What is your full name?

Margaret Elizabeth Miller.

And what was your maiden name?

Johnston

Who were your parents?

My parents were Fred and Clara Johnston.

And where did they live?

They lived in Central Clarence, Annapolis County.

And where were you born?

I was born in Central Clarence.

And what year was that?

1914.

How large was your family?

I had one brother.

When did you move to this area?

I moved in 1941.

And why did you move here?

Actually, I moved in 1935, I came here to teach school.

And how old were you then? 21 years old.

Right.

Where did you get your education to become a teacher?

I attended the Central Clarence School until Grade 11 and I went to Truro Normal College.

And how many years did you spend in Truro?

I spent one year in Truro.

So you would have graduated at what age from Normal College?

In 1935.

So when you came here to teach, that was your first year?

That was my first year.

Tell me what that was like.

It was very different. It was my second year away from home and I didn't know anybody of course, when I came, and I had to get acquainted with people, but I met some very good friends and I had a good boarding place.

Who did you board with?

Burtis Freeman about a mile up the road from here.

And where was the school?

And the school was about a half a mile from here.

In which direction?

East.

Is the building still there?

No, it burned down. But it was closed. I can't remember what year it was closed in, but it had been closed quite awhile before it burned down. And the children then went to Bear River to school and the higher grades, probably from Grade 7 up when to Digby to school, were taken by bus.

What grades did you teach at that school?

I had from Grade Primer to Grade 10.

How many students?

About 18.

Can you remember how you felt that first day walking into that schoolhouse?

Well, I don't know. We had had practice teaching in Truro which helped a lot. It was a little bit scary at first.

Because some of the older students wouldn't have been that much younger than you, I suppose.

I had one student was 18 years old. He had gone back to school. But he was a wonderful student, but he was mostly interested in writing poetry, which I got quite a kick out of.

What was his name, do you remember?

Yes, Andy Kerr.

Is he still around?

He is in the Soldiers Memorial Veterans Wing.

Where would that be?

In Middleton. And I have been to see him.

How did you organize your day? If you had kids in all those different grades, how would you organize your day?

You were suppose to make up a……..you know, for the whole day for each grade. But that wasn't very easy to do, because there was too many, ……you know. But we got by.

I suppose you would have had to spend most of your time with the younger ones.

Well, yes, both.

Did you get the older kids to help you?

No, but they worked a lot on their own, too. They were very good at that, they were use to doing that because that's what they had to do to get through the day.

So what subjects did you teach?

Everything. English, history, French even. Math, everything. Science. Social Studies.

How much support did you get from the Province in terms of teaching materials.

Very very little.

So your intent would be, you had to teach a certain curriculum. How would you test the kids.

They would have examinations with questions to answer and they were marked.

Describe to me a typical day for you. You would arrive at the school at what time?

About quarter to nine in the morning.

Would you have to light a fire?

No there was a ……..in the wintertime there was somebody appointed to look after the fire and I think they got paid about $3.00 a week or something like that for making the fire 5 days. And they would sweep the floor, empty the ashes out of the stove and carry in a bucket of water.

What was the water for?

Oh, they had a cooler, they called it, a container to put the water in for drinking water. And then when they washed their hands they had to wash in cold water because there was no way of warming it.

Did they have an outhouse?

Yes, they had an outhouse.

And was it just one room in the school?

It was a one room school and they had two outhouses, one for the boys and one for the girls.

Was there a cloak room?

Yes, there was a cloak room and it was in the very entrance when you go in, and it was all the way across the front of the building and the boys had one side and the girls had the other side.

On the occasion you had to discipline your students, how would you do that?

Well, you were allowed to strap them then, but I didn't have a problem with them. They were good kids, excellent kids.

How many years did you teach in that school?

Only the one.

Is that so? Do you remember what you were paid?

I think it was $300.00 a year.

And what would you have paid for board?

$3.00 a week. And I wasn't rich at the end of the school year, either. But that is what all the schools were paying. Well somewhere a little more.

I know in the late 1800's, there were very strict rules for school teachers in terms of their conduct within the community and I remember reading that women weren't even allowed to be married while they were still teachers. Were there any rules that strict when you started teaching?

No, I don't think so. But I mean, you had to be a respectable person to be in the community teaching.

So as a young woman new in this community, what would you do on weekends.

