Have you ever experienced a toboggan ride, down a steep hill? Well, I haven't either. But I almost did.

I had a foster sister, Ruthie, (actually my second cousin that lived with us,) who was three years older and being ten, she was much more worldly-wise. She was in a fever to go to Hall’s Hill to play in the snow.

Hall’s Hill was on undeveloped property and near the railroad, that we passed on our way to school daily. In the Winter, Hall’s Hill stood there as a temptation, beckoning all the school children to come over and play- just for a "little while" on the way to school. It seemed like all the other kids in the neighborhood got to go there to play, except me! I had Pneumonia every Winter and Mother would not even consider allowing me to play in the snow. Ruthie had mostly been on her own for several years since her Mother died, and she found it very difficult to live within the confines of our house rules.

We saw other kids dragging their sleds and toboggans to the top of the hill and we felt left out. Little by little the temptation grew. We didn’t have a sled, but finally one day, Ruthie talked me into accompanying her to walk to the top of the hill, to watch the other kids. She liked to try all kinds of adventurous things, especially concerned with speed. On the playground we could never swing her high enough, the car was never driven fast enough and when she rode our bicycle, she tried her best to burn up the tires. Watching the other kids slide down the steep, snow-covered hill looked like so much fun that Ruthie could hardly restrain herself. I could see she was forming a plan…

This particular day happened to be Parent-Teachers Day, when our mothers came to school in the afternoon. They sat in chairs along the side of the room, and observed the activities of the class. This was the day when my Mother insisted I wear my prettiest dress to school and my long blonde curls were perfected as she wrapped my hair around her finger. She stood back to observe and she saw that they were flawless! ( My father was working at the mortuary at that time, and was able to buy a child’s beautiful velveteen dress with smocking, lace and ribbon rosettes at wholesale price, -this was a real extravagance in 1939, but I was their "only child". This was my Sunday School and PTA dress.)

As Ruthie and I walked to school and from a block away, we could hear the neighborhood kids screaming with delight as they flew down Hall’s Hill. Ruthie was smart enough to have figured out, that if she could involve me in her adventures, her punishment would not be so great, when/if she got caught. Somehow, at seven years old, I had not figured that out. I just slogged along behind her. I loved having a big sister – most of the time…

Ruthie presented me with her plan. She had found and had hidden a piece of galvanized roofing that had blown off of someone’s barn. She needed my help in dragging it to the top of the hill. I was torn between knowing that my Mother would not approve and the potential excitement that I had never experienced. Seeing my indecision, Ruthie intimidated, threatened and bullied me. I was coerced into helping her drag the tin to the hill.

The hill overlooked the cattle lots on the adjoining property. From the top,I could see the cattle foraging, but mostly I focused on the mean old bull gazing longingly over the fence at the milk cows. I was a city girl, but I had heard stories of "mean old bulls".

Mother never let me forget this………….