A True Story

Hilda lived in Pennsylvania.

She had lots of friends in her hometown.

Then she moved to Maine.

When she left she took with her something special.

 

This post will tell you what and how and why.

Hilda Zeager loved Lancaster County farmland where she and her husband raised their family. But her daughter Carol, who lived in Maine, wanted her mother close by. After all, Hilda was getting up in years. Having mother close to daughter seemed like a great arrangement, but that meant Hilda had to make a big move, a very big move.

Aunt Ruthie, her Sunday School teacher at Bossler Mennonite Church, got a brilliant idea. “Write poetry, collect pretty pictures, and pages in a scrapbook will accrue,” she said. When the artifact was pronounced Done! Miss Ruthie penned a note to accompany the communal gift. Her rough draft is written on index cards.

 

The Translation

Hilda, we know the time is fast approaching when you will not worry because you no longer have to sweep up Wenger’s Feed Mill dust or the stone quarry dust at Rheems.

And we know you have a daughter Carol and grandchildren living in and around Wales, Maine. And we know if today you want to talk to Carol, the telephone company would be counting every minute and at the end of the month your phone bill would include a charge for every minute you talked to Carol. Now all these problems and many more will be solved come October 1.

However, these is a big, new problem — Your large circle of friendship in this community is going to miss you – and we can’t say that some of us will visit you every Wednesday – that would be a 500 mile North and a 500-mile south trip and that’s impossible!

Our Senior Citizen Group knew some thing had to be done – and Marian Wenger had an excellent idea. Marian masterfully took over the entire project, which involved all of our Bossler congregation + a few extras for good measure.

It is a great pleasure to present to you Hilda’s special book of Forget – Me – Nots.

Aunt Ruthie, circa 1975

 

The Back Story

Aunt Ruthie’s home is as much a museum as it is a house. We are continuing the arduous task of clearing the contents. We find nuggets of gold in odd places. Of course, we found sheets and towels in the bathroom linen closet, but there was more, much more: antique photos, Ideals magazines, a vintage scrapbook, which you will find featured in a future blog post.

We are progressing in our sifting and sorting. My sister Jean found the notecards for Hilda’s story in a chest by the bay window in the kitchen.

 


 

Have you cleared out a house recently – or long ago?

What treasures have you found in odd places? Inquiring minds want to know. Let’s chat!