Joy Neal Kidney's Blog, page 5

Freedom–guest post by Hoang Lam

Hoang Lam’s parents

Freedom, to my parents, isn’t just a word, it’s their entire story. Many know of their great escape from communism in Vietnam during the 1970s, leaving behind everything: no money, no English, no family, only each other and the will to survive.

They found freedom through the kindness of Oklahomans and the strength of the United States military. From a refugee camp to mowing lawns, cleaning offices, and learning English, they worked relentlessly for several years to earn their citizenship.

My dad’s first W-2 job was as a busboy then onto as a CnC machinist; my mom worked over 25 years on an assembly line. Freedom is unshakable, and this country gave my parents everything they have. I am forever grateful.

My duty is to honor their sacrifice, respect this great nation, and be a citizen worthy of the opportunities America provides. Truly love your freedoms, this country makes you better.

You got this.

Hoang and his dad

You might like to follow the delightful Hoang Lam on Twitter/X. His family’s excitement about becoming American citizens is so compelling!

When the wheels begin to come off

Early in this journey of life
you think you have plenty of time
time to go places, see people, do things

then a flat tire needs patching,
there’s rust in the pipes,
That chassis could use some duct tape,
your engine is faulty.

Open heart surgery is the only remedy
the surgeon says, but not an option for you,
things are unfixable,
your plenty of time is running out.

When the wheels begin to come off,
this journey of life begins to shift
from thoughts of this side of heaven

to what lies beyond, to the One who
numbers the stars and calls them each by name
and who knows the day my warranty expires.

Front Porches

Farmhouse along Old Creamery Road south of Dexter, Iowa

I grew up in a big ramshackle farmhouse with a porch. Not a wrap-around porch, but a porch nevertheless. My sis and I played there a lot, with pet dogs, cats, even a squirrel that liked lemon drops.

Gloria and Joy with Snowball

When it rained, without lightning and thunder, we’d wrap up in blankets and watch it rain. When we were older, we gathered there with our folks to wait for time to to watch for Sputnik to arrive over Iowa.

After living in two dorms, two trailers, two apartments, and two houses, I still longed for a home with a porch. So when Guy was nearing retirement, we added onto the back of the 1957 brick one-story house. And a porch on the front!

Our home before remodeling.

The new porch has a railing and is much nicer than the one I grew up with, but it’s wonderful to live in a house with a porch once more. My Favorite Guy especially enjoys listening to the radio and even napping on the porch swing.

Sometime Murphy waddles over from next door to see if my Favorite Guy has something interesting to share.

Have you ever lived in a home with a front porch?

Needlepoint Farm

The Warren D. Neal farm, Madison County, Iowa, four miles south of Dexter. Old Creamery Road is along the right side, with a tiny red flag on the rural mailbox.

I stitched the needlepoint in 1976 for Dad, who built the house between about 1961 and 1963. Artistic license: Lilacs are blooming, corn tasseled, and the pumpkins are ripe. We still lived in Colorado, so I plotted everything from photos. 

It sits where my childhood house was, so everything else is very familiar. The upper part of the granary is where I caught a mouse but it bit my finger as I climbed down. I haven’t been fond of mice since then.

Sis Gloria and I helped pull “square” bales of hay off the elevator in the haymow which faced the house. We also played with Minnie and her kittens in there.

Dad built the house from 1961-1964.
1971 - the garage
1953 - granery
1973 - hoghouse on granery
1968 - wooden gravity wagon
1952 - hog shed
1964 - farrowing house
1960-1963 - grain bins

Dudley, my sister’s cat, the only “farm animal,” is on the porch.

The two-bedroom house has cement floors, except in the kitchen. Underneath the kitchen is the old cellar with steps leading down to it from a utility room. The cellar doors on the old house were below the kitchen windows, outside to the south.

There’s no furnace. Electrical heat radiates from the ceilings in each room. Above is an unfinished attic. Now my sister lives in the house, which she had painted white.

The basic needlepoint stitch seemed hard on my hands, so that hobby didn’t last as long as most of the others. Does anyone do needlepoint anymore?

Dexter Hog Oiler

An “Anonymous Participant” posted this on the Memories of Dexter–The Original One Horse Town Facebook page:

“Hi everyone in Dexter I’m looking for a Hog Oilers I’m curious if anyone out there would have one for sale they were made all over the country and there was one meal and [manufactured in] Dexter and I’m looking to buy one if anybody has one my number is 515-669-9953”

The Dexter Museum has a genuine Dexter Hog Oiler, manufactured by Marsh Mfg. Co, Dexter, Iowa.

