What goes around come around

WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND 
 
One day a man saw a old lady, stranded on the side of the road, but even in the dim light of day, he could see she needed help. So he pulled up in front of her Mercedes and got out. His Pontiac was still sputtering when he approached her. 
Even with the smile on his face, she was worried. No one had stopped to help for the last hour or so. Was he going to hurt her? He didn't look safe; he looked poor and hungry. 

He could see that she was frightened, standing out there in the cold. He knew how she felt. It was that chill which only fear can put in you. 

He said, 'I'm here to help you, ma'am. Why don't you wait in the car where it's warm? By the way, my name is Bryan Anderson.' 

Well, all she had was a flat tire, but for an old lady, that was bad enough. Bryan crawled under the car looking for a place to put the jack, skinning his knuckles a time or two. Soon he was able to change the tire. But he had to get dirty and his hands hurt. 

As he was tightening up the lug nuts, she rolled down the window and began to talk to him. She told him that she was from St. Louis and was only just passing through. She couldn't thank him enough for coming to her aid.

Bryan just smiled as he closed her trunk. The lady asked how much she owed him. Any amount would have been all right with her.  She already imagined all the awful things that could have happened had he not stopped.
Bryan never thought twice about being paid.
This was not a job to him. This was helping someone in need, and God knows there were plenty, who had given him a hand in the past. He had lived his whole life that way, and it never occurred to him to act any other way. 

He told her that if she really wanted to pay him back, the next time she saw someone who needed help, she could give that person the assistance they needed, and Bryan added, 'And think of me.' 

He waited until she started her car and drove off.  It had been a cold and depressing day, but he felt good as he headed for home, disappearing into the twilight. 

A few miles down the road the lady saw a small cafe.  She went in to grab a bite to eat, and take the chill off before she made the last leg of her trip home.  It was a dingy looking restaurant. Outside were two old gas pumps.  The whole scene was unfamiliar to her. The waitress came over and brought a clean towel to wipe her wet hair.  She had a sweet smile, one that even being on her feet for the whole day couldn't erase. The lady noticed the waitress was nearly eight months pregnant, but she never let the strain and aches change her attitude.  The old lady wondered how someone who had so little could be so giving to a stranger. Then she remembered Bryan .

After the lady finished her meal, she paid with a hundred dollar bill. The waitress quickly went to get change for her hundred dollar bill, but the old lady had slipped right out the door. She was gone by the time the waitress came back. The waitress wondered where the lady could be. Then she noticed something written on the napkin. 

There were tears in her eyes when she read what the lady wrote: 'You don't owe me anything. I have 
Been there too. Somebody once helped me out, the way I'm helping you. If you really want to pay me back, here is what you do: Do not let this chain of love end with you.' 

Under the napkin were four more $100 bills. 

Well, there were tables to clear, sugar bowls to fill, and people to serve, but the waitress made it through another day.  That night when she got home from work and climbed into bed, she was thinking about the 
Money and what the lady had written.  How could the lady have known how much she and her husband needed it?  With the baby due next month, it was going to be hard.... 

She knew how worried her husband was, and as he lay sleeping next to her, she gave him a soft kiss and whispered soft and low, 'Everything's going to be all right. I love you, Bryan Anderson.' 

There is an old saying 'What goes around comes around.'  Today I sent you this story, and I'm asking you to pass it on. Let this light shine. 


Good friends are like stars....You don't always see them, but you know they are always there. 
 
 
WHAT GOES AROUND COMES AROUND 

 

RETIREMENT

(Written by a THIRD GRADER, on what his grandparents do.)                 After Christmas, a teacher asked her young pupils how they spent their holiday away from school. One child wrote the following:                 We always used to spend the holidays with Grandma and Grandpa.  They used to live in a big brick house, but Grandpa became retarded and they moved to Arizona.  My Grandma says that Grandpa worked all his life to earn his retardment and says I should work hard so I can be retarded someday too.  Now they live in a tin box and have rocks painted green to look like grass.  They ride around on their bicycles, and wear name tags, because they don't know who they are anymore.  They go to a building called a wreck center, but they must have got it fixed because it is all okay now, they do exercises there, but they don't do them very well.  There is a swimming pool too, but they all jump up and down in it with hats on.  At their gate, there is a doll house with a little old man sitting in it.  He watches all day so nobody can escape.  Sometimes they sneak out, and go cruising in their golf carts.  Nobody there cooks, they just eat out.  And, they eat the same thing every night - early birds.   Some of the people can't get out past the man in the doll house.  The ones who do get out, bring food back to the wrecked center for pot luck.    When I earn my retardment, I want to be the man in the doll house.   Then I will let people out, so they can visit their grandchildren.

