The Passing Of Time

My Ideal Girl Friend

What is she like? She is everything I wish I were. She has a wonderful sense of humor, which is very important, and she has a good disposition. I have never seen her angry all the time I have known her. She is smart and not lazy or afraid to work. She is a wonderful athlete and is friendly with every one. When I say friendly, I don't mean with just the people she knows, but she goes out of her way to help others and make them feel as if they are not as ignorant as is sometimes implied by others.

She dresses nicely, wearing clothes that suit her, and she is very pretty. Pretty is a rather common word but it carries so much meaning that I think it is the word to use.

She was my best friend in grammar school. We called her Corky, which is a nickname for Corrinne, and is not a very common nickname. She is thin like me, and I always felt better when I was with her. She is the only child in the family, but that does not mean she is spoiled; in fact, she is just the opposite. She was raised better, and is as unspoiled as some children in a large family are spoiled. I haven't seen her for some time, but I hope to see her soon.

*****

My Ideal Boy Friend

At this particular time, I am rather glad to say, I do not have a boy friend, but I know what I would want him to be like. For one thing he would have to be mannerly.

These boys that you see going around talking loudly and, in many ways considering the girl as another boy, are rather out of line. It doesn't matter whether the boy has a lot of money, whether he can take you to the high spots or just to a show. If he is a nice boy, that is all that counts.

A sense of humor means a lot and most boys have it but not all, so if a boy expects to become an ideal boy friend that is one quality worth having. He should dress well and be neat. He doesn't have to wear expensive clothes to be nice and neat, but clean clothes, carefully kept.

This will give an idea of how my ideal boy friend has to be like. As I read it over, it strikes me as rather wishful thinking, but then every girl does a lot of wishful thinking, especially where boys are concerned.

*****

My Summers

Almost every summer since 1929 our family has spent its vacation at Chain-o-Lakes, Indiana. It's about eight miles this side of South Bend. Each summer I'd get acquainted with some people, and the next summer they'd be gone. There was always more to take their place.

There are two girls though, whom I see every summer. They are Louise Larson and Ruth Neilson. Louise lives out there, and Ruth goes out every summer the same as I do.

One summer we decided to take a hike around the lake. The lake isn't very big, but there isn't any kind of path at all leading around it so we did just what the big and famous explorers do. We broke trail. We not only broke the trail but ourselves as well. Between climbing over the bob-wire fences, rolling down hills, and being chased by cows (or so we thought, but the poor cows were just looking for more grass) we decided we had a very uneventful hike.

My brother and sister always went too, but they graduated last year so I took my cousin, Shirley Urquhart, with me. We had so much fun that we didn't want to go home. We went swimming every day, took a long walk, and we went down to the Stand (Mr. Larson runs a candy, pop, and ice cream stand) and had a lot of fun with the other girls and boys. Sometimes we went into South Bend.

This year we might not be able to go out there on account of gas rationing, but I hope we will.

The Passing Of Time

Easter 1943 (April 25)

This year Easter was a great disappointment. For one thing, it was dark and damp. Nobody want to go parading in her best clothes when it's raining. Then, the war prevented many of the gay things that usually go with Easter. There was none of the gaily colored Easter eggs, great big chocolate eggs or rabbits, or baskets filled with eggs. Cookies and cake made a poor substitute for young children. It's too common. They can have it everyday. Easter is a special day, and they should have special food.

The first thing we did on Easter morning was to go to church. My little cousin, who is only four months old, was baptized. My uncle was carrying him because it is customary for the father to carry the baby. All the fathers, mothers, and babies were lined up in front when my cousin decided he wanted to cry. My uncle did everything he could to make him stop crying, but Harry cried until just before he reached the minister. Jean, who is about five, got excited because her brother was crying that she got up and tried her best to see up to the front.

After church it was too damp to go out so I stayed at home and finished a library book that was due the next day. This Easter was so different from other Easters, since my brother wasn't at home, that it seems as if Easter is still to come. I suppose our boys feel the same way. They'll do a lot of celebrating when they come home to make up for the celebrating they've missed.

