Barbara Kay Guild Miller

Biography

Timeline

1. May 26, 1945

   Birth of BARBARA KAY GUILD MILLER

   The Guilds

2. May 26th, 1945

   Birth of Barbara Kay Guild Miller

   Born the fifth daughter and seventh and last child.

   Barbara's Chapter

3. 1963

   Barbara leaves for Western Illinois University

   Barbara left for university to become a teacher.

   Barbara's Chapter

4. 1965

   Barbara and Norman marry

   Barbara's Chapter

5. 1965

   Move to the Bloomington-Normal area

   Barbara's Chapter

6. 1979

   Barbara completes her Art degree

   Completed her degree after taking ten years off to raise the children.

   Barbara's Chapter

7. 1996

   Merlin and Dorothy visit Normal

   Overnight visit in a completely outfitted camper, during which Merlin shared family stories.

   Barbara's Chapter

8. date not given

   Barbara starts Kindergarten

   Barbara cried daily and asked for her sisters to comfort her before eventually adjusting.

   Barbara's Chapter

9. date not given

   Diana comes home from the hospital

   Barbara remembers feeling shy with Diana and jealous of the attention she received.

   Barbara's Chapter

10. Not long before her death in 1988

    A secretly arranged perfect 500 hand

    While Mom went to the bathroom, the players arranged a perfect hand for her. Diana was visiting from Florida. Mom was delighted and was never told about the trick.

    Barbara's Chapter

11. Yearly

    Yearly Club picnic

    Mom prepared fried chicken, pineapple upside-down cake, and scalloped corn. The ladies played cards while children played or swam, and watermelon followed.

    Barbara's Chapter

12. Every year, from Thanksgiving through Christmas

    Christmas baking and ornament making

    Mom made daily batches of candy or cookies, decorated the house, crafted Christmas balls, and prepared cornmeal mush for frying on Christmas Eve morning.

    Barbara's Chapter

13. one time

    Wrestling outing with Daddy

    Floyd took the children to see midget wrestling, which he called “rassling.”

    Barbara's Chapter

14. When I was older

    Golfing on sand greens

    Barbara says her father forced her to golf with him. He carved a furrow to the hole on the sand greens so her ball would go in.

    Barbara's Chapter

15. every year; all summer and fall

    Annual garden and harvest work

    The family helped Floyd plant a half-acre garden and worked to keep up with the produce. He picked corn immediately before cooking and had the children polish tomatoes for sale, telling them to put bad ones at the bottom.

    Barbara's Chapter

16. When Mom and Dad took me to college for the first time

    Barbara’s first trip to college

    Barbara's parents took her to college. Floyd threatened to bring her home if he disliked the looks of her roommate and did not think girls should attend college.

    Barbara's Chapter

17. the first time Norm came to our house to meet the family

    Norm meets the family

    During Norm's introductory family visit, Floyd took him to Iris’s house and silently drained an almost empty liquor bottle found in the garage garbage.

    Barbara's Chapter

18. when I was quite small

    Barbara gets lost at Starved Rock Park

    Barbara reports being told of this incident.

    Barbara's Chapter

19. date not given

    A frightening first remembered movie

    The Wizard of Oz was the first show Barbara remembers seeing. She cried when the wicked witch and monkeys appeared and was told Virginia carried her out.

    Barbara's Chapter

20. date not given

    Popcorn trips to the drive-in

    They popped a huge pan of popcorn and piled into the car to go to the drive-in.

    Barbara's Chapter

21. Every Sunday night

    Sunday sandwiches and Lassie

    Barbara and Diana made fried-egg sandwiches with ketchup and pickles and watched Lassie.

    Barbara's Chapter

22. date not given

    Visits to Gramma Hobson

    They visited Gramma Hobson and enjoyed her stories about Diana in Children’s Hospital.

    Barbara's Chapter

23. during August

    Afternoon rest during the Dog Days of August

    Mom made the children rest in the afternoon. Barbara thinks this had something to do with Polio.

    Barbara's Chapter

24. When I was in about the third grade

    Polio vaccination at school

    Nurses came to school and administered Polio vaccine, which Barbara describes as experimental at that time.

    Barbara's Chapter

25. once in awhile

    Occasional visits to Elmhurst

    The family visited Arjean and Ray Moos without calling ahead.

    Barbara's Chapter

26. date not given

    Rides and Bingo at Riverview Amusement Park

    Arjean and Ray Moos took the family to the park. Adults played Bingo and children went on rides and played midway games. Bob once rode the parachute fall; Barbara remembers being terrified on the “Red Mouse.”

    Barbara's Chapter

27. Once

    Visit to relatives in Brainerd

    Barbara traveled with Mom and Dad to visit relatives, remembering that everyone seemed very poor and that the cousins were cute.

    Barbara's Chapter

28. One Easter

    Easter flooding at Ben Franklin Store

    The store flooded. Barbara remembered the resulting abundance of Easter candy on the family’s back porch, while the other children remembered cleanup work.

    Barbara's Chapter

29. When I was ten years old

    A black and white television from Iris and Bill

    Barbara's family received a black and white TV from Iris and Bill.

    Barbara's Chapter

30. One time, when we were quite young

    Watching chicken butchering from the plum tree

    Barbara and other children watched Ruth and John butcher chickens. Barbara recalls hanging chickens on a clothesline and chopping their necks, while expressly questioning the accuracy of that memory.

