As I said previously, my Aunt and my Uncle each got married when I was around 3. My Aunt moved to Funk with her husband and my Uncle stayed on the farm. My Grandma and I moved into Holdrege to my parents home at this time. It was the perfect place for me to grow up.

I realize this is a private thing, but I am going to share it because it tells so much about my Grandma and how seriously she took the responsibility of raising me. And how, as she told me years later, she saw it as a privilege. When my Grandpa passed away, my Grandma had to go through so many of the same court proceedings all over again. (the lawyer who represented us was from Orleans. His son was a friend and classmate of my Mom) Mr. Sherwood told my Grandma that she needed to take something to raise me. I received social security from my Dad and my Grandma was entitled to something. But my Grandma said she didn’t want to do that. So she arranged to have my account pay her a certain amount. She then turned around and wrote a check back to my account for that same amount for rent on the house. I have always felt she deserved so much more.

When I was 3 my Grandma was 59 years old. Do you remember me saying my Grandma did not have a driver’s license? She got her license sometime after Grandpa passed away and before we moved to town. She was very good with math and numbers, but had never had to do much for the farm or their finances until that time either. My Grandma skipped grades growing up and left school early. That was common then. But she always told me she felt like she had to learn a lot of new things at this time. My Uncle Dick did the farming and I remember him coming to town and sitting at the kitchen table with my Grandma going over everything with her. I always loved those days. Hearing them talk and of course laugh together. This is one of the reasons I always remember my Uncle Dick as being such a kind and gentle man.

Just a little hint of what I was like as a kid. haha! When they were preparing to move to town, I had been exposed to the Mumps. So Grandma had put the bottle of baby aspirin on a high shelf in the bathroom in case they needed it for me and so it didn’t get packed. I loved the orange “candy” tasting baby aspirin. So I crawled up, got them down and proceeded to eat what was left in the bottle. (well over half is what I was told) As the day wore on I started to feel sick. This is actually one of my oldest memories. I was laying on the bed and I just wanted my Uncle Dick. I would not tell anyone else what they needed to know. He of course, came in and figured out what I had done. It was too late to pump my stomach but I spent a night or two in the hospital. And my dear Grandma spent all that time with me. Her kids moved her to town without her getting to be there and figure it all out. I would not let my Grandma leave the room at all. And she stayed right there with me. I go back to losing my Grandpa and knowing the loss even at such a young age. I was very attached to my Grandma my entire life. I think losing my Grandpa had an impact on that. I have to give my Grandma so much credit because she did every single thing she could to help me become a secure person. And she never once acted like it was a hardship or made me feel bad about that.

I wanted to also mention at this time, that I am not sure when the discussion was had or how. But I always knew that my parents and sister went to California and they died in a car accident with my Grandparents. I don’t think I even knew what California was but I thought in my mind it was an evil place. That comes into play later in my life. I also have to give my Grandma so much credit because from a very young age, she allowed me to talk about it and ask questions. That was not at all common practice. We now know how important that is. And every single time it was talked about, she ended the conversation with “This was God’s plan for us. We were left to take care of each other.” I believe this in my heart. And as I am typing this I have tears because it still gets to me that she had the love and the heart to always reinforce this to me. And she lost as much, so her telling me this with so much love and such an open heart was everything!!

I had a reoccurring dream that I remember at a very young age. I would dream that my Dad came to the door and told me it was a mistake and they were alive. He would hug me and then go to get my Mom and Sister from the car. I would wake up then. I always felt happy because I saw my Dad. I would tell my Grandma about it. Looking back I can’t imagine how difficult that was for her to hear. I slept with her a lot of my life at home so we would lay there and talk about it. I am not sure how old I was when I had the dreams or when they stopped.

Another thing that happened when we moved to town was that I met my very best childhood friends. My neighbor Rhonda Bechtel lived next door to me. I remember the day I was on the front porch and she came over and started talking to me. I know I told her I lived with my Grandma. And she asked me to come play with her. She was a couple of years older, but we were fast friends and remained friends. At least until she passed away. I will talk more about our story later.

Linda Westergren was 3 years older and lived across the street. She took on the roll of big sister. I have already mentioned this. We too were life time friends, again until she passed away. She had a big impact on my life.

I have also mentioned the Young family that lived on the other side of us. Lawrence and Faye had children that were older than I was. But they had known my parents and were very good to me. Faye was one of my Grandmother’s dearest friends.

Across the street from us was Mrs. Erickson and her father Mr. Anderson. They were older and also knew my parents. They would sit out on their beautiful front porch in the evenings and coax me to come over and chat with them. They were extremely kind to me. They told me stories of my parents and watching my sister when she was little. I loved this because at this time people did not talk a lot about things like this and I needed it.

And this was my cocoon!! It was the perfect place for me to learn and grow and spread my wings.