Dahl-Swenson Family: Rosemary Thompson Dahl (Fulton's Great Grandmother)

ROSEMARY DAHL ANSWERS

When and where were you born?

I was born June 12, 1936 in Cudahy, WI a suburb of Milwaukee. My family was moving to Mpls but we stopped for about two days as I was due to emerge.

Is there a reason you were given the first and middle name you have?

May parents chose it. I have no middle name because my folks thought my two names were long enough. It would have been Annabelle so I was called Rosiebelle and Petiebelle when I was growing up. The Petie nickname was because my favorite toy was a rubber Peter rabbit.

Are there any stories you know about your birth or when you were a baby that you can share?

I was up on my hands and knees briefly after I was born. The staff there laughed at my big feet. I did not crawl but did a sort of crab walk with my butt in the air. One day I just stood up and started walking. I was pudgy. That summer holds the record for being so hot, so I was not held much and was fed with a propped bottle.

Where did you grow up?

I lived in Mpls for 3 years; Denver through 4^th grade; Rapid city 2 years; Pierre 7^th grade through freshman in college. I’m still growing up but don’t know if it will ever happen.

What kinds of games did you play with your siblings and the other kids who were around as a child?

We played punch the ice box, tag, kickball, pirates, cowboys, many board games and card games, jacks, hide and go seek, softball(workup), dolls, paper dolls, walking on stilts. Drawing, reading: Mary Poppins, Dr Doolittle, Caddie Woodlawn, Little Women, Jo’s Boys, Betsy Tacy. We liked to make tents using blankets hung over the clothesline and anchored with rocks. We climbed tress a lot just because they were there and a challenge. We worked jigsaw puzzles, played ping pong on the dining room table, roller skated, ice skated and got into trouble frequently. Other games were kick the can, fox and geese, red rover, hop scotch, captain may I, Simon says. When we moved to Rapid City we spent a lot of time hiking around. Sometimes we packed a bag lunch and hiked to Cowboy Hill above the city. We found neat caves. One we slid on our bellies through a small entrance. Inside the ceiling was at least 20 or more feet tall. There was a tall slit on the outside wall that provided a view of downtown. We had to watch out for rattlesnakes and animals but never ran into any. We really had a lot of freedom. On Saturdays we all rode horseback at the Canyon lake corral at $2.00 an hour.

On Saturdays in Denver we all rode the streetcar to the Bluebird Theater for the matinee. There was always some sort of stage show, a serial (like batman) and the movie. The price was 9 cents. We lived a few blocks from Denver City Park so spent a lot of time there too. The museum of natural history had kids programs all winter on Saturday mornings which included a stage show and movie. Then we’d wander around the museum. We especially liked the dinosaurs and dioramas. We were well acquainted with the zoo animals and the horses at the race track.

We had many pets: rabbits, cats (especially Figaro), fish, white rats (snow white and the seven dwarves), and ducks. We couldn’t have a house pet because my dad had asthma but they did come in to visit. Figaro was really my mom’s cat but we liked to dress him in doll clothes. After he died, we decided after a couple of months to dig him up. We did and carried him-or what was left of him-into the house on the end of a shovel to show my mom. She got pretty hysterical and we got into trouble with our dad. My mom’s parakeet, “Tweetie” had the run of the house and was a pretty good talker. Mom taught him cute things to say but my brother and I taught him to say “shut up” and “oh shit”. She did not appreciate our efforts. I had a white duck named Peter Ordway, he was almost like a dog but he finally had to go live on Ramsey’s ranch because he was nipping old ladies on the heels when they walked by our house. They called the sheriff on him.

Carly asked me yesterday if it was awfully boring no having all the electronics kids now have. I think you can see we were not bored.

What were meaningful traditions that you remember from your childhood?

We were read to before bed; especially loved "The Secret Garden". Our Christmas stockings always had an orange, an apple, nuts, candy and a small toy. We opened gifts Christmas morning and they were few in number. Birthday parties were not a tradition but were celebrated within the family. My dad was usually traveling on my birthday so he would send me a poem in a telegram. He believed in unbirthdays because you could have 365 of those. My mom fixed a nice luncheon for me and my friends when I was eighteen.

What are memories about your father and mother that you would like to share? Any funny stories? Stories from when they were growing up?

My mom was always creative. She sewed dresses for herself and my sister and me, made hand-sewn quilts, painted figurines, sewed slip covers and costumes for dance recitals and many crafts. She took the famous artists correspondence course and was talented and skilled to be able to paint and sell portraits and animals and landscapes.

