MEMOIRS

Little moments that made a big impact. 

LITTLE SHAVERS

I was not much older than ten when my friend Ann Marie Everson and I decided to shave our legs.  It was summertime and we were planning a day at the public pool, but first we had to take care of business.  Believe me when I say that neither one of us knew what a stupid thing we were about to do and we were extremely sneaky because my family was lurking on the other side of the door!  We secured the lock, got down my dad's double edged razor, (the one with the thin blade that wobbled back and forth in the carriage) grabbed the lathering brush and cover Ann's right leg with a smooth coating of cream.  I remember how excited we were about the deviant mission!  Ann started at the bottom of her leg and with one quick swoop, she shaved off about six inches of the skin covering her shinbone!  The pearly white shaving cream was a shocking contrast against the bright red blood spilling from her wounds, but the real fear came from the look on her face!  She started hopping around on her left leg and her wounded leg flailed about like there was a hinge at the knee cap!  I could see she was in pain and I panicked.  I grabbed the first thing in the medicine cabinet that resembled a cure.  It was Campho Phenique (a strong liquid oil used to treat cold sores) and I pored it down her leg.  The pain must have been excruciating!  Ann ricocheted off the four walls of the bathroom like an atom and her voice escalated to levels far beyond that of a siren.  Needless to say, my mother came through the bathroom door like a battering ram and... well, the rest is history. 

LILLIAN 

I grew up in a large family with a lot of mouths to feed and being the youngest might have been an advantage at times, but I was definitely at the bottom of the totem pole.  As kids, we were always trying to scrounge up enough spare change to go to the Nuart or Kenworthy theaters, usually stopping by Fountain's grocery store to buy some candy on our way down Main Street.  That's when a penny bought several pieces of candy and 3 cents afforded a double decker ice cream cone!  The Inscore family (Lillian and Jasper) owned the Hillcrest Motel and provided jobs for me and my siblings when were young.  I believe noble and good people come into the lives of others at exactly the right time and their family blessed all our lives for the span of 20 plus years.  Lillian was the type of woman who's door was alway open, she kept a well stocked fridge and never turned anyone away.  My older brother and two sister worked there throughout their teenage years and when I was eleven I asked her for a job and she hired me!  Lillian gave me a sense of self worth and little did I know that ten years later I would become the manager of another motel they owned in town.  We were all blessed and my family holds Lillian in the highest esteem.  You see, it takes a very special person to recognize the value of an eleven year old child, and she knew the worth of my soul.  She taught me to work hard, to earn an honest days wages and to appreciate my contributions to life.  I believe there are angles that go before us to prepare the way for our success and Lillian was mine!  When she passed away a few years ago, a piece of my heart went with her, but her positive influences have continuously directed my life.  She was a perfect mentor and example to follow after.  

DRIVING MISS, CRAZY!

Miss Maybelle Gehrke (Gurkee) was the librarian at Moscow High School for as long as anyone can remember.  She was a tall thin and cranky spinster in her late 60's with an extremely ridged personality.  This combination made it impossible to refrain from causing chaos in her library.  Students loved driving her crazy and it became a ritual to find new ways to torture her throughout the year, but all those years at MHS left a trail of pranks that eventually sent her into retirement!  My freshman year someone let a chicken go in her library and it was flying all over the tables.   Each time Ms. Gehrke tried to catch it, the chicken pooped everywhere.  It was a sight for sore eyes and she looked like a tall skinny chicken chasing a scared little chicken.  Another time, someone put an alarm clock behind the books and when the alarm went off... so did she!  She was so mad when she found the clock that she threw it in her metal garbage can and it went off again, but this time it was much louder from the sound vibrating off the metal , she nearly lost it!  One year the library smelled like death.  The janitor, principle, and Miss Gehrke were searching for the wicked smell, later they found limburger cheese behind the cast iron heating vents.  Another year she was walking from the study hall back into the library, someone threw a hand full of pennies at her while her back was turned and they came clinking down all around her.  Immediately, she turned around and said, "Some nerve, whoever threw those pennies while my back was turned is a real coward!"  I don't know how they did it, but at that moment another hand full of pennies came showering down around her like rain and she nearly went up in smoke!  I really think she was somewhat amused in the quality of our pranks; I know we were.

CAR TROUBLE

When Joyce Davis moved into the neighborhood my life shifted dramatically.  She was mischievous in an innocent sort of way and I followed one step behind her with a grin on my face that looked like I had a hanger in my mouth.  My father had an old Plymouth automobile sitting on the lot next to our house.  One day Joyce saw the keys in the ignition and got the crazy idea that we were going to drive the car, but when she turned the key nothing happened.  She convinced me that we could start the car by giving it a push down the road, and then pop the clutch.   Neither one of us had a valid drivers license and that should have been the first clue we were in trouble!  We pushed the car up and down the street for over an hour trying to start it.  Finally, we pushed it back into it's resting place.  One of the neighbors told my dad about our antics and that night at the dinner table he said, "Next time you decide to drive a car make sure it has an engine in it!"   My brother laughed hysterically, but my mother was not the least bit amused and grounded me for two weeks.  

BUMMER!

When I was a student at Moscow High School, my best friend Sheila Walter and I were walking home from school.  We lived several blocks away, but not far enough to ride the school bus (which we thought we were too cool for anyway).  We were seniors in high school and life was as prim and proper as it gets.  We were walking on Third Street when a delivery van driven by Richard Steffen came barreling up the road.   Richard was honking the horn to get our attention and there were arms waving out every window.  Sheila and I looked back to see what was coming toward us.  Several members of the football team had big smiles on their faces and they were waving their arms frantically out the windows to get us to notice them.  Sheila and I  were flattered that all these boys were so eagerly seeking our attention and a little puffed up in ourselves.  I remember thinking that this was the height of my glory as a student at MHS, until the van squealed by and we saw someone mooning us out the back doors of the vehicle!  Mike Schierman later confessed that it was his eclipse that blocked out the sun shining that day. by, Linda Sumner Urza, One fine day.