London Bombing-1940

Hi, A good friend of ours was born in London, England in 1928. The German began bombing London  in May 1940 and continued almost daily bombings until May 1941. She was 12 years old when the bombing started and practically all liffe stopped meaning her education, etc was almost non existence. Her home was in a suburb of London but each night the family went out to their Anderson cover. It was a metal curved arrangement covered with cement. The bomb shelter held four bunks and  no lighting. She told me they never had a bomb hit near their shelter but did come within a block.  Her father was in the British Air Force and was home at different times but mainly gone. The lady had four sisters and her Mother. She later moved to her grandparents home but still in a London  suburb. Her grandparents also had a bomb shelter in their garden having much the same 4 bunks and below ground.
        The lady told us that the bombings were terrible and they fully expected the Germans to invade England. She also said Hitler made a big mistake when he invaded Russia really saving England from occupation. The bombings started on September 7, 1940. 348 bombers escorted by 617 fighters blasted London until 6:00 PM and two hours later guided by the fires set by the first assault and second group of raiders commenced another attack that lasted until 4:30 AM.  This was the beginning of the "Blitz." For the next 57 consecutive days  until the following May. The worst single incident was when450 were killed when a bomb destroyed a school being used as a air shelter.  The Blitz ended on May 11, 1941 when Hitler moved his bombers east in preparation for Germany to invade Russia.
          We in the USA watched all of this st the movie houses. Before each movie you would have pictures of the Blitz, fires in London and Edward R. Mureil telling about it. It seemed so far away and yet we knew that sooner or later USA would be involved. I am not sure what would have happened if the Japs had not hit Pearl Harbor? There were many in our country that didn't want to get involved in another European War.
       I was born in 1925 so was 15 in 1940. When the Japs attacked Pearl Harbor I was 16 years olf and  thought it would be all over by the time I turned 18 but little did I know that in 1943 when I turned 18 could be drafted into the armed forces but instead volunteered for the Aviation Engineers. I graduated form High School in may 1943, inducted in July and went to Camp Dodge in Early August 1943. I did not ever get home and  spent 30 months in the armed service serving in Indian-Burma and China. i received a honorable  discharge in January 1946.
            The English lady had many stories to tell about the bombings in London and when i get her talking will relate them to you.

        One of my really disappointments of WWII was the press. they failed to inform us about the extermination of the Jews in Europe. But even if we had know I am not sure USA would have acted. There was a ship load of Jews who came over to the USA and Roosevelt and staff would not let them land. they had to return to Europe and mos of them eventually were killed by the Germans in extermination camps.                     

SM ALL TOWNS

                                             MILFORD FIRE DEPT. FORMER MEMBERS WERE; FATHER- RAY LA FOY,  UNCLE JACK LA FOY, UNCLE RAY NICOL, UNCLE OLLIE HOLCOMB & UNCLE IVAN MERRYMEN.

                                          AUBREY'S HOME IN MILFORD

                               JACOB'S STORE ON MAIN STREET IN MILFORD. I WORKED THERE WHEN I WAS IN JUNIOR HIGH ONE SUMMER.

MEMORY LANE

SMALL TOWNS

BY R. AUBREY LA FOY

Several days ago I chanced upon some neat sayings that I liked and think you might also. “Life is a coin. You can spend it anyway you want, but you can only spend it once”. The other is “Life is a journey, not a guided tour”. Last week my one and only sister, Jean Scanlon, passed away. She was three years younger than I but we grew up together and had wonderful parents who did all they could to give us a “jump start” on life. I say we came out of the same hatch but our lives certainly took different paths and journeys.

