February 8 is Special

This was the back door of our house in Seward where my sister Vivian, little brother Donnie and I were born. We are shown here in early 1932 before moving to the Old Vrana Farm on February 8th. I liked my Aviator cap since that's what the fellows wore who flew airplanes. I had seen Earle Smiley's plane at the County Fair and saw one flying east over our place during the summer. Though sister Vivian was 18 months older, I had caught up with her in height by the time Dad took this picture when I was 6 1/2 years old. I suspect my big overcoat was a "hand-me-down" and I was very comfortable looking a bit "sloppy". Brother Donnie obviously had a neat, well fitting cap and coat and always seemed to look neat. Our move to the farm was quite traumatic for Vivian and I but Donnie, who just had his 2nd birthday in December, took it in stride. Dad was moving back to the farm where he had grown-up but it must have been difficult for Mother to give up her electrical appliances and go back to kerosene lamps, engine on her Maytag, and flat irons. She was only 30 years old at the time and I don't recall ever hearing her complain. She was a real trooper. 

This was the house that we moved to on that 8th of February in 1932. It was the place that my Dad had moved to with his parents in 1903 when he was 6 1/2 years old. The lower level of the house was build with native limestone walls some 18" thick. It was built into a bank with the back side of the limestone wall extending only a couple feet above the ground level. The lower level consisted of one big room with a wainscoting ceiling and a dirt floored "cellar" off to the right. The upstairs consisted of 3 rooms in addition to a small room where the stairway was located. During the years of my youth, the whole upstairs was used as bedrooms. The big room on the 1st floor was our "Family room", it was where Mother cooked, we ate, we did our homework, Dad read his newspaper, we listened to the radio, practiced playing our guitars, Dad played his accordion and mouth harp, we sang and learned lessons that have served us well. February 8 is a day that will live in my memory as one of the good turning points in my life.