    Barbara's Chapter

31. date not given

    Sonny Joiner chased through the orchard

    Barbara recalls that Sonny liked to peek at them through the bathroom window and that Daddy would chase him through the orchard with a shotgun full of salt.

    Barbara's Chapter

32. Teen years

    First job besides baby-sitting at Turnstyle

    Barbara identifies work at Turnstyle discount store as her first job besides baby-sitting.

    Barbara's Chapter

33. Teen years

    Nighttime dishwashing at the Hasty Tasty

    Barbara worked nights as a dishwasher.

    Barbara's Chapter

34. Jr. High

    Lunchtime dancing at Coolidge Jr. High

    Barbara recalls dancing during lunchtime.

    Barbara's Chapter

35. While in Jr. High

    McDonalds opens during junior high

    Barbara recalls buying ten-cent fries after school.

    Barbara's Chapter

36. As the first man went into space

    Hearing the first man go into space

    Barbara listened on the school intercom.

    Barbara's Chapter

37. Teen years, in the middle of the night

    Midnight swimming trip in a possibly borrowed car

    Barbara took someone's car while everyone slept, picked up friends, and drove to the strip mines to swim. She thinks the car was Carol's; Carol is mentioned only as its possible owner.

    Barbara's Chapter

38. While at Western Illinois University

    Barbara meets Norman

    Barbara's Chapter

39. date not given

    Three children arrive in quick succession

    Barbara says they had Matthew, Jennifer and Amy in quick succession.

    Barbara's Chapter

40. Now retired

    Barbara retires from university Admissions work

    Retired from a part-time job in Admissions.

    Barbara's Chapter

41. For awhile

    Barbara works at a local art center

    Barbara worked at an unnamed art center; she now finds artistic satisfaction in quilting.

    Barbara's Chapter

42. Early childhood

    Charcoal names on the garage lead to punishment

    Dee, Barb, and Diana wrote names on the garage, then threw rocks and a brick at Carol after she threatened punishment. Their father spanked them and made them clean the garage.

    Diana's Chapter

43. During Diana’s childhood

    A larger home and an indoor bathroom

    The living-room and bedroom wall was removed. Their father added two bedrooms and a bathroom; before the addition the family used an outhouse and bathed in aluminum kitchen tubs.

    Diana's Chapter

44. During childhood

    A prank call to Ruth Reichenberg

    Diana and Barb falsely told Ruth that Carolyn was suspected of a crime. Barb typed in the background; the sisters were eventually caught.

    Diana's Chapter

45. During childhood

    Bernie interrupts an orchard game

    Bernie caught the children playing Show and Tell in a cement sewer pipe and threatened to tell their mother if it happened again.

    Diana's Chapter

46. High school years

    The sisters sell garden tomatoes

    The four girls picked and shined tomatoes, which their father took them to sell at a store’s produce department. They kept earnings in separate kitchen containers; Dee saved the most.

    Diana's Chapter

47. when Barbara was just a baby

    Barbara's scarlet fever and household quarantine

    Health inspectors posted a red QUARANTINE sign on the house. The narrator recalls preventive medicine and thinks Daddy stayed elsewhere because he needed to work.

    Dee's Chapter

48. date not given

    Barb and Margie meet their musical idol

    Barb and Margie attended a Pat Boone concert and got to touch him.

    Dee's Chapter

49. After the family moved into the house

    Barb's birth after the move

    Dee's Chapter

50. date not given

    Mice in the attic frighten Barbara and Diana

    Mice running in the attic at night put Barbara and Diana in a panic.

    Dee's Chapter

51. date not given

    Barbara marries Norman

    Barbara married her college sweetheart, Norman.

    Dee's Chapter

52. date not given

    Housewarming visits and gifts

    Family and friends came to visit with housewarming gifts.

    Dee's Chapter

53. date not given

    Whaling in Alaska

    The poem recalls Barbara going whaling in Alaska during her travels.

    Dee's Chapter

54. date not given

    Admiring Monet in France

    Barbara admired Monet while visiting France. The travel stanza also remembers her faithfully sending pretty postcards.

    Dee's Chapter

55. When Carol was about eight or nine years old

    Carol's scooter accident and treatment

    Carol cut her right knee on the sharp edge of her scooter. Barbara's double pneumonia kept Mom at home, so Virginia accompanied Carol while Mrs. Hannah drove to the doctor. Four clamps closed the wound. Afterward, the girls' discovery of supposed flesh proved to be a piece of strawberry.

    Carol's Chapter

56. Christmas shopping season

    Christmas shopping visits with Barb

    Mom often visited Barb’s to finish shopping. Barb took her to the Garlic Press and other specialty shops, followed by lunch at a tearoom.

    Carol's Chapter

57. On the weekend

    Weekend apples and cider outings

    Norm took the group to the Apple Barn to load up on apples and cider during Mom’s visits.

    Carol's Chapter

58. Fifth and sixth grade

    Carol keeps a class autograph book

    Class autograph books were popular during these grades. Carol's surviving book contains verses from family and friends.

    Carol's Chapter

59. date not given

    Barb washes dishes on second shift

    Barb worked as a dishwasher and arrived home around one-thirty in the morning.