We were Depression Kids being born in 1925 (Aubrey) and 1928 (Jean). Our Father, Ray LaFoy, was a World War I vet and by profession, a butcher. During those trying years we didn’t have much but always had enough to eat, a warm house and clean clothes. Jean had better clothing than I because Mother sewed and made many of Jean’s dresses. I wore jeans some years and in sixth grade remember having a wool tweed pair of pants. Both pair of pants was patched but always clean. I recall that during the winter after I had gone to bed, Mother would wash my pants and put them over a hot air register to dry at night so I could have a clean pair of pants the next day. I never worried much about clothes. My sister Jean, on the other hand was much more conscious of what others were wearing.

In the late 1920 Dad and Mother were in pretty good shape financially. Dad was in the meat market business with an uncle and my grandfather but it went “belly up” in 1931. They were good fellows and when somebody would be short of money they extended credit but soon had so much on credit they couldn’t pay their suppliers and had to close. Mother had worked at the local bank but they all went under as well. From 1932 to 1936 it was touch and go for my folks. They managed to keep our home through a federal finance program and Dad took jobs as a butcher in Spirit Lake, Spencer and Graettinger. In 1936 he secured a position working for the City of Milford. His jobs were Street Commissioner, Chief of Police, took care of the disposal plant, city dump. jailer and janitor for the city hall. He was also the city clerk. His base salary was $70.00 a month and $20.00 extra as city clerk, $90.00 total. Dad took the minutes at the council meeting but Mother typed them up, kept the books and wrote the warrants for the city’s bills. I recall many a night Mother pouring over the big legers that she placed on the kitchen table to do the work.

Small towns are great and everybody pulls together and takes care of each other. Everybody burned coal and many a time I recall the church or the American Legion buying and delivering coal and groceries to needy families. In our case to conserve finance Dad jacked up the car, took out the battery, drained the radiator and we walked every place. It was a small town so downtown was only two blocks away, church four and school five blocks. In those days we all bundled up in the winter with heavy sheepskin coats, knitted mittens, caps, scarves and overshoes. I recall when in elementary grades the kids came in the two east doors took off their overshoes and piled them in the corner. We did the same in high school but many of us had zipper overshoes or rubbers. In the elementary grades the kids hung their coats and caps on hooks in the clothes rooms and in high school in lockers.  Most of the time we bundled up and went outside for recess but if the weather was really bad, we played in the gym. I think we received good educations for the times and know my sister and I could meet the challenges we encountered with that start.

I recall that in those years the men had difficulty obtaining full time positions and kids had an even worse time if you lived in town. Some of the boys got jobs working at the service stations pumping gas and the girls might get some money babysitting. The situation today with our economy hasn’t changed a great deal. We have a niece who lives in Las Vega, Nevada. Her husband was unemployed for five months and her son (age 21) had a hard time getting a job. Their daughter (age 18) is attending community college and would like a part time job but because of the high unemployment can’t find one. All of the part time jobs are taken by adults who were laid off.  The only consolation is that in the Depression years things didn’t cost as much. Eggs, milk and bread were cheap and coffee was only five cents a cup. Movies were ten to twenty five cents and popcorn and pop were a nickel. A good hamburger cost ten cents with all the works so for fifty cents you could have a great date going to the movies.

The small towns were and are very proud of their communities. In those days most towns had a weekly newspaper. The newspaper always had a very active society editor whose job was to get as many names of the residents and subscribers in print as possible. The society editor would collect the names of all who attended a birthday party, card party, family celebrations, weddings and funerals. The local merchants placed ads in the paper and sponsored many give-away contests or brought Santa Claus in for the kids. The American Legion had “feather parties” prior to Thanksgiving and Christmas and distributed many fowl to needy people. Local clubs distributed clothing and food to the needy and doctors treated many a patient in exchange for a chicken or some eggs.  Maybe some people didn’t eat as well as others but nobody starved. The farm kids brought in their sack lunches and usually had enough even if it was just plain food. .

