Erma West's Journal - Post 1 - Homes Lived In

(The picture is of Anna Rumlova. She is Erma's mother)

by Erma West

(Page 1 & 2 were blank. Her journal started on page 3)

This first home I lived in was in Junction City, Oregon. Maybe you’ll think its funny, but I can remember a few incidences that happened there.

My mother divorced my father when I was only 2 years old and we moved to South Dakota, but I can remember playing with some neighbor’s children and my brother Frank who is three years older than I am. They were pretending they were making medicine, and they had a bottle of water, by putting some milk in it and shaking it like they use to make the old time linament. I remember my mother making linament for her arthritis that way. She would put eggs and other stuff in it and shake it, so we thought we were doing the same.

I can remember that, and I can remember having a little red rocking chair. Also I remember when we left Oregon, we were at the depot waiting for the train, there was a bush or tree out front and it had large yellow blossoms on it. I went and picked one of those blossoms. My mother was so worried. She was afraid a policeman would come and we would be arrested because I picked that blossom.

We went to Letcher, South Dakota to live with my grandmother. They had a part wood and part brick or sod house. Quite a large house, it had several bedrooms.

I slept with my mother until I was about 6 years old, until she remarried. I cried the first two nights, because I couldn’t sleep with her.

I also remember my grandmother raised red turkeys. There was an old gobbler, and every time I went out to play he would chase me, and I would always run and climb upon the wagon, and then I’d holler for some one to rescue me.

I know I was grandmother’s favorite. My cousin and her mother used to come over quite often. Grandmother would give me things, where she would not give my cousin any. We were the same age.

I remember my grandmother passed away when we lived there. My grandmother came from Czechoslovakia and she only spoke Czech and I use to be able to speak it quite well when I was a kid.