Theme
Travel
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.
Barbara's Chapter · 1996
Merlin's Camper Visit and a Familiar Gesture
Retired 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.
Barbara's Chapter · When Daddy was a child and sixteen years old
Gus Falk Opens a Door to Moline
Daddy spent much of each summer with a nearby Minnesota family. Their grandfather Gus Falk, who lived in Moline and worked at John Deere, visited to hunt and fish and took a liking to him. Following Falk's promise of work at Deere, Daddy quit school at sixteen and went with him to Moline. Minnesota relatives thereafter called Daddy the rich relative.
Barbara's Chapter
Childhood Outings, Popcorn, and Sunday Sandwiches
Barbara 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.
Barbara's Chapter
Visits and Stories with Gramma Hobson
Trips 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.
Barbara's Chapter
Unannounced Visits and Amusement Park Adventures
Barbara 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.
Barbara's Chapter
A Remembered Visit to Brainerd
Barbara 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.
Diana's Chapter · After moving to South Florida; before 1995
Fishing, Not Catching, in the Florida Keys
Lee and Diana spent weekends at the Hurricane Motor Lodge on Marathon Key, fishing all day Saturday and Sunday. During their first year, Diana handed Lee her rod while she stepped away, and a huge Sailfish took her bait. Lee landed it, and The Marathon News printed his picture. They declined to mount the expensive fish, expecting more catches like it, but neither encountered another Sailfish.
Diana's Chapter · 1968 and early childhood
Welcoming Kelly and Raising a Florida Baby
Diana recalls her delight in pregnancy and Kelly’s birth, her mother’s help, and Lee’s tender care for their baby. Kelly disliked clothes and shoes. During a holiday visit to Moline, she refused to walk in the snow, then undressed indoors and was found dancing on the back porch singing “coolding!”
Dee's Chapter
Lessons from Daddy’s Shed and Garden
Delores spent hours with her inventive father in his shed, where he named her Sputnik and improved tools and Saturday auction finds. His demanding plowshare work at John Deere was followed by meticulous gardening. The children helped harvest and sold polished apples and tomatoes at Sam’s Market, keeping the proceeds. Delores remembers shelling homegrown popcorn and picking walnut meats with him, his humorous nose-straightening pose, his unusual favorite foods, and the elk he brought home from a western hunting trip that her mother refused to use.
Dee's Chapter · Mom's senior years, after Daddy died
Tuesday and Saturday with Mom
The narrator recalls Mom's busy senior years, her pride in getting seven children through school, and her family, friends, card parties, and crafts. Carol and the narrator stayed in Moline, married, had a child each, and worked at the Moline Dispatch and a beauty salon respectively. After Daddy died, the narrator cared for Mom on Tuesdays and Carol on Saturdays; both followed similar routines of errands and lunches paid for by Mom. The narrator humorously insists Mom's light auburn hair was natural. Mom traveled to visit children from California to Florida and to Germany after Charlie's transfer. Family contributions included clothes from Bob's boutique and goods from Iris and Bill's Ben Franklin store. The narrative closes with gratitude for Mom's care, strength, and devotion, including keeping ten people fed and dressed.
Dee's Chapter · Childhood; about age eleven; summer at age thirteen; kindergarten and freshman year
Midwest Seasons, Family Outings, and the First School Bus
Dee recalls gardens, suntanning, summer treats, drive-in movies, and Fourth of July fireworks. Family trips took her to Chicago’s Museum of Art and Science and The Loop, then to Clarence’s farm in Worthington, Minnesota. Halloween brought homemade treats and Bernie’s prizewinning window paintings; winter brought sledding, snow figures, and Bernie and Bob’s newspaper-worthy igloo. Her earliest school memories are of crying before the kindergarten bus and refusing warm milk at Roosevelt school, where Mrs. Johnson played piano.
Dee's Chapter · Thirteen-year marriage; February 4, 1977 divorce; through the time of writing
Family Love Through Changing Seasons
Dee recalls loving Ernie passionately during a marriage filled with motorcycles, travel, Susy’s dancing, and salon work. She tried to give Susy everything she had lacked as a child, later learning Susy wanted a sibling more than those comforts. Following her divorce on February 4, 1977, Dee did not remarry and found contentment with Susy and granddaughters Annah and Bryce. Gardening, treasure hunting, costume making, and furniture restoration enrich her life. She credits her family and the unconditional love passed down by her mother with sustaining her.
