2-Spreading My Wings

My sister, Linda, was born when I was 14, right about the time I started high school. I was thrilled to have a little sister. And Linda was an adorable baby with a round, dimpled face surrounded with wispy curls. By then I could drive, so my mom let me get her all fixed up…

When I was in high school, Mimmi and Helen moved to Eau Claire into a house they had built on Ferry Street. I think that my mom put her foot down and told my dad that he needed to figure something out. I don’t know what happened … but I knew that something happened. Mimmi…

Jack Storlie worked in a gas station where Clarence and his buddies liked to hang out. Clarence would come home and carry-on about all the jokes that Jack told. He hero worshipped Jack, and it was so annoying … I’d roll my eyes and say, “I don’t care what that Jack Storlie says. It’s not…

My mom’s sister, Aunt Nora, lived in town. She married a police officer, Emil Johnson and had four kids: Marlys, Leone (Onie), Janet, and Roger. Mom dropped Clarence and me off there when she ran errands in town. Marlys was close in age to me and Onie was a few years younger. We’d all charge…

Around the time I graduated from high school (1945), I started working at the bank. The owner of the dime store didn’t want me to leave, but I was enticed with better pay. Plus, I loved working with money! Counting money and making sure that everything balanced felt like very important work. I started out…

After the war ended, Jack spent two years in San Francisco helping to decommission ships to complete his deployment. In our letters, we wrote to each other about our hopes and dreams for a future together. Soon after he returned from the Navy, we got engaged. Cindy found this letter recently. I’ve completely forgotten about…

Jack and I were giddy with excitement about buying our first house in Eau Claire—with financing from the bank where I worked. My parents, Mimmi, Helen, and Jake helped us move in and furnish our house. This cute little bungalow on Crescent Avenue was close to our jobs. We quickly settled into married life. Between…