Another neighbor we became good friends with is Evelyn Shellabarger. She and her parents lived on the farm north of ours. When they moved in we tried to guess what Evelyn would be like, before we met her.
We decided (from what we could see of her across the fields) that she was blond, beautiful and very rich. We named her “Gloria” because that name would be befitting to a blond, rich girl. We were right, she was rich and beautiful, inside as well as out. We fast became good friends.
She was sandwiched right between Lolly and I –Lolly one year older and I one year younger than Evelyn. We had so much fun together. Evelyn made our mundane life so much more bearable and fun. Her dad let her drive his car. This was practically unheard of in our community – a teenage girl driving! The Shellabargers came from the state of California but originally were from Mexico, Missouri. Evelyn was very smart and very popular in school. She was interested in everything and everyone. She could do anything. She helped her dad remodel their house and helped in the fields just like a son would. Their two older sons had big farms around Mexico, Missouri. I guess Evelyn had to do the work the boys would have done.
Evelyn and Lolly planned a surprise birthday party for me on my 16th. They took me to the Triangle Café to get a milkshake. That was my birthday present from them. When we got back to the house, the house was full of friends. I was so shy and embarrassed I ran upstairs to my bedroom and didn’t come down until 20 minutes later. I had a lot of fun and got some wonderful gifts. A boy friend came all the way from Centertown to the party. That was a long way to go back in those days.