Draft - they were strong and they were good

My mother's father . . .

My mother's father was from Denmark. He served in the army as a surgical assistant during WWII. He had a tattoo of his soldier # on his forearm.

My mother . . .

When my mother was young she was a figure skater. On the weekends her father would take her to a pond by her house where she would practice skating.

My father's father . . .

My father's father was the first and only son of six children. When he was born he was so small that his mother would put him to sleep in a shoebox/chest of drawers.

He was born on a farm in Illinois to German parents. As the only boy he had to work very hard. When he was young he knew a little girl that he noticed had the prettiest little black eyes ever.

My father's mother . . .

My father's mother was born to

When she was young she and her little brother took care of a little runt piglet inside their house. They put the little piglet on a little stool and it would jump off. She thought it was the cutest thing she'd ever seen so she and her brother kept putting the poor little piggy up on the stool not knowing any better. The piglet go so tired eventually that it didn't survive. My father's mother always felt bad about that her whole life.

She had very dark brown eyes that looked almost black. When she was 19 she married my father's father -- he was 10 years older than her and remembered those pretty little eyes.

Together they had a farm with dairy cows and they worked hard. The had three daughters and then the youngest and only son who was . . .

My father . . .

When my father was young he went to a one-room schoolhouse with his sisters. He had lots of dogs as pets because he lived and worked on a farm. Two of his most special dogs were named Cookie and Daisy.

When he and his sisters were on vacation from school and finished their chores they would go with their father to visit neighbors and friends and family.

When my father had his license he met a girl who like to take long drives and visit family and friends with him.

They were married and worked hard and were good. They had five daughters and 1 son who was the youngest. The youngest daughter was me.