[margin note] I can still see the sheet of paper torn from a book with a design all around it, with the first piece Edith and I recited together. Bessie Walburn was our teacher and we loved her.

Edith and I went to Fishers [school] two years. Edith cried from the last recess until school was out for quite some time, for fear the older children would go off and leave us. Some company gave writing tablets and pencils when we went to school there and I can still remember the thrill of having such a gift for we didn't have all the pencils and paper children take for granted now - it was an appreciated gift. We made our Valentines and the "boughten" ones were really something special. I remember when I was in the fourth grade a boy by the name of Joseph Christian gave me all the "boughten ones" he had and they were a cherished possession for a long time.

In the Spring after school was out as soon as a granary was emptied we made a play house there. Since Edith and I each received the same kind of gifts we had duplications and could furnish two houses if two granaries were empty at the same time. We had little stoves, cupboards, a cabinet, doll beds, and makeshift furniture and it took us about a day to assemble everything. When the granaries were put back into use we moved to the hay mow and from there up under the washroom. There was a door at the east end of the house and quite a space there. Mother was always sorry when we finally brought all the clutter back to the house.

We didn't get very far away from home very often. I remember two trips to Morgan County, one to Martinsville to visit Grandma Hague at the sanitorium there when about the age of 4 or 5. We stayed overnight and it was quite an adventure. I think we went on the interurban. We rode in an elevator (separator we called it) for the first time and ate in the restaurant when Grandma was taken to the dining room in her wheel chair for breakfast and other meals (I especially remember the breakfast) and Grandpa having us stand up (Edith and I) to let folks see how alike we were. (always dressed alike) He never missed a chance to show us off. The other trip to Morgan County was with our mother, to visit her relatives. We went to the County Fair and I remember one of the children we visited laying across the porch step crying so hard when his balloon burst. These people had the most delicious peaches - I can still taste them.

          end of part six

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