To Sylvia and Inez

By Velma Rose Smith

One summer, Evelyn, Edna and I visited you folks at the farm. The 1st World War was on. One very hot day, a platoon of soldiers came marching by. They saw your big pump in the front yard, and stopped, broke rank, and asked if they could get water to drink. Evelyn and Edna pumped and served water to all. We were all excited about it, a very unusual thing to happen.

Our parents had instructed us to help with the work. So we took turns at doing different chores each day. One day I picked those big sweet cherries in the front yard. I climbed the tree got those luscious ones from the top. The girls helped your mother can them. For once in my life, I had all the cherries I could eat. Another day I chose to help Uncle Roger weed the garden, he had a big garden, across the road, by the tenant house. We weeded all afternoon, the carrots and beets took a long time, but it gave me time to visit with him. We discussed a lot of things. It was at a time in my life that I had a lot of decisions to make, and I needed someone to confide in. I just needed this time with someone I loved and respected. We also joked, argued, and laughed. We had a standing argument for years about comics in the paper. Finally it got to be a joke between us. In later years, after he was blind, I had another pleasant day with him. He had a book, I think it was Psalms, he read to me, and he taught me how to read some of it.

Then came the day that I last saw him, those beautiful features I admired, and the wavy white hair. I said my goodbye to a very dear uncle.

Love, Velma