Reflections on Writing about My Minnesota Years

I started this blog a long time ago. It was a Toastmaster's requirement in a Pathway that prompted me to write again and record some memories. It was amazing to see how I began to remember more and more details as I wrote each blog. It took about a month to remember the names of my sister Martha's boy friends (or as she called them: friendly boys). 

I consider our home in Minneapolis to be my childhood home. I have wonderful memories of playing with friends, going to church, learning in school, and discovering the joys of reading, sewing, and skating.

It gives me great comfort to reflect on those times. My parents and siblings are gone now. 

Remembering has been enhanced by the wonderful photos that my Daddy took. I am very blessed to have Easter and Christmas and other family photos. He would set up the tripod and the timer and run to get in some of the photos! Most of the time I was intimidated by my Daddy, he had a temper and argued with Martha a lot. But he showed his love with his photography and building us ice rinks! 

My Mom - oh my Mom! She was my whole world. She had a beautiful soprano voice and often sang solos in church. She loved to sew and made all of our clothes. She had those beautiful Friendly Village dishes that I now use each holiday. She enjoyed a good laugh and often was silly with sayings from our Aunt Dorothy. For example: ABC the goldfish, LMN goldfish...OSAR too goldfish. Or, Mardon me padam, may I sew you to another pew? And of course, Pris Ting cried the poet and was happy! (Tis Spring...)

What's next? Not sure, but there are lots of memories from the short time we lived in Sioux Falls, SD before we settled in Overland Park, KS. Stay tuned and thanks for walking down memory lane with me!

3655 Vincent Avenue North - The House

Growing up we referred to our homes by their numbers. Our Kansas City home was at 6519 Garfield so it was referred to as 6519. Our Minneapolis home was at 3655 Vincent Avenue North and we referred to it as 3655.

I remember this house so well! My bedroom was at the left window on the second story. When you walked in the front door, on the left were the steps up to the second floor. In the middle as you entered was a hallway and on the right was the long living room. The living room had a fireplace that had been boarded up at one time. Straight down the hall and connected to both the living room and the kitchen was the dining room. One time my parents found some old newspapers in the storage space under the stairs! The kitchen had a little porch on the left and that is where my brother Tim slept. The upstairs had a bedroom for my sisters in the front right with my parents bedroom in the back right. The only bathroom was across from my parents bedroom. It had a claw foot tub and I remember getting the back slippery with soap and sliding down into the water (and probably making a big mess!).

The first photo shows the Christmas decorations Mom put over the nonfunctional fireplace. That year Martha, Tim, and I, made our stockings out of felt (and yes I still have mine)!  Those little Angels and Santas were actually candles. The plate on the right of the fireplace shows London Heights Methodist Church in Kansas City, KS.

Here is a peek at our kitchen! Out that door was the porch where Tim slept. Mom had the Revere pots and pans for her whole life!

The front porch had windows, no screens. One summer my Mom was outside washing the windows and the neighbors came out to tell her to go in or she would get heat stoke! She laughed and said, heat stroke? I just now got thawed out. That story was told time and time again. 

This home was where I first saw my Dad garden. He planted saliva, coleus, and cockscombs along the side of the house and morning glories against the wall of the garage. He liked to stand outside and water his plants. His Mom, my grandmother we called Nanny, was also a wonderful gardener. We had Hollyhocks too! We had them on the side of the house and by the garage. I would take a flower, insert a toothpick, and add a bud to make a little flower doll.

My room was not very big. Room enough for a twin bed and a dresser. The window had criss-cross sheer curtains. I would press the fall leaves between wax paper and pin the leaves to my curtains. I still like little cozy spaces!

In my sisters' room we had a treadle sewing machine. I learned how to sew on that machine and made doll clothes for my Mary Hoyer dolls. I loved the feeling of moving that treadle pedal back and forth and the magic of the thread making a seam. One year I made my Mom an apron out of gingham and it seemed like it took forever to make! Probably because I tried to make it the night before Mother's Day!

Even though we did not live there long, I consider this house to be a dear family home. I was excited to learn recently from a friend on the Old North Minneapolis Facebook group that it has been updated and well loved by other families. It was endearing to see it in its present day glory. I hope to visit it one day!!

