Denton County

Pictured is my grandfather – this photo of him was taken around 1900 in Texas. My grandmother Grace Brown married James Curtis Allen on October 3, 1904, in Denton County, Texas. At the time of his death the family was living in Clearwater, Florida. James died in 1913. After the death of her husband, she with her three small caught a steam ship from Tampa, Florida to Galveston, Texas. Once arriving in Galveston she caught a train to West Texas where she and her three children visited with her late husband's relatives. Once widowed, Grace returned to Kansas and for a period of time she and her three children lived with her mother Ann Agrelius (who was the widow of Archie Brown). Ann resided at 915 North Street, Hutchinson, Kansas. To earn a living and to support her three minor children Grace had build & opened a rooming house in Pratt. While the new house was being build my Dad along with his two sisters, Marguerite and Maureen, would dig up buried Indian arrowheads.... A childhood treasure!

1942

Yep - that's me in 1942 guarding our home.

JOLIN

I don't know what their saying but it looks like fun!

Our star boarder

Sweet Home in the Philippines – Well, its summer here and Junior is on his summer school vacation. Now if his Mom and I could get him to do some work around our house. At times he acts as if he is the “star boarder” in a boarding house. Lately whenever his Mom and I ask him to help his stock answer is, “Ah man!” Sometimes I remind him that one day he’ll find out the toilet paper and toothpaste won’t come with the rent. Ah yes, to be a teenager.

The perfect winter

I remember the perfect winter, with soft billowing snow and crisp cold. Always there were the delightful smells of home cooking—pies, cakes, fried chicken, roasts, homemade gravy, cookies, and fluffy rolls. The sound of laughter and the buzz of voices rolled around in my Grandma's house where we lived for a time before WW2. Where old family stories were told and re-told at the kitchen table followed by the sounds of laughter. I remember those times as it warms my heart.

Joe DiMaggio where have you gone?

I remember in my boyhood I collected baseball cards of Joe DiMaggio and all the baseball heroes of that day. I stored my treasure collection in a shoe box under my bed. As we readied to move from Salem, Oregon to Seattle, Washington one day after school I discovered it was gone. It was no longer under my hiding place! My treasure collection had been given to the son of a neighbor. Oh, Joe DiMaggio where have you gone?