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Kid's Will Be Kid's

As a small child, I would sit in the window sill of my second story bedroom window and watch the scene that was outside.  I would see the crooked ole tree that grew just beside the house, extremely close to the edge of the hill side. That tree both frightened me and amazed me.  In the fall when the winds began to whip and the skies were cloudy and dark from a storm, that tree would begin to sway and unfurl its long tendrils and rake its limbs across my bedroom window.  The sound was grating and dreadful and It gave me an awful scare.  In the spring the sun would hit the back side of the house and illuminate that tree and thought it was one of the skinniest trees on our property it would stretch out its arms and sprout shiny new green leaves that swayed softly and gently in the early spring breeze.   Many bird's and the insect's used that tree as home and I got to witness it almost daily for the first fifteen years of my life.

That small story is but a snapshot of my childhood.  Just a few words are broken down into a tiny paragraph, that gives you my take on life growing up, during the seventies in Carroll, Ohio.  The narrative is not very remarkable but still,  it is a nice memory.

Recently, I happen to come across a page of handwritten stories penned by my Great Aunt Melby.  About life in the 1920s, growing up in Vinton County Ohio.  Storytelling it seems must run in the family.   Aunt Melba put together a small compilation of stories that she recalled from her memory.  I'll share them with you in this blog from time to time.  This one particular story is hilariously funny as one can only imagine watching this through her eyes.  It is also extremely sad and poignant.  

So here is Aunt Melby's view, through her farmhouse window.

KIDS WILL BE KIDS:
One evening Mom and Pop left Ham, Kenneth and little Mary in the house, with me, while they went to the barn to do the farm chores.  While Mom and Pop were out, one of the boys climbed up on top of the fireplace mantel and got into some medicine. The three kids thought that It tasted good.  A few hours later they found out that it was not medicine at all, instead, it was a laxative.   I don’t have to tell you how that turned out.   Melba Hill Winland.  
I don't have to explain to you why this is funny.  I can only imagine My great grandparents Josie and Henry aka Mom and Pop, having to watch their children
the boys, Ham and Kenneth with Little Sister Mary suffer the effects of swallowing a laxative and then deal with the extremely funny consequences to their childhood antics.
The sadness comes in with the grim reality that not all of those children survived.  While Ham and Kenneth and my great aunt Melby would go on to live to be fully functioning adults with children and some grandchildren and by now great grandchildren of their own, Little Mary would not live for very long beyond this story.  You see little Mary was born on October 1, 1912,   She died December 17, 1913, it is believed as a result of pneumonia.    Mary was lost to her family at a very young age. With the exception of a still living younger brother, no one remembers her.   
So now we all know a little bit about Mary Lillian Hill thanks to the small recollections of her one year younger sister Melba.  We now know that Mary lived with a few rambunctious brothers, her mom and dad, who must have loved her dearly and a wonderful sister who fondly remembered her and left us with a story that we could write upon our hearts and keep with us forever.

Little Mary is buried along with her grandparents in the Locust Grove Cemetery, in Vinton County, Ohio. 
I will always cherish this small memory of my paternal great aunt. Written down on paper for us to read.  Well beyond the years that they were both on this earth.   Thank you, Aunt Melby, thank you for remembering.  
Until next time. 
Love Shel. 













   I don't remember much at all, but, I have been delving into my past and researching my ancestor's.  I recently discovered that Ole Aunt Melby was quite the story teller.  Aunt Melby wrote down a few stories about growing up in Vinton, County Ohio.  

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