"A Wish For You"

A first graders story from 1957

A trip to my first year in school-first grade. The year was 1957 at North Kansas City, Missouri elementary school. There was no lunch room. A lunch cart pushed by a server stopped at each room with plates and hot food on the cart. At the classroom door we would form lines from rows of desks where we sat. The server would take a plate, and put the food on the plate for us to eat. There were no choices of what to take from the cart. We got what ever was on the pushcart.

Early in the morning we would line up by the sink in the back of the classroom from rows at our desks. Mrs. Earlee would give each of us a vitamin tablet and a paper cup of water at the sink. We would return to our seats at our desks. There was no breakfast served at all just vitamins and lunch.

Mrs. Earlee would have us do projects. One day she told us about the weather (partly cloddy or partly sunny). We would each take turns in the morning going to the classroom window, and looking out reporting to the class partly cloddy or partly sunny or just sunny.

My room was right inside the entrance doors to the school, then turn left. I was in the first room. The school was on one level- no upstairs or downstairs. Next to the school was a public park. Down the street from the school was a public library. The school had no library . Mrs. Earlee would take us to the public library to get books. We would form a single line inside of the class room and follow the one in front of us . She would walk us outside of the school single file. The public library was down the street about four blocks. Inside the library we would look for books to take with us to read. After selecting a book to read, Mrs. Earlee would walk us back down the sidewalk on the street to the school and our classroom.

Mrs. Earlee one day decided to take us to the public park next to the school. We lined up like we did for the library. We walked and walked to the public park next to the school. She gathered us all around her. Mrs. Earlee told us she was going to have a contest with a prize for the winner. Its been along time since 1957. I can not remember the prize she had for us but I remember we were all excited to win. Mrs. Earlee had a box of saltine crackers and she said, " the contest goes like this." Everyone was to eat one cracker when she said go. The first student who could whistle would win the prize. We were all excited and jumping and moving around to get a saltine cracker.

One girl said to me she couldn't whistle and she asked me to whistle for her. My reaction was to tell her I was going to whistle for myself. The little girl asked the little boy standing next to us if he would whistle for her because she couldn't whistle. I didn't hear the little boy's answer.

Mrs. Earlee told us all to get ready to eat the cracker then she said go. We all put the crackers in our mouths and began chewing.

Some how the little girl who couldn't whistle finished first. She asked me to whistle for her. I tried to whistle but my mouth was too dry from eating the cracker. The little girl seen I couldn't whistle. She asked the little boy she had asked earlier to whistle for her.

He whistled. Mrs. Earlee was excited. Mrs. Earlee said he was the winner. The little boy told Mrs. Earlee the little girl had finished first, but couldn't whistle. He was whistling for her. What a surprise for all of us!

I have always wished it was me who whistled for the little girl even though I couldn't whistle at that time.

My wish as a grew older was to always be like the boy who whistled for the little girl, when she couldn't for herself.

A wish for you is to be the one who whistles for the little girl who can't. The End.

"Grandmother Emma's "Secret Recipe"

Loving and Caring, a first graders story from 1957

Grandmother's secret recipe - oh so good. Grandmother always gave a lot of loving and caring. She always made me feel special. Grandmother lived with Grandfather in a little house next to the Missouri River.

There was a man made levee between her house and the river. A man use to cut the grass on the levee on her side of the levee with horses. The horses pulled the rolling knives that cut the grass. I was small and I use to like to watch the horses pull the blades that rolled and cut the grass.

There were bridges on both sides of grandmother's house that crossed the Missouri river. On the top side of the bridges cars crossed and on the underside of the bridge trains crossed the river. My uncle Everett, my grandmother's oldest son, would take me across the levee to fish in the river. We sometimes caught fish and it was a lot of fun.

In the back yard at grandmother's house she had a pump for pumping water out of the ground. She had water in the house now, but still used the pump sometimes. The pump was painted red. From time to time homeless men would travel past the back of grandmother's house along the levee between the bridges. Back then these homeless men were called hobos. They rode the rails of the trains from place to place. Many times they would stop by grandmother's house and say they were hungry or thirsty. Grandmother always said she would fix something for them. Usually she had a roll of bologna she would slice herself. Often the sliced bologna was sliced uneven when she made the sandwiches. The slices of bologna usually was cut thick on one edge, and thin on the other edge.

She would tell me to pump some water from the well for the men to drink. The pump still worked. The homeless men were always so thankful to Grandmother. They smiled waving their arm as they walked away towards the bridges. If the homeless men asked for another bologna sandwich grandmother would always give them one. Grandfather said the homeless men would place a mark somewhere for the others to see. The mark was showing where others could get something to eat. I guess Grandfather knew because a lot of homeless men would stop and say they were hungry. Of course grandmother would always give them a bologna sandwich, and a tin glass of water from the pump outside.

Grandmother has been gone for along time now, but her secret recipe Loving and Caring still lives on..

Try grandmother's secret recipe sometimes. It's a lot of fun! The End.

Wasp On the Ceiling

Mr. Wasp what are doing on the kitchen ceiling? Your are suppose to be outside in your own house. I see you there Mr. Wasp as I lay back in my easy chair by the kitchen table. Seems like you don't know where you are at. Your house I seen by the garage door when I drive the care inside. You must have came in the garage when the garage door opened for the car. Inside the house you came when the door from the garage to the inside of the house opened. Now your looking for you way outside. Your not going to be able to open the door to go out on your own.

I could get some spray and spray you. I could get a fly swatter and smash you or get a paper and smash you. You keep trying to get out. You fly to the large glass window by my chair and crawl all around the glass looking for any way out. I still think I...