Mom's Diary

We really are in for a treat! My mother graciously agreed to share some of either her precious memories with us, or what God is currently doing in her life. As you will see, mom is a great story teller and has a lot to share with us, but because of her arthritis, it will be a rare treasure when she gets out her pen and paper, so keep a look out for it!

March 16, 2011

My family lived in California having moved there in 1930. I was 2 years old at the time. We had moved from Lower California, North to Central California to live in San Luis Obispo and that was where my youngest sister, Oma Lee was born in 1932.

We lived in San Luis Obispo until 1939 when we moved North again to Salinas, California.

While we lived in San Luis Obispo, the elementary school I went to was less than a mile from home, so we went home for lunch every school day. We had to allow enough time after lunch to get back to school in time..

We left home a little late one day and as we were leaving home, we could see the train coming around the bend. If we didn’t get across the tracts before the train crossed our street, we would have to wait until the train passed to cross and we would be late for school, so we started running.

My little fat legs couldn’t go too fast so my sister kept hurrying me on.

We crossed the tract just in time-right in front of the engine! We were scared and I am sure it scared the engineer.

After we crossed, I had to sit down on the ground to catch my breath. But we made it to school on time!!

                Our house set on a slight hill, so we could stand in our dining room and see 3 or 4 blocks down the street.

School was out early in the afternoon and it took me better part of an hour to get home. We lived about ¾ of a mile from school and it took me a good hour to get home, which should have taken only about 40-45 minutes. So mother stood in our dining room and watched me walk those 3 or 4 blocks. She said, I stopped and looked at everything. If I saw something across the street, I would walk across to see it better.  If I spotted something in back of me, I would walk to see. This went on all the way home—(every day)

I didn’t miss a thing!

Mary L. Allison

MLA/emm