Small towns in the USA are hurting today. The economy is changing and many of us who grew up in them recall that on Saturday night the town streets and stores were packed where as today there is nobody there. The stores are closing and it is terrible to go through some towns and see so many of the buildings empty with no prospect of a return to prosperity. Industries, mines, lumber mills have disappeared but many of the people stay with no prospect of a return to the way it used to be. This past week Connie and I were in Deer Lodge, Montana to attend a memorial service for my sister, Jean Scanlon. Many of the people we talked to would tell us how the town used to be and seemed very depressed. The main employees in the community are the state prison, lumber mill, schools and hospital. Years ago the railroad and mines employed many people and looking around it would seem that any young person with any education or ambition would seek employment elsewhere. But yet when tragedy strikes people in those small towns band together and support each other just like we did back in the Depression Years. My brother-in-law is unable to drive and the local Meal-on-Wheels bring in his dinners and their church provides meals on Saturday and Sunday. Many of their friends stop in to see how he is doing and nurse checks up on him regularly. The senior citizens in Deer Lodge have dinners each day at an abandoned and reconstructed train depot. The churches in Deer Lodge band together to serve Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter dinners for the senior citizens. A clothing store operates to dispense used clothing to all and medical services are great. I know all of these services are up and running in our local communities also.

My sister was a WAVE during the Korean War so an honor guard was in place at the cemetery to honor her. It was a pleasure to converse with many of the citizens of that community who are banding together to get through this difficult period of our history. We did it after the Great Depression and we can do it today if we stick together and help each other.

WATER

MEMORY LANE

WATER

BY R. AUBREY LA FOY

Water, water, everywhere and not a drop to drink. If you have ever been on the ocean or flew over the huge bodies of water it is hard to imagine that you can’t drink the stuff. The sea water looks so inviting but it has salt and it will kill you in matter of time if you drink it. Fortunately we don’t have that problem here at the Iowa Great Lakes but is the lake water safe to drink? I don’t know about today but it hasn’t been too many years that when we were out sailing in races with the Okoboji Yacht Club it was not uncommon to dip a cup or your hand in Lake West Okoboji for a nice refreshing drink of water. Early on the towns bordering the lakes employed the lake water into their water system. I know that Milford had a town well for many years but early in the 1900s erected a pump house and water line from Terrace Park.

I was born and grew up in Milford and knew the water came out of the kitchen or bathroom faucet. Kids make assumptions or that what is in your home or town is the way it is. It was a real learning experience to learn that water does not always come as easy as turning on a knob on a faucet. My parents bought a lot and erected a cottage at Milford (Jones) beach in 1925. My parent’s cottage was mainly an investment so we seldom stayed overnight. When we drove up to their cottage it was to make the beds, mow the lawn, rake, erect a dock, paint the rowboat and sweep out. Once in awhile we stayed and had a lunch and did swim and play in the lake. The cottage was rented to tourists through by Walter and Elizabeth Jones.

The cottage had neither running water nor sewer in Jones Beach in the early years. The outhouse was in the back yard next to the road and waste water from doing dishes was collected in a bucket under the kitchen sink. Evidently the water level at Jones beach was quite high. My father dug a hole and placed a large tile in the hole west of the cottage. A pipe was immerged into the water that was only about a foot or so from the top of the tile connected to a cistern pump at the side of the kitchen sink. It didn’t take but a few pumps on the handle to get nice clear water. The water was used for drinking, washing and doing the dishes. If you wanted hot water the teakettle and kerosene stove was available. There was no shower and if you wanted to take a bath just go jump in the lake. By today’s standards it was pretty primitive but nobody really complained except my Mother who hated the renters who failed to empty the slop bucket under the sink.

We obtained our first cottage in 1954 at Terrace Park. The main structure was a small tenant house from Connie’s parent’s farm near Wallingford that we moved to terrace Park. It was 24 x 24 feet in size making a kitchen large front room and a small bedroom. We had electricity but no running water or sewer. We were indeed fortunate to have wonderful neighbors across Wade Street who had a well. Remember those pumps were on about every farm in this area.  By pumping the long handle up and down sooner or later water would gush out of the facet in the front. It was wonderful cold, clear and pure water. Friends would inquire of us if we had running water? We would reply, “Yes. We run over to the neighbors and pump some and run back with it in a bucket.”

Several years later the town of West Okoboji brought water and sewer to Terrace Park and we hooked on. It seemed a good idea at that time to enlarge our cottage so we doubled the size and also built a 20 x 20 foot patio on the lake side. We grew up in this area of Iowa and knew that sooner or later we would need a “storm cellar” or at least a basement. When digging the hole for the basement lo and behold they struck an artisan well just below the west side of our original cottage. It was a real stream of nice pure water and we had a difficult time redirecting the flow of water. Our new basement was perpetually damp. We enjoyed the new facility and addition with a new kitchen, bathtub, sink and stool. We lived in that cottage until 1971.