*****

My Greatest Ambition

All my life I have had but one great desire, and that is to travel all over the world. The places i have the greatest urge to visit are: India, Africa, China, and Tibet. I will give my reasons for wanting to visit these places in particular.

India always made me think of Maharajhas or of the different classes of people refusing to mingle or intermarry. Not only the people but the country itself draws my attention. Forest, or rather jungles, wild animals, and the cities.

Africa makes me think of deserts, unexplored country, and heat--definitely heat. I'd love to go into unexplored country and discovery new things and see beautiful animals and scenery.

China, the oriental section of the world, always makes me think of silks, and incense. The weird buildings and the superstitions. The long pig-tails the Chinamen wear have always held a special attraction for me, but only the people who live further inland wear them nowadays.

Tibet, that land of mystery holds a great fascination for me. I have read stories about men going into the unexplored mountains and never coming back. It is said that some of the high priests are over a hundred years old. They put great store in the proverb that the older you grow the wiser you get. It is all this mystery and unexplored regions that attracts me.

Those are the places I would like to visit first if I could ever travel.

*****

My Faults According To My Family

To my family I am one big fault, although there are times when they are glad I'm around, that is, when I do something for them. Maybe, though, it isn't s bad as it seems to me.

For one thing, I make too much noise. No matter what I do, it sees as if I can always find some way to make it noisy. If I do the dishes, I make an awful racket; when I do housework, I make a terrible din; even when I sing, I make an ear-rending sound, not heart-rending, although in some ways it could be very heart-rending. the harder I try the more noise I make.

For another thing, I always seem to be getting in to way or doing things wrong. in the kitchen I'm more of a hindrance than a help. When I walk I always seem to bump into something or someone or find something to trip over.

I sincerely hope that my family will, in some way, come to appreciate me for what I am. they always laugh when I say that. I wonder why?

The Passing of Time

December 7, 1942

"December 7, 1941! Flash! Pearl Harbor attacked by Japanese."

America was dazed. Pearl Harbor bombed? Impossible! But it was true. Shockingly true. Men, women, and children practically murdered in cold blood while resting on the Sabbath. A horrible, cold blooded killing which could be accomplished only by ruthless people. That was how America entered the war one year ago today.

The only effect that the war has really had on our family is: one of my older brother's being drafted, the gas rationing, and my younger brother, George, being eligible for the draft. Sugar rationing has had no effect on us because we get more sugar than we usually use. Coffee rationing isn't so bad because we get enough of that each week too. The gas rationing, though, really hit us in a vital spot. I believe my father will still be able to ride to and from work, but he will not be able to take my mother and her friends to meetings and he will not be able to go out to Indiana on the week-ends to the cottage as he has been doing all summer. All in all, we have not been affected by the war, but other people have suffered severely by losing loved ones.

I have not been affected at all by the war. It seems that the same people are being hurt all the time. The people on the coast and those within reach of the enemy planes are the ones who suffer most. The people in the Middle West are not being touched and may never know what war really is if our borders are always so well guarded.

Looking back on the things the Japs have done since the war started, I sometimes wonder what made us send so much war material over to them. It ought to be a lesson to us not to put too much faith in people we know are liable to stab us in the back.

*****

Christmas 1942

Christmas Eve was the night my father picked to finish his shopping, and since my mother was fixing the turkey, my sister at work, and my brother sick in bed, I was the one elected to go along with him. Now to be candid, I didn't want to go, but did I say so? You can bet your sweet life I didn't. I didn't want my father angry with me at Christmas, so I went along peacefully. Since most of the stores were closed we didn't get much shopping done. When we got home I had to help wrap packages, so to make a long story short, I got to bed at 11:00 P.M.

Christmas morning dawned but our house was quiet. Why? Because we were all so tired we didn't want to get up - a great difference between this Christmas and last Christmas. We finally dragged ourselves out of bed and gathered around the tree, oh yes, and the presents. Did I say presents? And how! But maybe there seemed to be a lot because some of them were so big. Well, it took us a while to get them all opened, and then, of course, we had to sit and talk for a while before getting breakfast.

