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Our House on Pleasant Street

Finding a house in town was quite a job for a bunch of inexperienced women. We had very little money and little know-how to proceed. With some help, we found this little house on Pleasant Street. It was really too small, but was all we could afford. We bought the house for $3900. Our house payments were $27 a month, which four of us undertook to pay.

To us this house seemed just wonderful. We had sidewalks to walk on, after having all the mud in the country. Never having had electric lights, we were thrilled to snap the switch and the light would come on, even though all the rooms just had a cord hanging from the ceiling with a light bulb at the end. The running water was also a treat, after carrying every drop of water we used up the hill from the well. The indoor plumbing was wonderful after our trips to the "outhouse" in all kinds of weather.

Since the house was small, we had to sleep three in a bed, as there were only two small bedrooms in the house. Besides, one of us had to sleep in the enclosed front porch, which was not heated, and would get pretty cold in winter. Our dog, Trixie, had to move to town with us. After the carefree life he had on the farm, he had to be tied up to the clothesline post all day, where he spent the time barking. I'll bet the neighbors appreciated that, although on one side of us there was an empty lot, and on the other side lived an older couple, whose son later became our brother-in-law, and still later my husband. So the barking must not have bothered them too much!

Since the dog had to be near us, he slept under our bed. During the night, we were awakened by him many times as he scratched his fleas, -or whatever, and his collar would tap, tap, tap on the hardwood floor.

As wonderful as this house seemed to us, it was not without work either. We had a floor furnace which burned wood. Not having any other way to get wood, we would buy a load of box factory wood which was dumped by our basement window. We would then have to throw all these little scrap pieces down into the basement through the window. We did not have to pile them up, however, as we had built a bin where we kept it. This wood did not give as much heat as chunk wood, but it was the best we could do.

As the years passed and we all got jobs in town, we made improvements on this house. We had our furnace converted to oil, so we no longer had to worry about wood. We also improved the inside of the house by washing and then painting all the calcimined walls. We also replaced the light cords and bulbs with light fixtures. Later we got a refrigerator and traded in our old ice box, exchanged our wood-burning kitchen stove for an electric range, and made it more comfortable and more modern in many ways. Also, some of the girls were married, making for less people in this little crowded area.

However small and humble this little house on Pleasant Street was, it has been a house that was lived in to the fullest. If it could talk, it would have many stories to tell.

The back yard by our house was like a park. Since the Pine Grove Cemetery was right in back of us, there was no street there, wo our yard was deeper than usual. This yard was definitely Mom's hobby and her Paradise. Whenever she had a little time, whe was out there working. She moved many flowers with her from the farm. I remember her rambling rose. Never a summer passed without it gracing the yard with its many red blossoms. The Easter lilies that she received on Easter always bloomed in the yard the following summer, and the flox covered much of the fallen down garage, with its sinking corner and doors that never closed. She planted a garden every summer, and nary a weed could be found in it. Oh yes, there were times when she too was angry with the rabbits and threw bricks at them when they would get into the garden underneath the fence. Somehow they always found their way out and she never hit one. They were as smart as Mr. McGregor's rabbits were in his patch.

Many family gatherings were held in this house, as it was "home", and was always the center of activity. We always took pictures of the occasion when we were together. Some of the pictures look rather weird today, as we had no place to put a group, except in a corner. Sometimes we would take the men on one picture, the women on another, and the children separately, because there was no room to get all on one picture. When we were all together, when all the young folks were still at home, there were about 30 of us. Most of the time these large gatherings were planned for the summer, when some could be outside. At one such gathering, we put all the kids by a long table outside and served them first. Then they could play while the grown-ups ate. Another time when we gathered in the evening, we had to be in the house. When it was time for lunch, there weren't enough chairs, so some of the young folks sat on their knees on the floor around the kitchen table. They didn't seem to mind.

These larger gatherings were often held when Esther and Luther and their family came from Canada, Pennsylvania, Texas, or St. Louis, -wherever they happened to be at the time. This of course was a time when we all wanted to get together.

As the years went by, our crowd got smaller and smaller, as one by one moved out and established their own homes. Mother also got older along with the rest of us. She had to resort to using first a cane and then a walker. But she never lost her love for her yard and the outdoors. Even when she needed her walker, she would go out and weed and hoe in her iris bed. One day she lost her balance while doing this and fell head first into her iris bed. We often laughed and kidded her about this adventure. It must have been a soft landing, as she didn't get hurt. She suffered a stroke in 1975, and lived for one week after that. She had attained the age of 86 years.

By this time I was the only one left in the Pleasant Street house. Mother died in January of 1975, and on July 12, 1975, I married Lloyd, the brother-in-law who now lived by himself at 1216 South 7th Avenue. He had lost his wife, Dorothy, 3 years before.

So the Pleasant Street house was abandoned after 39 years. I moved to 7th Avenue where I am living today. We still talk about the Pleasant Street years a lot, and we still drive by the house to see what it looks like now. The new owners have gotten rid of the old garage, which certainly was an eye sore, and a new one stands in its place. Many of the trees that we planted there have been cut down because they grew too big. Some of the evergreens are still growing in my 7th Avenue yard. Some of the flowers that Mother planted and cared for there still come up every summer and bloom, and many are blooming in all of our yards, as we moved them to our houses.

Many things have happened since then to change my life. Lloyd died in 1985. Ruth's husbands have both died and she is living on 7th Avenue next to me. This has been a Godsend for both of us. Whereas we try to retain our identity by doing the things we like to do, and associate with our own friends, we also can be together much of the time. We eat most of our meals together and do things together, and in this way we dispense with much of the loneliness that would otherwise be a part of our existence.

I still have three sisters living in Wausau. The youngest, Mildred, still has her husband. The young people have scattered, with some living in places like Milwaukee, Red Wing, Minnesota, Kansas, Indiana, Canada, St. Louis, Missouri, Menomonie, Wisconsin, and Neuenburg, Germany. But some are still in the Wausau area, Merrill, and Rhinelander, and we see them more often. But we see the others too from time to time, as they come back to Wausau, which is home territory.

We four sisters get together quite often and enjoy each other's company. I feel we are very fortunate and we always feel sorry for Esther who lives in St. Louis and cannot be with us often. I think she misses us too

Many of the young people have established their own homes. At this point I would especially like to mention my two step-sons, Bob and Dennis, who are also my nephews. The oldest, Bob, graduated from the Seminary in Ft. Wayne, Indiana this summer, after teaching in Inner City schools in Cleveland, Ohio and Milwaukee for 20 plus years. He decided to become a second career man and chose to go into the ministry. He received a call to become pastor of St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Herron, Michigan. This is located in the northern part of lower Michigan, near Alpena, which is near Lake Huron. He will be going there after his ordination into the ministry on Dec. 29, 1996, at Emmaus Luth. Church, where he served for 17 years. It will be the dead of winter and the busy holiday season when he moves. I hope he will be able to find his future home up North in all the snow. Good luck and God's blessings to you Bob, Liz, and Scott. Scott is 11 years old and is their only child, -a great kid!

Dennis, the youngest of the two boys, is living in Menomonie, Wi., He and his wife, Ruth, are teaching in the Math Department at Stout University. They both teach computer. Dennis is on Sabbatical leave this year, and is spending time in Chicago at Argonne Laboratories, where he is doing computer projects for them. They have one son, Christopher, who is attending the University of Minnesota. He also is interested in computers and Math.

Our group has now dwindled to about 21, but with the new spouses of the young people and their families, we are still a big gang, -bigger than before!