Usually I would go home. Quite often I would go home or I would spend time with friends that I had made.

What kinds of things would you do with your friends?

Well, we would play cards and different things like that.

Would you skate and do things like that, outside activities?

Skating, yes. We had a pond where they made the ice for the winter and skated there.

When you went home, how would you travel?

Well, I didn't get home that often, but I had a friend with a car that I would get home once in a while.

How were the roads?

Terrible. They weren't even paved then. The number 1 highway wasn't paved. But that is what they were working on at that time.

Paving? This would have been in 1935.

Was there electricity in the homes then?

No, no electricity in the home and no electricity in the school.

Is that so. So how would you light the school?

Didn't have any lights.

On a dark day, they just did with ……….

I think there were some lamps in the case of emergency, but very seldom were they ever used.

This will sound like a silly question, but what did kids learn to write with?

Oh, they had lead pencils.

At what point would they graduate to pen and ink?

I can't remember of their being ball point pens at that time, but a…..well, probably maybe grade 7 or grade 8.

That so. And would the students be responsible for providing their own scribblers and note books?

They had to provide their own scribblers and their own pencils, pen and ink, whatever they were using.

How would you handle it if that child wasn't prepared to buy those?

Well, they always came with something. They didn't have a surplus of scribblers or….but they had enough to work with. And I don't think they wasted paper like they waste paper nowadays.

I am sure. It is amazing the paper that people go through. Computers were supposed to reduce that, and it hasn't happened!

No it has made it worse.

Describe the desks that the children would be sitting at.

Well, the desks was for two pupils and there was a row of desks on each side of the stove in this particular school up here and two in a seat and there was under the desk, no the top didn't lift up, but under the desk there was another shelf and that's where they kept their books and scribblers and things.

And were the chairs bolted to the floor?

Yes. They didn't move them around.

What was the name of the school?

Lansdowne.

Lansdowne School.

So you taught there just the one year.

One year.

What happened at the end of that year that you didn't return?

This is all going on tape is it? Nothing in particular but at that period of time teachers used to like to go to different schools.

Oh, I see. I wonder why that was?

I don't know.

So did you go to a different school?

Yes, I did.

So where did you go then?

The place doesn't exist now, but Lake Munroe.

And where was that?

On the road going to Liverpool.

So then you had moved out of this area then.

Yes.

For how many years?

I taught in Hillgrove, I was two years in Hillgrove, I was one year in Roxville and I was one year in Tremont in Kings County.

Would it have been similar when you taught in Hillgrove. You boarded with a family?

Yes, I boarded with Bill and Mildred Roope. Wonderful people.

And you were two years in Hillgrove.

And I had 31 kids - all the grades including Grade 11, and I worked hard but I loved all those kids. They were good kids.

How many of them do you run into now from day to day?

Amazingly, a lot of them have passed on, but I see some of them.

So that would have been a one room school?

Yes, that was a one room school, it was a bigger school than here but it had 31 pupils as I said, and I was about 1/2 a mile from the school. In the wintertime it was kind of hard going to get there cause the roads weren't plowed at that time.

You would walk?

Yes.

How would you start the school day. Did they say prayers or did they sing the anthem?

You were allowed to have prayers then and sometimes they had the salute to the flag.

How would that go? Do you remember the salute to the flag?

Not really - I pledge allegiance to the flag and to the country for which it stands and so on…………

Was it King George in those days?

Yes, King George the 5^th. Now let me see - who abdicated -

Edward?

Yes, that happened when I was here in Lansdowne because I remember one morning I went to school and they always had the picture of the King up in front of the school and when I went to school this morning, the picture had been turned over.

Who had done that?

Some of the kids, I suppose, I don't know.

And you hadn't heard anything of this?

Oh yes, I knew it happened, but I was surprised to see that the picture had been turned over.

You mentioned that you didn't have a radio - at what point did you remember having a radio?

That was when I was growing up. Well, where I boarded they had radios but I didn't have one myself.

Do you remember going to movies in your free time?

No very often.

How often when you were teaching here in Lansdowne would you get into Digby?

Well, not really very often. I wouldn't say not once a week. Not every day like you can pick up and go now.

What would you do in summer vacations between like the two summers you taught in Hillgrove?

After I taught in Lansdowne, I went to summer school in Halifax at Dalhousie University and we went swimming there at the Dingle and different things.

