BFF - Cousin Nancy

One of my longest-lasting friendships has been with my cousin Nancy Ward Miller.

We got to know each other as cousins and became friends. Our grandmothers were sisters on the Olzon side of the family. We both had a dad whose name was Lyle. We are close to the same age. Nancy is the oldest.

She would visit me in Lincoln and I couldn't wait until I got to go to the farm. Our last visit as children happened when I was 16. But our friendship didn't stop, and there are many more good times packed away in my memory banks. And, of course, I had a crush on her brother Raymond from day one.

Memories of Visiting the Farm

I was about 8 years old the first time I got to visit at the Ward family farm near Western, Nebraska. It was my first experience with a totally different life style. First of all, no inside plumbing, only an outside toilet. Boy did this "city" kid not like this new experience.
Riding a bike on a gravel road is nothing like riding on the city streets. I didn't care for it.
The other negative was going barefoot on the farm. Chickens were allowed to run loose and stepping in chicken poop was nothing to Nancy and very yucky to me.

Naturally I loved the farm animals and wanted to catch the barn cats. They are wild and are not meant to be pets. They lived to catch the mice and were not given cat food, had no litter box, and gathered hungrily when the cows were being milked. Cousin Raymond loved to squirt them as he was squeezing the teats of the cow. If there were litters of baby kittens, I always wanted to take one home which got a resounding NO from mom and dad.

Another fascination came when we went out to the water tank where the cows would come to get a drink. There were very large gold fish swimming around in the tank. They would come right up to the cows nose when it drank. Again, I always wanted to take a couple home with me. I did a few times but they didn't survive long in a very small bowl of city water compared to the tank and fresh water on the farm.

Nancy had chores to do and I helped. I don't believe I was the most ambitious guest nor did I like getting up at the crack of dawn. My favorite memory of the chores was going to get the cows and heading them home to be milked. Raymond would always try to get out of this chore. I can still hear him, "Nancy, go get them cows," he would plead. An argument would begin.

I always visited the farm in the summer when it was hot! There was no air conditioning but the living room was kept cool by shade trees and keeping the shades down. That's where we would spend the afternoons, napping or or giggling.

The food was always delicious and plentiful. Meals were a feast with the home-grown vegetables and their own butchered beef. Nancy's mom was a good cook. Nancy was a great cook when she grew up.

Best and Favorite Two Memories

I loved riding on the tractor when Raymond drove. One special time, Raymond drove the tractor and Nancy and I got to ride along to Aunt Jessie's farm. I don't know exactly how far that was but I do remember it was a long ride. Aunt Jessie was Nancy's grandmother Ward. We would go out and pick fresh strawberries or there would be the delicious smell of pickles being canned. Uncle Roy was Nancy's  Grandfather Ward. She called my Grandma and Grandpa Holtgrewe Aunt Alma and Uncle George.

A trip into Western was another fun time. Nancy and I would hope and pray that Lyle would get his chores done or it would rain or something so we would get to go into town on Saturday night. Lyle knew I loved the trip into Western especially when he took this one hill with a "dip" really fast that sent my stomach up into my throat. The town of Western was a small farm village just like Pleasant Dale. I loved it! They had an outdoor theater which was a movie screen set up between two buildings and we sat on benches to watch the movie.

In the family tree, I didn't include the children of the ancestors who are of my generation. I will write about them with memories.