Skip to main content

Six Sentence Story: Migration

Photo: An old black-and-white photo showing a man and boy in overalls, a woman holding a toddler, a girl who appears to be in her teens, and two little girls. 

Denise hosts the Six Sentence Story blog hop each week. This week the prompt word is migration. I cannot claim credit for the following story; it is taken from a transcript of a video of my grandma telling about her move as a young girl from Arkansas to California in the fall of 1929.

I think it was around the first of November when we started, and we had a Model T Ford touring car, so we put as many of the possessions that we had in the car and on top of the car and behind the car and on the running boards of the car. Newman was driving, and Dad was in the front seat, so Mom and Bernice and Lucas and Quince and I were in the backseat, along with boxes of stuff to eat and clothing to keep us warm and blankets to keep us warm, because there was no heat in the car. We left our mountain home where we lived on Grandpa's farm, Grandpa Kimes' farm, and started out. Well, we had to go up a high hill right from the house to get to the main road, and the car was so loaded down, it wouldn't make the hill, so all of us had to get out, except Newman, and walk up the hill to the main road. I think we pushed a bit on the back of the car, too, to keep it going and we got to the main road and we all got back in, and got situated again, covered up again, and started out. . . .
We were on what was called the Route 66, going across the continent to California and we came into the Imperial Valley and there we were up a high hill again, so we stopped and looked out over the panorama and we all decided it would be better to go back to Arkansas; we didn't like what we saw. . .but we went on.

Comments

  1. Pat BOctober 31, 2019 at 12:11 AM

    I thought I heard this just recently🙂
    The last four words are such good ones to remember, and we will.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Reena SaxenaOctober 31, 2019 at 1:43 AM

    I agree with Pat. "But we went on..." spells magic.

    ReplyDelete
  3. messymimiOctober 31, 2019 at 4:54 AM

    What a difficult and painful time, especially wanting to turn back, but not doing so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiOctober 31, 2019 at 8:06 PM

      Good things came from the move, as she met my grandpa in California.

      Delete
  4. Clark FarleyOctober 31, 2019 at 5:33 AM

    Such a vivid tale/Six/momentary-view-into-a-life.
    Thanks for sharing this.

    ReplyDelete
  5. BernadetteOctober 31, 2019 at 8:27 AM

    A picturesque piece! A good way to start the month.

    ReplyDelete
  6. GirlieOnTheEdgeOctober 31, 2019 at 6:00 PM

    I second Clark in thanking you for sharing this. Knowing these are words written at a pivotal moment in someone's life, your grandmother's, is...powerful. The last words are bursting with intensity and reflect the spirit of your grandmother and her family.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiOctober 31, 2019 at 8:08 PM

      Can you see why I love family history research? Knowing the stories really is powerful!

      Delete
  7. Lisa TomeyNovember 1, 2019 at 2:49 AM

    Aww what a beautiful memory and look what happened! No risk, no gain.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. KristiNovember 1, 2019 at 9:01 AM

      I'm glad to have video of her retelling this story.

      Delete

Post a Comment

Conversations are so much nicer when more than one person does the talking. :-) Please leave a comment and let me know your thoughts; I'd love to hear from you!

Popular posts from this blog

Ten Things of Thankful: Live from Oregon, part 2

stock photo of old computer monitor When I was 10 or 11, I remember sitting next to my dad in our living room and reading computer code to him as he entered it into an Apple computer. We would finish the exercise and he would hit enter (or was it "run"?) and wait expectantly for the green type to appear on the screen. If we were lucky, the whole conversation would occur. Most often, there would be an error either in my dictation of the code, or in the typing of the code. We would then go painstakingly back through the lines, character by character, to find and correct the error. After what seemed like hours (and might have been), we would succeed and the computer would finally run the entire program. It was magical! My dad designed and built an earth-sheltered, passive solar home decades before solar panels were commonplace. He also was on a 9-month waiting list for a Prius, when hybrids were not seen on every street.  While my dad is definitely on the cutting edge of technol...
5 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: Oregon Edition, Part 3

  A western bluebird, sitting at the base of a house window, looks inside Thanks (1) to those who have sent well-wishes for my mom's recovery. Her wrist is healing up nicely. I met a friend from high school for lunch this past week. It was so nice to have a chance to visit with her for a couple of hours. She is one of those friends who it doesn't matter how much time has passed, we can pick right back up into meaningful conversations. Lunch ended all too soon, but I'm so thankful (2) for her, and I'm thankful (3) that she reminded me of the importance of reaching out to others.  Being in my parents' home this week, visiting with a long-time (I'm not saying old!) friend, and with Mother's Day tomorrow, my mind naturally reflects upon the women in my life. I'm thankful (4) for an incredible mom--a gentle woman who taught and loved and guided us (and still does.) I'm thankful (5) for grandmas who were different in their personalities but united in their...
3 comments
Read more

Ten Things of Thankful: I Should Blog More Often

  Tall red poppies bloom against the brick remains of an old homestead A couple of weeks ago, John and I hiked in Alpine, Utah, to see the poppy gardens near the old Lambert homestead. We knew if we waited, we would miss the peak of the flowers. One minute, flowers are blooming, and the next minute, that particular floral show is over until next year.  The Ten Things of Thankful blog hop runs every week, but sometimes I miss the boat and don't get a post composed. I find, though, that those weeks that I do join in, I'm more apt to look for (and find!) the good in life--regardless of whether it was a "good" week or a "bad" week. Just as taking time to hike pays off with a beautiful view, taking the time to share ten things I'm thankful for pays off with a feeling of peace, satisfaction, and gratitude.  The past three weeks have been spent at home. It's been so nice to catch up on things here. The air conditioner cools the house again, we've taken ...
3 comments
Read more