    Carol's Chapter

60. At Christmas; on Carol’s 23rd birthday

    Family portraits during Bernie's Christmas visit

    Bernie photographed the family with a borrowed Leica camera against orange and green fabric in the girls’ bedroom.

    Carol's Chapter

61. Later that day

    Carol’s 23rd birthday celebration

    The family celebrated Carol’s 23rd birthday after the portrait session.

    Carol's Chapter

62. date not given

    Barbara refuses her medicine

    Barbara was spanked because she would not take her medicine.

    Bob's Chapter

63. When Iris was thirteen

    Iris helps care for little Barbara

    When Barbara came along, Iris was thirteen and helped Mom with her. Barbara became Iris's little pal.

    Iris's Chapter

Stories mentioning Barbara

• The Baby of the FamilyBarbara recalls being born on May 26th, 1945, the fifth daughter and youngest of seven children. She slept in a baby bed in her parents’ room for six years. Her earliest, hazy memory is playing school with her sisters on a blanket beneath a large tree in the front yard.
• Sisters’ Comfort in KindergartenWhen Barbara started Kindergarten at Roosevelt grade school, she cried every day and asked for Diana, Delores or Carol to come comfort her. She eventually adjusted but still missed being with her sisters.
• The Night Diana Came HomeBarbara remembers feeling shy around Diana when she came home from the hospital, and jealous because Diana was getting all the attention.
• Mom's Card Tables and a Perfect HandBarbara remembers Mom crocheting over morning coffee, hosting Club with tuna casserole, yeast rolls, sweets, and nuts, and praising the prizes the children bought at the Highland dime store. Annual Club picnics at Riverside Park featured homemade food, flavored pop, swimming, cards, and watermelon. Shortly before Mom's death, during a card game at Carol's house while Diana visited from Florida, the players secretly arranged a perfect 500 hand for Mom and never told her. Barbara also recalls the haunting story of a Club lady losing a finger in a Mix Master, tentatively identifying her as Olene Allerdyce.
• Christmas Goodies and Mom's Handmade OrnamentsChristmas was Mom's favorite holiday. She decorated every room and made cookies or candy daily from Thanksgiving onward, storing them on the tiny back porch beside her small bottles of Pepsi. Christmas Eve morning brought thin slices of fried cornmeal mush. In the evenings she made distinctive Christmas balls, which Barbara still hangs on her tree. Barbara misses Mom most at Christmas.
• The Everyday Care That Made a HomeBarbara gathers memories of Mom's familiar sayings, childhood in Dunseth at the foot of the Turtle Mountains, and skiing over fences to school with her brother. Mom treated colds with crushed aspirin, sugar and water, and Vicks covered with flannel. Before Dr. Menton's house calls, Virginia McFarland helped tidy the house. Spring cleaning and Saturday chores kept the home spotless despite the coal furnace. Barbara recalls a music box bird she thinks Bernie bought in Paris, Mom's treadle sewing machine, the girls' Peppy Steppers 4H projects, and handmade Easter outfits for Sunday School. She adopted Mom's red-ribbon suitcase custom. Jennifer passed along Gramma Guild's recollection of tonsil removal before telephone work, and Barbara remembers Mom's lifelong red hair.
• Daddy’s Lap, Garden, and Backyard WorkshopBarbara warmly remembers curling up in Daddy's lap and describes his old-time remedies, including cigarette smoke for earaches, hot lemonade with booze, Samon Salve, and an overpowering experiment with menthol crystals in a furnace-connected vaporizer. Family activities included drag races, wrestling, golf, gathering nuts and grapes, and working hard in the garden and orchard. She recalls reading in an apple tree, his embarrassment-inducing old cars, his objections to girls attending college, Friday grocery and library trips, Christmas gifts, singing, trading, and inventive repairs. She also remembers helping him adjust and repair the television and his name for homes south of Coal Town Road: “Frogtown.”
• Norm’s Unforgettable First Family VisitOn Norm's first visit to meet the family, Floyd took him to Iris’s house. Entering through the garage, Floyd silently picked up an almost empty bottle of booze, drained it, and returned it to the garbage.
• Merlin's Camper Visit and a Familiar GestureRetired steamship pilot Merlin visited Normal overnight with Dorothy after seeing Dee in Moline. His wife Marilyn had died two years earlier. During his visit he shared family stories, and Barbara noticed the finger-by-the-nose gesture that Dee had said resembled Daddy's.
• An Oak Table Becomes a Punching-Bag SupportBarbara recalls Dad chopping up the pedestal of the family's round oak table and burning it out back. He nailed the tabletop to the basement ceiling and attached a punching bag for the boys.
• Cards and Pantry Shelves in the BasementThe family sat in the basement playing cards during tornado warnings. Shelves held home-canned and store-bought fruits and vegetables, and a small room behind the furnace had formerly stored coal.
• The Wringer and the Scent of Summer LaundryBefore the automatic washer and dryer, the family used a round agitator machine with two rinse tubs, one containing a wringer. Everyone feared getting an arm caught in it. Clothes dried outdoors on lines in summer, acquiring a smell Barbara loved, and on basement lines in winter.
• Childhood Outings, Popcorn, and Sunday SandwichesBarbara recalls being told she got lost at Starved Rock Park when quite small. The family often walked to 41st Street to catch a bus downtown or to the library, and walked to the show in Highland. The Wizard of Oz frightened her, and she was told Virginia carried her out. Other pleasures included a huge pan of popcorn for the drive-in in Milan and Sunday nights making fried-egg sandwiches with ketchup and pickles with Diana while watching Lassie.
• Visits and Stories with Gramma HobsonTrips to Geneseo Illinois brought visits with Gramma Hobson, Billy Johnson’s grandmother, whom Barbara remembers as tall and very charming. They loved hearing her stories about Diana’s time in Children’s Hospital in Chicago.
