Mother had always had so much long hair. She had such terrible headaches and the doctor said they were caused from her heavy head of hair. Dad always said if she had it cut he'd leave her. Finally one day when Aunt Coy Heady was visiting us Dad told her to cut Mother hair, so she could get rid of her headaches. When we got home from school and saw what had happened we all cried for we just knew Dad would leave us. She never had it long again.

In February of 1927 we had a stillborn baby brother. We named him Harold David though he never saw life. Mother had fallen on the ice and the baby had a mark on the head. Doctor said he would have been a vegetable if he had lived. Sometimes it is hard for us to understand that God knows best for the Doctor said it was either Mother or the baby. We kids certainly needed our Mother On March 14, 1929 my brother Donald Clifford was born. On June 9, 1931 our brother Junior (Raymond Robertson) was born. He had convulsions for l ½ days. Dr. Vann said he couldn’t live but we called in Dr. Jøyce from Fletcher, He gave him another medicine and got the convulsions stopped. For some reason his vocal chords never developed so he could never talk plain. He never got to go to school and many people thought him mentally retarded, but you’d never believe how he could remember things and especially people. He loved to play the guitar and sing. He’d take his Bible under the shade tree and preach.

Dad had always said the only thing he could give us was a high school education, so he saw that we went to school and worked to graduate. Mom and Dad graduated 10 from Cement High School starting with Elmer and I in 1929. It was hard for Dad to buy our Senior rings for $10.00 each as it is for kids to buy theirs today for over a hundred, The record still stands today. When Donald, the last one to graduate, the school gave Mom and Dad a lovely landscape picture. Iva and I graduated Valedictorian and Marion Salutatorian. Sally, Verna and Betty played basketball in high school. I don’t believe Cement has ever had a more avid basketball fan than our Dad.

After Dad retired from the oilfield, he did carpenter work with John Powell. John bought orange soda pop for them to drink, while they rested and cooled off. When Dad found out he had emphysema, he always said it was caused from drinking so much orange soda pop.

Mother had always said she looked forward to the days when her kids were grown so she could crochet and read to her hearts content. One day when working in her flowers, blood vessels ruptured behind her eyes. There was no one to take her to the Doctor. When she could go to the Doctor, he said it was too late to do surgery. She could see well enough for her housework and cooking but sometimes had to tell people by their voices. So she couldn’t crochet or read. She enjoyed listening to the soap operas even though she couldn’t see them very well.

We made our own entertainment in ways that didn't cost money. We went to country dances in the homes of friends. We danced to fiddle and guitar music. We had some parties and dances in our own home. They also had street dances and carnivals in town. On Sunday afternoons we often had baseball games or amateur rodeos on the Bontrigger place south of Cement or on the Parker place where Lindsay Caldwell now lives. We had a lot of fun at medicine shows and we also went to box suppers at different schools Never had a lot of money to spend but had a lot of fun and happy times.

Elmer farmed for several years until 1933 when he went to work in the oilfield for the Mid-Kansas Oil and Gas Co. Later changed to Marathon, Ohio and back to Marathon. He married Trevah Gilger. He’s the only one of us who didn’t ever leave Cement, and then come back. When Mother