When I think back so many memories have long gone but some are still there crying sometimes and other times laughing. Most of my life I lived in the country which was great. You could always take long walks in the woods which I loved to do. I know one time somebody followed me home. I just kept walking like I didn’t know he was there and I made it but things could have been very different. At one place I had a bobcat endeavor which is a story all by itself. Later we moved into company housing. They all looked alike so if you didn’t pay attention you would end up in the wrong house. Back then all the children were looked after by all the neighbors. You knew if you did something wrong the neighbors were going to tell on you. While we lived there my mother had her first son. I passed my sister coming home from school as she was going back and she told me we had a brother. All we did was cry because we just wanted girls-already had three. I was the oldest so I did the babysitting for all the family. Mom went to town for groceries and Rick was only 3 weeks old. He would not stop crying. It was a hot day in June and I wrapped him in a blanket,went out and got in Daddy’s car and set with him. He loved doing that. Well by the time Mom got home he was broken out with measles from top to bottom. I just got lucky that time on doing something right. I was always sent to whoever needed a babysitter because of being the oldest grandchild. Everybody was always really nice to me though. The baby boy and the baby girl were born on the same day but 3 years apart. The girl next to me was born 1 day after I was but 2 years apart. My parents had some good timing somewhere down that line. We walked to school everyday and came home for lunch each day. Mom would make a pot of mashed potatoes or something like that. We had no money for hot lunch. I don’t know why but we never had soup and Mom hated rice because she grew up eating it. Daddy would not have hotdogs in the house. Sunday meals could be that chicken I chased all week,mashed potatoes,green beans and hot rolls. We always had a pie for dessert. But you ate while you were sitting at the table. Once the meal was over there was no going back. Daddy had a sweet tooth and so do I. He worked very hard at a tannery. Most folks won’t even know what that is. Mom packed his lunch and she would buy cakes to put in his lunch. I found them one day and boy did I have a ball. Oh,but I paid for it.Daddy was really mad. The girl next to me was going to get the last piece of meat on the plate no matter what. I think she would have stuck you with a fork if you got in her way. Sometimes Daddy would take us camping up at his homeplace and we loved this. We slept in the back of a station wagon and I guarantee you had a foot stuck in your face. The food Mom cooked while we were out like this was the best in the world though. There was a river running by the house so we would go find a baby snake and go for Mom. She would go running for Daddy and the boat. Oh yes! We knew what we were doing. Mom was scared to death of farm animals. For some odd reason they would attack her. That includded chickens and cows. I ususally was raising some chickens. The little kids would wait until I went to school and then go after the eggs. The evidence was usually on the ground when I got home. I used to follow my Dad everywhere he would go. We went berry picking one day and I think we got a little too close to a bear. Daddy was telling me to back up and keep walking and not make any noise. I remember hearing a snort from something but I never saw it. He used to come home and get us and take us out to whatever he had found in the fields. This is something we all loved. We saw snakes hatching,a raccoon got Daddy in the leg,and a baby deer laying in the field waiting for its mother. Vickie couldnot resist that one though and she got kicked pretty good. There are so many memories sometimes that we put away and forget about. Pull them out and tell someone about some of yours. I know I have a lot more.