The Story of Lois Ann Meyer Bergeson
Daughter, Sister, Wife, Mother, Aunt, Grandmother, and Great Grandmother …
By Lois Bergeson (Reprinted with Permission)
One day, a teaching friend suggested to me that I write a book using questions that my family asked about my life. Strangely enough, none of my family has asked any questions! But it gave me an idea.
Many years ago, someone shared with me a “Grandma’s Story’’ in booklet form containing questions asked of my mother, Mildred Jensen Meyer. She had written short answers to each question. It told us so much of her history as she was growing up. I searched for the copy of this booklet and found it. I am following those questions to form this history of my life. I hope you find this entertaining, and it gives you a peek into what life was like “in the olden days.” So come with me as we explore those days and my reactions to the happenings.
IN THE BEGINNING …
Where and when were you born?
I was born on our family farm in the southeast corner of Norman County, Minnesota. It was September 29, 1931. My parents are Mildred and Emil W. Meyer. I was the fourth child in the family.
How big were you?
I have no idea as no one recorded it. I had hazel eyes and brown hair.
What was your whole name, and were you named after anyone?
Lois Ann Meyer was and is my name. Lois was just a name my mother liked. Ann probably came from Mother’s grandma, Anna Laupp, and my dad’s mother, Anna Meyer.
Anything special happen when your were born?
It was our neighbor’s birthday and Mother was supposed to be there. Instead, she sent my 6-year-old sister to the party to get her out of the way of my birthing. My almost 2-year-old brother was too young to know what was going on.
Did you have a baby nickname?
As a tiny baby, I don’t know, but what I do remember is my dad calling me Lody Annie.
Who did people say you looked like?
My mother. That is really pronounced in my looks, walk and actions in my twilight years.
Did you have a tooth fairy?
I think I got a few nickels. Our tooth fairy was very poor.
Did you ice skate or roller skate?
I tried to ice skate on a slough near-by. The ice was rough and had reeds sticking through, so it was a bad surface. My ankles were very weak so I did not fare well. My roller skating came much, much later. When I was teaching in Redwood Falls, Friday night fun for us single teachers was to roller skate. I had a boyfriend then who was a very good skater, so it was fun. Also, the old man who ran the place would always ask me to skate the last waltz of the evening. He never skated otherwise. I had to quit that though, as the owner had a teacher sister and she caught me in the hall one day and told me to quit going after her married brother!!! She was divorced and very suspicious of everyone. So I decided to find a different pastime!
THE GROWING UP YEARS
What kind of birthday parties did you have?
As a young child I only remember that on the weekend near our birthday, my aunt and uncle and family of boys came over to visit. I don’t remember gifts. The one party I remember just for me, was a party for my 16th birthday. Mother invited neighbor young people. We were so short of girls that our pastor’s daughter from Waubun was invited to come, too. I was so surprised and pleased about this party. We played board games and had a nice lunch. I suppose this was a carry-over of young girls ‘‘Coming out party” that announced that the girl was ready for dating. (Actually, I had already been on a date!)
What were your favorite toys?
Toys were few and far between. My dolls were the hand-me-down ones with an eye missing and the hair all matted. I was quite old before I got a doll of my own. It was a Betsy Wetsy Doll. She was small and I could pour water in her mouth and then change her diaper when it drained through. Some of the moisture stayed inside as I stored the doll in the hot upstairs closet. In later years when I came to collect some of the things stored, the doll’s body had melted into a squishy mess. I am so sorry that I did not save the head. That was still nice because it was made of harder material. I got a little washday collection of tiny tub, washboard and clothes pins I liked. Grandma gave me Blue Willow doll dishes that I loved and couldn’t play with because they were “too nice.” I still have most of them and display them on a shelf in my bedroom. I think it is because of receiving those that I love blue dishes and will buy a piece or two now and then.
Did you get to stay up and watch TV or listen to the radio?
There was no TV during my growing up years. Before we got electricity (about 1946 or 1947) we only had a battery radio, which we used sparingly. We got to listen to “Tom Mix,” “Sky King,” and a couple others in the afternoon. At night we all listened to Jack Benny, The Shadow, Fibber McGee and Molly and Bob Hope. Mother thought the latter was often too risqué for young ears.
Did you have your own pet?
