I was accepted at Washington University at the end of my sophomore year
at Culver-Stockton College. That summer I worked at a resort in the Wisconsin Dells.
A kind of neat fellow I met at C-S kept popping up on weekends. I was wearing his
fraternity pin and along about August I decided to remain at C-S.
In 1952 I received my B.A. Degree and two weeks later my MRS. Three weeks
after the wedding my new husband left for the army. I remained in Hannibal and
taught second grade at Mark Twain School. After basic training Rog was sent to Ft.
Riley, Kansas to work in army intelligence. I joined him there and taught with other
young army wives. When his service time was finished we moved to northeastern
Illinois near Rog's home town. I taught three more years and then quit to start a
family.
This time we got hold of a stronger stork. Our son, Alan, was born February 21,
1960 weighing in at 9 pounds, 3 ounces.
When Alan started school a neighbor urged me to substitute teach. I agreed to
only go to the school two houses away from our home. On my third job the principal
spent a lot of time in the class - very disconcerting until he asked me to form a third
first grade and relieve the overcrowding in two existing classes. I had been having a
great time and readily agreed. I was a sort of stay-at-home mom as Alan could always
find me. I taught 20 years. I did NOT teach one year twenty times.
I was a rather shy, quiet little person as a child. I took a special interest in bring-
ing out the hidden personalities in these in my classes. I found "allies" in puppets.
As long as we lived in Waukegan I would meet former students who always asked,
"Mrs. Johnson, are you still having puppet shows? I still have my puppet."
As Director of Guidance Rog frequently worked with social workers. We were
told about an average little girl who was trying very hard to live up to impossibly
high standards in a foster home. Our hearts melted and we became foster parents.
Ten minutes after Mr. B. left her we realized we had been "had". She was ten going
on forty years old and had "been around the block" more than a dozen times.
Our second foster child was a sweetheart and lived with us a year.
Both Rog and I were interested in politics. We worked actively in Republican work
shops, held coffees for candidates, etc. I served as Publicity Chairman for the Lake
County Republican Woman's Club and went each week with a group of women to
Great Lakes Navel Hospital. We took small gifts and played bingo and cards with
any wounded vets who were interested. I was a judge of election for the infamous
bed sheet ballot in 1964 when Illinois legislators could not agree on redistricting
and all ran at large. Barry Goldwater was my hero - a fiscal conservative and social
liberal.
In 1979 I entered nurses training. I was interested in maternity nursing which is
mostly teaching. My first clinical experiences were in nursing homes and I fell in love
with "old people". Family responsibilities intervened and I could not finish.
We retired to Florida in 1984 to live near family. I volunteered at a large medical
center. The auxiliary placed me in the OBGYN Clinic. I weighed the "girls", checked
urine for glucose and protein, assisted the doctors with pre-natal and six weeks check ups,
IUDs, diaphragms, and several procedures for abnormal pap smears -biopsy, colposcopy,
and cryosurgery - all nursey stuff. I gained an awesome regard for my own gender here.
A healthy woman's cervix is a beautiful, glowing, vibrant red. The Art Institute in
Chicago has a painting by Renoir of a woman in a red hat that is an exact match. Reproductions in books do not begin to capture the color. I used to tell young women with their
feet in stirrups about Renoir's painting so they could feel like works of art instead of
embarrassed as heck. The docs would chuckle and play along with my intent.
Rog and I conducted school tours of 60 children through the children's hospital.
Everyone got the full program, but at one point we would divide the group. Half would go
to listen to heart beats and discuss good health practices with an emphasis on the importance
of hand washing. Half would go to an empty room to "ride the bed" and follow a picture
story of a child from admittance to discharge. The staff could usually tell which patients
had been through the program as they were comfortable with hospital procedures.
In working with sick and terminally ill children I again turned to puppets. I bought my three critters on various trips to Las Vagas. Wolfie and Posey are two very large hand
puppets, or Mopkins. They would blow kisses, give love pats and count the "piggies" on
exposed small feet. In the ER they would distract a child getting a head gash stitched, etc. In
P.O.P.S. some children had to drink a glass of liquid before they could be discharged.
So Wolfie would "strike a bargain". He would sip through the straw "if you will sip through
The straw". Daisy is a marionette and kind of plump and pink and fuzzy. Her main claim to
charm is her rear end waddle. Once she was sitting on the chest of a bed ridden child her
googly eyes looking into the child's. The little girl looked up and asked, "Do you bring her
her around to cheer people up? She sure cheered me up"
Some of the stories I read to the children were, THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF
ARCHIE AND THE FIRST HOT DOG which has elements of the American Revolution,
George Washington, and the puppy Archie bought with the silver dollar Washington threw
across the Potomac River. - RIKKI TIKKI TAVI, the mongoose who rid the garden of
cobras. Little folks demanded several repeats of THERE'S NO SUCH THING AS A
DRAGON - the little fellow just wanted to be noticed.
Our son went to a Christmas party and met a guest named Diane. A year later they were
married in a ceremony in our back yard, under a magnolia tree overlooking a river.
Alan became daddy to a four year old daughter and we were instant grand parents. They
moved to New England and Alan was asked to work with a team of elite, non transporting
paramedics headquartered at Lahey Clinic. Alan and Diane kept urging us to move closer.
After two more grandchildren we opted to risk being interfering in-laws and moved to Maine
in January 1993. Thus we earned the right to call ourselves "Maniacs".
Our children quite literally do "come over the river and through the woods to Grand-
father's house….." There are no shades or drapes on our picture windows to enable us to
enjoy Maine's abundant wildlife. (The Wammaks and we seem to share many interests)
In January 1996 I entered the hospital to have an ascending aortic aneurysm repaired.
I received a mechanical aortic valve and a synthetic tube replaced the rotten aorta. A week
after surgery I was home. Next day I walked at the mall.
We enjoy playing bridge, our animals and traveling. Our trip to Iceland, the Scandinavian
Capitols and Russia was special. We enjoy walking in the woods -quite an adventure since
a bear moved into our neighborhood. Reading has always been as important to me as breathing
Is to most people. I'm obsessive about some cross word puzzles. I garden, knit and sew thus ("our")
Barbie and Ken are very well dressed. Following a fox's tracks on snow shoes is a good way to
get dizzy - it doubles back so often. Our Nubian goat seems to have a sense of humor. We are
careful about bending over in his pen. I enjoy taking care of our goat, little red rooster, two
inside cats, and my husband.
In June 2000 my brother and I were in Hannibal to bury a much loved aunt. We had lunch
at Country Kitchen. Bud looked at HHS and remarked, "I wonder how many buildings that old
still look that good?" There are many definitions of education. Josiah Royce gave the one I
like best, "Education is learning to use the tool which the race has found indispensable."
This fits the education of an Eskimo, a Kalahari Bushman or a child growing up in Hannibal.
Bud and I agree that we have had happy and fulfilling lives, in part, because of the tools we
acquired there. |