Just who were John and Mary Smick? Really, I do not know. I only had a brief encounter with Mary (Grandma) and John died when my mom was just a teenager. Both were very young when they came to the United States, so they didn't relate to being Germans. Mainly they grew up as farmers and did the best they could do to raise a family and pay the bills during the Great Depression.
My mom, for instance, tells me she had hand-me-down clothes from her older sister Jean all of her life (the exception was a new coat she got when she graduated from high school). She didn't get well-fitting shoes, either, which led to hammer toes for the rest of her life. There is some possibility that John actually got in trouble with creditors and why the entire family hit the road during the 1930s, driving into Oregon, staying in Ashland, Oregon for a while and later rejoining the farming community in Colfax, Washington.
Saving money was the watchword...but so was responsibility. There was a strong work ethic in the Smick family and a certain religious discipline: they were Seventh Day Adventists which meant, among other things, that dancing was not allowed but going to the roller skating rink was fine.
The phrase "a woman's place is in the home" was probably something that was a given for the Smicks...until my mom rebelled, much to the chagrin of Mary. However, Mary was also smart. After all, she took on the day to day responsibilities of managing wheat farming or making financial deals eventually to get out of farming. So, when she see not only how my Mom was doing important work for the U.S. Army as a nurse and what it meant to Mom, she decided to become a nurse herself!
So, Mary (Grandma) was opinionated and tried to get her own way...but also listened and learned.
Mary's obstinate ways rose to the surface late in her life when my mom looked for residential care facilities or nursing homes where Mary could stay. My mom found that some places refused to take Grandma because of her behavior problems.
My mom, for instance, tells me she had hand-me-down clothes from her older sister Jean all of her life (the exception was a new coat she got when she graduated from high school). She didn't get well-fitting shoes, either, which led to hammer toes for the rest of her life. There is some possibility that John actually got in trouble with creditors and why the entire family hit the road during the 1930s, driving into Oregon, staying in Ashland, Oregon for a while and later rejoining the farming community in Colfax, Washington.
Saving money was the watchword...but so was responsibility. There was a strong work ethic in the Smick family and a certain religious discipline: they were Seventh Day Adventists which meant, among other things, that dancing was not allowed but going to the roller skating rink was fine.
The phrase "a woman's place is in the home" was probably something that was a given for the Smicks...until my mom rebelled, much to the chagrin of Mary. However, Mary was also smart. After all, she took on the day to day responsibilities of managing wheat farming or making financial deals eventually to get out of farming. So, when she see not only how my Mom was doing important work for the U.S. Army as a nurse and what it meant to Mom, she decided to become a nurse herself!
So, Mary (Grandma) was opinionated and tried to get her own way...but also listened and learned.
Mary's obstinate ways rose to the surface late in her life when my mom looked for residential care facilities or nursing homes where Mary could stay. My mom found that some places refused to take Grandma because of her behavior problems.
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