Interviewer’s Note

This anonymous speaker really does care for her family and has kept quite a level head given all of the crazy adventures she’s had. Not to mention, how sharp she is. Her memory of some of these details is remarkable. It’s been an absolute pleasure to hear her story and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

My Early Days in Maryland

Looking back, I had a very good childhood in Dundalk, Maryland, where I grew up with my two younger brothers. We had a large yard with woods behind us and fields on either side, plenty of space for children to roam and imagine. We didn’t have iPads or computers back then, so we were always outside playing and making up our own games. Our property was blessed with fruit trees of every kind. Apple, grape, peach, pear, cherry, plus strawberry and gooseberry bushes that kept us well fed and happy.

My grandmother and aunt lived with us in the house that my grandparents had built with their own hands. That house is still standing today. I remember times when our well went dry because new houses nearby were pumping the water away. My father had to bring home water for drinking, and we had to go to my grandmother’s house to take baths. My mother even had to send our clothes out to the laundry for several years until we got city water. But it was just part of life, and we went along with it.

My father was a handy man who worked building planes. He always wore a starched white shirt and tie to work. I think his job was to tell other people what to do. Before Pearl Harbor, his company wanted him to move to Hawaii, but he decided against it. He always said he was glad we stayed in Maryland because we probably wouldn’t have survived what happened there.

During World War II, I was just a little girl maybe three or five years old when the air raid sirens would go off. We had to turn off all the lights and pull down our dark blinds. But with my grandmother and aunt, we would light a candle and play hide and seek. It was actually fun, and I didn’t really even understand that a war was going on.

Starting a Family and Life on the Move

When I was a teenager, my mother decided I would go to business school. Her reasoning was “You’re a girl, and you’ll probably just get married anyway.” I didn’t have a choice in the matter, but that education served me well throughout my life. I finished school by age 15, got my first job at 15, and just as my mother predicted, I married young at 16 years old. If my husband were still alive today, we would have been married 70 or 71 years.

We didn’t have much money in those early days. We lived in a small apartment with furniture my mother gave us, a table and chairs, and a secondhand solid maple bedroom set I bought for $60 with money I’d saved. My oldest daughter still has that bedroom set today. I washed our laundry by hand, and sometimes clothes got stolen right off our clothesline. But my mother believed we should buy our own things and make our own way.

My husband started his career at the steel plant, sweeping floors, which he hated. But he was determined to do better. He applied for a welding job building ships and begged the hiring manager, telling him he had a wife and two babies and desperately needed the job. That man took a chance on him, and my husband learned to weld. Over time, he became a foreman and then even a superintendent.

Adventures Across the States

Because of my husband’s construction work, we lived in 11 different states over the years. The company paid for our moves, and while it wasn’t always my choice to constantly relocate, it was my husband’s line of work. If I wanted to be with him and keep our family together, that’s what we did.

We lived in a small, western Maryland town during a winter when we were stuck in a blizzard with snowdrifts up to the roof of the first floor. The house was so cold, only 40 degrees inside, but it was a fun week for the kids with all that snow to play in.

In Pennsylvania, we rented a beautiful rancher with an acre of land while my husband built a coal-fired plant. The children swam in a nearby creek that had yellow water from coal sulfur, and my boys learned to use underwater equipment there. I remember driving through a dirty coal mining town and telling my husband I’d never want to live there. Of course, within a year, we moved there for another job. We bought a big old house for $4,500. I didn’t like the house, but the kids loved it, and it turned out to be better than I thought it would be in that town of only about 1,000 people.

Houston, Texas, was great but brought some challenges when my boys were in high school. There was racial tension, and the school had barbed wire fences and police with guns. Teachers were afraid of the students. One day, a boy held a knife to one of my son’s throat, and the teacher just stood there shaking. My son didn’t tell me about it for 20 years. Once, we also had his brand new bicycle stolen. So, I took him for a ride around town and we actually found it!

Some kid had bought it from this group and didn’t know it was stolen, so we called the police. And that led to them breaking up a ring of kids stealing bikes for pocket money.

In a small town in Arkansas, we lived right on the Mississippi River, where my husband started his own construction business building barges. He built one for Gulf Oil, and I painted the “no smoking” sign on it. It’s not that cool, but it was a big deal for me, haha. He also built a barge and pool for a school that taught young men to be barge operators. Bill Clinton, who was governor then, came for the christening, and I got to break the champagne bottle on the barge. Quite an honor!

We also lived in Dallas, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Kansas, and New York. Each place brought its own adventures and memories. In Kansas, we rented a house on a dirt road surrounded by horse farms, with a cat that came with the house. That cat brought me a dead mouse as thanks one day. Animals have their own way of showing gratitude. In New York, we rented a house near the ocean where people were so trusting they left doors unlocked with all the furniture inside. I couldn’t believe such a nice house just had the doors unlocked.

