Humble Beginnings

I was the second child born to my parents and then grew up the oldest child. Their first child, a son died at 15 months old before I was born. I was followed by 3 more sons and 1 more daughter. My parents had what many Amish people of that generation thought, a small family. My father worked in construction until I was 7 years old and then we moved to a farm owned by my great uncle and great aunt. On this farm we did everything the way they did it in the pioneer days. Milked the cows by hand, skimmed the cream off before sending the other milk off to be made into cheese at the local cheese factory. We then churned the cream to make our own butter. Water was brought into the house from a pump outside the back door and yes, you guessed it, the bathroom was located about 50 - 100 paces from the back door of the house. Yes, it gets very cold in northeastern Ohio in the winter time and yes, we did have to use the outdoor bathroom (otherwise known as an outhouse) when it was 5 below zero outside. We raised our own chickens not just for the eggs they gave us, but also for the chicken we would eat. We also raised our own pork and of course there was always a cow or two that provided us with all the beef we needed for our growing family. 3 boys can eat a lot of food when they are in the process of growing from a few feet to over six feet in about 10 or 12 years. Mowing grass in the summer time was always a tiring chore. Keep in mind we did not live in the suburbs of any metro area so the yard was not the little 10 mow job many people have today. We lived in the country where the closest grocery store was between 5 & 10 miles away. That means a really huge yard to be mowed all with a push mower and no there was no power except for the power in your own 2 arms. So for a 4th grade girl it could sometimes take 2 days to mow all of the grass.
OK, enough for this time. More reflections coming soon!! Please feel free to share your comments or experiences or questions.