After we had cleaned up, my sister went downtown to meet a sailor whom she had a date with. I sat and listened to records and my brother went over to his girl friend's house.

I didn't mention the turkey did I? Well that's something worth mentioning. I guess everyone will agree that an eighteen pound turkey is worth mentioning. It was 2:00 P.M. before it was ready and then three of us sat down to dinner; my mother, father, and I. My brother doesn't count since he couldn't eat much. After dinner we lay down for a rest. There's an old saying that only pigs lie down after they eat. Well, I must admit that I made a hog of myself that day. I couldn't look turkey in the face for a week after that, but maybe that's because we had it almost every night for a week after that.

After washing the dinner dishes, it was about 4:30 P.M., my mother, father, and I sat dow to play pinochle, and I must say we ended our Christmas quietly.

The Passing Of Time

Chapter IV

View Points And Opinions

Thanksgiving, 1942

On Thursday morning November 26, 1942, I woke up and wondered why I hadn't put my hair up the night before. I thought, "Well, I'll just have to fix it so I'll at least be presentable in school today." Then it came on me in a flash. There is no school today! I rolled over and went back to sleep.

Later I was awakened by the rattle of dishes in the kitchen and my mother calling to everybody to get up. With a curious feeling in the pit of my stomach I sat down at the table with the rest of the family. I sat there looking around. This was the first time since Christmas, I think, that the whole family had been at the breakfast table together.

After breakfast I rushed around getting ready for the game. I mean, of course, the Thanksgiving game between Pullman Tech and Fenger. I had to be at school early, because I was going to sell meghophones(sic); so I left all the cleaning up to my mother and sister.

When the girl who was going to sell the meghophones(sic) with me came, we gathered them up and went out to the field. We were only out about ten minutes before our toes and fingers began to get numb. We stood there yelling to the people that if they had any school spirit they would buy a meghophone(sic) and help cheer our team to victory. We even accosted some of the Fenger cheerleaders, but, no soap. Oh, we sold some, but not as many as we had hoped. Why even my brother and his boy friend wouldn't buy one.

Just before the game started, however, we gave up trying to sell them and went to get a place to watch the game. Gosh! How we hoped our team would give Fenger a tough time. According to us, we were going to slaughter Fenger, but you can have an awful lot of spirit and optimism and still not have the size and power to do a thing. That is Pullman all over. Siprit (sic) and optimism? Oh, we have plenty, size and power? Oh, we wish we had plenty.

Even so, we gave Fenger a scare in the second half when the score was 13-7. They thought we were going to get another touhdown, in fact so did we, so they started putting in fresh men and pushig our team back to our own goal line. Numb feet or no numb feet, I jumped up and down yelling my lungs out to "Hold that line." They did. Talk about spirit! Boy, oh boy! We showed it that time. Then our hearts dropped to our boots, even though we couldn't feel them we knew that's where our hearts dropped, because Fenger was shoving us back. Back, back and further back we went. We thought we were going to hold them. We were jumping and screaming to "Hold that line." Fenger made another play; there was a pile up; we thought they hadn't made it; the referees gathered around; we were yelling "They didn't make it;" and then--the referee held up his arms. A touchdown! The score--19-7. They didn't make the kick but, so what! they made a touchdown, that's all that mattered. Who cared about the kick? They were still winning. But! we were still cheering our team on. Even though we had been hoping with all our hearts that we would win, we had known that our team wasn't quite up to par. Down deep we had known Fenger would win but we were hoping they would have a tough time doing it, and they did. They were scared out of their wits for a minute, thinking we might tie the score or even beat them. Can we help it if the lion is stronger than the cub? The cub could have the spirit and the will but still be defeated because of the lion's greater strength.

The game over, I trudged home. My feet seemed like blocks of ice riveted to my ankles. When I reached home the smell of turkey and other food that makes up Thanksgiving dinner soon made me forget my feet.

