Submitted for the blog by Linda

(this is what I am doing during this pandemic: reading journals!

Oct 8, 1994

 

“Grandma B has been moved in with Aunt Katy for some months now.  That was okay for her and the rest of us.  After all, she’s 97 years old.  The plan now is to burn her house down.  That isn’t necessarily all right with all of us even though we realize it will be done (right now the fire dept is using it for smoke training- we haven’t had enough rain to be okay to set it).  Pat decided we should have a parting picnic so this day those that could, gathered and remembered the old house.  It was good for us to be able to say good bye- I’ll still probably cry when it actually happens as I’ve already been doing that and feel like it now as I write this.

 

What I remember:  the spots we picked for hiding- all the cupboards in the house, the great playhouse in the front yard (floors soaked with gas and diesel!), sliding down the cellar door and getting a huge sliver in my backside and the prune tree (Larry would call it a plum).  Others remember the candy Grandpa Baker had in his pockets.  I remember him rolling his cigarettes with tobacco and sheets of paper.  (I didn’t mention that at the party!).  Sarah remembered the game “No Bears out Tonight!”  It must have been our own made up one. (it was tag).  We remembered all the haying, the silage and molasses, silo, the picking berries and the family.  We don’t really realize the uniqueness of our heritage until we sit and talk about it.  I hope I’ll be able to convey to our boys just how important family is.”