Theme
Faith
Barbara's Chapter
The Everyday Care That Made a Home
Barbara 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.
Diana's Chapter · Childhood, beginning at age three
Early Morning Journeys and Friendship in the Hospital
Diana traces the unexplained falls and progressive skin and leg changes that led Dr. Menton to refer her to Illinois Research Hospital in Chicago. Early morning family drives combined the comforting smell of coffee and cheese sandwiches with the fear of examinations and long waits. As illness interrupted school, Mrs. Lynch tutored her at home. Repeated hospital stays brought painful procedures and treatments, but also friendship with Loopy Gonzalez, hallway races, water-balloon mischief, Friday hamburgers, parties, special dresses, chapel services, and visits from family and friends. She also remembers homemade food and a church-donated basket from which she could open one present each day.
Diana's Chapter · 1926 onward
Lee's Many Talents and a Scooter Ride into the Family
Diana traces Lee's childhood near his extended family, work in his grandfather's grocery store, school achievements, Naval service, ministry, teaching, and successful insurance business. After his first marriage failed, Diana met him three years after his divorce. Her father initially regarded Lee suspiciously, but a bold scooter ride with Diana became a memorable turning point. Lee and her father remained friends, and Lee took him to the hospital when he had a stroke. Lee also formed a close bond with Mom and managed his best friend Sy Fox's campaign.
Diana's Chapter · Through January 28th, 1995, and afterward
Cherished Ornaments and the Comfort of White Birds
Diana remembers Lee's warmth, generosity, love of babies, and reverent annual unpacking of Mom's Christmas ornaments, especially the shamrock and gold fish ornaments she made him. Lee died of lung cancer on January 28th, 1995, Mom's birthday. Two hours before his death, Diana watched white birds fishing in the lake behind their home and felt Mom was coming to take Lee with her. White birds continued to bring Diana comfort in her grief.
Dee's Chapter · After retirement; strokes three years after retirement
Daddy’s Turn to Enjoy Life and His Last Concern
After years of providing for his children, Floyd bought a beloved motor scooter, a turquoise blue Comet, and a travel trailer, despite Ethel wanting nothing to do with them. Three years after retirement he suffered a series of strokes. He wanted to be baptized before dying and to see everyone. Delores recalls his insistence on seeing Iris’ husband Bill so he could ask Bill to take care of Ethel, a devotion she deeply admired.
Dee's Chapter
Easter Eggs, New Bonnets, and Homemade Rolls
The narrator remembers coloring three or four dozen eggs, admiring Bernie's beautiful eggs, and racing to find eggs hidden indoors and outside. Mom made new Sunday dresses and spring coats each year, and the girls wore new accessories to wait for the Sunday school bus. A large dinner of ham, deviled eggs, candied yams, and homemade rolls completed a holiday rich in tradition.
Dee's Chapter
Loving Each Other Through Life
Delores reflects that seeing one another as spirits would make the need to love and help others clear. She finds her greatest joy in making others feel loved and believes family members chose to be together to support each other through life's difficulties. She closes with love and gratitude for sharing life with her family.
Carol's Chapter · Childhood–1995
A Lifetime of Faith at Calvary
Carol recalls riding the Sunday school bus to Calvary Lutheran Church as a young child. Her father never attended church, but her mother joined after his death and worshipped with Carol every Sunday until she died. Carol participated extensively in church life through teaching, singing, office work, groups, and council service. She was baptized and confirmed there at fifteen on May 16, 1954, married her first husband Don Boney there, and recalls Chris's baptism and confirmation there. She describes over fifty years of membership before transferring to a church in North Port, Florida, in 1995.
Carol's Chapter
Friday-Night Games with a Dear Friend
Carol recalls doing almost everything with Lila Lambert (now Becker) from grade school through high school, including attending the same church and its Luther League youth program. Their friendship continued into the time of writing. They attended Friday-night football and basketball games to support the Moline Maroons, whose rivals included East Moline and Rock Island. Home games took place at Browning Field and Wharton Field House. Carol humorously describes basketball's popularity by saying someone had to die before a reserved seat became available.
Carol's Chapter · April 1988
A Florida Visit and a Last Tender Touch
After a couple of years of severe abdominal pain and inconclusive tests, Mom visited Diana and Lee in Florida in April 1988. They helped her relax and took her on a cruise, but the pain continued. Diana persisted in seeking medical help until an x-ray revealed a large ovarian cyst wrapped around blood vessels. A complete hysterectomy found no cancer, but Mom could not recover and died of heart failure at seventy-seven on April 22, 1988, in Coral Springs, Florida. Carol cherishes the hand caresses they exchanged while Mom was on a respirator. Mom is buried beside Daddy at Riverside Cemetery in Moline, Illinois.
Carol's Chapter · Childhood–December 1966 and later years
A First Job and a Friendship That Lasted
After graduating from Moline High, Carol obtained her first full-time job through church friend Vendla Solmonson at Augustana Book Concern. She handled Sunday School material subscriptions for Lutheran churches throughout the United States, starting at a dollar an hour. She commuted with lifelong friend Eilene Peterson, whose family had been close neighbors, and stayed until December 1966.
Carol's Chapter · 1993–present
Phase Two: Sunshine, Church Friends, and Swans
After retiring from the Rock Island Arsenal in October 1993, Carol describes moving to Florida in July 1995 and enjoying a slower life in North Port. Church friendships, reading, keyboard playing, and Christmas ornament making fill her retirement. A swan collection begun with Charlie's anniversary gifts has grown to more than one hundred through gifts from family and friends.