• Dog Days Rest and a School VaccineBarbara remembers Bernie and Bob having ringworm and wearing nylon hose knotted on their heads. Mom required afternoon rest during the “Dog Days of August,” which Barbara thinks had something to do with Polio. In about third grade, nurses came to school and gave the children Polio vaccine, described as experimental at that time.
• Fluffy by the Chimney and Animals Around the HouseBarbara recalls Fluffy, an outdoor cat who liked sitting beside the warm brick chimney. The family also raised pet rabbits in hutches behind the shed. Mom kept parakeets in a cage by the living-room window, and there were lots of mice.
• Unannounced Visits and Amusement Park AdventuresBarbara recalls that the family seldom traveled because there were so many of them. They occasionally visited Arjean and Ray Moos in Elmhurst without calling ahead. Their hosts took them to Riverview Amusement Park, where adults played Bingo and children enjoyed rides and midway games. Bob impressed everyone by riding the parachute fall, while Barbara was terrified by the “Red Mouse” and retained a dislike of roller coasters.
• A Remembered Visit to BrainerdBarbara once accompanied Mom and Dad to Brainerd to visit relatives. She remembers little except her impression that everyone seemed very poor and that the cousins were cute.
• Tin-Tub Baths and Saturday Night MoviesBarbara recalls Saturday baths in a kitchen tin tub with stove-heated water before Daddy and the boys built an addition with a bathroom. She describes crowded sleeping arrangements, a two-seater outdoor toilet, brown-painted iron beds, wool army blankets, and chenille bedspreads. Other memories include late Saturday movies while her parents played cards, Sturdevant Milk advertisements, visiting salesmen, and listening in on party-line conversations.
• An Easter Flood’s Sweet AftermathIris and Bill’s Ben Franklin Store flooded one Easter. While the other children remembered the cleanup work, Barbara remembered the back porch filled with chocolate bunnies, gooey yellow chicks, and chocolate-covered eggs salvaged from the disaster.
• Treasured Presents, Music, and Bicycle RidesBarbara remembers Iris’s gift of a comic-book subscription and Bernie’s love of Mario Lanza records and thoughtful birthday presents after leaving home. Bob teased her and helped her do flip-overs; she took Carol’s outfits while Carol worked, and Dee styled or cut her hair before school. Barbara played most with Diana, riding bicycles on 39th Street, where a dog once tried to bite Diana but 'got the wrong leg.'
• Neighborhood Friends and Games for Every SeasonBarbara remembers her closest neighborhood playmates and the pretend games she shared with Margie Britz. Childhood pastimes included swimming at Riverside Park, Popsicles, catching lightening bugs, lemonade stands, jump rope, cards, treasure hunts, yard games, and Jacks at school. She describes the frightening nighttime chasing game One O’clock And The Ghost Isn’t Here. Winter brought snow games, sledding, cocoa, and warming up on the register; fall brought leaf piles and Halloween treats and pranks. Quiet pleasures included reading Little House in Big Woods and watching clouds beneath sheets on the clothesline. Children also played in summer rain, although they were warned about “Night Air.”
• Radio Evenings and the Gift of a TelevisionBefore television, the family gathered around the radio for The Lone Ranger, Sergeant Preston of the Yukon, and The Shadow, while Mom listened to My Gal Sal as she ironed. Iris and Bill gave the family a black and white TV when Barbara was ten. Barbara lists many favorite shows and remembers having a screen placed over the television to draw on for Rudy Kazootie.
• Plum-Tree Spectators and Garden TreatsChildren watched from the plum tree in the Reichenberg’s back yard as Ruth and John butchered chickens. Barbara recalls chickens hanging on the clothesline and having their necks chopped, but explicitly says, “I know this can’t be right.” The children shrieked as headless chickens ran about. She also remembers stealing kohlrabi from the Reichenberg’s garden and admiring Mrs. Britz's gladiolas and chocolate cakes.
• Remembered Faces, Flowers, and Childhood PlayBarbara lists people and families she remembers: Mrs. Rohrer shared flowers from her beautiful garden, and Mrs. Johnson asked Barbara to zip up her formals. She also recalls Old-lady Clyde, Earladine and Jean Hoglund, the Petersens, especially Eileen, and Sis Vergaine and her son Stevie, whose possible imprisonment she questions without confirming. The Hancocks had an abandoned little house where the children liked to play. The Ferrys and The Gillersteads are also remembered by name.
• A Chase Through the OrchardBarbara remembers Sonny Joiner peeking at them through the bathroom window. Daddy would chase him through the orchard with a shotgun full of salt.
• Sandwiches, Sunday Chicken, and Treats from Mom's KitchenBarbara recalls radish, fried bologna, and sugar sandwiches; gravy and mashed-potato dishes; homemade cocoa; garden vegetables; cookies dipped in Daddy’s coffee; Sunday fried chicken; Swiss steak; stovetop popcorn; vegetable soup with rutabaga; coffee cake; and cherry pie. She remembers fearing the pressure cooker and Dad’s saying, “The more white bread the quicker your dead.” As a very small child, she saw rabbits hanging from the clothes-line pole for Daddy to skin; despite assurances, Mom’s fried rabbit never tasted like chicken to her. She also remembers squeezing coloring into oleo, possibly putting it into a form afterward, and hovering around Mom for jelly roll cake trimmings, raw potato, or cabbage heart.
• Radio, Sock Hops, and Teenage DaysBarbara recalls listening to KSTT—1170 AM and WLS—890, cruising Rock Island's One-Ways with girlfriends, Maid Rite sandwiches, and Whitey’s ice cream, where her mother always chose a strawberry cone. Her teen memories include sock hops, poodle skirts, crinolines, cinch belts, saddle shoes, Capezios, and curling irons heated on the gas stove. She remembers ten-cent fries after McDonalds opened during junior high, lunchtime dancing at Coolidge Jr. High, homecoming floats, 4-H and the County Fair, baby-sitting, work at Turnstyle and the Hasty Tasty, ironing even pillowcases, pizza's growing popularity, televised basketball tournaments, and hearing about the first man going into space over the school intercom.