If you grew up on a farm during the 1920s, 30s or 40s could you ever imagine your farm being hooked up to a rural water system? Many of you can recall having to pump water for the household needs and carrying water in buckets for the chickens and livestock. The windmill was a necessary item if you had livestock and horses. Did you ever go swimming in the horse tank or put pop or beer in it to cool off? Was okay but ice cubes and refrigeration are better.

 The Iowa Great Lakes are indeed blessed to have access to water. All of the towns bordering the lakes get their water supply from them. The water needs to be checked for impurities but it is good. The sewer system that encompasses the lakes has come along a great deal to keep the lakes in good shape. The Lakes Sanitary District is a story in itself. The elimination of the septic systems used many years has done a tremendous job to keep the lakes in good condition.

There is an ongoing argument between bottled water vs. city water but regardless I didn’t ever think I would see the day of having to buy a bottle of water. Traveling in foreign countries bottled water is a “must” as we see many warnings of “don’t drink the water.” There must a few wells and old hand pumps still around. I recall about the last old hand pumps were in the cemeteries used by people to water plants but even there rural water had taken over. The old water towers in Arnolds Park and Milford, that were landmarks for years, are gone and replaced by newer and more efficient ones. Are there any wells still in operation in the lakes region? I don’t know how much liquid our bodies need but good cool clean water is still a good bet.

CURTAIN RODS

>>> CURTAIN RODS --- PRICELESS
>>>
>>> On the first day, she sadly packed her
belongings into boxes, crates
>>> and suitcases.
>>>
>>> On the second day, she had the movers come and
collect her things.
>>>
>>> On the third day, she sat down for the last
time at their beautiful
>>> dining-room table, by candle-light; she put on
some soft background
>>> music, and feasted on a pound of shrimp, a jar
of caviar,and a bottle
>>> of spring-water.
>>>
>>> When she'd finished, she went into each and
every room and deposited a
>>> few half-eaten shrimps dipped in caviar into
the hollow center of the
>>> curtain rods.
>>>
>>> She then cleaned up the kitchen and left.
>>>
>>> On the fourth day, the husband came back with
his new girlfriend, and
>>> at first all was bliss.
>>>
>>> Then, slowly, the house began to smell.
>>>
>>> They tried everything; cleaning, mopping, and
airing-out the place.
>>>
>>> Vents were checked for dead rodents, and
carpets were steam cleaned.
>>>
>>> Air fresheners were hung everywhere.
Exterminators were brought in to
>>> set off gas canisters, during which time the
two had to move out for a
>>> few days, and in the end they even paid to
replace the expensive wool
>>> carpeting. Nothing worked!
>>> People stopped coming over to visit.
>>>
>>> Repairmen refused to work in the house.
>>>
>>> The maid quit.
>>>
>>> Finally, they couldn't take the stench any
longer, and decided they
>>> had to move, but a month later - even though
they'd cut their price in
>>> half - they couldn't find a buyer for such a
stinky house.
>>>
>>> Word got out, and eventually even the local
realtors refused to return
>>> their calls.
>>>
>>> Finally, unable to wait any longer for a
purchaser, they had to borrow
>>> a huge sum of money from the bank to purchase
a new place.
>>>
>>> Then the ex-wife called the man and asked how
things were going. He
>>> told her the saga of the rotting house. She
listened politely and said
>>> that she missed her old home terribly and
would be willing to reduce
>>> her divorce settlement in exchange for having
the house.
>>>
>>> Knowing she could have no idea how bad the
smell really was, he agreed
>>> on a price that was only 1/10 th of what the
house had been worth ...
>>> but only if she would sign the papers that
very day.
>>>
>>> She agreed, and within two hours his lawyers
delivered the completed
>>> paperwork.
>>>
>>> A week later the man and his girlfriend stood
smiling as they watched
>>> the moving company pack everything to take to
their new home ......
>>>
>>> and to spite the ex-wife, they even took the
curtain rods!
>>>
>>> I LOVE A HAPPY ENDING, DON'T YOU?