Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 43
December 26, 2022
Christmas 1952: All Nine Grandchildren
Alas, Leora Wilson didn’t start keeping a diary until 1958. She filled in one from the bank during 1946, but it was made of cheap paper, which now is fragile.
I’d hoped to find1952. Nothing, but a Christmas card to me (she must have sent them to her other grandchildren as well) and photos of all of us arriving at her little house in Guthrie Center, where she made a home for her own mother, the Sunday after Christmas, which was December 28.
She printed a note to her oldest granddaughter inside the card.
We’d just arrived from our farm south of Dexter, all bundled up in the snow–Joy, Doris, Gloria, and Warren Neal (wearing buckle galoshes). The leggings Gloria and I wore came with our coats and were worn under our dresses. Yes, dresses in those days.
Mom’s sister’s family, who farmed near Earlham: Darlene (carrying baby David), Robert, Sam, Dennis (in front) and Richard Scar.
Their oldest brother’s family, who lived in Des Moines by then: Evelyn, Donna (carrying a doll), Delbert, Leora Darlene, and Delbert Ross Wilson.
Grandma and her mother (Laura Goff) always used Great Grandmother’s Noritake china from the bargain basement of Omaha’s Brandeis department store (from 1939). They usually served roast beef, broccoli, cottage cheese, and whatever else Mom, Darlene, and Evelyn brought with them.
Laura (Jordan) Goff, Guthrie Center, IowaThese family photos show all nine of Leora Wilson’s grandchildren. Delbert’s family would eventually move to California, where he got a job with the Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. Seventy years later, there are just four of us grandchildren living: Dick and Bob Scar, Joy and Gloria Neal.
December 23, 2022
Christmas 1946: War’s Aftermath
Christmas 1946
Earlier that year, Clabe and Leora Wilson had been notified that their son Dale had been officially declared dead. That same week, a telegram had notified them that Danny’s remains had been located in Austria, and that he had been Killed in Action on the date he was reported MIA.
By the end of 1946, the war had been over for more than a year. Their oldest son Delbert and his family, including toddler Leora Darlene and baby Donna, were living with them then in the little house south of Perry.
That spring, Clabe and Leora had taken their first longer drive in the Plymouth. Clabe had only driven home from Des Moines, but they decided to spend Mother’s Day in Omaha with Leora’s mother.
Later that month, they took flowers to Violet Hill Cemetery on Decoration Day. A cenotaph was placed next to Junior’s grave, to remember his brothers Dale and Danny who’d been killed in action in 1945.
Junior Wilson’s grave is on the left. The cenotaph to the right memorializes Dale and Daniel Wilson.
The surviving Wilson siblings: Delbert Wilson, Darlene (Wilson) Scar, Doris (Wilson) Neal, Donald Wilson. October 1946, Perry, IowaIn September, 1946, Clabe collapsed and was hospitalized for a stroke. He lasted until October, when he died of a stroke and a broken heart.
Leora spent that Christmas at home with Delbert’s little family, and with visits from Doris and Warren with their two daughters, and with Darlene and Sam and their two sons.
Leora Wilson with five of her six grandchildren, October 1946, Perry. Kids: Robert Scar, Joy Neal, Donna Wilson, Leora Darlene Wilson, Richard ScarIn just three years, Leora had lost three sons and was widowed. How grateful she was for her four surviving children, and for those six grandchildren.
Story from Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II
December 21, 2022
Dexter’s Presbyterian Church Choir, all School Kids
Aunt Nadine Shepherd was the main organist (pump organ) and pianist for the Dexter Presbyterian Church. About as soon as her own kids and nieces and nephews could read music, she gathered us into a children’s choir, along with other youngsters in the church.
During the 1950s, we’d all had a terrific music teacher, Ruth Sellers, at school, which was just a couple of blocks from the church. So it was even handy for us to walk there for practice after school.
It wasn’t long before we became the main choir, especially since most of our fathers were farmers and there were seasons of the year that they just couldn’t get to choir, even in the evening.
