My mom and dad lived off the land, and my mom made most of our clothing. We were so fortunate; we lived 20 miles out. Rushville was 19 miles. Hays Springs was 14, but Rushville was always our hometown, and we were so blessed.

I mean, we were so close as a family, you know, because we were a unit and we all worked together. Every Sunday we went to mass, you know, and so it was just that faith-based, the sincerity of the people. Once again, I mean, just the caring for each other.

You know, my dad never had a cab on a tractor. He would put up hay, and he would come home just covered with dirt and hay, and of course bugs would bite him and stuff, and that’s just what they did. I mean, my mom had a huge garden. In the fall, Dad would be so proud, and people would come because he’d take her down to the pantry or the room downstairs where all the canvas was, because they always wanted to show everyone what all that my mom had done, but we only had seven cows. 

And we would come to town, like Phyllis said, and bring our eggs and our cream and milk, and sell it. And so that was what my experience was.