The Hired Hand Getting Pushed Out Of The Hayloft Was Only A Rumor

"Well we lived in the state of Iowa. Oh it was a cold place in the winter and a hot place in the summer because in those days we had no air conditioning. I was four years old before we even had a fan. I can remember my mother talking about that fan for years when she was telling stories. She always said that it saved her life it was so hot that summer.

Well, Bonnie and I didn't always get into trouble. It was said that someone pushed the hired hand out the hayloft that summer, but I think that was just a rumor..

Bonnie and I grew up so differently and far away from each other throughout the years. I lived in South Dakota and then to Missouri. She remained in Iowa. We kept in touch with each other but sometimes it was a long time in between talks.
We always knew where the other one lived. It seemed like Bonnie was always there when I needed her though.

We grew up, went to school. We got married, had some hard times, but we also had lots of fun times.

We had our pictures taken, had children, and worked hard at different jobs and suddenly discovered that we had grandchildren. All at once we found that we were not only grandmothers, but our grandchildren had babies. So then we were great grandmothers. Oh the years flew by.

It seemed like as we grew older people started taking our pictures more. They wanted to remember us having fun. However, when we were young our parents couldn't afford to have our pictures taken. There were no cell phones then. You had to pay to have your picture taken or made in those days.

Grandma Lu got out her phone and showed Marlee a picture of her and her cousin's Grandmother Johnson. Bonnie looks just like she did. She had brown eyes and brown hair too.

I can remember sending this picture to Bonnie one day. She said, "Oh my goodness, we do look alike don't we?"

  My husband and I traveled a long way to go see Bonnie Jean's family last week. They were all going to get together to remember and honor her.

On the way there we stopped at a rest area and I saw something that I think you should see. This is called a pay phone. You can't take it anywhere. You have to put money in it to talk on it. I took a picture of it so you could see what I used to talk on when I wasn't at home. Do you notice that there isn't a telephone book? If you want to call someone you have to know their number.

Bonnie Jean and I had planned on seeing each other in May. There was terrible flooding of the roads, so our trip was postponed. On our way there we saw that the fields were still flooded. So much rain and ruined crops in the fields. We saw many houses that were still surrounded by flood waters.

She has gone to a different place now so I can't visit with her anymore, but I can look at all the fun pictures and read the stories that she was in. She has a huge family that can tell her fun stories to their children. She will always be remembered. Her life from beginning to end was full of adventures both real and make believe. She has now started on an equally exciting adventure that we can only imagine.

One of the things that she was known to say frequently was, "I love you to the moon and back." She said that to me also. But on July 16, 2019 I had been very sick. In a comment Bonnie said to me, "Girl, you got this. I love you to the moon..."

Bonnie Jean Haralson
December 14, 1944-August 4, 2019