Back row: Bruce Atherton, Vince Wells, Joy Neal, Susan Shepherd, Judy Neal, Bonnie Johnson, Bob Cook, Jane Neal
Front: Gloria Neal, Dixie Thomas, Sandra Grant, Carolyn Cunningham, Patty Wells, Kenny Shepherd, Glenn Heckman
At first we wore short white surplices with dark dickies.
December 19, 2022
Home for Christmas 1944
Christmas 1944
This was Clabe and Leora’s first Christmas in their very own home, which was one of Leora’s goals in life. With all five sons in the military, they just couldn’t handle the landlord’s farm near Minburn any longer. In October 1944, the Wilsons bought a small home on five acres a mile southeast of Perry. The buildings were pretty run down, but they enjoyed painting and fixing things up, especially because they owned them.
The house on the Perry acreage. Clabe had cut down a chicken crate so it would fit in the trunk of the Plymouth, in order to move Leora’s little flock. (The sheep belongs to a neighbor.)Another of Leora’s goals had been high school diplomas for all seven children. Junior graduated from Washington Township School in 1942. The only goal left to fulfill was to have family nearby.
Their adult children spent Christmas 1944 across the globe–from Italy to the Pacific Ocean.
Both daughters were married and all five sons were serving their country, two in combat, one Missing in Action.
That Christmas their oldest son Delbert was running an Attack Teacher at the Naval Submarine Base at New London, Connecticut, where he lived with his wife Evelyn and six-month old Leora Darlene.
Donald Wilson, having survived the sinking of his ship over two years earlier, was again in combat in the Pacific, aboard another aircraft carrier, the USS Hancock (CV-19). His wife Rose had moved back to Washington State near her father.
Doris lived in Marfa, Texas, where her husband Warren was stationed as an Advanced Instructor in the AAF. Their baby, Joy, was six months old.
Darlene lived on a farm near Earlham, Iowa, with her husband Sam and two-year-old Richard. They were expecting another baby in the spring.
Dale had been missing in action in New Guinea for over a year. Earlier in 1944, notes from people on the west coast had told about hearing a short-wave Japanese broadcast naming Dale as a POW, but this was never confirmed.
Donald wasn’t the only Wilson in combat that December. Danny, a P-38 pilot in Italy, had already completed his first missions.
—–
By Christmas, Junior expected to be in Advanced Training in Texas, probably fighter planes because of his age. “They want the younger boys in the fighters—they can stand more strain and their reflexes are faster.”
“I suppose you are having pretty cool weather up there now,” he wrote home. “Probably have some good coon hunting weather.” They had a pet coon on a long chain at the base and they could pet him just like a kitten. Junior didn’t think he’d kill any more of them.
Junior sent home more money, “maybe help buy a bucket of coal or a big box of bran from the Thriftway,” he said.
He supposed his parents were having fun fixing up their new home. He thought it was pretty close to the Wiese Airport, where he and Danny once ran a fox through the airport and several miles north. He figured they might have hiked right through their yard.
Is the car standing up okay? he wanted to know. Maybe a good little pickup would be handier for the “Wilson ranch.” Junior said he wouldn’t trade five acres of black Iowa soil for five sections of Texas rock and clay. “They raise mostly cotton in this part of hell,” but wrote it was a little better there than the western part with its blowing dust storms.
Home for Christmas
Junior managed to get home for that Christmas, their first son to see the “Wilson ranch.”
His mother spent Christmas Day writing letters. “Clear and cold,” she reported to Danny. “Junior came yesterday about 10:30 A.M. Came walking in from Perry. He gave us hints in his letter we received on Friday that he might get to come, so we looked for him at the train Sat. night. Junior sure looks good. We are having a good visit, going to be too short.”
They’d driven over to Darlene and Sam’s farm, where Richard was having a good time with his Christmas toys.
Junior Wilson with his nephew, Richard Wilson Scar“Will be wonderful when all you boys are home together!” she continued to Danny. She could imagine them all telling of their different experiences, and the rest would just enjoy listening.