Dee's Chapter
To Barb, with Love: Braids, Laughter, and Kindness
Dee'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.
Dee's Chapter
Carol, a Sister Always Near
Dee's affectionate poem celebrates Carol as her childhood playmate and a sister who shares her appearance, mannerisms, and unspoken understanding. She recalls Carol's scooter injury, her skill in cooking, and her marriage and years in Germany with Charlie. The sisters cared together for their mother in her later years, and Dee affirms their enduring closeness despite living miles apart.
Dee's Chapter
A Loving Toast to Bob
Dee celebrates Robert Ray Guild in a playful, affectionate poem recalling his homemade wine, snow igloo, marriage to his high school sweetheart, dancing with Sue, successful business, coast-to-coast travels, and welcoming home. She praises his helpfulness and loyalty while teasing him about golf, gardening, and pistachios, closing with a wish that he remarry and a toast in his honor.
Dee's Chapter
A Loving Day with Bernie in San Francisco
In a poem signed Dee, Delores describes visiting her brother Bernie at his Victorian home in San Francisco. She admires his flowers and orchids, creative success, and zest for life. They visit an old-time ice cream parlor and order chocolate Yoplait with pears. His encouragement and conversation leave her inspired, and she bids him an affectionate farewell as she boards a trolley car with a fifteen-cent fare.
Carol's Chapter · 40’s and 50’s
Watching for Burma Shave Rhymes
Carol remembers enjoying the Burma Shave signs along the roads. She describes sets of five signs, with four forming a catchy verse and the last reading “Burma Shave,” and says she still remembers a few.
Carol's Chapter
Family Visits and Long Sunday-Style Drives
Carol recalls that the family never took what she considered a real vacation. Daddy visited his relatives in Brainerd, sometimes taking Iris or the boys, but Carol never went or met her paternal grandparents. He also took the family on long drives toward the Wisconsin border. They visited Bessie and Harry Means and their children in Cordova, and a family named Rogers nearby. Bessie worked at the East Moline State Hospital.
Carol's Chapter
Elmhurst Visits and a Zoo-Day Treat
The family made short trips to visit Ray and Arjean Moos and their four boys in Elmhurst near Chicago. Mom held a book in front of her eyes to avoid watching Daddy's fast driving and weaving on two-lane roads. The trips were special treats, often including a day at Lincoln Park Zoo.
Carol's Chapter
A Scary Ferris Wheel and an Unexpected Teddy Bear
At the Illinois State Fair, Carol and Diana especially enjoyed the midway. They rode the double Ferris wheel despite being frightened. When Diana wanted to play midway games, Carol refused because she believed the games were rigged. A barker overheard Carol, called the sisters over, and gave Diana his biggest teddy bear.
Carol's Chapter · Carol’s junior high and high school years
Summer Helping and Cottage Adventures
Carol earned spending money baby-sitting, mostly for Iris and Bill. During summers she moved into their house as a mother’s helper and joined their Wisconsin cottage vacations, fondly remembering boating, swimming, fishing, and their enduring kindness.
Carol's Chapter · 1911; later years unspecified
Mom’s Records and a Lifetime of Devotion
Carol recounts Ethel's birth in Newburg and her search for baptismal records when she needed a passport to visit Carol in Germany. The record supplied the spelling Kathrine, listed her father's first name as Edwin rather than the family's remembered Edward, and revealed a birth year of 1911 rather than 1909. Her already-engraved grave marker would remain incorrect, but she enjoyed learning she was two years younger. Carol also honors her mother's tireless work caring for the family, her support and guidance, and her life without an outside job after her first baby or learning to drive.
Carol's Chapter
Three Wonderful Months Together in Europe
Mom spent three months visiting Carol, Charlie, and Chris in Germany, a highlight of her life. Bernie also visited, and the group traveled throughout Germany, Denmark, and Holland. Favorite stops included Anne Frank's house and hideaway in Amsterdam, the Rijksmuseum with Rembrandt's Night Watch, Tivoli Gardens where ten-year-old Chris got lost, The Little Mermaid statue in Copenhagen, and Hans Christian Andersen's home and the Museum in Odense, Denmark.