William Penn Elementary - Class Time

In Kansas City I had just finished learning how to print the full alphabet. I was surprised in the middle of first grade (at another school - we had a rental home before we moved to the home we bought on Vincent Ave N). The surprise in Minneapolis was that some of the letters in the alphabet were shaped differently! What? In Minneapolis they taught, for example, that the lower case printed "g" was just like it appears in the newspaper. That was my first introduction to "fonts" - even though I did not realize it at the time. I managed just fine learning the new shapes.

The most wonderful thing about school was sitting by Victoria Paurus in third and fourth grade. Victoria was my best friend and we spent our free time drawing ice skaters or ladies in ballroom dresses. I visited her home once and she had a shelf with a collection of horses. I don't remember that we were able to have any other time together outside of school - she lived North of our school and I lived South. In fact, I don't think anyone had anything like sleep-overs or came over to play unless you were in the same neighborhood. I recently searched and searched and found her photo from junior high. I found her birthday was June 25, 1949, and that she got married in 1974 to a Donald Johnson. It appears that they have both passed away but I was unable to find their obituaries. It warms my heart to see her smile.

In second grade our teacher, Mrs. Weber, loved to read to us and she also had us memorize poetry. The only one I remember is In Flanders Fields. I had no idea what it was about until I was in high school and took American History. The Song of Hiawatha was also a popular poem during these school years with its Minnesota connection. 

I was blessed with a wonderful third grade teacher, Mrs. Rourke, who was also left handed. THAT meant that I learned to hold a pencil just like the right handed students with the pencil pointing back to my elbow. It didn't matter that my hand covered what I was writing - in fact, it never occurred to me that it was happening. We learned the Palmer Method of handwriting and had practice sessions learning the shapes and later writing whole words. The blackboard in the front of the room had the alphabet  (Upper and Lower case letters) across the top. The blackboard was very important; it was where our spelling words were listed, where the math problems were posted - everything we were learning was either in our books or on the blackboard. We had to copy what was on the blackboard to our own paper. No worksheets and no homework. 

My fourth grade teacher was Mrs. Stinglein. I had 27 classmates and each one signed my autograph book. Lynda Erickson was in my class; she was my next door neighbor and we walked to school together.

When we went to the chalkboard to do a math problem we had to stand with our non-dominant hand behind our back. AND, it was a big honor to be picked to clean the erasers after school. You had to take them outside to the back of the school and pound them against the brick wall!

There was always a flag in the front of the room and we said the Pledge of Allegiance each morning. I don't remember any art or music classes at all! Doesn't mean we did not have them. I also don't remember a lunch room. I am guessing I took a sack lunch and paid my 2 cents for milk. Then out to recess.

I was very excited one summer when I learned that the library was open one day a week! That was the beginning of my love affair with books and reading. The summer before 4th grade I read the whole series of the Little House on the Prairie by Laura Ingalls Wilder. Libraries are magical places - the smell of all of those books means "home" to me.

William Penn Elementary School - Winter

 As previously mentioned, my family lived in Minneapolis, MN, during my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grades and I attended William Penn Elementary School. We had moved there during my 1st grade year from Kansas City, Kansas.

One of my first memories of winter was seeing kids ice skating on ice rinks in their back yard! What?! I had never seen anyone ice skate much less in their back yard.

In second grade I got ice skates for Christmas! I was so excited and promptly learned how to make a pom-pom out of yard to tie on them. If you don't know, you get a circle of cardboard, cut out a center hole, and wrap yarn inside out and around and around. When you have it as thick as it can get through the hole, thread a different yarn thread inside and around and tie it loosely. Cut around the outside edge, pull the tie tight now and make a knot! Fluff and there you go! All the girls had white skates with pom-poms. Boys had the black hockey skakes.

My Dad got into the making an ice rink in our back yard in a big way!! He used a huge piece of black plastic and laid it over the grass in our backyard. My brother Tim and I helped mound snow around the edges. Daddy would go out at night with the hose and flood our little rink. The ice would build up night after night and then it was ready for us! Tim and I had so much fun skating every day after school. If it snowed we had to shovel it off. After a week or so of skating  Daddy would lay another layer of ice. I can remember the feel my cold toes and nose and the sheer joy of ice skating. Yes, that is me in the picture below. I can't see any pom-poms on my skates just those on the ties for the hat I was wearing. Can you tell that I had braids? Mom would do little French braids near my face that went into regular braids. That has to be my very favorite hair style of my youth!!