No one had dry batteries to sell, so they had no radio. They hoped to figure out a way to use the car battery for it.
Junior also wrote Danny before catching the train in Des Moines. He had to be at Aloe Army Air Field, Victoria, Texas, before midnight the 30th. They were to start flying the AT-6, then P-40s.
Their folks were looking good, he said, and the ranch was a pretty nice little place–good soil, house pretty good, and they were keeping him well fed.
Clabe and Leora took their youngest son to catch the train for Texas on a bright moonlit night. The moon was so bright the snow sparkled.
“We were sure lonesome when Junior left,” Leora wrote Danny, “Just like when any of you are home and go so far away—will be so wonderful when you can be at home.”
They were glad to stay busy as it kept their minds occupied. Otherwise, they worried. About Donald, in combat in the Pacific. About Danny, in combat in Europe. And Dale, wherever he was.
Story from Leora’s Letters: The Story of Love and Loss for an Iowa Family During World War II
December 17, 2022
SPAM (and a Letter Jacket)
There was a Scout who enjoyed campouts. I got a kick out of it when it was his patrol’s turn to plan the meals for a weekend. That included shopping for everything.
He also liked SPAM. He’d heard of it but had never tasted it, so we bought a small can. He was hooked. Every weekend his patrol was in charge, all the kids knew they’d have “SPAM McMuffins” for breakfast
It earned him the nickname of SPAM.
His Grandma Doris bought a Valley High School letter jacket for his academic and music (three choruses) awards. He paid to have the name on is changed from DAN to SPAM!
I’m not a fan of SPAM (I think it’s the texture) and a lot of people really dislike it. But a surprising 17-minute story about it on Our American Stories changed my mind about its food value. (One of my favorite WHO-Radio personalities admitted that he enjoys toasted SPAM and Velveeta cheese sandwiches!)
Since SPAM is a product of Hormel, the SPAM Museum is in Austin, Minnesota. Hey, it looks like fun! You can even buy SPAM cookbooks there. I wonder if any include an Iowa Scout’s version of SPAM McMuffins.
Who’s ready for SPAM Figgy Pudding?
SPAM
There was a Scout who enjoyed campouts. I got a kick out of it when it was his patrol’s turn to plan the meals for a weekend. That included shopping for everything.
He also liked SPAM. He’d heard of it but had never tasted it, so we bought a small can. He was hooked. Every weekend his patrol was in charge, all the kids knew they’d have “SPAM McMuffins” for breakfast
It earned him the nickname of SPAM.
His Grandma Doris bought a Valley High School letter jacket for his academic and music (three choruses) awards. He paid to have the name on is changed from DAN to SPAM!
I’m not a fan of SPAM (I think it’s the texture) and a lot of people really dislike it. But a surprising 17-minute story about it on Our American Stories changed my mind about its food value. (One of my favorite WHO-Radio personalities admitted that he enjoys toasted SPAM and Velveeta cheese sandwiches!)
Since SPAM is a product of Hormel, the SPAM Museum is in Austin, Minnesota. Hey, it looks like fun! You can even buy SPAM cookbooks there. I wonder if any include an Iowa Scout’s version of SPAM McMuffins.
Who’s ready for SPAM Figgy Pudding?
December 15, 2022
“Shelter of the Cross” – signed Poster Print by Photojournalist David LaBelle
“Once or twice a year, if I am lucky, I make a photograph that reaches a lot of hearts. This image, which took me several weeks to capture, has many people asking for prints. I decided to have a poster print made that is more affordable than my other prints, so more folks can enjoy this.
“These signed prints I titled SHELTER OF THE CROSS are 13×18 (16×11 actual image size) and will sell for $60.00, which includes shipping in the U.S.