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 · 1973–two years following the 1976 marriage
A Dance with Charlie and a Wedding Abroad
After jobs at Moline Daily Dispatch and Franciscan Hospital, Carol began working at Rock Island Arsenal in 1973, first as a secretary and later as a budget analyst. She met Charlie there, but their romance began at a January 1975 dinner-dance. They married in Berne, Switzerland, on April 30, 1976, and spent two years overseas.
Carol's Chapter · Before July 1978
Happy Years in the Rhine River Valley
Carol remembers life in Ingelheim as the happiest time of her life. She and Charlie worked at neighboring military units, while Chris attended school, learned German, and enjoyed sports. Her memories include skiing, castles, the Fasching Parade, wine festivals, weekend markets, European vacations, and visits and touring with Mom and Bernie.
Bob's Chapter
Dad's Workshop, Lessons, and Lasting Tools
Bob remembers Dad as someone who could fix anything, an excellent mechanic and welder whose projects brought many trips for parts, advice, and conversation with friends. Dad worked hard at John Deere, where friends called him Casey, tended a half-acre fruit orchard, participated in Dad’s Club, and took the children to Scout meetings. He taught them to make willow whistles and homemade kites. The family visited his brothers in Minnesota without announcing their arrival. His tough car negotiations embarrassed Bob but secured good deals. Bob recalls Dad's handsome appearance and enjoyment of his motorcycle and camper in retirement, and remembers him whenever he uses the tools he kept.
Bob's Chapter · Grade school and Junior High School years
A Special Glove and Trips with the Team
Robert recalls playing baseball in fifth and sixth grades and how special his new glove felt. As Junior High School football team manager, he enjoyed getting to know players and coaches and traveling to away games. His childhood games also included marbles, yo-yos, and a little hopscotch.
Bob's Chapter · 1975
A Long Flight North for Great Fishing
Bob recalls his best Canadian fishing trip, taken with a group of men in 1975. They sat on duffel bags aboard an old DC-9 and flew one thousand miles north of Minneapolis, almost to the Arctic Circle, where darkness did not arrive until midnight. Head winds left the plane low on fuel half an hour from its destination, requiring a turnaround and refueling at a small airport. They eventually landed on an island, using the entire runway, and enjoyed great fishing.
Bob's Chapter
Bob's Bright Fragments of Childhood
Bob 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.
Bob's Chapter · Junior high and high school years
Rowdy Friends and Eighteen in a Rambler
Robert recalls a close group of rowdy friends whose clothing and behavior sometimes embarrassed the school. On a trip to an out-of-town football game, they used a borrowed hand-held siren and red flashing light while passing cars. Another night, eighteen youths crowded into a Nash Rambler station wagon amid beer drinking. Police arrested fifteen; Robert and two others ran away. The newspaper reported “15 Kids Arrested in Rambler for Drinking.” Robert also states that the group never got into big trouble.
Bob's Chapter · 1947 (picture referenced from the trip)
Dad Takes the Wheel at the Bridges
Robert remembers traveling to Minnesota with Dad and Bernie to visit Dad’s brothers. Bernie, eleven and a half and newly driving, was hesitant to cross the narrow bridges and stopped so Dad could drive across. Robert says he was ten.
Bob's Chapter
Five Thousand Miles and Still Friends
Robert recalls his best family vacation: three weeks out West with Sue, Steve, and Brian in their new 1975 station wagon. Their route included mountains, parks, cities, several days with Bernie in San Francisco, Universal Studios, and friends in San Bernardino. After five thousand miles, he marvels that everyone still liked each other.
Bob's Chapter · During the Elliott’s period; five years
Sue’s Candle Store and a Lucky Montreal Trip
The narrator says they bought Sue a Wicks N Sticks candle store, which she operated successfully for five years. Trade shows brought travel and lasting friendships. Their favorite trip was to Montreal, where Sue won nine hundred dollars in a raffle.