• A Midnight Drive to The PitsWhile recalling learning to drive, Barbara confesses that she took someone's car in the middle of the night while everyone slept. She thinks it was Carol's car. She picked up friends and drove out to The Pits, identified as strip mines, to swim, ending her confession with an apology.
• Barbara’s Years of Family, Learning and QuiltingBarbara left for Western Illinois University in 1963, met Norman Miller and married him in 1965. They moved to the Bloomington-Normal area that year and had Matthew, Jennifer and Amy in quick succession. After taking ten years off to raise the children, Barbara completed her Art degree in 1979. Norman found enjoyable work at State Farm Insurance, while Barbara devoted years to children's activities, worked in university Admissions and at an art center, and later found creative satisfaction in quilting.
• Laugh a LotBarbara describes her philosophy of life simply: “laugh a lot.”
• Thanks for the Memories, BernieBarbara thanks Bernie for encouraging their recollections and says remembering the early years has been fun. She also describes a few of her quilts, her siblings Diana, Bob, Carol, Iris, and Dee on her staircase, and Bernie in his kitchen.
• Strawberry Patches, Saturday Baths, and Childhood PlayDiana recalls Carol’s frightening knee injury, punishment for charcoal writing and throwing rocks, and fear during her mother’s pneumonia. She describes the small house before bedrooms and a bathroom were added, Saturday baths in kitchen tubs, outdoor games, dolls, jump rope, and Jacks. School memories include crying on her first day, health inspections, and a sixth-grade ribbon.
• Seven Children, Shared Adventures, and Sisterly MischiefDiana remembers Iris cutting hair, Bernie rescuing her from punishment and playing records, and Bob driving four younger sisters to school and building an igloo with Billy Johnson. Carol served as a second mother, led 4-H meetings, and accompanied Diana to the State Fair. Dee was a card-playing companion and peacekeeper. Diana and Barb shared sleeping space, television suppers, prank calls, forbidden games, and adventures with Carol’s car. Family outings included the drive-in, ice cream, carnival rides, and drag races.
• A Car for College and a Family That Always HelpedDiana recalls demanding study habits, family gardening and tomato sales, and her anxious departure for college. Iris and Bill’s gift of a car made nursing school feasible. During an earlier John Deere & Company strike, Iris brought groceries when the family lacked money. Diana describes her scholarship, difficult college years, friendship with Martha Kawada, and graduation. Memories of planting a flower garden and helping haul water from the water works lead to gratitude for the family’s enduring support and resourcefulness.
• A Family Remembered with Love and PrideThough her childhood memories are vague, Delores remembers warm and happy feelings. She lovingly describes her grandfather, parents, and six siblings, expressing gratitude for her life and pride in the family her parents created.
• Floyd, Tootsie, and Seven ChildrenDelores remembers her handsome, sociable father and her parents’ dancing at the Coliseum. She recounts the birth order of their seven children, her father naming Iris, and her mother naming the rest. She thought the oldest and youngest were spoiled but secretly believed she was Daddy’s favorite girl.
• Pretty Bird, Fluffy, and the Attic MiceMom's green parakeet, Pretty Bird, perched on her shoulder while she washed dishes, chirping with the clanking dishes and repeating his name. Mom loved him, but he flew away when the front door was left open. The narrator also remembers Fluffy, a big white cat who chased mice, joking that he kept them from eating Barb. Barb feared the attic mice would climb into her bed, and she and Diana heard them at night. The narrator was more disturbed by mouse droppings found while searching boxes of hand-me-down clothes in the attic.
• A Love of Cards Passed DownMom taught the children 500 and Hearts and enjoyed Scrabble with them. The narrator also played Canasta with Mrs. Nicholson, as did Barb, Diana, and neighborhood children, and remembers basement games of 500 Rummy. Adult visits to Mom always included 500 as a way to talk and remember. The tradition reached the grandchildren: Susy recalls Kings Corners, Cribbage, and Bunko with her grandma, Ruth, and Florence.
• Mom's Top-to-Bottom Spring CleaningEvery late March or early April, after the coal furnace was shut off, Mom scoured the entire house to remove black soot. Curtains were washed and dried outside on an adjustable wooden stretcher fitted with pins. Cupboards were emptied and washed, dishes cleaned, and shelves lined with fresh paper, including decorative scalloped borders. Winter clothes were stored with mothballs and hand-me-downs set aside. Storm windows came down, windows were washed before screens went up, and mattresses, rugs, and the family's one carpet were taken outside and beaten. The narrator remembers that Mom maintained this annual routine throughout her life, whether it was needed or not.
• A Red Quarantine Sign and Homemade ApplesauceWith ten people living in the house, the narrator marvels that illness was not more frequent. Barbara contracted scarlet fever as a baby, and health inspectors posted a red QUARANTINE sign. The narrator thinks Daddy stayed elsewhere so he could work. Mom offered homemade applesauce after the unpleasant preventive medicine. The narrator also remembers disliking Cod Liver Oil.
• The First Television and the Music That StayedThe parents returned from Diana’s 1949 leg operation in Chicago with the family’s first black-and-white television. Dee contrasts television with the radio programs that had fed her imagination. Bernie bought a record player after starting window-display work, and Dee repeatedly played Patty Page’s The Tennessee Waltz. Bob and Sue danced, Barb and Margie adored Pat Boone, and Barbie and Diana played instruments. Years later, Diana’s warped violin was discarded, rescued by Mr. Sajben, repaired, and played by his son; Dee regretted being unable to recover it.