“You can contact me via email: labelledave@gmail.com”
Website for David LaBelle
December 14, 2022
My Mother’s Coveted Caramels
Christmas at Grandpa and Grandma Neal’s (Kenneth and Ruby Neal) on the farm, 1950s. Warren, Joy (holding a gift–the clan drew names ahead of time), Gloria, Doris. I think I’m wearing my longed-for bobby socks!I was vaguely aware of my mother whipping up her famous caramels every Christmas, at least until they were ready to sample. But I know that certain people, like the postman (namely Jim McMenamin) and others really looked forward to them during the 1950s and ’60s. I wish I could remember who else she rewarded with them.
When the mixture had been cooked and was just right, she stood for ages at the counter and wrapped each 3/4 inch square of deliciousness into waxed paper which she’d precut into just the right sized wrappers.
But I’ve never made it myself. If I did, I’d certainly use her recipe:
Christmas Caramels
2 cups granulated sugar
2 cups white corn syrup
1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups half and half
2 teaspoons vanilla
Combine all but the vanilla in a heavy saucepan. Cook over low heat, stirring very often, to 255 degrees [on a candy thermometer] or until the mixture forms a firm but not brittle ball in cold water. Add vanilla and turn into buttered pan. Cool, turn uncut on a breadboard & cut into squares and wrap each piece in waxed paper.
Shared in a local cookbookWrapping them meant from side to side, then twisting the ends shut.
On second thought, I think I’ll just enjoy this memory and buy caramels instead.
December 12, 2022
Prose and Poetry Gems by Sally Cronin
These four books by Sally Cronin are rich gems of poetry and short stories. She lives in Ireland so her settings, word choices, and phrases are especially pleasant for this Midwesterner. Sally also offers podcasts of mesmerizing readings of her own works.
Life’s Rich Tapestry: Woven in words
Life’s Rich Tapestry is a collection of verse, microfiction and short stories that explore many aspects of our human nature and the wonders of the natural world. Reflections on our earliest beginnings and what is yet to come, with characters as diverse as a French speaking elephant and a cyborg warrior.
Finding the right number of syllables for a Haiku, Tanka, Etheree or Cinquain focuses the mind; as does 99 word microfiction, bringing a different level of intensity to storytelling. You will find stories about the past, the present and the future told in 17 syllables to 2,000 words, all celebrating life.
This book is also recognition of the value to a writer, of being part of a generous and inspiring blogging community, where writing challenges encourage us to explore new styles and genres.
My thoughts: What a satisfying assemblage of verses, flash fiction, and short stories. I especially enjoyed 99 Words in a Flash, the stories about dogs, about cats, the details in the Speculative Fiction on Great Aunt Georgina. The Duchess photo and verse at the end are priceless. A delightful interlude.
Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet
Life is Like a Bowl of Cherries: Sometimes Bitter, Sometimes Sweet is a collection of short stories with scattered poetry, reflecting the complexities of life, love and loss.
The stories in the collection dip into the lives of men and women who are faced with an ‘event’ that is challenging and in some cases life changing.
My thoughts: “Complexities of life, love and loss” underlie this charming collection of short stories with “a sprinkling of poetry.” From living with technology to pets, from decisions about how to spend earnings or winnings, adventures with pets, to one about a wife beater, these stories of challenges and consequences are very satisfying.
Life is Like a Mosaic: Random Fragments in harmony
In this collection, images and syllabic poetry are brought together to tell a story based on the author’s perspective. The poetry explores our human experiences such as love, happiness, hope, aging, friendship, new beginnings, dreams and loss. Life is Like a Mosaic
My thoughts: Delightful poems responding to photographs. Using the syllabic form of poetry, the meter of each short poem is by syllable rather than stresses. Favorites are the poignant “Our Legacy” and the two delightful ones on sunflowers. At the end are longer poems in Slices of Life, which include charming childhood memories.
Variety is the Spice of Life: A blend of poetry and prose
Variety is the Spice of Life is a collection of poetry and short stories about relationships with others, including pets and animals inhabiting the world around us. The connection with others brings love and friendship, excitement and sometimes surprises, danger, mystery and sometimes the unexpected.
