I worked hard in all my high school classes and enjoyed a straight A grade average. In my senior year, I learned I was to be named Valedictorian of the class of about 78 students. I turned 18 in September of my senior year. I was both excited and scared. As part of the duties…

I don’t recall feeling cute or pretty during my growing up years, but I was told by elementary teachers that I was smart. I never attended kindergarten, but had learned to read from my older siblings. First and second grade at the Ingram elementary school was boring for me. I was already reading books when…

When I look back on my childhood, I find it hard to comprehend there were so many fears, emotions and concerns running through my head that I never told anyone about. I just stuffed them inside and worried silently. I believed my older sisters were much more Christian than I was. They seemed almost perfect…

Revelation Thirteen – It’s been on my mind lately… Growing up in a large conservative Christian family, Pa read the bible every night as we sat around the wooden table on our wooden chairs in the dimly lit basement with one lightbulb screwed into a socket in the ceiling. We didn’t use any study guides,…

Larry moved to a nearby farmhouse after living in the shack for several years. He worked at the Norco Window factory in Hawkins, Wisconsin, about 15 miles away. During this time of his life he met a cute, bubbly woman named Nancy.  I believe Nancy’s parents worked at Norco in Hawkins as well. Larry and…

My sister Jane was born in 1950, the fifth child in the family. She was four years older than me. We slept in the same bed in the basement house. My two older sisters and I shared a small bedroom with a curtain door and one small basement window. The walls were built with field…

John was born the fourth child in the family in 1948. Larry was the oldest, then Doris, Wayne and John. During John’s teenage years, John chaffed at Pa’s rules. The boys in our family had to wear bib overalls. I’m not quite sure why Pa believed this was necessary for Christian men. Bib overalls were…

During Wayne’s time working in Milwaukee, he met and married a beautiful woman named Debbie. In 1968, Wayne was 6’7” tall, dark, thin and handsome. Debbie was short, maybe 5’.  They were adorable together. I didn’t attend their wedding, but do remember when Wayne brought her home to meet all of us after they were…