I wrote before about Itchy Leggins and Kickerinos. Tim had snow boots, those black things with the multiple buckles and they were fairly tall - but they were overshoes. I had Kickerinos; they were worn like shoes with a warm fuzzy lining.  My feet got really hot during the school day! 

We walked to school with our friends who lived on our block. I was amazed at the snow that would get piled up between the sidewalk and the street. It was often much taller than I was and the teachers would warn us all the time to not walk up there! One Winter a crossing guard was hit by a car during bad weather - sleety slick roads. Her name was Diana Mooseman and we all said a prayer for her in our class. She was badly hurt - the car (maybe even a taxi?) pushed her into a store at the corner. She was older than I was, a 6th grader. I don't ever remember getting a ride to school. Mom did have a car, a Nash Rambler, and my Dad had a company car, a Chevy, since he worked for General Motors selling car parts.

Besides the rink at home we would sometimes get to go to the outdoor rink at Fowell Park with my older sister Martha. There was a warming shack were you could get warm around a fire in a barrel and buy hot chocolate. There was also a hockey rink but I stayed away from that after I saw blood on the ice! The park played music out of big speakers, much like an indoor roller rink. 

Years later we went ice skating with our kids and even took our Brazilian exchange student, Bernardo Telles. We skated at Queeny Park Rink in Manchester, MO. 

3655 Vincent Ave North - Neighbors

Lynda Erickson and Lynn Le Dell! 

Lynda Erickson was my next door neighbor and in my class at school. At William Penn, there was just one classroom for each grade! 

Lynn Le Dell lived maybe 4 houses away from our home. We were always up for fun and silly shenanigans. Our playmates were always our friends on the block - and our adventures were in our backyards or basements.

One time I came over and Lynn was so excited! She took me up to an upstairs bedroom. There was a dresser with a mirror on it and she would get on a chair at the edge of the mirror and put her head so it rested in the middle of the edge and wave her arm and leg! In the mirror she would see herself mirrored as if both arms and legs were waving! Of course, I had to try it too! We did that for about an hour, laughing loudly, and finally were told to go outside and play.

Lynn and Lynda were also my playing school buddies. We set up our school either in my basement. We had our dolls there and took turns being the teacher. Our school was complete with books and paper and pencils. I am positive that my brother left quickly when we started playing school. We also did this for hours and had lots of laughs.

Lynn once had a relative come to stay at her house and the relative had a cute new baby. I was excited because I loved babies but there was a sense of something not right whenever I would visit. Now I realize that her relative had the baby out of marriage and it was a sense of shame in that house. It was years later before I figured out that situation. Here is Lynn with her brother and that baby (took awhile to find this photo!). 

I started searching for Lynda Erickson....and found some photos that may be her the Roosevelt High School yearbook - On Ancestry.com, but her name is spelled Linda! Oh names names names!!! It is so hard to find friends from elementary days when you have moved away and, oh, lots and lots of years have passed.

On one block over was a girl my age who would visit her grandparents. I remember her because we would go in their attic, play Clue, and eat red hots. Clue and red hots candy now are linked forever!

Another neighbor (between my house and Lyn's) was a new Mom. Her little girl was about 1 year old and I would go and visit them and enjoyed making the baby laugh and smile. The Mom would invite me to lunch and I remember we would have soft boiled eggs - a real treat. Later in my teenage years I was busy babysitting. Interesting how some of the things you love show up early in your life.

At the other end of the age spectrum was a grandmother-aged neighbor. She had a fantastic garden and gave me my first indoor plant - she called it Mother In Law Tongues. Maybe this was Grandma Ruff!! I kept that plant for years and was very proud to have my own plant. My Mom had Pothos (but we called it Ivy) - and her plants would get long and vine all around a window. Later when I worked as a technical writer, I would have Pothos growing in water at my desk. My friends from India said it was a lucky plant, called the Money Plant in their country.

Since starting this series of posts I have made new friends on an Old North Minneapolis Facebook group. I have found out the Ruffs lived at 3647 Vincent;  back across the alley from the Ruffs were the Sheridans; the Delmonicos lived across the street from me and the Ruffs. There is an alley that runs behind all of the houses between the blocks. 

Girl friends, babies, and a gardener, but the best neighbor was the lady who made popcorn balls for Halloween! She invited Lynn and I into her kitchen once and showed us how she made them! I was so impressed.