• An Enchanted House Full of Family MemoriesDelores remembers moving at age two into a four-room house on an acre, originally addressed 3209 39th Street. The house, garage, and land cost $2,750, with another $100 for the chicken house; payments were $25 monthly after $500 down. The orchard and yard were a childhood wonderland, while the small house eventually held ten people. She describes crowded sleeping arrangements, hand-pumped water, an outhouse, coal heat, rabbits, and time with her father in his workshed. Her father added two bedrooms and a bathroom without professional help in 1950. Later changes included removal of an interior wall, new carpeting, and white vinyl siding with hunter-green shutters. After three-quarters of the land was sold, the address became 3205 39th Street. Preserving the house helps her keep family memories alive.
• Wrestling Heroes and Barbara's TeasingCarol and her father loved Wrestling From Hollywood. She remembers Gorgeous George and Verne Gagne as heroes and Mad Dog Vershon as a villain, describing their appearance and behavior. Carol considers this wrestling more entertainment than sports, but Barbara insists that Carol still believes it is real.
• To Barb, with Love: Braids, Laughter, and KindnessDee's affectionate poem celebrates Barbara from her braided-hair childhood and shared fright with Diana over attic mice through marriage to Norman, homemaking, parenting, studying, and world travel. It recalls whaling in Alaska and admiration of Monet in France, and praises Barbara's hospitality, giggle, flowers, quilts, and caring resemblance to their mother.
• Iris, Our Gentle Second MotherIn a loving poem signed Dee, Delores thanks her sister Iris for the care she gave her six younger siblings. An only child for over five years, Iris became like a second mother, feeding, bathing, hugging and comforting the children while helping their busy mother. Dee remembers Iris’s gentle ways and expresses lasting gratitude and unconditional love.
• A Christmas Eve Baby in a Wicker BasketAfter her mother began having contractions while trimming the Christmas tree, Carol was born on Christmas Eve 1938 in Moline. Her father named her Carol Mae for the season. She joined Iris, Bobby and Bernie at the family's apartment; the later births of Delores, Diana and Barbara made her the middle child. Remembered as a very small baby, she was carried on a pillow and kept in a wicker basket on a bedroom shelf beyond her brothers' reach.
• An Acre and Four Rooms to Call HomeCarol remembers moving to 3209 39th Street in 1942 at age four, running through empty rooms and jumping through windows. The $2,187 house stood on an acre in South Moline Township and initially had four rooms, an outhouse, and a well, but no bathroom, basement, or garage. Her father built a basement. A family of ten shared the small house, with the girls' living-room beds put away each morning and Grandpa Williams living there until his death in 1953.
• Imaginations, Paper Dolls, and the Warmth of HomeCarol remembers childhood games with her sisters and neighborhood friends when store-bought toys were scarce. They played House on an army blanket, dressed in cast-off clothes, played in a canvas tent and a deserted trailer, and enjoyed paper dolls. Quiet play in the kitchen while Mom ironed and listened to the radio gave Carol a lasting sense of security. The children made newspaper kites, Kleenex flowers, and Kool-Aid stands, played street games, and sledded through steep wooded hills before warming themselves at the brass heat register.
• A Scooter Scar and a Strawberry LaughCarol fell from her scooter near the strawberry patch and badly cut her right knee. With Mom unable to leave Barbara, who had double pneumonia, Virginia arranged for Mrs. Hannah to drive them to the doctor. Carol received four clamps and retained a visible scar. Back home, her sisters, Marilyn, and Patty claimed to have found flesh from her leg, but Virginia identified it as strawberry—a mistake they still laughed about.
• Sunday Pies, Shared Chicken, and the FunniesSundays were reserved for family, with Mom rising at dawn to bake pies with lard crusts, crescent rolls, and cinnamon rolls. Favorite noon dinners included Swiss steak or fried chicken with mashed potatoes. Carol jokes that ten people shared one chicken, then adds that surely there were at least two. Mom ate the wings and Dad the back, liver, and gizzards, saving the meatiest pieces for the children; Carol now enjoys wings herself. After dinner, Barb usually escaped to Margie’s house and Diana read behind a locked bathroom door, leaving Carol and Dee to do dishes while Bob snapped towels at them. Afterward, they read the Sunday paper Dad brought from town, especially Carol’s beloved funnies.
• Christmas Trees, Stocking Treats, and Family TogethernessCarol recalls Daddy waiting until close to Christmas to buy inexpensive trees, once paying fifty cents, and drilling holes to rearrange branches. The family decorated with paper chains, popcorn, ornaments, saved tinsel, and fiberglass angel hair that made their skin itch. Their everyday socks held fruit, walnuts, and candy; they later learned Daddy bought the biggest apples and oranges at Lagomarcino’s. He traditionally gave Mom two pairs of nylon stockings. Larger family gatherings moved to Iris and Bill’s for Christmas Eve. Christmas was Mom’s favorite holiday: after the children left home, she usually put up her tree by early December, shopped with Barb in Normal, and enjoyed specialty shops and tearoom lunches. Norm took the group to the Apple Barn for apples and cider. Mom also finished ornament balls at Barb’s and taught Amy and Jenny to make them. Carol believed Mom especially loved the holiday because it brought the whole family together.
• A Christmas Visit Captured in Family PortraitsBernie borrowed a Leica camera to photograph a new place in San Francisco, then brought it home to Moline at Christmas. Using orange and green fabric tacked up in the girls’ bedroom as a backdrop, Bernie photographed the family. A portrait of Bernie taken by high school chum Jerry Edlund during the same trip completed the folio. Later on the family portrait day, the family celebrated Carol’s 23rd birthday. Bernie treasured how clearly the portraits revealed everyone’s personality.
• Names and Verses Tucked AwayCarol invites comparison of family signatures and recalls Bernie's report that Dad's birth certificate spelled his name Floyde, leaving the reason uncertain. She still keeps her grade-school autograph book and shares playful verses and coded messages written by family and friends.