Lessons from the Sky

My husband belonged to the Civil Air Patrol, and one time we flew in a small trainer plane where everything went wrong. The door handle fell off, the rudder got stuck, and the pilot couldn’t land. We tried five or six times, and it was terrifying. I thought I’d never fly again. But when my grandmother died, I had to fly for her funeral, and after that, I discovered I loved flying. My husband later bought planes for his business, though we had some scary flights, going through thunderstorms, landing in cornfields, flying low because the de-icer wasn’t working and the plane was icing up. Sometimes life forces you to face your fears, and you discover strength in those moments.

Finding Work and Purpose

Throughout all our moves, I would find work through temporary agencies, usually in office jobs at hospitals or banks. Those temp jobs often turned into full-time positions until we moved again. My business school education served me well. I could always find work. My last job was as a church secretary for almost 25 years, until I was 81, when rheumatoid arthritis forced me to quit. I really miss the people from that job. Work isn’t just about earning money; it’s about the relationships you build and the purpose you find.

When people ask where the best place I lived was, I always say wherever my family was, as long as we were together. I think I felt most alive with the excitement of going to new places, experiencing the novelty, and meeting new people. Our children always made new friends quickly wherever we went. Children are resilient that way.

Faith Through Trials

Our family has faced some difficult times that tested our faith and brought us closer to God. My firstborn child was premature and lived only 36 hours, a heartbreak that stays with you forever. My daughter was diagnosed with polycystic kidneys at a young age and now requires dialysis. Another son had cancer in his leg at 19 and endured two years of chemotherapy. He walks with a limp today, but I thank God he’s still here. I flew up and stayed with him for six weeks during his treatments.

I myself started smoking at 13. Back then, all the actors were doing it in the movies. My friends and I thought we were cool or something. Then I got older and saw people with lung cancer still smoking in the hospital. But what really made me quit was seeing my 16-year-old daughter with a cigarette dangling from her lip. I thought, what a terrible example I was setting. I threw my cigarettes away that day.

One of our hardest trials was when my youngest daughter’s husband committed suicide. He was an engineer working on a big project that seemed to overwhelm him. He had been seeing doctors who gave him medicine that might have had the side effect of suicidal thoughts. His death shocked us all and still affects their two children today.

Going through these difficulties with my children really drew me closer to God. I grew up Catholic, but it felt more about rules and works. When I started reading the Bible for myself, I learned that God lets it rain on the good and the bad. He wasn’t punishing me because these things were happening. Having a personal relationship with Jesus through reading His Word has given me hope and strength. The Bible tells you that God loves you and cares for you, that He knew you before you were even conceived. It says He has a plan for our lives. Even now, I know He’s with me.

Hopes for the Future

I think the most important role I’ve played in life is being a mother, and I hope I was a good one. I am most proud of my children, their accomplishments, and their families. I just want to see them succeed and have good lives. God puts it in a mother’s heart to raise her children properly and steer them on the right track.

If I were to pass along any wisdom, it would be to listen to your parents. I was a rebellious teenager who thought I knew everything, and I found out I didn’t. Some people learn the hard way, and I think I did. Getting married so young was one of those decisions. I wouldn’t go back and change things because I’m grateful for my family, but I didn’t have a college education, just business school though it did serve me well.

I think if I had waited, maybe married in my late twenties, I would have been more secure in myself and perhaps a better mother, more understanding, more patient, taking more time to listen to my children. I hope I became a better mother as time went on.

My main wish is that each of my children would know Jesus as their Lord and Savior and live to bring glory to Him. I also wish that my sons and daughters are always there for each other and love each other, even though they live far apart. My husband told them before he died to always be there for one another, and they have been.

I wish we all lived closer now. My children are scattered all over the place. I stayed here in Maryland after my father and husband died because my brothers and their families are here, and I didn’t want to be a burden to any of my children. They call and check on me, but it would be nice to have them closer. I hope I’ll be well enough to travel again one day, perhaps go to Texas next Christmas to visit.

A Final Message

To anyone reading this, my message is simple: Know your Creator and live to bring glory to Him. Even through all the joys and difficulties in life, having a relationship with God through reading His Word has been my source of hope and strength.

Life is an adventure. Sometimes frightening, sometimes wonderful, always unpredictable. I’ve lived in 11 states, survived air raids and blizzards, broken champagne bottles on barges, and watched my children grow into remarkable adults. I’ve faced heartbreak and celebrated victories. Through it all, I’ve learned that home isn’t a place. It’s wherever your family is, wherever love lives.

That is my story. I am grateful for my family, for how God has led me through my life, and for all the travels and adventures we shared. Life is a gift, and every day is a chance to make it count.