3655 Vincent Ave North - My Hobbies

First grade through fourth grade were foundational years for hobbies I enjoy today. 

First and foremost was learning to read, loving owning books, and being able to go to the library. My maternal grandmother, Robbie, gave me two books that I cherish. One is Anne of Green Gables. The other is The Illustrated Treasury of Children's Literature - with wonderful illustrations!

I spent hours reading - and would respond to a call to dinner by asking to read one more paragraph or finish the chapter! I would lay on my bed to read or sit in the front porch. My Mom never understood how I wore out my shoes so fast when all I did was sit and read!

My Mom took a typing class one summer and so, of course, Tim and I learned how to type on the typewriter too. This non-electric beauty was set up on that front porch and it had the book that flipped over for exercises like: "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs." My hands were very small and I rarely used my little fingers. 

My Mom made all of my clothes during this period. She was a wonderful seamstress and also enjoyed quilting (quilting was all done by hand).  She taught me how to make clothes for my Mary Hoyer dolls and I used her leftover fabric. I sent in labels from Wrights rick rack (plus 25 cents) and received little snips of rick rack and ribbons.  Eventually I graduated from hand sewing to the treadle sewing machine. I was heart broken when we had to leave it for the church when we left Minneapolis and moved to Sioux Falls, SD. I also embroidered a bit - but could never get the hang of French Knots. It felt like it took years but at age 11 (!) I finished a sampler of stitches.

I visited one of my school friends several times (which was a rare occurrence to visit someone outside of the neighborhood). Her father worked at a printing place and brought home lots of different little pieces of paper. I was in heaven when she gave me a whole shoe box full of different papers. Now I laugh because I am such a sucker for a pretty paper design and have enjoyed playing with paper in scrapbooks and making cards.

3655 Vincent Ave N - Siblings

Mary Ruth, Martha, and Timmy. We all have biblical names. Here we are in our living room at 3655 Vincent Ave. N. You can barely see the silhouettes on the wall. I remember going to a store downtown - Daytons? Donnelsons? to sit for those! Mine was lost but I have Tim's! This must have been when I was in 2nd grade since my hair was not long enough to braid!

Mary Ruth. Mary Ruth was ten years older than me and graduated from North High School when we lived in Minneapolis. One vivid memory is when her friend Yvette came over. Yvette and Mary Ruth taught me how to take care of my fingernails - like a manicure! Mary Ruth married young (she was 18) to Reuben, who she met at Jess and Gerties' farm in Ellsworth, Minnesota. Jess and Gertie's family relationship and their last name is lost in my mind. If I discover it, I will be sure to edit this blog! I had never been on a farm before! This farm was a dairy farm, with a milking barn where they played soft music, and another barn where they processed the milk in big stainless vats. They also had chickens that terrified me. Reuben was one of the workers at the farm and quickly set out to romance my sister. I remember coming home from school one day and my Mom and Martha were crying because Mary Ruth had gotten married. My Dad was really mad. Things calmed down later, especially when they had their first baby, my niece Theresa! In the photo below you see Tim, Theresa being held by Martha, and me with French braids going to a pony tail! It was Easter (and looked to be pretty warm).

Martha. Martha was her family name but she was Marty to her friends. Martha was eight years older than me and was the "smart" one and a tomboy. She was a member of the National Honor Society and had two smart friendly boys: Bob Lund and Steve Mahalchek. I remember them trying to calculate the number of grains in a Kool-Aid package. She brought a foreign exchange student from Sweden to our Thanksgiving dinner one year - Sven. Sven ate everything on his plate - and he had never had turkey, dressing, or cranberry sauce. After that we were urged to join "Sven's clean plate club". Martha learned to play the guitar during these years and I loved hearing her sing the song: Fraulein by Bobby Helms.

Far across the blue waters
Lives an old German's daughter
By the banks of the old river Rhine
Where I loved her and left her
But I can't forget her
'Cause I miss my pretty Fraulein
Fraulein, Fraulein
Look up toward the heavens each night
When the stars seem to shine
By the same stars above you
I swear that I love you
You are my pretty Fraulein

Martha was a feisty smart teen and really enjoyed arguing with my Dad (who was always right, of course). She was very competitive, especially with my older sister Mary Ruth.