As we sat down to a bountiful meal, my mother remarked, "Sitting down to this big meal makes me feel selfish when I think of the poor folk over in Europe who will be eating whatever they can get and be glad to get it." That made me stop to think. Over here in America we had turkey, sweet potatoes, white potatoes, cranberry sauce, two vegetables, milk, cake, cookies, and a dessert, while over in Europe the people would be glad to get what they could and be grateful for it. It suddenly made me realize how this war is wrecking the lives of people all over the world, not only by killing thousands but ruining the health of thousands through inadequate and improper food.

After dinner we did the dishes and went to a show. The picture was all right, but the stage show was awful. We got out of the show early and came right home, had a cup of tea, and played pinochle for the rest of the evening.

Taking all things into consideration, I think I spent a very pleasant Thanksgiving.

The Passing of Time

Chapter III

Grammar School And High School Days

There isn't anything about my grammar school days that is very outstanding or in the least bit unusual. The only thing that was different was our graduation exercises. We had an operatta(sic) of Cinderella. Norma Rudnay was Cinderella, and Howard Burke was the Prince. I sang in the chorus. I'd have died of fright if I'd had to get up on the stage and sing in front of a lot of people.

I got my first permanent for graduation, and I was as proud as a peacock.

In high school I went around with Annette Sittema, Lorraine Odziomek, and Eleanore Wisniowski, in the first year. In the second year I hung around with the same group. In my third year Lorraine Dykstra was added to the group. Every time grades have come out I have made the honor roll. I hope I can keep it up.

In my first year I joined Girl's Club and the Drum Corps. In my second year I was secretary of Girl's Club, and I joined the tumbling club. I was secretary of the Drum Corps also. In my third year I joined the Weld Scientific Club, and I was vice-president of that. Also, in my third year I was on the decorating committee for the Prom.

Every year the girls of Pullman Tech. put on a show. In my freshie year I was in a drill; in my sophomore year, I was in a drill, an Indian dance, and tumbling; this year I was in an Irish dance, tumbling, and a football number.

The night that is the most exciting of the whole school year is the night of Open House. It's a lot of fun to sit and do your work, and then look up to see a sea of admiring faces.

I'm getting along pretty well in typing and shorthand. In typing I've passed my sixty-five's and in shorthand I've passed my one hundred and sixty's.

*****

Now That I Am A Junior

In coming back to school as a junior I felt quite grown up as I watched the freshmen wandering around the school. When I thought of my new subjects, thought, I didn't feel so superior.

Bookkeeping is my only new subject. I hope to get along with it, but there are always doubts about new subjects. I also have only one new instructor, but I feel that I will get along fine with her.

In looking ahead I hope to make new friends among the seniors and sophomores as well as among the freshmen. I also hope to get down to brass tacks and really study and get some enjoyment out of my classes.

My main ambition is to make the honor roll every time and also to become more popular. To sum it up, I hope for a pleasant and profitable year.

*****

I Am Proud Of My Decision

I was beginning to feel very grown up in the latter part of my last year in grammar school, for I had a great problem to solve. Should I go to Pullman Tech. or Fenger? I was frightened of both places, but I had to go to one of them. After much worrying and making up my mind and changing it again, I decided on Pullman. Then I had to to the thing I dreaded most. Go to Pullman Tech., get an application, and fill it out. That day I got a glimpse of some of the girls in their smocks. From that time on I pictured myself wearing a smock.

I was accepted at Pullman, and in September, 1940, I was launched into a very wonderful four years at Pullman Tech. or I should say, three years since I'm only in my third year. I'm positive, though, that my fourth year will be just as enjoyable as the first three. I've had so much fun that I don't want to graduate, and that's really something because in grammar school I just hated school.

I'm proud to tell people I'm a student at Pullman Tech. and tell them about the wonderful stenographers Pullman turns out. I love to watch their jaws drop and their eyes widen when I tell them of the highest speeds. Proud? I should say so. When Pullman Tech. is complimented, I feel complimented. I wouldn't change my school for anything in the world!

