Page 148 - 5 Who Fled, The Story of the Obermann-Beck Family

cook stove. They also grew sorghum cane. In the fall. The whole family went to the field to cut the canes and load them on the old Ford truck to take to the sorghum mill. Gallon tin buckets were also taken to bring home the sweet, sticky sorghum molasses. The molasses was stored on the top shelf of the

pantry. It was used to sweeten food and make sorghum sandwiches to take to school. Grandma spent a lot of time preparing food. I can still smell her potatoes, onions, bacon and vinegar cooking in her iron skillet for German potato salad.
Grandpa taught school during the winter term, when the big boys went to school. He was also the Justice of the Peace for Pleasant Grove. Grandma was the organist at Shinar Church and treasurer of the Ladies Aid. They were paid $3.99 for mak- ing a quilt according to a book I found in her attic. Grandma and her girls always participated in the Tri-State Fair in Burlington. It was a big event to take their fancy work, canned fruits and vegetables, jelly, preserves and baked goods. They got up before daylight to pack a lunch and a jug of water and hitch the horses to
the buggy. At the fair, everyone bustled about waiting for the judging and hoping for ribbons and a little premium money.
Aunt Grace contracted rheumatoid arthritis in her teens. By the age of 20, she was confined to a wheelchair where she spent the next 40 years. Although she couldn’t raise her arms to comb her hair or dress herself, she could feed herself, help prepare food, crochet, keep the books and figure the taxes. Grandma slept with Grace so she could turn her over in the night. Grandpa slept on a cot in the parlor. Grandma rarely left home except to vote. She was a Republican and Grandpa was a Democrat.
One time Grandma asked me to get something out of her dresser. I noticed something wrapped in white tissue paper. When I asked her what it was, she said, “That’s for later.” It was a new
corset and underwear for her funeral. Grandpa died of cancer when I was eight.
Because I was the oldest grandchild who lived near her, I was delegated to stay
with her and Grace every night in case they needed anything. I didn’t really want to walk up the dirt road and sleep on the cot every night, but we assumed re- sponsibilities at an early age back then. Grandma and Grace quilted through the winter. One cool, wet May morning, Grandma gave me a big bundle wrapped in newspaper to take back home with me. Since it was my birthday, I hoped it was a doll. When I got home and opened it, I found the quilt that she and Grace had worked on all winter. Although I didn’t fully appreciate it then, it’s now one of my most prized possessions.
Growing up in the Depression we didn’t have much. Grandma Parma had a favorite saying, “Eat it up, wear it out, make it do or do without.”
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