A Quiet Treasure

 Grandma Lu had been so busy with her yard sale. She finally was finding time to put things in totes. Some things for her next yard sale and some things just needed to be organized and labeled in a storage cupboard. On this particular day she found a strange looking tin box. It had a handle and it was green. "This must be Fran's, she thought. I'll set this aside and show it to him. He will either want to throw it away or save it for some unknown treasures." She shook her head at her husband's uncanny ability to save things that had no value. Often things (broken tools) were saved because they could be fixed someday or mainly just because...) 

She decided to have a cookie and a cup of coffee after working a few hours. Her husband walked into the kitchen and said, "Look what I found! Pretty cool box, don't you think? Wonder what's in it." He sat down at the kitchen table while Grandma Lu fixed him a cup of coffee all the while grinning. That man of hers!

When she sat down she watched him open the box and it was full of old papers. Really old papers. He passed one to her. She was only five years old when it was printed. The paper was soft as butter. It was his mother's box that he had saved and forgotten about. In it were just two things. The Bandwagon newspaper which had all of the old song lyrics printed in it along with very strange advertisements.

The other paper was a letter to Fran's mom and dad (their name was spelled wrong) informing them of their new real estate tax for the next year. Thirty seven dollars! They both laughed at how taxes had increased over the years. In that envelope was another letter telling them that they would from now on have to buy or make a number at least 2" high and wide to put on the front of the house. It would have to be visible from the street. It was the number 9. The envelope was only addressed to them as the street, no number. This took place in 1964.

This forgotten little green box started a conversation that lasted long after their coffee was cold. What an interesting letter. How it reminded Grandma Lu of letters she still had of her mother and father's. There was no address on the envelope. Only a name and a town and state. How in the world did the mailman find them?

Also Grandma Lu and her husband talked about how the tax assessors would come to the house and look all over. At one time she could remember that the tax man said that if her parents put in wall to wall carpeting they would have to pay a tax on it. Plus they counted all the pigs, chickens and cows! My how things have changed!

Grandma Lu cleared the table while her husband made his way to a cupboard with the little green box. "So what are you going to do with that box and those papers?" He grinned and said, "Well save it, of course, the kids might like to see them someday."

Grandma Lu shook her head and thought. "We won't see that box again for years. It was fun to look at, but it will be a surprise again the next time we find it." She chuckled to herself as she fixed supper. Aah the phone is ringing. I wonder who that is. The caller ID said it was an unknown number. So she didn't answer it. "You just can't be too careful nowadays. If they want to talk to me they can leave a message."

Betty was disappointed when Grandma Lu didn't answer the phone, but wasn't ready to leave her a message yet. Maybe she would see her again at the library.

Old Friends And Sleepovers!

 Grandma Lu was asked to speak at the library again in a few weeks. Once again Joey and his mother, Betty, came to listen to her stories. Today was a little different. Grandma Lu wasn't smiling or laughing as often as she usually did. Even little Joey noticed a difference. "What do you think is wrong with that lady, Mom? She's not smiling much today is she?" 

His mother smiled and gave him a hug and answered his questions quietly. "Sometimes, grownups have things that they worry about and that makes them sad. Or maybe she just isn't feeling well. Let's wait and see what she is going to talk about today."

Grandma Lu welcomed everyone and said, Today I am going to talk about friends that we make. As we get older we make lots of friends. Some are close friends that we can tell secrets to and others are just good friends that we can do things with even travel with if we can. Family can be counted on as friends too sometimes. 

We usually make friends with our cousins when we are little if they live close by, then when we start school we make more friends. As we get older lots of times our friends move far away and we don't get to see them very often, but when we do oh what fun it is to talk about all the fun we used to have. That is called by a  big word: reminiscing. Do any of you have good friends?" Grandma Lu smiled when she saw all the hands go up. Even little Joey had his hand up. "He said, "I have a good friend in Sunday school and we see each other in pre-K too. We have fun."