My dad was very smart and had an amazing memory. He tried to be the best in most things he tried: singing in a quartet, bridge, playing trumpet in a jazz band, playing scratch golf, bowling with a high handicap (more than one 300 game). He could knit beautifully. His dad taught him, his brother and sister and they were expected to knit their own caps, mittens and scarves. He loved puns and told them often. We played cards a lot: cribbage, gin and canasta. Both he and my mom were musical and good singers.

My mom told me that when she was a little girl she learned that water just rolled off geese. She tested that fact by holding a goose down and peeing on this back. The goose made an awful fuss but the fact was proven. She also had an imaginary friend that played with her and took the blame for her. She was lonely because of the ten year gap between her and her next older sister. There were five girls: Grace, Katherine, Daisy, Lillian (called Jimmy) and Frances. Her parents had wanted a son to take care of them in their old age, so were disappointed to have another girl. Her father, John, died when she was nine.

What were your grandparents like? Did you see them often? Do you remember any stories that they shared from their childhood?

No real childhood tales. Grandparents on my dad's side were Stephen Joseph and Goldie (nee Foote) Thompson. My grandpa had a restaurant and bakery in Walnut, Iowa until it burned down. Grandmother was very small and came to visit us around my dad's July 4th birthday. She taught me how to whistle using a blade of grass between my thumbs. I showed her off to my little friends because she could lift her teeth with her tongue. They were very impressed. On my birthday she would send me a card with a handkerchief she had tatted around. I still have her tatting and have used it on some of my girls' dresses. Grandpa was a carpenter and cabinet maker; he made a little drop leaf table for my sister on a birthday. They are buried in Davenport, Iowa.

Grandparents on my mom's side seemed to visit us in Denver when my step-grandpa had to visit the hospital. I think he had cancer. He had been a wild catter in Wyoming but never struck it rich. Grandpa liked to spend time with us. He taught me many ways to play solitaire. I don't remember what we talked about but I spent a lot of time with him.

Mary Ogden was married to John Williams. They were sharecroppers until he died of some blood disease. She took a practical nursing course and cared for mew moms and other patients in their homes. She also bought a rooming house for additional income. Mom stayed with one of her sister's during these times until she was old enough to be an au pair in high school. She felt she missed her teen years. While my mom was working as a secretary she lived with her mom.

Grandma lived with Aunt Grace for many years as an old person. She raised and sold African violets and night crawlers in the basement. One night the light went out, the night crawlers got active and had to be rescued from going down the floor drain. She lived into her 90's (as did Grandmother Thompson). My uncle Wes said she'd been dead for ten years but was too stubborn to lie down-would have to hit her with a two by four! She did not play with us or talk to us much. We thought she was stern and a little scary. My mom told me that her mom had wanted to marry a neighbor boy but her parents wouldn't allow it because he didn't speak German (their primary language).

What was it like being a teenager when you were growing up?

It was a busy time. I liked school and learning new things. My girlfriends and I were girl scouts together, took dancing lessons from 7th thru 12th grade. We walked most places until someone learned to drive. A license cost 50 cents and no test was required. Dads usually taught their kids to drive. I did not drive but did have a 50 cent license. I drove when I got married and fortunately, the car had an automatic transmission. Finally a test was required but it was just a driving test.

It was frustrating not having sports for girls. A lot of us loved softball, basketball, track and volleyball and were good players. I had a steady boyfriend part of the time. Most of us did but no one took it very seriously. We'd all go to the movies and dances as a group and had lots of fun. My curfew was to be home an hour after an event shich worked out fine. I did a lot of babysitting.

For a couple of years a few of us worked at the newspaper/printing shop. We did bookbinding, put together bills for the legislature, printed cards, tickets, etc. Interesting machines used during the process. I worked one summer in a Zesto shop and a few working as the secretary in my dad's office.

Music was always an important part of my school years including college. Choirs, sextets, musicals, operettas and solo work. My friends were active in Sunday school, church choir and youth groups.

What was it like during the war?

During WWII life was different. Several things were rationed and required tokens or coupons. We had a big victory garden and saved papers, donated tires and old records. Most of our delivery vans had just switched to trucks and had to switch back to horses. We kids loved that. My dad was an etymologist working for the government. He spent time in Florida checking incoming ships. The Japanese family in our Denver neighborhood disappeared-found out as an adult about the internment camps.

