Jody's Mother and Grandmother
Abbott "Pete" Smith D.V.M.: June 16, 1938 - February 22, 2010 Virginia Joyann "Jody" Haley Smith: April 2, 1938 - May 9, 2021 |
Welcome to Milliron Monday where every Monday we celebrate the legacy of Milliron Farm and Clinic, Dr. Pete and Jody Smith.
"I remember her as always reading the Bible or religious magazine when I was going to bed. And when I got up she was doing the same."
― Virginia Wurl Rhonemus Haley
We continue Meme's Musings this week. From the Smith family archives, I found old photos of Meme, her mother, and their home in Forest, Ohio. Here is Part 3:
Pancakes and Curls
I was told how Mother got the name "Stubby", she and her two male cousins went wading in the Blanchard River, very narrow, shallow water. They were hunting for crawdads to fish with as bait. Mother saw something and threw a rock at it, which turned out to be her toes. She also acquired a nickname at Lima Central High School years later, when she was a dramatics and English teacher - Bulldog - as she helped and stayed on a subject until the class understood. (Gary Lee at Oxford, Ohio, heard a kid call Mother "Bulldog" and he said "Maybe so, but she is the best Grandmother one could have.")
Mother taught Hugh Downs and Phyllis Diller at Lima, Ohio. They came to see her in the Winchester Retirement Home. She didn't like Florida - too many old people plus it was too hot - one couldn't take enough clothes off but one could put on enough if it was cold up North. She died on her 90th birthday, March 28, 1974. Her mother, Mary Virginia Jenkins Waltermire, died at age 88, April 6, 1938. Mother started teaching school at 16 years. Her salary was board and keep a week at a time at one another students homes. She said many a week she sat on the schoolhouse steps Friday afternoons not knowing who would be picking her up. To get the job teaching she went before six men behind a desk, each had a paper before them marked with various subjects, History, etc. They talked to her about the subject on each paper and she was asked to sign, then they made their marks - none of the men could read or write. She was known in later years as "Aunt Molly" who made the best coffee and buttermilk pancakes. The men at the Odd Fellow Lodge used to carry her up the steps to make coffee for them. There were no percolators then - huge pots on a wood stove had to be watched not to boil over. She put salt and egg shells in to settle the coffee grounds.
A family story about pancakes was often told. Especially when the State Officers of the Rebecca Lodge came, they asked to have Aunt Molly's buckwheat and buttermilk pancakes; which always pleased her. One year most of the officers came - 18 in all. Aunt Molly was busy in the kitchen. She always used the best of everything and had maple syrup put away in the basement for the purpose. I was the one that always went down to bring it up. For some reason, I didn't that day. She couldn't understand why they were not asking for seconds and thirds as usual. Finally, she sat down to eat, took one bite - took all the dishes off the table and started over. The maple syrup was Horehound Cough Medicine she made and she took the bottle off the wrong shelf in her hurry. I remember her as always reading the Bible or religious magazine when I was going to bed. And when I got up she was doing the same.
My widowed Mother of 28 was for several summers at Cornell University. Thereby placing me in an exclusive Girls Camp on Lake Chautauqua, New York.
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| Meme and her mother, Jessie, Forest, Ohio |
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| Meme on the porch of their Forest, Ohio, home |
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| Meme |
My biggest problem was my long curls that I could sit on. So many folks asked if they could have one and I always said, "Yes." I was lucky there seemed always someone to help comb my hair.
Monthly, a few campers that had earned extra points were taken on various trips. One occasion I was taken into Chautauqua to see an old man sitting in a white wicker chair on a big porch. He had a shawl around his shoulders. He kept beckoning to me and finally my counselor pushed me over to him. He put me on his lap and ran his fingers up and down inside my curls. Finally, he said, "Little Girl, I'd like one of your curls." Of course, as always, I said, "Yes." He told his housekeeper to bring him a pair of shears and proceeded to cut a long curl from underneath others. It pleased me as it would be less time to stand to get my hair combed. His housekeeper was horrified.
Years later [after I was married and had a family] by a day or two this was recalled when my Girl Scout Troop No. 53 was in session [I was the leader of the Troop]. As I came into the room, silence prevailed and all were staring at me. Something was wrong. Finally, my little problem Girl Scout who rarely voiced an opinion said, "Oh, Mrs. Haley, you are so old," with tears in her voice. To say I was startled would be putting it mildly. I realized the situation needed immediate clarification. I said I was the same as they were - one week older than the last time we met. But that did not resolve the problem. Then I remembered my daughter's [Jody] homework, and she must have told of my summers of long ago experience and that the housekeeper on the porch said, "Oh! Mr. Edison look what you've done." He replied as I sat on his lap, "She said I could have one." By much conversation I finally convinced the girls that I was very young and Mr. Edison was an old, old man.
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Yes, that was Thomas Edison asking for a curl. Jody told the story many times. Stay tuned for more stories next week from Meme's pink pamphlet.
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Through captivating, powerful, and emotional anecdotes, we celebrate the life of Dr. Abbott P. Smith. His biography takes the reader from smiles to laughter to empathy and tears. Dr. Smith gave us compelling lessons learned from animals; the role animals play in the human condition, the joy of loving an animal, and the awe of their spirituality. A tender and profound look into the life of a skilled veterinarian.
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