Grandma Lu listened to others talk about their friends and some friends that folks hadn't seen in a long time.

She pointed at the Rondo Items book and said, "This book is all about friends. Rondo was a very small community and so many parents were friends and then the children became friends and on down the line. Some of the grandchildren were also friends. Well, today's story is about friends just like that only not in Rondo but in my hometown, Cherokee, Iowa.

My best friend was Joan. Guess what? Our mothers were friends and you won't believe this but our grandmothers were friends. I call us three generation friends. We were four when our mothers got us together."

A little girl said, "What did little girls do in the olden days?" Grandma Lu chuckled, "Well, about the same things you do with your friends. We played outside. I can remember playing under Joan's pine tree in the dirt with her play dishes and making pretend pies. If we played quietly some of the chickens would even come close by us and scratch in the dirt with us. It was hard to keep from laughing at them. If we did they would run away.

 Joey raised his hand and said, "Did you have trucks and cars?" Again Grandma Lu laughed and said, "Most often in those days girls played with dolls and played house. We also played with our dogs and cats.. Sorry, Joey, no cars or trucks."

When Joan and I got older we would have sleepovers at each others houses. I can remember one that was a disaster. I guess we were about 8-10 years old. Joan was excited to stay overnight with me. We lived quite a ways from each other. We both went to the same school, but we lived in different townships. That was how the schools divided bus routs.. I suppose about ten or fifteen miles. Well that night after supper we got our pajamas on and it seemed like soon it was time to go to bed. Well, Joan wasn't having any part of that. She came down with homesickness! Have any of you ever been homesick? Many of the grownups raised their hands and nodded their heads. Well, homesickness is a real thing. You feel for sure that if you don't go home you will just die for sure. That's just the way that Joan felt that night. My mother called her mother and Joan's mother told her that they would come and get her but that then she couldn't be able to stay overnight again. Oh that was so hard. But my mother was such a good mom and a good friend to Joan's mother. She stayed up all night and put puzzles together with her so that someday she could stay overnight again. But you know what? I don't think she ever did!

I do remember staying overnight at Joan's house for a birthday sleepover. Oh how I got teased. I talked in my sleep! How I remember that. I wonder what I talked about.

Some of the folks asked about Joan and if she ever got to see her after school was out. And of course, the answers were all over the place. Grandma Lu told about  how Joan and she got together for a high school reunion after many years Their husbands burned the steaks on the grill while they were talking. Oh how those men got teased. Thank goodness we had watermelon! Over the years telephone calls and many letters were sent. We each had children and grandchildren and had lots to talk about. 

Betty asked Grandma Lu if she had a picture of her friend. Grandma Lu said, "I sure do. This is us many years ago when Joan and her husband came to visit. They came for breakfast and I was sick. I fed them ugly looking pancakes. They really didn't taste very good either. And you know what? Good friends don't care. They came to see us not my house, not my food, but for hugs and that big word again; reminiscing!

Love you Joan

Drink A Bite To Eat 10-2-And 4

 Grandma Lu enjoyed her time at the library sharing her stories. She loved the children of course, but one little boy, Joey, stood out from the others. He liked books with pictures of cars and trucks. His mother also looked a little familiar. After they had all finished  their snacks and drinks someone pointed out that Grandma Lu was drinking a can of Dr. Pepper soda. She tapped the large book called Rondo Items and said, You know there is a little story about a doctor in this book that always drank Dr. Pepper. I can remember a commercial that was old as the hills about drinking it at 10- 2 and 4. That commercial was on the radio in the 1940's and 50's. They said Drink a bite to eat. We sometimes get low on energy about those times of day, so they tried to get you to buy Dr. Pepper to give you more energy. They actually advertised it as a health tonic. They said it gave you vim, vigor, and vitality. Maybe it was good for you because that doctor lived to be ninety-six years old! She laughed and said, "They said he made house calls with  a horse and buggy. Then later on he drove a Model T Ford to go visit sick or injured folks. I can remember a doctor coming to my house when I was a little girl when I didn't feel good. I don't know of any doctors that do that nowadays, maybe there are some. I don't think so though."

