An Indiana Story

Day 14 of our virtual road trip takes us south from Michigan to Indiana.

Some of my earliest memories take place in Indiana, where we moved the summer I was two-and-a-half.

There are a couple of memories I have from that fall that tie in with pictures we have. I think I actually do remember the incidents but probably having the snapshots helped to reinforce the memory in my mind over the years.

For my third birthday my present was an assortment of homemade doll clothes. We also had birthday cake with brown sugar icing.

A few weeks later I got to go with Daddy to get a Christmas tree. I don’t remember where we went to get it, whether to a tree lot or to someone’s property out in the country. It was a very small tree. I could hold on to the top of it while it was standing. When we brought it home I felt so big because I could touch the top of it and my little sisters couldn’t.

We lived in a large house in New Castle, Indiana, with an upstairs and a big front porch. And we got a new baby brother in the spring. (This was our first baby brother. I told about our younger baby brother yesterday.)

For some reason, I remember having a jump rope to play with at that house. I don’t remember where it came from, but apparently no one thought to show me how to use a jump rope. I was playing with it out on the porch and the little neighbor girl informed me that I didn’t know how to jump rope. I argued with her.

“Uh-huh! Watch this!” and I took hold of the handles, one in each hand and shook the rope violently. When she showed me how you were really supposed to jump rope, I was not impressed. My way was much easier.

That summer Mother would take us for walks to the park. She put Baby Brother in the buggy (read the story about why we had an antique baby buggy) and we three little girls would line up along the side of it and hold on. Daddy worked in a factory that year and would sometimes meet us at the park.

Another story that happened at that house was when Dad’s sister visited us and was introduced to Mother’s brother, and they had their first date at our house. About three years ago they went back to New Castle to try to find the house. You can read that story here.

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Have you been to Indiana? If so, please share a memory in the comments! That will make this series even more fun!