Growing Up in North Dakota

As in Bowbells, there was only one grade-level per classroom, different than when I was younger. In Hope also I had a different teacher for each subject, much like a regular junior high. Our elective was homemaking and I remember sewing my first garment here – it was a circle skirt and I made it from a pretty green cotton fabric. I had always been the model student, too, – and I remember my class was really mean to our social science teacher. I still feel pretty guilty about it. I also remember learning a piece of “etiquette” there – before you throw a piece of gum away, wrap it in paper so it won’t stick on the garbage can. Weird, huh?

I was in the band there, as I began to play the flute when we lived in Bowbells. I remember going down to Fargo to march in a parade – a big deal. Anyway, I played the flute all through high school – and was really pretty good at it. I always enjoyed the music classes and the friends I made in them and my teachers (especially my high school teacher, Mr. James Paris, who actually sang at our wedding too.)