maddash

  A Joyous Sound I can't say my father did not like music.  It's just that I never saw him listen to music.  Ever.  My mother, on the other hand, loved music.  She was an  amateur guitar and accordion player and like me, only played for her personal enjoyment. We never had a record player growing up.  Mom listened to AM radio, mostly WOWO and they had a limited selection of music.   She favored country and old time gospel music and listened to it mostly in the car.   All that changed late in 1962. My sister Dee was born in Sept, 1962.  I was 14 and my brother Chuck was 10.  Two much older brothers that loved the new baby dearly. Dee started out a normal baby.  When she was about two months or so old, she started crying.....all day and most of the night.  The family doctor said she had colic and treated her for it.   She still would not stop crying. Mom was exhausted, staying up most of the night rocking and cuddling her.  Mom, Chuck and I decided to assign shifts to care for De

Violet Elaine Boice I have always believed I inherited my mother's love of music and her fear of the poverty she knew as a child. Mom was the daughter of a tenant farmer, she was born during the depression.  She grew up poor in rural Indiana.  There is no denying it. Her father's first wife died of kidney failure at the age of 20 in 1925.  John was 25, Myrtle 16 when they married.  John was left with a 4 year old boy and a 1 year old girl to raise. John married Laura Linton in 1928.  John was 33 and Laura 26.  John had raised his two children for 3 years with the help of Myrtle's parents.   John and Laura had four girls, my mother was the oldest.  Life was tough. There were 9 mouths to feed, including Laura's mother who lived with the family. Mom's father died in 1947.  All four girls were still at home.  John was 51 years old.  Step siblings George was 26, Evaleen 23.  Violet was 18, Ellen 16, Dorothy 10,  Joyce 7. I believe this picture was taken shortly after Mom

Leaving Latta Lake Well, we departed Latta Lake after living there full time for 9 years and owning rental property for about 20.  It was a bittersweet breakup.  I am going to miss all my vegetable and flower gardens, my intercourse with all the fishermen, the wildlife and the beauty of a sunrise each morning, over the lake. I won't miss the long trips to find a decent restaurant or grocery store.  I won't miss drive 35 miles to Mass every Sunday.  I won't miss being removed from the creature comforts I yearn for, at 72 years of age.  We won't talk about winter and the struggle to get up our steep road when the snow flies. The biggest reason we moved will seem trite to some people.  Linda and I are walkers.  Real walkers.  We spend a couple hours each day walking and Latta Lake had nearby trails, that were accessible if you drove.  We wanted to walk out the door with our dogs and walk in a safe, comfortable environment.  So, we sold the lake house, and had a villa custo