Adventures with Grandparents, 1944 and 1945

I know a lot of you, and maybe all of you, have heard my story about the runaway horse when I was 9. I don't believe that I have recorded it by written word, however, so thought I'd do that. Ryanne created a blog for Gpa and I, and Sarah has been putting all of our stories and letters in that blog. Since we don't seem to be doing so well at getting our life history down in story form, we have decided we can just use that blog, and keep adding stories.

June 1944
My folks took me to Udall, Kansas, where my Paternal grandparents lived, and I stayed there for two weeks by myself. I loved to be on the farm! I remember shucking corn, watching rabbits (wild ones) and walking what seemed like a far away area where the silo was, and right by the silo was the wheat "crib" that held the crop for that year. In the top room of the crib, Grandpa Clodfelter would let us cousins play in the stored wheat. What fun! In that hot Kansas sun, it felt so good to climb up into the cool wheat. The shade of the building with it's huge open sides to let any available breeze pass through so that the wheat could dry out - gave heavenly relief as we buried ourselves to the neck in the wheat kernels, wiggling our toes and trying to make "wheat angels"! (They didn't work, though!)

The silo itself was constructed of reddish, homemade bricks that my Grandfather made in 1914, when my Dad was 3 years old. I have pieces of that silo, along with a picture of it, in our entryway and I have attached a picture. My Grandparents rarely went anywhere in their car. They loved working on their farm and taking care of their animals. It was not convenient for them to go anywhere, anyway, as my Grandpa's right arm was severed about halfway up his forearm by a engine powered corn husker, when my Dad was 9 years old. He had a hook on his arm, and although he could drive just fine, I don't think he felt really comfortable in that operation! But their friends who lived a few miles away, had horses that they had invited me to ride while I was there, and so we got in the old Model A Ford and drove to pay them a visit.

I had never been on a horse before, but had always dreamed of riding. Of course, my in this dream, everything went perfectly smooth and I was in complete control. Reality presented me with a bit different picture! The owner of the farm brought out a young horse, one that he thought sure was gentle and calm, and I eagerly hopped right up into the saddle. They showed me how to hold the reins and how to get the horse to turn, etc., and off we went, down the long driveway to the West and then turned North on the dirt road. In just a few yards, we passed a place where the bushes were thin and I could see the barn by looking to my right, to the East. What I didn't realize was that Mr. Gentleness could also see that barn, which was his HOME where his MOMMY was!

Suddenly, he bolted to the right, crossed the deep ditch that ran between the road and the farm. He had decided to go back home! I hung on to the saddle horn with all my might, and was able to remain in the saddle as he continued toward the barn. I never saw the heavy wire clothesline ahead. A heavy winter quilt had been hanging on it for several days to air out for summer storage, stretching the wire into a sagging, choking danger. As I continued to glue my hands to the saddle horn, the wire caught me just under my chin! Everything went black, and I don't remember anything until I woke up on the ground several minutes later, with my sweet Grandpa bending over me, crying. When I looked up at him, I thought I was deaf because I couldn't hear his words. HE had thought I was dead; hence the tears. Later he told me that I had broken the wire with my neck (it was obviously the Lord that did that, not my neck!) He said I had stayed on the horse even when unconscious for about 10 yards, then my hands relaxed and I fell to the ground, and the horse continued on to the barn door. As I fell, his back leg kicked me in the forehead.

There were many signs that 1944 was not my time to leave this earth! If the wire had not broken in the center of the line, where it made contact with my neck, it would have broken at the end, in which case it would have whipped around my neck two or three times, probably decapitating me. The kick from the horse could have been fatal by itself! Also, it was a blessing that I had fallen off when I did, as the barn door that beckoned the pony to his home, had the top half closed. It would have struck a hard blow to my torso and face at the same time, knocking me off the rear
of the horse, if I had gone that far.

The ride to the "doctor" is clear in my memory, which means I was fully conscious as soon as I woke up. My grandparents couldn't afford the gas to ride to Wichita, where a licensed Dr. lived, so instead we went to the local midwife. She had no suturing materials, so she couldn't give me the stitches I needed. She simply filled my gaping neck wound with Iodine, the cure-all of the times. Iodine burns badly, especially when it is in an open wound! It was the most painful part of the whole ordeal! However, I do not even have a scar now, which is truly amazing!

On the way to the midwife's home, I pleaded with Grandpa and Grandma to NOT tell my parents, as I knew it would worry them! I guess I thought it would be all healed up and invisible by the end of my two week stay!

More than a year later, in 1945, I once again spent two weeks with my Grandparents. By now they had moved into town, Udall, Kansas, which was the nearest town to their farm.

My grandparents were Methodist, and lived just across the street from their church building. Grandpa was the janitor there, and on Wednesday nights, after prayer meeting, he could always be found putting the chairs away and cleaning the building for the weekend services. On August 14, 1945 was V-J day, the end of WWII. Grandpa and Grandma and I were sitting in their living room, reading scriptures as we did every evening, when we heard that news on the radio. Grandpa pulled on his shoes, told me to come along with him, and we quickly went into the church building and clear up the stairs to the tower! Grandpa started to pull the long rope that was connected to the bell in the tower, then he stopped, picked me up high and told me to pull the rope! I got to be the first one in Udall, Kansas, to ring the bell for the wonderful news that the war was over! I had no idea then, of course, what a momentous occasion that was! I just knew everyone was ecstatic!

I remember many things about my grandparents on both sides, but these two years were the most adventurous stories of my childhood!

Love, Mom/Gma