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Archiver > MOATCHIS > 2012-01 > 1327193327


From: "K R Edwards" <>
Subject: [MOATCHIS] Sharing Atchison Co. -Stories
Date: Sat, 21 Jan 2012 19:48:47 -0500
References: <CAA+Y5TUpX+v=xm=rQb-d3OUNbOy-81fAipUodHNQsurP+Pqakg@mail.gmail.com>
In-Reply-To: <CAA+Y5TUpX+v=xm=rQb-d3OUNbOy-81fAipUodHNQsurP+Pqakg@mail.gmail.com>


Think it would be a lot of fun to start a chain of stories about our
relatives or ourselves that lived in Atchison County. It has a long & rich
history. There were lots of things, good and bad that have happened, so lets
have some fun and share these stories. I take no responsibility for what my
relatives have done, Good or Bad,

Having lived in major US cities all my life it is fun to reminisce sometimes
about the fond memories that I have experienced over my 70+ years. I will
start by telling one of the most wonderful personal memories that I have
from my childhood in Tarkio.

Kathy Ross Edwards
=========================================================
My father was working in Detroit and our mother had to have surgery, so the
logical solution was for two young sisters to go live with their
grandparents for a while, until she recovered. Betsy and I didn't put up any
fuss as we had spent many wonderful summers on the Clayton Scott farm in
years past.

That fall we were entered into the Centerview Country School just up the
road. Never having been to a one room school was a little disconcerting at
first but became a favorite memory of my lifetime.

If we arrived at school too early, we had to wait until the teacher let us
all in. Everyone was very impressed when a schoolmate whose farm was across
the road, would occasionally ride his horse to school. No kids driving cars
to school back then.

When the day started, the teacher seemed to have all of us under control and
very busy studying. The special smell of the books in that school still
lingers in my memory. It was a wonderful experience to be able to get
glimpses of what the upper classes were doing when I was finished with my
assignments.

The only break the teacher got was when it was time for recess. My memory of
recess was that it was a free-for-all.

Diving into our lunches at lunchtime, was a particularly memorable occasion
because I never knew what delicacies my grandmother had created for me.
Those wonderful sandwiches of homemade bread & canned meats, potato chips
that had been freshly made that morning, topped off usually with very tasty
cookies or a piece of cake. All homemade.

On the way home one day I found a rattlesnake skin and dragged it home,
thinking I would have some fun and tease my grandmother, who was terrified
of rattlesnake's. That night when gram came in to say good night, I quickly
crawled under the bed and pushed the snakeskin out from under the bed as she
came in. Needless to say the memory of her scream lingers to this day.
"CLAYTON COME IN HERE QUICK WITH A HOE, THERE'S A SNAKE UNDER THE BED". I
was fortunate to be her grandchild and didn't have problems sitting the next
day. She had the patience of an angel.

Fall came along and the time when the men gathered to help each other bring
in the harvest. The ladies lovingly prepared the food that was shared at
suppertime. Don't think that I have seen tables laden with that much food
since.

After the harvest we started looking forward to the Christmas season. Spare
time was spent rehearsing for the Christmas Program for which we would all
be participating, in front of our parents and grandparents. What a
disappointment it was for me when I got the flu the day before the Christmas
Program, because our father had flown in from Detroit to see it and spend
the holidays. But I still received a red wagon for Christmas.

Such a short time in my life span, but what great memories of that time so
many years ago.

I am not a very good storyteller, but what say you ?

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