Joey raised his hand and said, "What is a Model T Ford? You said the doctor drove it. Was it a really old car?" Grandma Lu said, "It sure was, Joey. It was one of the first cars made by Ford. It was made in 1908-1927. That's even before I was born!" Joey said, "Well, how fast could it go? Was it fast like my mom's car?" Grandma Lu grinned and said, "No. It only went about thirty miles an hour. That's probably a good thing though, because back in those days the roads were mainly dirt, or gravel. Going fast would have been really dangerous. I have a feeling if you are interested in old cars this library would have some books with pictures of the Model A that was made even before the Model T. "

"I see there are some young men and women in the room. Are you interested in the gangsters/robbers of long ago? There is even a little piece in this book about Jesse James and his gang of outlaws up by Rondo. How do we know? Because that same doctor was hiding in the bushes and saw them. Wow that must have been scary. I lived in South Dakota for many years and I have seen signs and heard many stories about them being seen there as well."

When it was time to go home, Joey did have his mom ask the librarian about a book with pictures of old cars. Once again Grandma Lu went home without  Joey's mom being able to visit with her. She would definitely watch for the next time Grandma Lu was scheduled to speak.

She Told A Story Called The Dirty 30's

 After Grandma Lu had talked about a half hour about the Rondo church compared to her small church she said it was time for something cool to drink and some cookies. Those that know Grandma Lu know that she loves sweets. When she told stories at Marleewood they sometimes ran out of cookies. Grandma B was forever having to make cookies for her.

Folks sat at tables and visited with her and asked her questions about where she lived. She said that she had grown up in Iowa then lived in South Dakota her adult life until the last thirty some years in Missouri.

She heard others talking about the drought. It hadn't rained much in this area causing the grass to turn brown and crunchy. Some of the children didn't know what a drought was. Grandma Lu said, "Is it ok if I tell you a story about a drought that my mother told me about? It happened before I was born, but after my oldest sister was a baby. It was terrible. Do you all know what dishtowels are?" Of course, the grown ups did, but the children looked at the picture Grandma Lu showed them from her phone. "This is a picture of one of the dishtowels that my mother made over fifty years ago. I have kept some of them because I bake bread and while it is raising I cover the loaves with these soft towels. My mother did too as well as using them to dry her dishes. See the raveled material at the bottom? That's because it's so old and worn. Some of you aren't even that old!  This was a painted one. Before that she embroidered dozens of these soft cotton towels to dry her dishes with. She didn't have a dishwasher. If fact  my sister and I were her dishwashers!" Some of the older children nodded their heads as did the grownups. 

This is the year 2026 but in the years of the 1930's there was a terrible drought. There was no to little rain for years. Folks called it the dirty thirties. Instead of rain storms they had dust storms. The house that I grew up in was built by my great grandfather. So it was very old. Things like putty around the windows to keep the dirt out of the house wasn't heard of then. So when the wind blew the dirt it would come inside the house. I complain now about dust coming in the house from our gravel road. We also had screen doors. The storm doors were open because during the summer time when the dust storms would happen it was terribly hot outside. They had no air conditioning. However, after these happened the ladies got inventive and took their beautiful decorated dishtowels and soaked them in dishpans of water. Then they would wring the water out and somehow put them up against the screens on the windows and the doors to keep the dust out of their house. Then they would do that over and over again. Remember, there was no running water so all the water had to be brought into the house by the pail full. I can remember my mother going down the hill to the pump to get pails of water for the washing. In the old days in Iowa we called it warshing.  She chuckled and so did the people she was visiting with. Some of the people asked if she would come back and tell more stories. She said she would love to if the library would schedule a time and a room for her to visit. She said she loved just sitting at a table with coffee and cookies telling her stories and they all agreed. So did Joey's mother, Betty. She just knew that the more she listened the more she would figure out how she knew the connection between her and this Grandma Lu.