Bob's Chapter · Junior high school–1996
Dances, Sue, and a Life Together
Robert recalls his first dance in ninth grade, new clothes from Mom, bus travel with his date, and dances at Coolidge Junior High and the Moline swimming pool. Through his high school friend Bob Warner, he met Bob's sister Sue. They dated for six years and married in 1960. He describes thirty-six years of marriage until her death from cancer in 1996 and forty-three wonderful years together. He celebrates her organizing, friendships, their trips and regular nights out, her care for Steve and Brian, and her love for their four grandchildren.
Bernie's Chapter · When the narrator was about ten
A Chicago Visit and a Lasting Lesson in Thanks
Bernard visited Grandma and Grandpa Hobson in Chicago with Billy Johnson and Billy’s parents. They ate lunch at Marshall Field’s, ordering from a huge giraffe-shaped children’s menu, and Bernard bought Bob a toy roller coaster. After they returned home, Tom Johnson scolded Bernard for not thanking others for their kindness. Bernard kept the embarrassing incident from his parents and never liked Tom afterward, but never forgot to thank anyone again.
Bernie's Chapter · 1952 and later, dates unspecified
A Robin’s Egg Blue Chevrolet and a Cherished Ford
At sixteen, Bernard acquired a ’36 Chevrolet to drive to Moline High School. Its unfinished robin’s egg blue paint, missing parking brake, and shabby seats embarrassed him, but Dad kept it running and Bernard bought seat covers with his own money. He cruised Moline on a dollar's worth of gas and drove to Chicago with Herman Nelson one New Year's Eve without permission. He fondly remembers a black ’41 Ford with chrome and a radio, priced at $150, but cannot remember whether it replaced the Chevrolet, was shared with Bob, or belonged only to Bob.
Bernie's Chapter · 1947 and later
Learning to Cross the Bridge
Bernard learned to drive on Dad's homemade tractor and, at eleven, during a 1947 trip with Dad and Bob to Grandpa Dan Guild's funeral in Brainerd. Required to drive half the way, he initially refused to cross bridges, leaving Dad to take over. On the return trip Dad refused to cross the last bridge for him, and Bernard drove across in terror while Bobby laughed. He recalls lasting nightmares about bridges and never learning to swim. By the time he paid twenty-five cents for a driver's license at the postal booth in Schlegal’s Drug Store in Highland, he had driven for over four years; his Driver's Ed teacher excused him from road practice.
Bernie's Chapter · 1947 and other undated visits
Minnesota Visits, Grandma's Sandwiches, and Northern Lights
Bernard recalls visiting Dan Guild's Minnesota grave, where aunt Myrtle seriously suggested digging him up. He remembers attending Dan's funeral at eleven in 1947, Grandma Olive's kindness over a fried egg sandwich, and visits with his father's relatives around Brainerd. His memories include attic sleeping, fresh warm milk at Uncle Clarence's farm, glowing swamp gas, brilliant Northern Lights in 1947, fishing, and mosquito bites.
Bernie's Chapter · During the narrator’s two years at Ray Vogue
Finding Belonging in Art and Returning Home
Bernie enjoyed movies, galleries, beach outings, and cooking lessons with Byron while returning home whenever possible on the Rock Island Rocket and later in his Vauxhall. Art school, Art Institute visits, and parties organized by Byron brought him an accepting circle of friends. Their open conversations and diverse community helped him shed feelings of inferiority and embrace liberal ideas. He also credited his family’s love and closeness with his enduring sense of protection.
Bernie's Chapter · 1957–1961; heading and arrival date conflict
A New Home and a Life of Art with Rick
Bernard recalls meeting Rick at Kitty Sheon’s in Chicago, moving into his apartment, and later sharing a home on Surf Street. Following a farewell party, Bernard flew alone to San Francisco on New Year’s Day, stated as 1960 under a 1961 heading, and was astonished by snow. Rick followed a day later and found a new apartment with a bay view. Bernard bought a white 1961 Volkswagen convertible and received an alarming hill-driving lesson. Their shared enjoyment of travel, theatre, and fine arts enriched Bernard’s advertising work.
Bernie's Chapter · A few months after the San Francisco arrival
A First Taste of Europe with Bob
FCB sent Bernard on his first European trip to create a Renauld of France sunglasses campaign in Paris and a Beauty on the Beach suntan lotion ad in Cannes. Traveling with account executive Bob Leefeldt, he discovered fine restaurants, antique shops, and Versailles. Bob’s example of the good life encouraged Bernard to work harder.
