Wednesday, March 21, 2018

Wistful Wednesday : Old Neighbors

A very very long time ago we got some new neighbors…it must have been 1957 or 1958. 

The house they bought was moved onto a piece of property just one mile from where I grew up.  It was a pretty place…it still is.   The house was set on wooden pillars…I recall the step on the back of the house was quite a stretch for my legs…I was just six or seven.  My parents helped to do some work in the house.  Something about painting and cupboards.

The living room was quite large and it had a picture window looking out toward the road.
Jorgenson Place Edla, Carol and Morgan
My parents played cards there, us kids ate cake and cookies, it was a fun place to visit.  It was on our Trick or Treat route and we delivered May Baskets there too!  One of the most beautiful girls in the whole world lived there…and she was real nice too.  She rode on my bus.  She would babysit for us sometimes and we loved having her as a sitter.  She was a Cheerleader…I know my Mom fixed one of her cheerleader outfits once…her name was Carol.

Carol’s Mom was named Edla and her dad was named Morgan but I think he had a nickname.  Morgan had been a logger, I think he tried his hand at a bit of farming and logging in the winter.  He was a big guy about 6 feet tall with the prettiest blue/gray eyes and a thick head of hair. Edla was a tiny little thing with jet black hair and eyes that smiled.

Edla became very sick…as time progressed her husband brought a bed into the living room so she could see out the big window. We visited her many times in that room. Edla was very ill with Liver Cancer and she just wasted away.  She died in June of 1963. 

That was about the same time that Carol graduated from High School.  She married a football jock and moved away..out West.  Sadly at the age of 31 she died from some kind of cancer.  On her tombstone it says “She lived, she loved and was loved.”  It is a perfect epitaph.  I recall when we heard that she died it seemed unfair because she was so young. 
The Jorgenson place
Carol had a older brother named Lane who died in 1999 ( I am not sure I ever met him) and her father died in 2004 out West( He had remarried.)

I cannot recall going to Edla’s funeral in 1963.  I recall her death….but no funeral or burial.  Morgan and Carol both moved away shortly after Edla’s death.  I have been searching Find A Grave for her grave site with no success. Update: Edla 's grave has been found by a good friend and researcher!  Edla is buried in Maywood Cemetery just south of Oak Park Minnesota.  Her family is buried there.

When ever we pass this pretty little house in the country…I think about the fun times I had there as a child and the people that used to live there.  Happy and sad memories all mixed together.
Blog Signature

17 comments:

Val Ewing said...

It looks so well kept still. What a beautiful place though with great memories.

Pauline Persing said...

I find that the older I get the more every memory is a mixture of happy and sad.

DJan said...

It's so sad that she died so young, but your memories of her and her family show that she was indeed very well loved. :-(

thecrazysheeplady said...

:-/

Red said...

That's a sad comparison to make of happiness and tragedy.

Country Gal said...

So sad they all passed so young . It is nice that you have these lovely memories of them and you at this cute little house though .

Sam I Am...... said...

What a sad but tender story about real people that lived and died. they sounded like a lovely family and it makes you wonder why some families seem to get all the bad luck. I love that house! I could be very happy there in the country.

The Wykeham Observer said...

Nice post. Bittersweet memories.

Granny Marigold said...

That's a pretty little house with some sad history. I wonder why you can't find Carol's grave site.

Far Side of Fifty said...

I can find Carol, I cannot find her Mothers grave site

Bonnie said...

What a sad but sweet story. It is good that you and others have fond memories of them. The older I get the more I look back on times, places and people from the past. The memories can be bittersweet.

Jo-Anne's Ramblings said...

This post was a tad sad but also so sweet

diane in northern wis said...

Thanks for relating your memories of your neighbors. I feel sad even though I didn't know them. I recently found the markers of the parents of my best friend who lived next door when I was little, on findagrave...it was by accident and at first I was excited and then.... sad to know they were gone. Sending up prayers for them all!

Intense Guy said...

http://www.interment.net/data/us/mn/benton/maywood/index.htm maybe?

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

I hope you an find their markers. I have done the same for old friends, or tried to track them down on facebook. It is good to carry our memories with us.

Far Side of Fifty said...

Yes!! You found Edla, it looks like her parents are there and many of her relatives. Thanks!

Lady Fi said...

Such a sad story - but so many good memories too. That house is charming.