I am a Doctor--not!
Mildred Foreman and me circa 1937 or 38
While I was still in elementary school I was friends with a girl named Mildred Foreman. She lived in a place that was on my way to school. I often stopped there to play after school. Once I was at her house and my sister Mary Ruth was with me. We decided to play doctor and nurse. I was the doctor and Mildred was a nurse--Mary Ruth was the patient!
We found some pills in her medicine cabinet. They were laxative pills. I was smart enough to know we should not give any kind of pills to a kid but I also was smart enough to know that laxative pills were not life threatening. So we gave Mary Ruth a laxative pill. I was the doctor so I prescribed the pill for Mary Ruth. Mildred gave one to her. Nothing bad happened so I thought it was all OK.
Later, when we were home again, Mary Ruth mentioned to our Mother that she had taken the pill. Then my mother started digging into the story. She really got on to me for doing such a thing. I said that I thought since they were just laxative pills it wouldn't hurt anything.
In the end Mary Ruth survived and I don't even remember if she had any effect from the pill. I don't think she did!
After that when I played doctor I did not prescribe any pills to anyone!
I often think of Mildred Foreman and wonder if she is still living and what she did with her life. Maybe she became a nurse!
How Times Have Changed
Helen and Ray Merritt
Cleo and Ruth Merritt
Above are pictures of my cousins, Cleo and Ruth Merritt and Ray and Helen Merritt. They were my Aunt Lizzie's boys. Sorry, but I don't have an older picture of Ray. He was much younger is this picture.
My cousin , Cleo is now deceased but his wife Ruth is still living. Ray and Helen are both still living at this time.
Many years ago when Ray and Cleo were both dating Helen and Ruth, I was at My Aunt Lizzie's for a visit. I was probably about 14 or 15 years old then. Cleo and Ray both had a double date with Ruth and Helen. They had an old car that barely got around and they were going for a ride around town one night. They insisted that I come along with them on their date. I felt like a fifth wheel but I did kind of want to go so I did.
We just took a ride around Paris for a little while. Then came the highlight of the evening! We stopped at a dinky little store and the boys bought us all a five cent candy bar. What a thrill!
What do you think a girl would now think of a date who bought her a five cent candy bar for the excitement of the whole evening?
However, back in those days that really was a treat. Money was really scarce and we didn't get a lot of candy to eat. So our fun time was over after we ate the candy. It had been a fun night for us all. Of course, I didn't have a boyfriend at that time so maybe Cleo, Ruth, Ray and Helen had a little more fun than I did! They both were married for many, many years so they had a lifetime of fun being married.
Nowadays a guy has to spend a minimum of probably $25 on his date. And a lot more if they eat somewhere and then go to a movie.
I tend to think that we were just as happy with our five cent candy bars as the kids who now have to spend the $25 or more on a date.
I shudder to think how much money it will take for a date in the future! Luckily--or unluckily--I won't be around that much longer.
How Spooky!
My grand daughter from Boise, Idaho, Jennifer, recently visited me along with several other family members.
While she was here she wanted to go to the cemetery where her other grandmother is buried. So we planned a visit to the cemetery to locate the crypt. Several other family members went along with her.
They went into the mausoleum where her grandmother was supposed to be. As they went into the building they were walking along the hall towards where the crypts were lined along the walls.
Suddenly, they came upon the monstrosity which is pictured above. They thought it contained a body because there was a hump right where the head would be. They were terrified and wanted to run out of the building immediately. After some thinking and talking they decided that it couldn't be a body so they went ahead looking for Jennifer's grandmother.
They finally figured out that the vehicle they thought contained a body was really a scissor lift used for transporting dead bodies about the mausoleum. However this one did not contain a body. Actually, the bodies would be in a coffin anyway and not visable to a passerby. But they were so shocked that they didn't take the time to figure that all out right on the spot.
I think it was in very poor taste for the cemetery to leave the lift there right where people coming in would see it. It was a very uncomfortable and shocking thing to come upon while looking for the crypt of a loved one. Jennifer will always remember that incident I am sure.
A White Ghost
Brendan Harkless
This story was told to me by my great grandson, Brendan. Brendan lives in Boise, Idaho. His mother is Jennifer Harkless.
Brendan has two friends that just recently moved to Boise from California. They both applied for jobs and were waiting for calls from the Chinese Restaurant where they had applied.
One of them decided that if he were going to work at a Chinese restaurant he might as well get acquainted with rice. So he put on a batch of white rice to cook. Soon it was ready to eat so he dished up a big plate of it and started to eat.
As he started eating he got an uncomfortable feeling that someone was watching him eat. He tried to ignore it but it was so strong that he turned to his right and looked but nothing was there. He could see out of the corner of his right eye a whitish thing so he quickly turned to look but still--nothing there.
He really was getting nervous and fearful that someone was there watching him. He would turn to his right and then see nothing. As soon as he turned away the feeling was there of a whitish ghostly image lurking in the background to his right.
This was so frightening to him that he was about to run from the room but he managed to finish eating his rice and clean up the mess. He went to the bathroom to wash and then he was getting out of there!
As he looked into the mirror over the sink he saw a little mass of the rice sticking to the outer corner of his right eye. His mystery was solved!
Another Snake Story
This story happened many, many years ago.
My sister and her husband had moved recently into a new home and were settling in. There were still construction supplies around the home and they had a screen door from their kitchen into their carport.
My sister was busy around in her kitchen and she suddenly screamed like a banshee. Cotton, her husband was thinking she was dying or something worse!
He came in immediately to see what the problem was. There just inside the screen door was a tiny baby snake which had tunneled underneath the bottom of the door. Cotton grabbed a fly swatter which happened to be right at hand and he swatted the snake until it was dead. That is how big the snake was! He really was relieved to see nothing that bad had happened to Mary Ruth and he really derided her for such wild actions.
I am with Mary Ruth; I don't care how little a snake is, I don't want one in my house or any where near me! I am sure some weather stripping was put around that screen door immediately!