Just what are hog oilers? They gave hogs skin protection and protection against insects. When hogs sought relief, they would rub up against the machine, causing the wheel to rotate and pour oil onto their bodies.Dexter Hog Oiler, owned by the Dexter (Iowa) Museum

The Dexter Hog Oiler was patented in 1916 by William J. Marsh, who operated the Dexter Hog Oiler Company until he sold it to a Cedar Rapids company.

So who is this Anonymous Participant looking for old hog oilers? Collectors Dan Laurie and his nephew Zac Laurie who have amassed a collection of more than 200 hog oilers.

 

Jury Duty

I used to look forward to serving on jury duty. In theory anyway.

My first summons was in 2008, while I was in the throes of fibromyalgia. I finally asked to be excused, sending in a request by my nurse practitioner.

I thought I’d be back to normal when the second one arrived in early 2012, but my symptoms hadn’t improved at all. That time I wasn’t allowed to mail the note. The nurse practitioner was required to fax that one herself.

The most recent mailing from them (2025) was a Federal Jury Service Qualification Questionnaire, ACTION REQUIRED. A paragraph for Excuse Requests included “70 years of age or older and do not wish to serve” highlighted in yellow, also an 888 number to call “and follow the prompts.”

Done.

This American citizen still isn’t able to “tolerate the obligations of jury duty.”

But my Favorite Guy was fascinated by the jury he served on. Have you ever served on one?

Victorian Fans Quilt (with lace)

84″ x 101″

I’d seen quilts made out of fancy handkerchiefs but I’d never seen a quilt with lace on it, so I don’t know where I came up with the idea of adding a strip of lace to each fan for a Victorian Fans quilt.

It was pieced (by hand) by my local quilting group, the Great Iowa Quilt Factory, in 1988. I quilted it by hand in 1991 and 1992, taking time to enjoy the process.

1993 – Victorian Fans was displayed at Hoyt Sherman Place in their Quilt Extravaganza IV, it won a red ribbon (second place) at the Iowa State Fair, and was part of a quilt show at the Stuart Care Center.

1996- The pink fans quilt was displayed at the Des Moines Convention Center during the National Evangelical Free Church Conference.

I sure hope that Granddaughter Kate will treasure this one someday!

A winsome response by “the lady who sits sobbing while watching ‘Finding My Roots’ on PBS”

I’d posted all five book covers on Facebook. FB friend Heidi Kerby Dugger wrote such a compelling response and gave me permission to share it. 

Heidi Kerby Dugger

Finished my second reading of Meadowlark Songs! Joy, your legacy is priceless. You have a way that draws us in, encircles us in a huge family hug. I don’t know if I’ve told you that I am adopted and only know partial family history. I’m the lady who sits sobbing while watching “Finding My Roots” on PBS. Stories, histories…it’s what I long for, what I love. There is a shape in our makeup that can only be filled with that history.I think the stories help complete us and propel us forward with the help of the Master Bricklayer. We stand on a strong foundation of our kin; bricks that ground and support us generation by generation. To lose or never have the stories, good or bad, of each woman in our “motherline” is a travesty.Thank you for demonstrating the importance of keeping the stories alive. And, thank you for the homage you pay to these amazing women. Their contribution continues, their blood still gives us. life. Thank you, friend!

The German U-boat captured the day I was born, two days before D-Day

The German U-boat U-505 was captured two days before D-Day, also the day I was born. The captured U-505, flying an American flag, taken under tow by fleet tug USS Abnaki. Special Collections & Archives Division, Nimitz Library, U.S. Naval AcademyIf you’ve been through the German sub at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry, this is its fascinating story.

Happy Birthday, Leora’s Dexter Stories!

Published June 3, 2021. I think of this one as my first COVID book. In early 2020, my right shoulder was replaced and about that time COVID began to take over our lives. My Favorite Guy didn’t want me exposed to it while recovering from surgery so he took over grocery shopping. I only left the house for physical therapy on my shoulder.

I didn’t want to hear Mom’s stories about her family living in poverty during the Great Depression. They were usually aimed at daughters who grew up with plenty of food and clothes (even bobby socks) and piano lessons, which she longed for.

The research waited in a notebook–newspaper clippings, family letters, and stories Mom had told about those days. By then, I’d make notes of any episode she wanted to share. I just needed to weave the heartbreaking stories together with the winsome ones.

A labor of love.

Because of the letters and photos to their “Navy boys,” who joined so they’d have enough to eat, readers become acquainted with each of the seven youngsters during those poignant growing-up days. Is that why it’s readers’ favorites of the Leora books?

Leora’s Dexter Stories: The Scarcity Years of the Great Depression is probably my favorite as well!