Then, my next memory is I moved to Findlay and lived on Route 12 in the 1900 block. I went into first and second grade of school, at little King’s school, a one-room school.

Ten the Liberty Benton School was built the next year, and I went there for two years, until I was 10.

Then we moved to McComb, where I entered the fourth grade and I just loved the teacher. She was just a beautiful young lady and she was kind but she was strict.

One day we had an art class just before arithmetic and I was really fascinated with that art class, and all of a sudden I heard, “Will each of you children pass your scissors over to Lillian?” and I looked up and my face turned red and they were all giving me their scissors. I couldn’t understand why I was getting all those scissors.

She said, “Well, we’re in the arithmetic class now!” and so I changed over and tried to hide my embarrassment, but it was very difficult. But, from then on I loved that teacher more than ever. I thought she’s teaching me the right thing.

From there we moved – I was there until I was 18 years old, but I only went to the first year of high on account of my mother’s health.

But somehow I loved the way that my dad talked whenever I had a trouble. He would always set me down and pay attention to me with nobody else interfering in trying to get me the right answer, but I still had to take care of my mother. I had to leave my – that was on account of me getting a job to help the family out.

Then in 1974 I graduated, of course I wasn’t with a group, I just got my diploma. That pleased me like anything (Laughs). It was great that I did that. I think different people had said it was wonderful and they wished they’d have done it.

I got word from the…LaSalle University in Illinois I think it was, wanted to know if I was going to continue. They said they were ready if I was, but I had so many other things. I had a job at that time so I couldn’t.

I was supposed to have graduated in ’34 but I didn’t go back to the second year of high.

When different people asked me, “Are you going?” I said, “I can’t. I can’t leave my mom,” you know? We didn’t have the funds to hire a girl and she knew I was big enough because I knew how to do everything. She had been a practical nurse when she was young and she showed me all those things that would be necessary.

Well, this job only lasted a month. See, then that’s what upset me. If I’d have kept it for six months it wouldn’t have been so bad, but I had missed going to school.

Oh, the neighbors all said, “Oh, you’ll never!”

I said, “I’m going back,” even though the month had gone, and the neighbor says, “Oh you won’t have the nerve to go back there.”

I said, “I’m going. They can’t say no.” They said, “Oh, you won’t go.”

Well, I got a present from each neighbor because I did go. I was determined to get educated. My dad always, he always expressed to have an education.

I only went to the first year of high because my mother had been sick. I was told to take care of her.

So I stayed out of school and my older brother says, “Well you can help with finances by getting a job,” he says, “I’ve got a job for you.”

So I did that to help out the family. When I was let go the person I was supposed to take care of was an elderly woman and she passed away and so I lost my job. I didn’t go to school. I was so upset about that.

So, I got married in 1934 and raised seven of my children and when they were all raised I went back to school, but it was a correspondence course. When I went, the way I studied I would go two hours ahead of my work time and study and the next day I would take the course and send the lesson in.

I would take another lesson the next day and that’s the way I continued and I graduated in 1974, 40 years after I started.

It meant an awful lot to me.

At work they reevaluated us after I had worked 10 years and I said, “Well would a correspondence course mean anything?”

“Definitely!” and so I was real pleased, but I didn’t go on to college because I found other things that really I liked to do.