Tim. Timmy was my mischievous brother who loved to tease me. He was two years older than me and a champion with the Duncan yo-yo: walk the dog, around the world, baby in the cradle! He had asthma and somehow my parents thought it was good for him to sleep in the unheated back porch. He had an electric blanket but I can't imagine how cold it must have been for him! Tim loved cars and had a little go cart. He was always getting hurt - not badly - just enough to get a few stitches. We ice skated in our back yard and did chores together. I remember pushing (barely) that push mower to cut the grass. I did better at raking leaves, which Daddy burned in the alley. 

William Penn Elementary School - Twirling

We first moved to Minneapolis, Minnesota from Kansas City, Kansas, in the middle of my first grade. We rented a home and then bought our house at 3655 Vincent Ave North. If I think of my childhood home, that is the home I think of!

I attended William Penn Elementary School for 2nd, 3rd, and 4th grade - and then we moved to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but that is another story!!!

I loved this school and enjoyed my studies but the fun part is what we did during recess. Since the girls were required to wear dresses, we wore shorts underneath them. Why? Because when we played on the monkey bars the boys would not be able to see our panties.

The monkey bars, not to be confused with a jungle gym, had three bars of varying heights, middle, high, and then low. Most of the time I stood in line for my turn at the middle but occasionally would be brave enough for the high one!

Twirling. That is what we did on the monkey bars. First we began with one leg hooked over the bar, then holding on tightly fall forward and twirl around to the beginning upright position. Next level of difficulty was falling backwards and twirling! Of course, there was also the "double" where you sat with both legs around the bars and twirled forward or backward. You held on with both your hands and the back of your knees! I loved doing this and had blisters and calluses on my hands. We would all count how many times we would go around!

This photo shows the monkey bars but not twirling. These children are just hanging or sitting.

We may have had other activities like hopscotch, but it was not the number one thing to do. In fourth grade, twirling at recess became less popular when a new girl joined our class. She was a natural leader and guess what? She did not play on the monkey bars; she RAN. All the 4th grade girls would run behind her to one end of the big field and back during recess. It is funny to think back at that time - running was okay for me but not as much fun as twirling.

Later, much later, as a young adult, I tried to twirl, and it was not the same. I did not have the calluses and it bruised the back of my knee! I did **one twirl** for old times sake.

 

My Fascination with Happiness Led to Personal Commandments

I have always been described as a happy smiling person. When I was a little girl I remember my Mother's friends at church commenting on my smile. Now that I am no longer a little girl (at least on the outside) I gravitate to people and things that make me happy! This little cartoon was floating around Facebook - without an author (if anyone knows the source please let me know). I love it because it is simple and so right!

You can imagine my delight to find a book all about happiness! I was ready for a quick read and a quick dose of tips about creating happiness. (Note: this is an affiliate link. See my disclosure.)


Was I ever wrong. This was not a quick read for me. This was a savor every single chapter type of book. It totally appealed to my analytical side with up-teen examples from  Gretchen Rubin's research and personal stories! I was in HEAVEN. Of course I love words (most writers do) and she appealed to me as a reader with definitions and the bonus of antonyms (opposite meanings). She also had me hooked with her organization. My many years as a technical writer trained my brain to look for headings, bullet points, and structure that tells me I can depend on the content to unfold in a logical manner. 

I read a lot of books - many are in the self help category and others are "escape" fiction. This book - was exceptional - it inspired me to journey with Gretchen. She shared her Personal Commandments and how they influence her life and happiness. What a terrific idea!

I created my personal commandments and have printed and displayed them in my play (office/craft/sewing) room. 

My Personal Commandments (composed January 29, 2019)

1. Be Esther
2. Challenge ANTs (automatic negative thoughts)
3. Capture memories
4. Accept others
5. Finish projects
6. Learn and grow
7. See the little
8. See the big
9. Recognize seasons
10. Look for fit
11. Pass it on
12. Go outside

Following commandments 3, 6, and 9, I am once again blogging! 

Disclosure

Disclosure: Please note that some of the links in my blog are affiliate links, and at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you decide to make a purchase after clicking through the link. Please understand that I have experienced all of these companies, and I recommend them because they are helpful and useful, not because of the small commissions I make if you decide to buy something through my links. Please do not spend any money on these products unless you feel you need them or that they will help you achieve your goals.