What were you studying at Dalhousie?

Well, it was just to complete your license.

It gave you a higher license, did it?

It gave me a permanent license.

I don't understand quite how that worked. When you first went to Normal College, you didn't have a permanent license?

No, you had to go to summer school. You got your certificate, but you had to go to Summer school to make it a permanent license.

Did your Normal College certificate only allow you to teach a certain number of years?

No you could teach - after you got your permanent license you could teach as long as you wanted to.

I guess I'm still not clear on the difference between a certificate and a permanent license.

Well, they were just the same only the permanent license - you had to go to summer school to get your permanent license.

And did you earn more money after you got your permanent license?

Not much.

Can you remember how Halifax seemed to you as a young woman from the country?

I liked it. But it was hot, that summer was just terribly hot.

Where would you have lived when you were in Halifax that summer?

On Kline Street.

Not in residence, then?

No, another friend of mine - we boarded together and there was two boys that were going to summer school. There was four of us at the same home. It was a good boarding place, very good.

So you got your permanent license, then did you go to Roxville?

No I went to Hillgrove after I got my permanent license.

And you were two years in Hillgrove, and then to Roxville.

Right. Then to Tremont in Kings County.

So teaching really was a career for you then. Wasn't it.

Well, for a short time.

Well, that was quite a few years.

Six years.

Then what happened.

I got married.

And who did you marry?

Wilfred Miller. And he lived here in Lansdowne.

And how did you meet Wilfred?

I met him when I first came here to teach.

And how did you meet him?

Actually, it was on a Sunday School picnic.

What do you remember about that?

I remember I was swimming. And I remember he and another one of the young fellows from the community was in a boat and anyway, I think , whether I got in the boat or not, but I met both of them.

Do you remember if you found him attractive right from the start?

I'm not going to say that!

So, actually you knew him for quite awhile before you married him.

Yes.

And what do you remember about your courtship. What kinds of things would you do for fun?

Oh, go for long drives, so on and so forth.

Was Wilfred about the same age as you?

Two years older.

And what kind of work did he do?

He worked at different jobs. He was with the Department of Highways, I guess they call it Transportation now.

What would he do for them?

He was the foreman on the highway - he had a group of men and they repaired the roads.

Was he in charge of paving the roads?

No, the roads weren't paved then. It was a long time afterwards that the road through here was paved.

Is that so. So what year were you married?

1941.

And where were you married?

We was married in Bear River.

What do you remember about your wedding day?

It was a very hot day. It was July 25. I was just a very small family wedding and we went on our honeymoon to Summerville Beach in - handy Liverpool. And I had a teacher friend that lived in Milton and I visited her and of course, I did a lot of swimming at the beach.

I think you love swimming!

I still do. The salt water is better, but I haven't had too many opportunities to swim in salt water.

Where do you swim now?

I swim mostly now - my daughter has a cottage at Grand Lake, both of my sons have cottages at Lake Torment and I spent some time there this summer. And I use to swim quite a bit down to Mountain Gap in the pool.

Wonderful exercise. What did you wear the day you got married?

A blue dress and a white hat and white shoes.

Did you make your own clothes?

No. I wasn't very much of a seamstress.

How old were you when you got married? You were 27.

Yes.

And where was your first house?

We lived here. But we had to do a lot of work to it.

Was this house in his family?

Yes.

So how did he come to own it then?

Well, there was three in his family and the property was divided among the three of them and he got the home place and with renovations we managed to live here for quite a few years.

Had Wilfred's parents passed on then?

Yes. His father had, but his Mother was still living. She lived with us for awhile and she lived with her daughter for awhile. She circulated.

Just for the record, what were Wilfred's parents names?

Ordell Miller was his mother, and Atwood Miller was his father.

From Lansdowne.

Yes.

So what kind of changes did you have to make to the house?

Practically everything.

How old is the house?

The house is over 200 years old.

So how many children did you and Wilfred have?

Five.

Did you,

Including twins.

When was the first one born?

In 1942,

And who was that?

Roy Miller - he lives in Halifax.

And was Roy born here at home?

He was born in the Digby Hospital.

And what were the other childrens names?

The next one was Glen Miller and he was born in the Digby Hospital.

And their Doctor was Doctor Cameral from Bear River. And then next was the twins and they were born in the Digby Hospital.