• Full-Circle Skirts and the Clothes SnatchersWanting to fit in as a teenager, Carol followed fashions including rolled jeans, stiff crinolines, full-circle skirts she made herself, cinch belts, bobby socks and saddle shoes. Barb and Diana secretly wore her clothes to school until wrinkles from rolled waistbands gave them away. Carol also describes boys' duck tails, crew cuts, sweaters and shoes.
• Carhop Trays and Late-Night ReassurancesCarol’s first part-time job was serving root beer, hamburgers, and malts as a Tasty Treat carhop. Owner and neighbor Mrs. Mary Poston hired Carol, Dee, and Marilyn McFarland; Carol recalls that they made about seventy dollars plus tips that summer. Mrs. Poston also owned Hasty Tasty Restaurant, where Barb washed dishes on second shift. Despite being frightened when returning home around 1:30 a.m., Barb joked that she was protecting Carol from Peeping Toms.
• Bob's Bright Fragments of ChildhoodBob lists vivid childhood memories: neighbors, a gasoline burn while playing with a toy steamshovel, Barbara refusing medicine, Bernie's skating injury, and Tom Johnson knocking out power lines with a falling tree. He recalls visiting the Rodgers in Cordova, swimming at Campbell’s Island, annual Riverside Park picnics, Iris’s wedding, and poker games with Art and Eileen Cordingly. Other memories include orchard camping and spraying, gathering walnuts, toys and homemade kites, fireworks, homemade foods, hauling water when the well dried up, building a house addition, basement heat relief and flooding, coal heating, backyard tomatoes, and the surviving mailbox millstone.
• Rainy-Day Toys and the Joy of ColoringBernard recalls indoor play during rainy days and winter: an Erector set, wood-burning kit, crystal set, painted figurines, and an electric train surrounded by Lincoln Log houses. He and Bob refused to box each other, disappointing Dad. He made comic books with newspaper strips and homemade paste, played Chinese Checkers with Grampa, and folded paper toys for Barbara. Coloring was his favorite distraction, inspiring a teasing aside to Diana.
• Carrie’s Roots and a Treasured Lock of Red HairThe family traces Carrie’s Fairbanks ancestry and Newton’s Guild ancestry, notes the neighboring family grave sections near Dedham’s old St. Paul Church, and recounts Carrie’s birth, marriage, children and death. A lock of her red hair passed from Belle to Barbara Guild Miller. Floyd was born after both grandparents had died.
• A Family Name That Rhymes with WildThe narrator wonders why the family says “Guylld” rather than “Gild,” asking whether British origin and old vowel pronunciations might explain it but offering no answer. He explains the pronunciation by rhyming Guild with “wild” or referring to “Bewitched Bothered and Beguiled,” adding that this would work for Barb, Bob, and Brian as well.
• Gathering the Family's Memories, Facts, and First-Class MythsBernie introduces accounts of Floyd, Ethel, and Edward Williams compiled after family members had already written their memories. Earlier impressions were deliberately left unchanged. Bernie credits relatives' recollections, photographs, grave-site work, genealogical tracing, and oral-history interviews, including Diana's margarita-assisted conversations with Mom. Although initially described as true stories based on the most reliable information available, the accounts are also explicitly called anecdotal, possibly allegorical, and unprovable.
• From a Second Mother to a Cherished FriendIris reflects on her second-mother role in childhood and the friendships she now cherishes. She recalls Bernie's broken tea sets and playful dish-towel chases, taking little Barbara everywhere, soothing Diana's ulcerated leg with lard, helping reposition baby Carol's head until the neck grew stronger, regretting Delores's scoldings after her hearing problem was discovered, and understanding quiet Bob's pointing without his needing to speak.
• A Snowstorm, an Open Door, and a Growing FamilyDrawing partly on Floyd’s accounts, the family recounts Dan and Bernal’s rented farm and Olive’s desperate appeal after Clarence Vosburg’s accidental death. Dan offered shelter in exchange for cooking and housekeeping, initially unaware of her two oldest daughters. Olive and Dan married in 1899 and had five children, two of whom died young. The account also recalls Carrie’s devout household and Bernal’s departure after Newton’s death to sell sewing machines, including his meeting with Belle Woodley.
• Floyd and Ethel: Dancing, Work, and Seven ChildrenFloyd and Ethel met on a roller-skating blind date, courted through dancing and picnics, and married in Moline in 1928 with Frank Melton and Elva as attendants. They raised seven children. The passage says Floyd worked his entire life for John Deere, while also recording a roughly year-long Depression layoff when Lloyd helped him obtain WPA truck-driving work. Remembered as hardworking, playful, outspoken, and devoted to family, Floyd died of acute kidney failure in 1968 after an earlier severe stroke and is buried beside Ethel.
• Brownie’s Dancing Days and a Lifetime of MotheringDespite grief at home and being refused a college education, Ethel found happiness in friends, dancing, and work. Mary Hill introduced her to Floyd, whom she married in 1928. Together they raised seven children, while Ethel survived a serious goiter and worked several jobs. In widowhood she enjoyed crafts, cards, grandchildren, and travel, including a cherished 1979 European holiday funded by Bernie. She died during a visit to Diana in 1988, remembered for her unqualified love.
• Dances, Seven Children, and Grampa’s Helping HandsAfter moving to Moline, Ethel met Floyd through Mary Hill and married him in 1928. They raised seven children, while Ethel worked several jobs and survived goiter surgery. Ed became a permanent member of their household, contributing childcare, housework and money, despite drinking and a serious workplace injury. Lloyd served in the Army Signal Corps, suffered lasting injuries and eventually lost contact with the family, leaving fond memories and a cocoa-dunking breakfast tradition. The passage gives conflicting dates for Ed’s death and funeral.

