Part 4

We found a small farm, about 18 miles east of Harrisburg. It is not a large farm but at least the boys will be away from the city. It has an eleven-room house with a four-car garage, a small chicken house and lots of room to grow a garden maybe raise a hog, or just enjoy the space.

The first thing I noticed about the country is the quiet. At first I thought I would never get use to it. Of course there was the noise of the family, but no traffic sounds, horns blowing, brakes squealing, or neighbors living right on top of you. When I finally got use to it, I didn't know how I ever endured the noises of the city, and never wanted to live in a city again.

Now the work part of our move started. The house needed a lot of remodeling, which my brother and Fred handled. The kids and I started cleaning up the yard around the house and mowing down the rest of the land.

The second day we found a nest of little field mice. They really were cute (that is a city lady talking) tiny and furless. There were about a dozen of them. Well first thing my brother said was that they would make good fish bait. I screamed no they would not. So we found a big fish aquarium and we put them in there. They survived for about two weeks and we turned them loose up in the field. First thing my brother said to me was, if they get into the house don't call him. Thank goodness they didn't come into the house.

We finally got the house settled and everyone had a lot of room which they were not use to when they lived in the city. The next project was the chicken house. I guess you can say we really rebuilt it from the ground up till we were done. So next was a trip to a chicken farm to buy our chickens. We started with two dozen hens and a rooster. Figured since we were a family of 14 with my brother and his 18-month-old daughter that would give us enough eggs to start. I was surprised that they started to lay almost right away. We were told it might take a few weeks for them to accept their new home. Next the boys started to beg for a pony. There was a horse farm right next to us and they spent a lot of time there. So after about six weeks, we started to build a pony shed and we acquired "Shorty". He was a beauty, a medium tan color with cream main and tail. The boys were taught how to take care of him and when they were doing a pretty good job of it, we went and bought a saddle and what goes with it. We all had fun with that pony. He was very much loved.

Next the farmer on the other side of us told Fred and my Brother John that if they wanted to help with the butchering of the hogs he would give us one to see if we could raise it. So now we had to build a pigsty, which took about a week. But it was just a little piglet. She was so cute we called her "Sally Ann". It was getting cold by now and I said it was too cold for the pony and pig outside, so I made them park the trucks and car out side and put the pig and pony inside the garage. Of course the farmers all laughed at me and said one of these days they expected to come visit and find "Shorty and Sally Ann" in the living room watching TV. We even found and bought a pot bellied stove that I put in the garage for some heat for them.

That winter we put a salt lick out for Shorty and it attracted some of the deer in the area. When it snowed, we would see their tracks around the pony shed and then follow the tracks down around the vehicles parked in the driveway. Sometimes we would sit up at night to watch them. It was a beautiful sight. Sally Ann thrived too. I spent a lot of money on her feed. They had come out with a pig feed that had antibiotics added, so of course Sally Ann had to have that feed. She really became a pet, (I was not thinking about when it would come to butchering time again) (remember I am a city girl). We would go up to her pen and she would roll over on her back so we could scratch her belly. The little children use to crawl up on her back and she would walk around her pen with them. The chickens thrived that first year. We had plenty of eggs and I was learning to hatch new chickens to increase our flock. But the second year was extremely cold (we had lights that were on all night to help give them heat) but the lights were not enough so we lost about half of them. So we had to prepare them for the freezer. I cried that night as if they were members of the family we lost. When it came butchering time again Fred and my brother John took Sally Ann back to the farmer that we got her from to butcher.They knew I wouldn't want them to do it. Every thing was fine (and I want you to know I love pork). The first Sunday we had the pork, it looked and smelled so good, just about the time I was going to take my first bite, our Cindy Lou said, is this Sally Ann? Well all I ate for that meal was veggies.

But the city ways soon left me and I became (almost) a farm person and put my priorities in place, and we did enjoy the farm. The kids loved it and every one seemed to be happy.

