aunt elizabeth

I did not know any of my siblings really well. They were all far enough apart, but I do remember some specific memories of a few. From oldest to youngest they are: Elizabeth, Lillian (Sis), Bud (Earhart), Felix, Marjorie, Vernon, Beatrice, Me, Cleopha, Lolly, Naomi, and Lloyd.

I remembers Elizabeth cleaned the house and took care of the siblings because she was the oldest. Once she moved to Saint Louis, Missouri, Elizabeth did the same things for other people as well. Elizabeth was grown up and moved out before I was born.

I remembered a time with Vernon when a neighbor gave a horse drawn wagon load of apples to our family. The apples were either bought or picked. To keep the apples fresh for a longer period of time, we had to dig a hole then line and cover the bottom with straw. After the straw, the hole was lined with tarpaper to waterproof it. Straw was then put on top of the tarpaper. When someone wanted an apple out of the hole you had to dig another hole to get back in, grab an apple, and then cover the hole back up with the dirt. Because of this system with the tarpaper and straw, the apples would not freeze, but would be kept fresh. Anytime work was done like this there were never tractors, but rather horses with manual plows.

I remembers Felix and Bud worked in the Civilian Conservation Core (CCC). This was a government program for boys who worked on rocks, bridges, and around cemeteries. The boys were allowed to keep half and the other half went to the boy’s parents.