The Passing of Time

Chapter II

CHILDHOOD

From Infancy

I was born on July 5, 1926, in Chicago, Illinois. When I was still small I took convulsions every time I had a fever. Once when my mother was carrying me upstairs to bed I stiffened out right in the middle of the stairway. My mother could neither go forward or backward, so she tilted me up to a standing position and got me back downstairs. I had measles, chicken pox, and hives. When I had the hives, my mother and the doctor were worried about me because they thought the hives might get into my throat and choke me. But I fooled them. I got better. After I'd had those diseases and didn't run a temperature anymore, I stopped having convulsions. The doctor said I'd grow out of them, and I did.

From what has been said I must have been a rather noisy child. I was what you might call "The Problem Child." To top it off I was stubborn. My cousin called me a noisy brat. Now she has a baby that's noisier than I ever was, and my mother feels like going over to her house and calling it a noisy brat.

When I was six years old, I was giving out handbills one day on the Avenue. My brother was too, and I insisted on standing in the same doorways as he did. Finally he got mad and went a couple of doorways down. My father was near so I felt quite safe. I had given out practically all my handbills when I decided I wanted to have a look at my father and brother. I looked all over for them and couldn't find (sic). Well, all my sense of security left me. I just opened my mouth and howled. All the women who were passing stopped to see what was the matter. I wouldn't talk. I just howled. Finally the policeman came over and asked me what was wrong. Well, that was different. I told him. He took me down to the police station. They asked me my name and address. They called in a police car, and I rode home in style in it. When I reached home my mother and father hadn't come in yet so I stayed with the people next door. The woman made me angry because she laughed at me for getting lost and coming home in a police car. When my mother and father came home, I was sitting on our back porch. It seems my father forgot all about me and walked off without me.

At the age of five, I started school. I remember that I was very peaceful while my mother was there, but that was while my mother was there. When I discovered she was gone, I threw a tantrum. If I ever got stubborn and sulky, I wouldn't do anything I was told to do. Once all the children were playing a game. We were supposed to stand around in a circle and one child would be in the center. He bounced the ball and whoever the ball went to that person was supposed to go in the middle. Well, I didn't want to play the game, so when the ball came to me I refused to go in the middle. The teacher thought maybe I was sick so she asked if I was. Right away I got the idea that I was sick. I said yes I was sick. I was sent into the lunchroom to lie down on the daybed. I didn't lie down very long. The cook was making the lunch and I could smell it, on top of it I was hungry. I went into the kitchen to see what there was to eat. Five minutes later I was contentedly munching a banana.

When I was seven years old, I went to the hospital for the first time in my life. I made sure that I stayed there for one day only. I had my tonsils taken out. I got an awful scare that day. When the nurses were wheeling me out of the room on the table, a nurse came in. She had a pair of scissors in her hand. She grabbed hold of my nose, ordered me to open my mouth, and prepared to put the scissors down my throat. The end was at hand; I was sure of it. I gathered myself together and made up my mind that I would not scream, pain or no pain. I was in earnest. I opened my mouth and closed my eyes. You can imagine the feeling that went through me when I heard the nurses laughing. It was an awful letdown. In fact, I felt as thought I had been cheated. There I was, prepared to be brave and what happens? I get laughed at.

When it came to the real McCoy, I didn't pretend. I screamed my lungs out. I tried to break the straps that held me down to the table, but the doctors and nurses didn't play fair. They clapped the ether over my face, and soon I was dead to the world. I was still fighting when they untied the straps. I was unconscious, but swinging my fists around very well. I socked the nurse in the stomach and nearly hit my mother on the chin. When I came to , I wouldn't let my mother out of my sight, in fact, I still don't know how she got home for supper. Anyhow, I went home that night.

When I was eight years old, I was hit by a car. Two people proclaimed me dead. My cousin, who is younger than I, and my girl friend. I was taken to the doctor's office and nearly raised the dead with my yells. I had a slight concussion, both my eyes were swelled up and were black and blue, and my knees, ankles, elbows, and face, were cut and bleeding. It took me about two or three weeks to recuperate.

