We were taught to be prepared for a rainy day. Mother always said to have some wheat in the grain bin at all times. This lesson stayed with me; when growing up I think our grain bin was never empty.

Another thing I always remembered, when I got in trouble in school or church, I was also in trouble at home.

On one occasion I had been smoking; mother was not fooled, but instead of scolding or whipping me, (which would have soon been forgotten), she went to her purse and got fifty cents. She said, "If you smoke, I don't want you to go pick up someone elses cigarette butts. Here is fifty cents to buy your own." A lesson I never forgot.

Mother never made us go to church. We were taught it was the right thing to do.

She always worried about being a burden in her old age. She took care of her own mother when she was old and blind. She was granted this blessing, as she was active and able to care for herself until her death--which came very suddenly and without warning.

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