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the work and doing the washing. Otto worked at a garage again. They gave us another room to use for a living room
what time we were in Utica until it was time to start the so we had 3 rooms. Otto bought me a piano the second
spring farming. He went home a week before I did. Anoth- summer we were married. His folks had an organ which I
er brother and his wife took the baby and I home. I remem- played a lot, they moved it to another room so I could have
ber it was on a cloudy chilly Sunday in April. The car was the piano in their living room which later was the room
open with the top down. I chilled and was sick with a cold they let us have. I played and Otto, Eva, and Dad Holmes
for a few days, the baby was cross too but we were all so glad sang lots of evenings. Otto and I went to lots of dances.
to be home again at Otto’s folks’ home. They were dances in the homes and all were invitation
dances, not public. Two men would play the violins, and
Their house was a large stone house with nine rooms. We
one would call as they danced lots of square dances. My
were getting tired of living with the folks, so they said we
folks were very much against dances and card playing, so
could have the two north rooms of the house. They didn’t
they almost disowned me. I didn’t go home very often for
use them. So we furnished them (as I said we already had
the three years although we only lived six miles apart. They
bedroom furniture) so the kitchen was all we had to fur-
began to get over it though and we visited more with them
nish. We also enclosed the covered porch with screen, so
as time went by.
had washing machine, etc. on it. We really enjoyed being
to ourselves for the first time since we’d been married. We Summer months were busy ones especially when we had a
lived there for a year and then decided to rent a place near good harvest. Otto’s father wasn’t very well. So Otto also
where Otto could still farm the home place, but we only helped at the blacksmith shop when he wasn’t busy farm-
lived there a short time; as the folks wanted possession ing. During harvest we would have a large number of har-
again. vest hands to cook for, had lots of pies, cakes, and bread
to bake. We always baked our own bread those days. I had
We moved back to our two rooms in Otto’s folks’ home
learned at home so wasn’t hard for me. Had our own cured
Part of my Life as a Story 21