My thoughts: The poems, including ones about nature, are delightful. In the US, starlings are considered pests, but Sally’s poems about the glossy birds and their dance of murmuration are winsome. The short stories are especially compelling, including one about the outbreak of WWII. An admirable variety of originality.
The Author
Sally Cronin is the author of sixteen books including her memoir Size Matters: Especially when you weigh 330lb first published in 2001. This has been followed by another fifteen books both fiction and non-fiction including multi-genre collections of short stories and poetry.
As an author she understands how important it is to have support in marketing books and offers a number of FREE promotional opportunities on her blog and across her social media. The Smorgasbord Bookshelf
Sally has been so generous to share others’ books and blogposts through her own. She’s recently featured Leora’s Early Years: Guthrie County Roots as well as my blog post, “Christmas 1943.”
Her podcast shares book reviews, poetry and short stories Sally Cronin Soundcloud
After leading a nomadic existence exploring the world, she now lives with her husband on the coast of Southern Ireland enjoying the seasonal fluctuations in the temperature of the rain.
Please check out Sally’s Amazon Author Page.
December 9, 2022
Debut Novel of Cherie Dargan’s “Grandmother’s Treasures” Series
The year is 2012. Gracie works at the county museum in Jubilee Junction, Iowa, where she is hard at work putting together an exhibit of historic quilts. She struggles with an overbearing boyfriend who is pressuring her to leave her hometown and get a job near him in the big city, juggling three jobs to make ends meet, and trying to serve as peacemaker between her two elderly aunts who can’t seem to stay in the same room together without fireworks going off between them.
This dual timeline timeline adventure begins during a family reunion of sorts, when Gracie inherits a box of cassette tapes, a quilt, and the key to a family secret from from her Grandmother Grace. Gracie and her Aunt Violet listen to the tapes together and are transported back to the early 1940s, to the onset of World War 2, as the elder Grace narrates the tale of how she and her twin sisters, Violet and Vera, traveled from their ancestral home in Iowa to California to help with the war effort.
When Vera hears that Gracie has inherited the “California Quilt,” she will not rest until that relic from the past is destroyed.
The Author
Cherie Dargan retired from Hawkeye Community College in 2016. She’s the President of her local League of Women Voters, manages several websites, and continues to research her family history, which goes back to the 1850s in Iowa. Her grandchildren are the seventh generation to live in Iowa. She describes her writing as women’s fiction set in the Midwest, with a twist of history, mystery, faith, and love. She’s married to Michael Dargan, and they have two adult children and three grandchildren.
She’s webmaster for the Ruth Suckow website, http://www.ruthsuckow.org, a member of the Ruth Suckow Memorial Association (RSMA) and served on the Cedar Falls Authors Festival committee (2016-2018) and is its webmaster, http://www.cfauthorsfestival.org. This celebrates the writing of five best-selling authors with ties to Cedar Falls, Iowa: Bess Streeter Aldrich, Ruth Suckow, James Hearst, Robert Waller, and Nancy Price. She’s written several chapters about Ruth Suckow and the literary history of Cedar Falls.
My thoughts: Sixty-four years of bitterness, all begun during WWII. A family story, brought to life by tapes made by a grandmother. It’s also the story of the granddaughter, who is making difficult decisions of her own as she curates an exhibit of quilts. Besides the tapes, the grandmother leaves a quilt that causes a violent reaction in one family member. A compelling historical novel about consequences and forgiveness.
Each book focuses on a quilt, a time in American history, and has dual timelines and narrators, starting with The Gift. In the present day, Gracie O’Connor learns about her family history, while her Grandmother Grace tells the story of three Iowa farm girls who went to California during WWII.
The Series
Book One, The Gift (WWII and the California patchwork quilt)
Book two, The Legacy (The Civil War and the Rustic Rose quilt)
Book three, The Promise (WWI and Grandma Mary’s Wedding Ring quilt)
Book four, a holiday novella, The Recollection (Depression era and the Crazy quilt)
Book five, The Sacrifice (Vietnam and Uncle Rich’s military valor quilt)
Here’s Cherie’s website.