Nothing much happened to me after that accept(sic) the time when I got a deep gash in my knee. The girls and boys on our block had a fued(sic) with the girls and boys on the next block. Naturally I was a ring leader. I lead our gang down the alley to meet the foe. The conquering heroine, that was me. I soon had my cockiness knocked out of me. The opposing army came thundering down on us and in an effort to get out of their way, I slipped in the gravel and fell on the jagged edge of a broken milk bottle. The battle ended in a deluge of rain. My tears. Everybody had to help me home. I still carry the scar of that heroic battle.

The Passing of Time

My Mother

My mother was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland, in 1899. When she was nine months old the family moved to Glasgow. She lived there until she came to America in 1921.

When she was fourteen she graduated from grammar school. her brother wanted her to go to high school and learn to be a teacher, but she didn't want to. She wanted to go to work. The first day she went looking for a job she took her lunch, being quite confident that she'd get a job. She got a job at the place where her sister worked. After she'd been working a week she went to the boss and asked for a raise, and she got it. Her sister was boiling mad because my mother had been working there for only a week and already earned more that she did. My m other quit that job after a while and got another one.

During the World War she got a job as (a) street car conductor. One night it was so foggy that she was forced to stop the street car. When the fog cleared she found that she had stopped the car a few inches behind a truck.

Once when she was still in school she cut her foot and, since she went barefoot, she always got the cut dirty. One day her mother put a poultice on it, tied her to the bed post, and went out. There was a wedding down the street that she wanted to see so her older brother, Jim, crawled in the window, untied her, and they both crawled out again. Before she was halfway down the block the poultice was off and her foot was black. When her mother came home, my mother was still tied to the bed post, but she couldn't for the life of her say how her foot had gotten so dirty and the poultice just stuck on top.

There was another time when my mother and some of her girl friends were locked in the school yard. While climbing over the fence my mother got her pants caught and ripped them. When she got home, she slid them into the clothes hamper so her mother wouldn't see them. It didn't occur to her that her mother would see them when they were washed.

My mother has two sisters. Both are married and have families. She also had two brothers, Jim and George, but Jim was killed in the war and George was thrown by a bull and he died a year later. He and his boy friends were playing marbles. A woman was taking her bull to the home pasture and it started after the boys. The other boys ran but my uncle stopped to pick up his marbles, and the bull caught him and threw him into the air twice. He was never well after that.

In 1921 she came to America to live. She met my father at her cousin's house, and in 1922 she was married to him. My sister was born in 1923, my brother in 1924, and I was born in 1926. For the last few years my mother has been under a doctor's care, but her health is almost perfect now.

*****

My Father

My Father, John C. Watt, was born in Kilwinning, Scotland, on July 12, 1880. He went to school there, and in his youth he was very athletic. He played football; soccer, and entered into many bicycle races. While playing soccer, he had his knee knocked out of joint, and he hasn't been able to play much soccer since. He still carries the scars on his body from bicycle racing.

My father was a shoemaker by trade, and he owned a shoe store and a fruit and vegetable store. In the year 1908 he came to America and got a job in Pullman Shope(sic). He has worked there ever since. He is now the president of the Pullman Twenty-years Service Club, and he, also, runs the shoe stores down at Pullman.

*****

My Brother and Sister

My sister is the oldest of us three children. She was born on October 6, 1923. She went to Kohn Grammar School until she was about eleven years old, than(sic), she transferred to the Van Vilissengen Grammar School. She graduated from there in 1938 and went to Fenger High School. She graduated from Fenger in 1942, and she is now working at the First National Bank.

My brother is next to the oldest. He was born on September 18, 1924. He graduated from Kohn Grammar School in 1938 and then went to Pullman Tech. He graduated from Pullman in 1938 and went to work for the Goodman Manufacturing Company. He worked for Goodman until January 16, 1943. On January 23, 1943, he took the train to San Diego, California and a life with the United States Marines. He is now stationed in Jacksonville, Florida. We haven't seen him since he left. I am always proud to say I have a brother in the Marines.

