Submitted by Nancy Jane Balmer Thanks Nancy Jane!

My great grandmother was a very small woman, she may have been 4'11, and when in her older years she had a very large hump on her back. Every summer I would go out to her house for a couple of weeks or so. Sometimes I would take a friend, and sometimes it would be my cousins and myself. I always looked forward to going there. One summer I remember my cousins and I went out to the farm where my Great Grandmother (Little Grandma) and our Uncle Leonard lived (out in Paris, California). It would take a couple of hours to get to their place. When we got to their house, we would drive up a dirt driveway to a small house. The house was on the right of the driveway, and there was a great big tree to the left. The tree had a big limb, with a big old rope hanging from it with a big tire hanging on it. We all had alot of fun swinging on it, and climbing in the tree. When you looked past the big tree you could see a large field that our Uncle Leonard would plow and grow the crops every year. When you looked to the right you can see the small house, and when you entered the house through the side door you were in the kitchen. There was a small window over the sink, where if you looked out you could see the big tree and the crops that had been planted. There was another door straight across from the back door that lead to the front room. There was a couch and some chairs and some small tables in it. Everything was neat and tidy and old. I always loved the warm feeling I got from this little house. I do not remember if there was a tv in there, I really do not think there was, because I don't remember ever watching it. I think there was a old radio.

Little Grandma would sit with us and tell us stories. I only wish I could remember them. All I know is that I felt loved and comfortable. In the livingroom if you were standing by the doorway from the kitchen, there was a door to the left which went into little grandma's bedroom. Going into the bedroom, on the right there was a old iron bed with lots of old quilts on it. Their furniture was old and always in the same place. In the bedroom was a door leading to the bathroom. This was on the left as you went through the door you see a pedestal sink and an old iron bathtub with clawfeet on it. Little Grandma's house kind of looked like my grandmother's home. Going back into the livingroom you would see another door straight across the livingroom into the sunporch. This was a long narrow room with wood walls half way up, and the rest was all screened in. In this room there was two iron beds, with lots of old quilts on them, this is where all of us would sleep when we stayed. The iron beds were one on one side and one on the other side facing each other.

I can remember one summer that we stayed there, Little Grandma gave us all chores to do. Sharon and mine was to gather the eggs from the chicken house. So we went into the chicken house to gather the eggs. We gathered all the eggs that the chickens were not sitting on. Everytime we would try to get the eggs on the other nests the chickens would peck at us, so we left them alone. We took the eggs back into the the house, and Gr. Grandma said, is that all the eggs you got and we told her yes. She looked surprised. So Little Gramma picked up the basket and off we went back to the chicken house to get the rest of the eggs. She showed us how to get the chickens off of the nest. She just would take her arm and kind of sweep them off the nest. After the rest of the eggs were gathered, we went back to the kitchen and Great Grandma cooked us a great breakfast.

I can remember she would make juice and she would put knox gelatine in it, she said it was good for us. I always had nice long nails when we stayed there.

One year they had watermelons in the field and we got to go out and pick out a great big water melon. It really tasted good, things always taste better when they are fresh.

There was a small bunk house in the back and that is were Uncle Leonard lived. Half of it was a bedroom and the other half was where he would check the eggs. One time we were all sitting in the room while he was taking each egg and putting them up to the flame to see inside of them. We asked him what he was doing and he explained that he was looking for eggs that had baby chicks in them.

One time we were riding in the back of the pickup truck, we were coming home from the store, on the way back Leonard stopped the truck in the middle of the road. We asked him why he stopped, he got out of the truck and showed us a great big snake crossing the road. He told us that this was a king snake and that they were good for the farmers because they would eat the rodents. After the snake finished crossing the road we all got back into the truck and went back home.

Leonard was a quiet and very patient man and always answered all of our quetions. He worked hard and lived with his mother until she became ill with Luekemia, then she went to stay with her daughter and my grandmother until she died.

Little Grandma went to live with Grandma Jane at her house in Lawndale, she lived there until she died. Little Grandma was in the hospital and she told the doctor that she was not born in a hospital and she was not going to die in one, the doctor released her and she died June 04, 1959 at 4021 W. 162nd St. Lawndale, CA.