This tiny little book...
It looks pretty simple and ordinary, but it is priceless.
It's my mother's diary from 1939-1943 when she was 13-18 years old. My sisters said they'd seen it before, but I don't think I knew it existed.
There's no spectacular event or unbelievable story. There's just regular life... just normal everyday life on a family farm. It is beautiful.
June 10, 1939 - We just ate peaches today.
June 10, 1940 - We picked blackberries and got 3 gallons.
June 11, 1939 - Maxine, Pauline, Ford, and Mutt came up here to practice.
June 11, 1940 - We picked blackberries and got 7 gallons.
July 2, 1939 - The Sunday evening social was at Mrs. Turner's. She served punch and cookies.
July 2, 1940 - Papa and Paul went to town and Grandma went up to Aunt Susan's with the mail carrier.
September 11, 1939 - Papa and Paul took some lambs to sell them.
September 12, 1939 - There is a farm meeting here today and I never saw such a bunch of jabbering men. Avajeanne Norman died today.
This is just a sampling.
There are another 360+ pages of normal... regular... mundane... practical... ordinary... sweet... wonderful... real-life events of daily life.
I learned that they went to "singings" at the church a lot.
They also did a lot of "practicing" with each other for performances.
4-H was a really important part of their lives.
She wrote about food preparation a lot (picking, peeling, shelling, canning).
She wrote about sewing (quilts, aprons, dresses, mending).
Home Economics was the class she wrote the most details about.
**I love that since she became a Home Economics teacher.
I spent the day with my aunt (my mother's youngest sister) after finding the diary. We sat on her couch and read every single page together. It took a really long time because she had an explanation for every page... who the person was kin to, where that place was, the backstory behind the events... It was a wonderful day for both of us.
It doesn't end there.
We found another journal.
This one is a kind of book of quick writes, writing prompts, pages with topics to write about.
It isn't finished. She only wrote to the in the first quarter of the book, and she only wrote on the top half of the pages.
I want to honor this book, and I have an idea... I think I want to continue it... write on the pages she didn't get to... write below hers on the pages that she did. Why not? I wasn't sure if it was appropriate, but the more I think about it, the more I like the idea.
Here's an example page: "Describe your grandparents' houses. Did you visit them often? Why or why not?"
"My grandmother lived with us, and I loved her dearly. My other grandparents lived at Mount Ida, and we did not visit often. It was 25 miles away, and that was a long way then."
** I know it's off topic, but I really want to tell what I know about her grandmother that lived with them. They called her Grandma Prudy. Whenever the peddler came down their road, she'd give each of the girls (my mom and her sisters) a penny to spend. She always had a little money of her own because she got a few dollars from the government because her husband, Grandpa MacReynolds, was killed in the Civil War.
Oh!!! There are so many things about this snip of a story that is nearly impossible for my mind to take in.... First, Mom said, they'd shop and shop on his wagon to see what they wanted to buy... with a penny!!! Second, my own mother's grandfather was in the Civil War... I think of that time period as being so so so long ago! Third, her name was Prudy! How perfect is that! Fourth, a peddler?? Really? A traveling Walmart?
I like knowing that my love of writing and of the written word is something that links me to my mother. I like knowing that I can claim it as a trait that I got from her.
And... just when you think the Journals & Diaries series has come full circle... ah ah ah... not yet...
😊