The Passing of Time

Chapter 1

Ancestry

Mother's Grandparents

Janet Cowan was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She married James Black when she was very young. He was born in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland. Janet and James Black had fourteen children. James was a weaver, and one day, at the mill, he fell into the dam. He was stone deaf after that. He was a very good-looking man, but he was, also, very vain. He was very clean, sometimes when he was up in the middle of the night, he'd wash his feet because he said walking around made the soles of his feet dirty. He lived with my grandmother for about three years before he died. He favored my aunt, and he didn't like my mother. He'd send her to the store to get something, and when she brought it, he'd send her back saying she had gotten the wrong thing. He was an old man then and very crabby. He was an educated man too. He could sit and read books day and night. Another one of his, shall I say virtues, was that he knew everybody. No matter who a person would talk about, he knew their parents, even if it was somebody in Australia. He got all of his teeth pulled out at once, and the shock of that brought on his death. He died in January 1912.

*Mother's Parents

Janet Black was one of the daughters of Janet and James Black. She was born in 1868 in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland. She was a weaver before she married George Gilmour.

George Gilmour was born in 1870 in Airdrie, Lanarkshire, Scotland. He was the son of Barbara Nisbet Gilmour, who was born at Hart Hill, Lanarkshire, Scotland. When he was small he had a bad habit of running away. George and Janet Gilmorur had five children, Jim, George, Janet, Barbara, and Margaret. My brother is named after my grandfather.

Father's Parents

Rebecca Gough was born in Kilwinning, Scotland. Before she married, she took care of her grandmother. She married James Watt who was born in Gilford, County Down,Ireland. He was a shoemaker, and he taught his sons that trade. Rebecca and James had six children, Rebecca, Mary, Anne, James, John, and Andrew.

*My mother's father died in 1942 and her mother died in 1939.

The Passing of Time : Introduction

{Cover}

The Passing of Time

Like a gently flowing stream, Time never pauses.

Like a lonely desert sentinal(sic), The World watches.

Like the rising and setting of the sun,

People live and die.

They overcome the obstacles in their path,

As they overcome mountains leading to newer

And richer lands.

*****

Dedication

I dedicate this book to my mother and father. It is through their love and wisdom that I have achieved the goals I have reached today.

*****

Introducing Myself

At the moment I can definitely say that my feeling for this autobiography is not what it should be. I suppose I should be rather glad that I am having such a wonderful opportunity to write it, but all the emotion it arouses is indifference and slight fear. The fear arises because I am afraid I shall be unable to acquire all the necessary material, and the indifference, because it seems foolish to start a thing so much ahead of time. I suppose, though, that it is the wisest move.

My appearance is not all that spectacular. The color of my hair is an ordinary brown, and so are my eyes. I am five feet six inches tall; I weigh one hundred and ten pounds, and I'm very thin. I dress according to the fad of the day. When the styles change, I change along with them. I have a fearful temper when aroused. Sometimes I am good natured, at other times very bad. My conduct at all times depends on how I feel, and my disposition, I guess, is average.

Some of my traits of character are inherited from my father, some from my mother, although my mother (says) I inherit all the bad ones from my father. Oh yes, I was born on July 5, 1926.

The above is a brief description of myself to give you an idea of what I'm like.

*****

Between the covers of an unassuming folder with bent corners and water damage is my Grandma Ruth's autobiography, a history up until 1943, carefully typed on what once were white pages. I never met my Grandma Ruth, she passed away in 1950 just 5 days after giving birth to my dad. I was always curious about the woman I was named after and when I started reading this I felt like she was writing it just for me, her candid and honest writer's voice, indicative of her time and age. The beauty of it and it's connection to my ancestry is priceless. I am sharing this here more for posterity and for my small but significant tie to this woman that makes us family. Her history is a part of mine.