Referenced in

• The Guilds — BARBARA KAY GUILD MILLER
• Barbara's Chapter — BARBARA KAY GUILD MILLER
• Barbara's Chapter — MEMORIES OF MOM
• Barbara's Chapter — MEMORIES OF DADDY
• Barbara's Chapter — CAPTAIN MERLIN RINGERING
• Barbara's Chapter — MISCELLANEOUS FAMILY MEMORIES
• Barbara's Chapter — NICKNAMES
• Barbara's Chapter — ANIMALS
• Barbara's Chapter — TRIPS
• Barbara's Chapter — LIVING ARRANGEMENTS
• Barbara's Chapter — CHILDHOOD PASTIMES & FRIENDS
• Barbara's Chapter — I REMEMBER
• Barbara's Chapter — FOOD MEMORIES
• Barbara's Chapter — TEEN MEMORIES
• Barbara's Chapter — LATER LIFE
• Barbara's Chapter — PHILOSOPHY OF LIFE
• Barbara's Chapter — THANKS
• Diana's Chapter — FAMILY MEMORIES
• Dee's Chapter
• Dee's Chapter — DADDY
• Dee's Chapter — WEEKLY WOES
• Dee's Chapter — WEEKLY WOES
• Dee's Chapter — SPRING CLEANING
• Dee's Chapter — SICK DAYS
• Dee's Chapter — SICK DAYS
• Dee's Chapter — THE GUILD RESIDENCE
• Dee's Chapter — TO BARB
• Dee's Chapter — TO IRIS
• Carol's Chapter
• Carol's Chapter — HOME
• Carol's Chapter — A FEW GAMES I REMEMBER
• Carol's Chapter — THE STRAWBERRY
• Carol's Chapter — SUNDAYS
• Carol's Chapter — COOKIES
• Carol's Chapter — RABBIT EARS
• Carol's Chapter — PLEASE SIGN IN
• Carol's Chapter — HIGH SCHOOL
• Carol's Chapter — SITTER
• Carol's Chapter — A DAY IN THE LIFE OF THE GUILD FAMILY
• Bob's Chapter — MOST VIVID CHILDHOOD MEMORIES
• Bernie's Chapter — INSIDE PLAY
• Bernie's Chapter — HUMILITY, MODESTY, MEEKNESS, RETICENCE
• Iris's Chapter — REMEMBERING EACH OF YOU
• Iris's Chapter — DEAR JEFF,
• History of the Guild Family — CARRIE FAIRBANKS
• History of the Guild Family — DAN AND OLIVE
• History of the Guild Family — THE SAW MILL
• History of the Guild Family — ETHEL KATHERINE WILLIAMS
• History of the Guild Family — ETHEL KATHERINE WILLIAMS
• Our Childhood Games — JACKS