some very nasty situations and I trust He will protect my kids from harm too. 02/25/01 Oh, so many memories of canning and harvesting experiences during my childhood. My dad and I were combining oats. Dad was
unloading into my wagon and stopped on top of a bee nest. He yelled for me to, “RUN!!!!!”, and we took off across
the field. Eventually, Dad and the bees passed me and Dad got a great many stings. Oats stayed in the field the rest of that
day. One year my folks’ potato crop did not yield but it was a banner year for the butternut squash. I can still picture
a heaping manure spreader of squash backed into the old tin garage. We ate squash every day till the next year’s crop
of potatoes was ready for harvest. Mom had a massive garden and I can remember the adrenalin rushing as we hurried to haul
in anything perishable the day before the first hard freeze was forecast. Each year, during the county fair in Freeport, we
took a day off to see the sights. But first we made a stop at the A&P and bought five or six bushels of peaches -- usually
about $2.50 per bushel. We spent the afternoon at the fair but the next several days we spent canning all those peaches. Oh,
how pretty those jars were on the basement shelves among the pickles, cherries, pears, canned meat, and vegetable soup! And
don’t forget all those jellies and relishes. 02/28/01 I guess my favorite hobby right now is creating things out of plastic canvas. When Lori was expecting Ryan, I decided to
use yarn that I’d gotten from my mom to crochet a baby blanket. After two days of your Aunt Marion’s patient training,
it became obvious that crochet hooks and I would never make music together. What to do with all that yarn!? “Plastic
canvas projects” was the answer -- except that I keep buying more yarn. My pattern books are a nasty expensive habit
-- once I did vow to buy no more books till I’d used one pattern out of each of the books I already had. What a joke!
That’s as easy as losing weight. I love this craft because I can start with a blank canvas and create something pretty.
A second hobby that is gaining favor is my bird watching. Cindy gave me a feeder for Christmas and I love seeing how many
birds come to it. They know my voice now and come when I put out fresh goodies -- bird seed, cookies, buns, chips, Bugles,
popcorn, grapes………… 04/04/04 The strangest thing I’ve ever seen happened very early one July evening in the late ’70’s. There was
a huge cloud in an otherwise clear sky and that cloud was alive with lightning. It did not move but kept up the fireworks
for over an hour. Then it disappeared. About 1AM another cloud did the same thing. I was never able to get an explanation
of what caused such a phenomenon. There was NO rain or storm associated with those clouds. I’ve also witnessed a couple
of Northern Lights shows that were eerie but breathtaking. Such a fascinating world! God and Nature can provide more drama
than man can ever imagine! 07/26/03 Hayrides were a great thing when I was growing up. I remember going on them as part of grade school and birthday parties.
Once, when your dad was a member of the Freeport Radio Police Auxiliary, the whole crew and their families had a party at
our farm and we went on a hayride. It was cold and damp but it was fun. One of my last hayrides was in ‘98 at a Fourth
of July party at a neighbor’s home on Florence Road. The last one was at Randy Woessner’s farm near Shannon, IL.
Lottie and I went to that one which was for New Covenant church members. It was so fun riding around the back roads west of
Shannon. Everybody brought a pan of chili and they dumped it all in huge roasters so it all tasted the same. Mmmmm! It was
so yummy after that hayride. In the fall there were Halloween parties -- and during my wild teen years, I ripped around German
Valley with my friends soaping windows. Now I know what a pain it is to get that stupid soap off windows but it seemed like
fun at the time. When I lived on the farm, I used to love the fall harvest, seeing all those loads of golden corn. It was
comforting to wake up in the middle of the night and hear the gentle “whoosh” of the corn dryer going through
its cycles. I used to go out to the dryer bin every hour to check the gauges overnight. A real pleasure was sitting in the
cornfield, waiting for my wagon to be filled and thrill at the sight of hundreds of ducks and geese circling above my head
at sunset. 03/29/03 During my teen years I belonged to a church youth group -- even was president one year. There I learned to know the kids
and we had such good times together in a Christian setting. My friend, Shirley Dieken (now Jordan) and I were best buddies.
And there was also my brother-in-the-heart, Reuben Bolen. Sheryl Schlaffer and Harold Rust directed a play which we presented
and I learned so much from them. The theme of the play was about a wedding. Ruth Fuls and Gerry Schlaffer baked and decorated
a huge wedding cake which was served after the play as refreshments for the congregation. As I write this tonight, Jim and
I are in Martinsburg, WV. We were at Dalton’s fifth birthday party today. My childhood seems so long ago. I remember
my own birthday parties and later the ones for each of you five. Ah, memories flood back and are so sweet. 09/03/04 Tips for good health: + Don’t step in front of moving vehicles. + Keep your nose out of other folks’ business. + Marry someone you love and who loves you back. + Food served with love tastes better. +A tiny dab of Ben Gay stuck up your nose will clear out your sinuses - but, OH! IT BURNS! 02/24/01 Probably my greatest treasure is the experience of having five fabulous kids. The memories of you five growing up and the
knowledge of what good people each one of you is, is worth far more than any material possession. “Things” come
and go. They can be lost in fires, divorces, or just plain wear out. You kids live in my heart and keep me going on days when
I’d just a s soon give up -- and there have been many of those kind of days. September 2003 I am thankful that I grew up in a loving home with parents who cared deeply for each other. I was allowed to “be
a kid” and learned to dream and also be creative. I had responsibilities but they never seemed like drudgery. My parents
taught - by example - that life could be good without the latest gadgets, fancy cars, and clothes. My beloved Uncle George
widened my horizons with his visits. He never treated my conversations as “kid stuff“. I am thankful for learning
the basic foundations of faith and decency. September 2003 I often think of my playtime in the kitchen of my childhood home. Mom had a coal/cob/wood burning cook stove. Behind it
was the cob box that had a flat top 09/05/04 The most wonderful gift I could ever receive would be the knowledge that I will someday meet all of my family and loved
ones in Heaven. Everything else pales by comparison. 07/27/04 I think my life today is the happiest I’ve ever been. I loved seeing you five grow up and there were good times then
too. But personal contentment, freedom from fear, and a sense of true value makes the choice of today “hands down”.
Life for me today is 180 degrees from what I ever imagined. I can watch you five as you raise your own families and know your
are OK. I also have been given a second chance at personal happiness. I am SO blessed! 03/29/03 The word that best describes my life is “Blessed”. I was born to two loving, decent parents and had a good
childhood. Money was not plentiful but I always had what I truly needed. I know now that my parents often “made do”
with less so I could have things. I grew up in a good community and had excellent teachers. My childhood was during an age
of innocence without fear. I spent 37 years living on a farm near Freeport. Even though life there often wasn’t so hot,
I loved living in the country. I was blessed with you five. Who could ask for better kids!?! Also I have so many other “kids”
that aren’t mine biologically, but are mine in my heart. And all those grandkids! Then I was blessed with the move to
Virginia and the blessings were heaped on me ever since -- even found the love of my life with my precious Jim. I am so greatly
blessed! 03/25/03 I’ve made many goofs in my life but do have some advice to leave with you. Trust God, roll with the punches, and make the best of whatever you can’t change. Don’t take yourself too seriously
- nobody else does anyway. Practice a good sense of humor even when you would like to clobber somebody. If you sweat the small
stuff, it will just get worse. Don’t put off doing something that is truly important to your well-being until you have
more money or until you have a nicer job, etc. Grab the gold ring and hang on for dear life! Take educated risks. Bottom line: Trust God! |
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