Bob's Chapter · Undated early memories; 1960; 1972 onward
From Sunday School to Prayers for Family
Bob recalls learning The Lord’s Prayer at Sunday school in Tom and Ruth Johnson’s house, followed by little church attendance. He married in a church in 1960 and joined the Methodist Church after moving to Janesville in 1972. He describes fairly regular attendance, belief in God, and silent prayers that include those likely to read his account.
Bernie's Chapter · When Diana was a little girl
Diana's Courage and Nightly Prayers
Bernard recalls loving Diana deeply and praying every night for her painful leg to heal, fearing she might lose it. He calls her illness the worst thing that happened to the family, while crediting her bravery and constant smile with making the tragedy bearable.
Iris's Chapter
Little Tea Sets and Dreams of a Welcoming Home
Iris recalls being the first child and having her own room before Bobby and Bernie were born. Uncle Lloyd brought treasured china tea sets, which she carefully repacked in their original boxes after playing house. She imagined dressing beautifully, dancing, and serving tea. Looking back, she feels those dreams came true in a lovely home where she entertains friends, and expresses gratitude for God's help, her husband, and her loving siblings.
Iris's Chapter
Five Wonderful Children and a Life of Lessons
Reflecting on how quickly life passes, Iris names raising five children as her proudest achievement. She regrets not trying downhill skiing or pursuing more singing and dancing, worries about the challenges facing parents, and jokes that she would like to be four inches taller. Ultimately, she would change little and regards life as a learning experience, especially in forgiveness and being forgiven.
Iris's Chapter
The Quiet Comfort of Guardian Angels
Iris expresses her belief that everyone has a guardian angel. Reading several books strengthened a gradually developing sense that angels watch over her. She describes prayer to angels and deep belief as sources of comfort and help.
Iris's Chapter
Angels Above and Around Us
Iris's poem describes angels offering love, protection, and sustaining guidance, inviting the reader to ask for their help.
Iris's Chapter
Faith and Family in Iris's Heart
Iris reflects on God as creator, guide, source of strength, and comforter during difficult times. She affirms answered prayers while trying to understand unanswered ones, believes in divine forgiveness and a purpose for every life, and describes her husband Bill as the spiritual backbone of their family.
Iris's Chapter · August 13, 2001
A Prayer to Make a Difference
The poem “I’D LIKE TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE” expresses a wish to bring smiles, ease others' lives, bless strangers, help children, and give generously within one's means. It closes with the hope that someone will remember the speaker as having made a difference.
Iris's Chapter
Remembering the Flower Lady with Love
Iris hopes to be remembered for her floral work and decorating at the little white Congregational church in Roscoe, Illinois. Being known there as The Flower Lady makes her happy. She also hopes her children, grandchildren, and Bill, her husband of over fifty years, will remember her with love.
Iris's Chapter
Dear Jeff: A Sister's Love That Remains
Beth writes to her deceased big brother Jeff about the family's anger, confusion, and enduring grief. She remembers his gentle strength, humor, faith, and belief in openly sharing love. Dreams of him bring comfort, and she hopes for a future family reunion beyond death.
History of the Guild Family · 1445–1676; house legacy continuing to the time of writing
Across the Atlantic to a Lasting Family Home
The family traces its line to Mr. William Fairbanks in Yorks in 1445, then recounts Jonathan Fayerbanke's marriage to Grace Smith Lee, their seven children, and their voyage to Boston in his own ship in 1633. Jonathan moved to Contentment in 1636, built the enduring Dedham house, acquired land, joined the township covenant and eventually the church, and prospered as a farmer. The house is described as America's oldest standing timber frame dwelling, a National Landmark continuously owned by the family and never mortgaged, with replicas including one at Boston Commons. The passage also describes the wider family's political activity, Patriot and Union service, and slaveholding by some landed members. It retains inconsistent arrival chronology and contradictory wording about Jonathan's death relative to Grace's.
History of the Guild Family · 1898–1909, with earlier family background
A Snowstorm, an Open Door, and a Growing Family
Drawing 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.
History of the Guild Family · Emanuel's teenage years
Manny's Forbidden Dance
As a teenager, Emanuel defied his father's religious prohibition on dancing to accompany a girl he admired. His father sent him to a distant farm for intensely hard labor to end his 'dancin’ phase.' The family account says the girl never married.
History of the Guild Family · 1708–1882
The Lehman Family's Dunker Roots
Edward Williams was born Emanuel (Manny) Lehman near Astoria in 1882, to Pennsylvania Dutch parents Michael and Lizzie Lehman. They owned a large farm in the Dunkers' community and reportedly had migrated from Hershey, Pennsylvania. The passage traces the Church of the Brethren from eight members in Germany in 1708 through persecution, refuge in Holland, and settlement in Pennsylvania, describing its baptismal practice, pacifism, simple living, and opposition to slavery. Emanuel's siblings were Mary, Henry, and Harvey.
History of the Guild Family · School years–1988
Brownie’s Dancing Days and a Lifetime of Mothering
Despite 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.
History of the Guild Family · 1708; 1882; Manny's childhood
Manny's Family and Their Dunker Roots
Edward Williams was born Emanuel (Manny) Lehman near Astoria in 1882 to Michael and Lizzie Lehman. The passage describes the Church of the Brethren's origins, persecution, migration, baptismal practices, and simple pacifist beliefs. A living Lehman relative said Manny's parents migrated from Hershey, Pennsylvania to Astoria, where they owned a large farm. Manny had a sister Mary and brothers Henry and Harvey.
History of the Guild Family · Manny's teenage years
A Dance and a Father's Hard Lesson
As a teenager, Manny attended a dance with a girl despite his father's objections and the religious prohibition on dancing. The next day his father sent him to a distant farm for intensely hard labor to end his 'dancin’ phase.' The girl reportedly never married.