Journey Of A Farm Girl
I think I did mention my youngest sister, but not sure if I said her name. Serena Lucille Hendrix was 9 months old when she died of pneumonia. I am most anxious to meet her in heaven. My other sisters were Donna Lee & Wanda Kay, & Gerry who are deceased as is our brother Donald Ray. We girls had our moments, but usually got along pretty good. Donna was working so she wasn't home much. I am pretty sure Kay worked for Mrs. Johns, but I don't think Gerry did. Cathy (Catbird) was very sick for a long time. She couldn't walk as I recall. I cannot spell it, so I will not attempt it. It is getting pretty bad when you have to have a dictionary beside you when you type! Our brother's nickname was "Duck"; he was nasty to us & didn't talk very nice to our Mother. I wish our uncles had applied more discipline to him. He continued to be that way the rest of his life to those he was around alot. At one point he accepted the Lord Jesus into his heart; but when his wife divorced him, he became a different person. I remember he came home drunk one time & our uncles got hold of him & took care of him. I don't recall ever seeing him drunk again. It really scared me to see him like that. In sixth grade I learned to play a recorder (flute) & my music teacher & regular teacher wanted me to do music in junior high school. I really wanted to, but we lived 30 minutes from school & I didn't have a way to get over there or to stay after school, because Uncle Herb was taking care of the farm & Uncle Bob was gone driving truck. My mother didn't drive, that was that. I never got to go to any activities except for roller skating & only then because a bus took us. It was an half hour down & the same back up the mountain. But I loved the mountains. It was so beautiful in the little village where we lived. And when it snowed it didn't mess around with a few inches, it was usually a few feet or more. I have very fond memories of making snow angels & we would build a fort & have such fun playing in the snow. Of course it gave my Mom some relief so she could bake & cook. I don't remember her sitting down very much. I miss her so much. She would love my son-in-law & her grandchildren like she loves Kelly & Kevin. After I graduated high school, I came to Ohio to help my sister Donna who was pregnant with her third child. She alread had a girl, Pam, & a son Terry. She was having trouble so she had to stay in bed, or off her feet. Sound familiar Kelly? She gave birth to another girl whom she named Lisa. I stayed with them for awhile, but was always on guard. Her husband was always after me, it was so disgusting. I slept on the bottom bunk in Terry's room, & his Dad would wait til he was asleep & come in & try to get in bed with me. Talk about stress, but the Lord kept anything from happening. A friend of theirs from church gave me a job of selling magazines, but I did not do well. So, I put in applications & finally got a job with Kennamental in Willoughby. I got a room in a home with an older woman & I guess someone took me there. I first did teletyping which was fun. Different companies sent orders this way; this was before faxing or anything. Sometimes I was able to talk alittle with the girls who were sending the orders. This company made tools & sold them. The gal who was doing my job moved up to typing for the guy who made sure the orders got typed & shipped. She was a little thing, so cute & so kind & nice. Her name was Suzanne. After she married, she moved with her hubby to another part of Ohio. I was picked to do her job, & enjoyed it also. There was Paul, the boss & his helper Carmen (guy). He was so funny & was always teasing me. We soon moved to a bigger office in the building & I was sent downtown to learn how to operate a switchboard. That I really liked & was part of my job. After awhile another guy, Bob, took the back office. He traveled alot, so didn't really see him much. Our regular switchboard operator was an older woman who was very nice. The problem was all of them smoked & I couldn't stand the smoke, but somehow it worked out. I worked there about 5 years & in the meantime I moved from an apartment in Eastlake to an apartment in Mentor with some friends of my sister Donna. The woman lived across the street Donna & her hubby died & she eventually married again. I switched churcher & with this I have to backtrack & fill in abit. I went to church with Donna & Roy & kids to First Baptist Church in Willowick. The first room I had was with a lady down the street from the church. She was nasty to me & I had to move which is how I became to be in a room in Eastlake. By this time Gerry was living there also. She had been out here longer than me. We didn't have very much money, & we really relied on the Lord for our meals. Sometimes we only had enough to buy a pastry of some kind. We never went hungry though. While we lived there a burglar got in one night when none of us were home. It was scarey. He went through all our rooms, messing things up. Well, we got over that. Then Gerry was introduced to a guy that some friends at our church knew because the husband worked with him. He was Italian & such a sweetheart. They dated awhile & got married at First Baptist. She moved to Hinckley, Ohio & I sometimes visited them. Believe it or not, I drove over there. I bought my car from a nice gal at work, her name was Anne. After Gerry left, I stayed awhile where I was & even took some piano lessons. Oh how I wish I had kept up with them. I moved into the apt in Mentor & switched to Mentor Baptist church where I am today. That was is 1966. I joined the choir & met some friends at church. A couple who were both with the choir told me that they would like to introduce me to a friend of theirs, but he was in the Army & stationed in Germany. I am smiling now as I recall this. This guy, Ken, was brought home on emergency leave because his Mom had had surgery & was not doing well. He came to choir practice one night & Danny introduced us. Ken took my hand & shook it & then walked over to the piano & started playing. I thought, well, that is that. Little did I know that Sunday morning he came up to me, took my hand, holding it & saying he was sorry for being so rude. People were looking at us, because he took so long to tell me this. Then he had to go back to Germany & I didn't hear from him.