The absence of young men was very noticeable. We were near an airbase so would watch the planes go over. We especially liked the p-38's. During the Korean was my brother David, joined the marines and was a radio operator in Korea. My sister's first husband, Donald Ramsey, was killed there in 1950.

How did you meet your spouse? How long did you date before you knew you wanted to get married? Would you share your proposal story? What was your wedding day like?

We met in physiology class and lab in the spring and sometimes he ate at the cafe where I waitressed. We were pretty serious when we started dating in the fall. We did some pheasant hunting, went to movies and spent time studying in the library. Your dad proposed to me on New Year's Eve at a dance. A recording of Johnny Cash singing, "I Walk the Line" was playing. He gave me his honorary fraternity pin. He bought me a diamond in June. Our finances were limited but we managed. Our marriage license was from Brookings County but we to Aberdeen so his best friend and his wife could be our witnesses. We found out the license was only good in Brookings county. Boy was your dad mad. We drove back and stopped in White. We sat in a cafe watching "Hee Haw" in our wedding clothes. We had to wait for the local basketball game to be over so we could have witnesses. The small Methodist church was in candlelight and very lovely and we were very nervous.

What were your hopes and dreams when you started college? Did they change as time went by?

I wanted to be a veterinarian dealing with small animals, not a profession for women at the time. When it looked like that wouldn't work I thought about clinical technology but soon found my eyes got too strained using a microscope. I ended up majoring in English, education and a minor in French. Taught a few years. I still would like to work in a small animal hospital or shelter.

Did /do you have any heroes/mentors? How did they impact your life? Have you served as a montor for someone else?

My mentors were my mom and dad, my 3rd grade teacher (Gladys Ritter), drama coach Larry Stone, my Girl Scout leader Jerry Robbins and a few older women in Monticello. They all cared about me and encouraged me. I may have been a mentor unknowingly.

Did you always know you wanted to have children? The number?

We thought a son and daughter would be nice. Dad missed so much of their growing up as he was working on his PhD and teaching. So we had kind of a second family. A first born is always special because it's the first time experiencing the miracle.

What was important to you when raising your children? Life lessons you wanted them to experience? Traditions that you wanted to have in your family?

It was important to make sure you all were healthy home. That became my real career. Reading to you, playing games and with toys, taking you to have new experiences, traveling to broaden your world, not overbooking your time, giving you a chance to use your talents and imaginations. These are all traditions I would want for grandchildren, great grandchildren and beyond. It takes time, space, experience and love to become the person within you that you want to be. My hope is that all of you will experience God's grace and presence in your lives.

Are they or have they been different for your grandchildren and/or your great grandchildren?

No.

What has stayed the same about you all your life?

I have always loved nature, music, reading, learning new things and ways to be creative and following god.

What is important to you now that wasn't when you were younger?

Doing things more deliberately, intentionally, living more in the moment. I am not so concerned about what others think of me. I am content withmyself in doing what I can do even if it doesn't measure up to others' standards or is not at my highest level.

Can you talk about a meaningful gift you received in your life?

My dad bought me a set of golf clubs and ten lessons for my sixteenth birthday. I was so glad to finally be doing something athletic and being recognized as capable of doing it. It opened up a whole new aspect of life for me. Of course, I had no one my age to play with but played in a weekly women's group. It's still an important part of my life even with higher scores and physical limitations.

What is the best gift you have ever given? Just something that got a joyful response from the receiver(s).

One Christmas I made bathrobes and pajamas for my family. I was so nervous you all might not like them because there was no returning or exchanging them.

What has helped you stay hopeful in difficult times?

My faith has carried me through difficult times and easy times. God is always with me so I never go through anything alone. I am very thankful and grateful for this gift of compassion and grace.

Can you share something that you think is important in achieving happiness?

To me, living fully in the moment with thankfulness for the past and hope for the future is important to feel happy. Recognize and take care of the child within you. Nurture yourself. Experience god's grace. Never give up.

What has surprised you about getting older?

Everything has surprised me about getting older. Relinquishing some things I know will never happen the closeness of my future and some fear of its brevity, the real value of time and of not wasting it. Procrastination is a no no! As I have grown older feeling my invisibility is very real.

My children's lives are where I have already been so we have less in common in the present. The recognition of things I will not experience and accepting that. The present is primary as never before. I love my life, the people and things in it and am loathe to see it end.

I have probably written too much but you asked! I have written it down with love to those who will read it.