For many years we didn't have store bought veggies. We grew our own and I learned to can some. We got our milk from the farmer in back of us, fresh from the cow. Nothing better! And we ate quite a bite of venison, pheasant, and fish that was caught in the stream behind our land. Everyone was healthy from the fresh air and good food and life again was good for us.

The children had to travel 18 miles to school on a school bus. There were many days that the snow was so deep that they had to stay home. Of course they loved that. We were at a foot of the mountain and the front of the house was facing away from the mountain. When we had a big snow it drifted on the front of the house to the second floor. The kids favorite sport then was in the back door up to the second floor window and sliding down to the driveway. It made kind of a mess but I tried to remember how much I would have loved doing it at their age. Of course when they were done they had to help clean up the mess. I remember one year the snow was bad and I was waiting for the school bus to come. Well it came and none of mine got off at our stop. I got upset and questioned some of the children that did get off. They told me that my three oldest boys and three other boys had set off cherry bombs in the back of the bus and the driver put them off the bus about five miles down the road. I was frantic. I got my brother to drive down the road to find them. He found them and brought them home. They had to make amends to the school, the school bus driver, and after their father heard what happened they didn't sit for a day. But they never did anything wrong on the bus again.

My kids were not angels, but they were no worse than the average kid of the times. They didn't have the dangers in their childhood that children have today. I feel sorry for children today. They don't know what a carefree childhood is. They miss so much.

When the oldest boys were out of school they joined the marines. About this time Fred decided that he wanted to come to Florida. He lived here in his teens with his grandparents. Jeff was in his next to last year of school and of course the others were in their respective grades. The ones still in school wanted to finish school with their friends. So we decided that Fred and I would come to Florida and get work and a home set up and the kids would stay with our families till we would send for them. By that time some more of them would have finished school.

I had never been outside the State of Pennsylvania in my life, so this would really be an adventure for me. Fred decided because of traffic, I could drive at night while he took a nap and he would drive during the day. Well we leave Harrisburg, and he gives me the wheel and tells me just to follow on the same route and I would be fine. Just outside of Baltimore, MD, there was a detour. I figured I could just follow it and get back on the route I was to be on. After about two hours of driving the detour. I decided I better wake Fred because I was lost. Boy was I lost. Fred gets us back on the right route but he decides he better drive to be safe. We finally get to St Petersburg. We found a little mobile home park that would let us pay by the week until we got work and were settled. The second day there, a man came to the park office and asks if there was anyone in the park that needed some work. He was going to build an automobile dealership right next door. Well I got the office job and Fred went to work on the construction crew.

When the Dealership was finished, I stayed on as a girl Friday in the office and Fred went to work in the garage as a mechanic. So we were both settled in jobs. Next was to find a home so we could start bringing the kids down with us.

We were here about a year when the kids started to misbehave for the family so one by one they were sent down here. I enrolled them here but we had problems. The things they were learning here in the grades they should be in, were things that they had learned a year or two before so there was no challenge. I fought keeping them in school but one by one they dropped out. I will say they all have GED's and have really good and happy lives.

Since they came to Florida they have all married, and have families of their own. Sometimes I wish my grandchildren could experience farm life. It is something every child should experience.

We have had our problems. Our lives were far from perfect, but we stuck together, faced our problems as they happened, settled them and moved on. We have had the teen problems that other families have. When my children did something that I felt was wrong, I tried to remember how I felt at their age and what I did at their age and then we would discuss it both pro's and con's. We thank the Lord most of the time they learned from their mistakes. Some of my grandchildren have given me some heartache, but I was always there for them. I just hope they learn from their mistakes. But life is not easy for young people today. There is so much evil out there for them to face. All we can do is be there for them and try to help them to reach the right decisions. The adults must set a good example for the young.

We have been in Florida 35 years now. We have both had good jobs and many good friends. We are both retired now. Fred loves to fish and tinker with cars, and I am here with my favorite passion in front of a computer. There are many more stories but this is the core of our family and lives. As I think of an event I think you might like to read, I will add it to this story, but I hope this has told you a little about our lives and our families love for one another.

Created using the tutorial for Double Borders from Graphic Designs