We had a family dog that was really given to my brother Buddy at the time our barn burned down. The dog was black, part bulldog and part German shepherd. He was not a playful dog and stayed outside. He did father a couple litters of pups with a smaller dog that strayed to our house from a place near Flom. We had one of the pups for a while and she ended up under our bed when the thunder and lightning came! Our dog was shot when he got caught in a trap and was hurt badly.
Did the boys tease you?
Of course they did. Living with brothers can be a trial sometimes. I grew up and had my own family of boys. So teasing has been with me forever. A lot of it I brought on myself because I would react so that it made it more fun. One time some neighborhood boys were over, and the boys were teasing me by pulling my hair. I tried to get away and one of the boys pulled my arm out of joint. Oh, that hurt! It did stop the teasing, though. The teasing was about my ski jump nose, how fat I was (I was actually very skinny), my singing, and my “cow dancing.” I was always on the move and dancing around.
Did you ever run away from home or hide?
I never ran from home, but I ran to home! I was in the upper grades at Cheerful Nook Country School. One day I was having trouble understanding compound interest. It was the end of the day, and the teacher asked me to stay after a little while so we could figure out what I was doing wrong. STAY AFTER SCHOOL? To me that sounded like I had been bad. I didn’t want my parents to know that had happened to me. I figured the interest thing out as fast as I could and then RAN all the way home so I wouldn’t be late. Of course I was late. Glory be, it happened to be Ladies Aid Day and Mother wasn’t home. I changed into work clothes so fast and had my chores done all before the usual time and nobody ever knew. Of course my brother knew, but once in a while he was a good brother and kept his mouth shut!
Who was your best friend?
There were no girls around in the neighborhood. My best friend was my younger brother. We had so much fun playing together until big brother came into the picture. Then it was boys against girl. In country school, a girl was in my class the first years and then again in 7th and 8th grade. After many years, we again saw each other and now correspond by letter a couple times a month. I also knew a girl two years ahead of me, and we were very good friends even into high school. In High School, the first year, I made friends with some girls and am still friends with one of them. We visited in person last year to celebrate our 90th birthdays. We will be friends forever. In my adult life, I have many friends. I cannot count them all. Some of them leave for their Eternal Life Home and others replace them.
Were there trains and automobiles? Did you ride streetcars or buses?
The first car I remember was a yellow wheeled Chevy Sedan, After World War II, we got a brand new 1949 Chrysler. Oh, we thought we were grand. The first train ride I had was in 1950. I went to Seattle to visit my sister and to attend Lutheran Bible institute. I had a couple adventures then. A runaway mental patient sat by me for a while. When they were chasing him around the train he still came back to me to say, “Thank you for being nice to me.” Another creepy guy sat by me. I was in coach and sat up all night. This guy got a bit too chummy to suit me, so I asked to change seats. I did ride a streetcar when we visited San Francisco when I was married. I rode a bus many times.
Did you have ice cream?
I remember making our own ice cream. We set a bucket in a pan of ice and snow. The bucket had a paddle which we turned with a crank. We took turns. When it got so frozen we couldn’t turn the crank, it was time to dish it up. Yum. Mork's Café had a bar in front and café in back. On occasion I was elected to go there to get ice cream cones. How I hated walking through that beer hall. There would be drunks lined up on chairs tipped against the wall. When I walked by, they all snickered and I felt them undressing me with their eyes as I walked through! Uffda. I got the ice cream and skedaddled out of there.
Did you go swimming?
Living up there with all the lakes I never learned to swim. My older brother was a good swimmer. When we were small, I remember wading in the Wild Rice River by Faith. It was a harrowing experience as it was full of leeches. I came out of the water with all those blood suckers hanging all over me. There was a lot of screaming then until Mother got them off me. In college I could have taken a class of swimming. I did not as I didn’t want to spoil me hair for my dates. So vain was I.
Did you ever have stitches or broken bones?
No stitches, but I should have. My brothers were cutting com stalks with a very sharp corn knife. I always wanted to do what they did. They said I couldn’t do it because I was too little. I grabbed the knife from them to prove I could do it and promptly cut toward me and made a big gash in my leg. So much for cutting corn. The gash was taped up instead of going to get stitches. I have big scar on my leg from that little fit of temper. When we were cleaning out the farmhouse when my folks had moved to town, my brother found that old com knife and asked me if I wanted it for a souvenir? I felt like escorting him and the knife to the burning pit! I never broke a bone until I had a bike accident in Ortonville and broke my thumb. The thumb didn't hurt, but my whole body was black and blue. It also ached many days afterward.
Go to
Chapter 2: My House to continue reading.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
