Grandma Gilmore in 1967



oops just remembered an earlier time

I remember Daddy used to walk around the house with me standing on one of his boots and Donna standing on the other. We'd stand on a boot and hold on to his knee to stay on.

7.What is your earliest childhood memory?

      When we lived at Grandma Williams house in Colville (snow photo below) Donna and I were in bed with mama- supposedly taking a nap. Donna did something I didn't like and I whispered "God damn it" in a threatening tone. We were keeping our fighting quiet cause Mama was sleeping.   All of the sudden I heard Mama  say in a stern voice- "Jackie Lea , what did you say"?   I knew I'd get in trouble for taking the Lord's name in vain- so I blurted out "Mama, I just said , oooh shit".     Wrong answer.

      When we lived in that house, Donna got a Handy Andy Tool Kit for Christmas. It had a real hammer and a real saw in it. Daddy let us tear down the chicken house that spring and summer. It was hard work-and Donna would never let me use the saw. (I don't think I was allowed to touch it). However, I could use the hammer to pull out nails with her permission.  It seems like we put in 8 hours a day on that darn chicken house. When I got tired and begged to go inside- she kept me working with inspiring stories of the castle she would build us out of the the wood we salvaged from the chicken house.  I could see it in my mind. Tall spires, winding stair cases, a ballroom, a balcony.

      When it was time to move again- there were 4 main posts and one board left across the top. I knew if we could have stayed in that house a few more months - Donna would have built that castle and it would have been fabulous.

6.Were there any special items in the house that you remember?

The most interesting thing about Grandma's house was what was under the house. She had a  root cellar under her bedroom.  If you wanted a can of tuna- you moved the rug in her room, opened up the trap door, leaned it against the side of the wall and went down narrow steep stairs to the cellar below. That's where she kept eggs, margarine, home canned goods, potatoes, onions and  squash. The store bought canned goods were in a little cubby under the stairs.

 During the 60's Grandpa  built a bomb shelter under the other side of the house.  You got to it through double cellar doors that were outside of his room. He had a single bed,  and some more storage on that side. Then they dug a corridor through the solid packed clay to the root cellar- so you could get from one side of the house to the other side. We loved playing down there on hot days. Although I did  get in trouble for scratching a big valentine heart  with my initials plus my boyfriends into the  dirt wall.