Bernie's Chapter · 1988 meeting; 1982 departure; 1993 death (dates as written)
Remembering Life and Travels with Larry
After recalling about sixteen years living with Rick, Bernard describes meeting Larry Savitz on a Caribbean cruise with Rick in 1988. Larry brought singing, friendships, sign language, dancing, parties, and cruises into Bernard’s life. Especially treasured were visits to Larry’s Uncle Irv’s beach-view condo in Aculpolco. Bernard also states that Larry returned to Philadelphia in 1982, contradicting the meeting date. Larry died there of AIDS in 1993, and Bernard remembers him with affection.
Bernie's Chapter
Two Sweet Advertising Triumphs in Hawaii
While working together at FCB, Bernard art directed advertisements and commercials written by Frank. Two C and H Sugar commercials were particular career highlights: a boy paying for a cookie with a marble at Lanoa’s store, and a child trading a wagon of puppies for sugar cane. They traveled to Hawaii to produce the commercials and successfully resisted their South African director’s attempts to rewrite them.
Bernie's Chapter · 1994
An Appetite for Art in Italy
Bernard and Frank traveled to Italy in 1994 and visited every art museum they could. They hoped to see the art in Paris next.
Iris's Chapter
Songs, Dancing, and Days Outdoors with Dad
Iris recalls singing with her father in the car, especially on long trips to Brainerd. His favorite songs included Red Sails In The Sunset, which brings back a happy image of him singing beside her. He taught her to dance and, when she was about twelve, to shoot. She remembers using a twenty-two rifle, though she acknowledges the uncertainty of memory. He proudly praised her shooting, took her hunting without her shooting anything, and took her fishing during visits to relatives in Brainerd, where she caught fish.
Iris's Chapter
Fishing with Gus and Fried Fish for Supper
Gus Falk often visited the family home and hunted deer with Daddy. He sometimes rode to Brainerd with the family. Iris remembers fishing with Dad at a lake on Gus's family's property, with Bernie and Bob joining later. They caught plenty of fish, and Iris delighted in eating fried fish instead of mutton stew.
History of the Guild Family · 1884–1899
Olive and Clarence's Farm Years and a Sudden Loss
After marrying in St. Mathias, Olive and Clarence Vosburg traveled on horseback to a North Dakota farm, raised five children, and returned to Minnesota in 1898. In summer 1899, Clarence was crushed by a boulder while clearing a field. Myrtle's account, relayed by Orville, attributes the accident to a broken wedge pole and rejects other reported causes. Olive was left with five children.
History of the Guild Family · 1917–1951 and later family visits
From the Old Farm to a New Start in Moline
Family memories follow Dan and Olive on the Falk property, the mysterious driveway inscription, Myrtle's minnow sales, and Bessie's diphtheria quarantine and marriage. After Dan lost the property, Clarence moved to Bessie's home and Floyd stayed with Uncle Bernie, learning horse care and practical jokes. Gus Falk helped Floyd move to Moline and find work in 1921. Relatives admired his success, and visits and reunions continued through his parents' later years. The passage preserves contradictory dates in Olive's calendar account and the boys' refusal to admit writing the inscription.
History of the Guild Family · About 1921; after 1930
A Frightened Train Ride to Grandma's Quilts
While Agnes was in a sanitarium, Ethel and Lloyd traveled fearfully by train to spend four or five months with Michael and Millisa Lehman in Astoria. Lizzie was remembered for her quilts and Michael for strict discipline. Ethel did not question the difference between her father's surname and theirs; Mary later told her the unspecified “bigamy” story after Iris' birth in 1930.
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 · After Floyd’s death–1988
Cards, Christmas Ornaments, and a Long-Awaited European Journey
Widowed Ethel maintained a full life of handcrafts, Christmas ornament making, evening cards and helping family members after divorces. She visited Diana in Florida annually. In 1979 Bernie fulfilled her dream of Europe with a visit to Carol, Charlie and Chris in Mainz and a family trip to Denmark. Ethel died during her 1988 Florida visit and was buried beside Floyd, with an incorrect birth year on her headstone that had never troubled her.