Home life

....Continued ....

As I said, we worked hard on Hermans farm to help him get started, the weeds in his corn field seemed to overtake the corn if we didn't chop it out, me being 7 years old and able to handle a hoe to whack the weeds with the rest of the siblings seemed to feel like I'm a grown up, but as the sun got hot and my energy drained I told one of the older siblings that I needed water,  her reaction was No, we're not out here long enough for you to need water, you must be wanting to slip away from work!! So I tried my best to keep going, finally I said I just can't make it anymore, I was told I'm allowed to go to the well an get a drink but get right back out to the field,
As I started walking towards the well everything was getting blurry and I started walking on air , but before I knew it I was inside and mom was washing my feet and putting a cold towel to my head, I asked her what happened and why is she cleaning my feet?
My thoughts were...is she thinking I'm gonna die?   She assured me that I'll be ok but I didn't have to go back out to chop weeds,  whooo...what a relief!  I was delighted I got away from the hard work without a fight with my older siblings or a spanking.
 
 Grandfather Uria Gingerich passed away in this year, I remember lots of visitors came to our house and I realized as much as I disliked grandpa's hurtful actions I'm also really gonna miss him not harassing me, I remember a few of my run off cousins showed up for his funeral and everyone was talking about it, us younger cousin girls were saying that they will go in the fire forever if they don't come back amish, (fire, meaning hell)  that was really what we thought to be true, and we weren't supposed to talk to them but I did notice some men talking to them outside, it was shameful for women or girls to make an effort to talk to men.
 Continue. ....

Home life

What a gorgeous day in Ohio, my love coming home from a work trip to New York and me driving around taking care of appointments for our children, and the funniest thing is....my sister from another state seems to have a mind very similar to mine, could be scary or a good thing, right? :-P  We've been best friends growing up and many times taken as twins by the englishers, it seems like even now adays we mimic each other without talking about it, for instance, I start a blog, and she starts a blog at the same time, when I start writing she has just posted something, :-D  we even married brothers!! But one difference is she's a natural blonde and I'm brown, and she has 1 more child than I do. :)

Going back to our childhood, Saloma an I did everything together, or took turns with the things we weren't fond of,
We had lots of chores, such as washing dishes, carrying wood for the wood stove, gathering eggs, feeding chickens, calves, and milking cows by hand, yes!! Saloma did not start milking a cow at 9 years old like I did, :/ that's one thing I held against her for a long time, thinking our life isn't fair because I have to do things at a younger age then her. Haha, what a misery for myself!!

I also have many other sisters and brothers, there were 14 of us at home,but the 2 oldest got married before my youngest brother was born, I barely remember anything of the 2 oldest Katie and Herman, other then  their wedding days, and that Kstie was bossy when mom wasn't at home, :-/ I was only 5 years old when Katie and Herman got married.  
Then there was Amanda, I don't remember a whole lot of her at home either, the best memory was after she was married, Saloma and I got to spend a week a her house, I guess mostly to help pass her time as she didn't have a baby right away, now on the other hand Katie and Herman had a baby before my youngest brother was born, so guess what I did!? I went to Hermans house to help out with a fussy newborn after the baby was a few weeks old, and I got very homesick and they finally took me home, (not sure how long I was there)  
and I'm not done talking about Herman because we all worked very hard to help him get started in his married life, passing out in his corn field chopping weeds, etc.

There's still 11 other siblings to talk about. .....continued

       

Growing up Amish

As I'm sitting here at a vacation spot in North Carolina, my thoughts go back to my childhood in Tennessee, oh, how I loved to go spend time with my uncle Dannie's family, their daughter Fannie and son Jonas were my best buddies, they lived with grandma and grandpa Gingerich, so we got to go see them quite often, no offense to my 2 cousins but I did have another favorite that I often wished would live with the grandparents so that I could see her more often, my cousin Anna which was only 2 weeks older than myself, and we would get together for the night as often as we were allowed which seemed like maybe once or twice a year, as they lived quite a ways off by horse an buggy.

Grandpa Ura was getting older, he loved to tease me with his funny character, and poke me with his cane an pinch me to where I had to cry and then give me a penny to make me feel better, I really did not like to go to his house, I'd much rather sneak away and play with my cousin Fannie and Jonas.

Grandma on the other hand was gentle and didn't like when grandpa made me cry, she was hard to hear you talk so you always had to yell when you talked so that she could understand you,  but I always felt like I had to walk on needles around there so that I don't get in trouble,