And what are their names?

Greta and Gordon. Greta is a nurse in the Hospital now and Gordon is in the Air Force and he has just returned from Comax and he lives in Greenwood.

And there was one more then.

Diane. She lives in Saskatoon and she teaches at the University there.

And how many grandchildren do you have in total?

I have 7 grandchildren.

Good brood! So once you were married and had your family, you were busy working inside your home.

Yes.

Did you ever go back to teaching?

No. I didn't have time.

I was listening to the radio driving over here, and a woman had called into CBC. She was in her 80's and she was remembering when she had her children how she would have 10 days bed rest in the hospital and she was saying it was better that way.

I was 7 days in the hospital with Roy, my first one. And my last one, I think I was 3 days.

Was 7 days a pretty standard length of stay?

No, I had a little problem. It probably was a day or two longer. And when Diane was born, 3 days, and I came home and I had phlebitis so I was in bed a week after I came home.

With 4 other little ones.

Yes.

Wilfred continued to work for the Department of Transportation

No, he did something else, let me see, and then he worked at Mountain Gap for quite a few years.

What did he do there?

Well, he and Bob Winchester looked after the grounds and they were general work, maintenance mostly. They kept the grounds beautifully. Nice flowers and everything. I guess that's why I got to swim so often in the pool.

Tourism was important in Smith's Cove in those days. What role did it play here in this community?

I don't know as it played very much. Of course, some of the girls growing up worked at the different restaurants.

What stories would Wilfred tell you about the tourists when he'd come home at night?

Oh, I don't think I have anything to repeat on that!

Well, I run a Bed and Breakfast in the summer so I can imagine some of the stories he would tell!!! We meet some very nice people.

When did Wilfred die?

Three years ago.

Oh, just recently then.

He was in Tideview for 5 years. He had Parkinson's.

Where did your children go to school?

Roy and Glen went up here to the Lansdowne school for, I think Roy went to Bear River when he was in Grade 7, and very shortly after that the school closed and the children were bused to Digby school. And Diane started school in Smith's Cove but she was bused to school. She didn't start in Smith's Cove, she went one year in Bear River and they were bused to Bear River then, and the next year she was bused to Smith's Cove and the ones that were going to Bear River were bused to Digby, the ones from the Community here.

This would not have been the Oakdene School, was it, in Bear River?

Yes.

And it closed that long ago, I didn't realize.

No, it wasn't closed then. The Oakdene school is in Annapolis County. And we live in Digby County so as soon as they started the bus service, why the children went to Digby to school.

And how would you compare the schooling they got to the schooling you have given not too many years prior to that.

Well, I don't really know. The children that went to the small country schools, they seem to do really quite well.

Have any of your students gone on to become household names that we might recognize at all.

I didn't understand your question.

Like, did any of your students go on to become well known politicians or businessmen or……..

Yes, one was a school Inspector and one of my students was a teacher and my Grade 11 girl in Hillgrove, she went to Digby and took her grade 12 and then she became a teacher and she taught until she was old enough to retire. She taught until Oakdene school was closed.

What was her name?

Marjorie Tibbets.Before she was Marjorie Tibbets she was Marjorie Porter. Very nice girl.

I keep thinking of a question and I get interested in what you're answering and it slips my mind!!As a young housewife, did you have electricity when you got married?

No.

What year did you get electricity?

1948, I think it was.

Now how would that have changed your workday as a mother and housewife.

Well, I suppose quite a lot, actually.

In what ways that you can think of ?

The most important would be the lights in the evening. And for the children studying it was much better for them.

How would you have washed clothing before you got electricity?

You will laugh when I tell you that. I had a washer with a gasoline motor on it and it had an exhaust on it that I had to put out the window, but I guess everybody in the neighbourhood knew when I was washing because they would hear this put-put-put!

I have never heard of such a thing. Was it an unusual thing?

No, not at that time. Well, there wasn't too many of them around. Another lady over on the Sissiboo, she had one.

And how would you wring the clothes out?

It had a wringer, just like the ordinary electric washing machines with a wringer and everything. You must have seen those.

What would you have used for detergent?

I can't remember.

I was just wondering if you could go to the store and buy a box.

Oh, yes, you could.

And how did you heat the water, or would you heat the water to wash the clothes?

I guess on the stove, at the very first until we had an oil fired hot water heater. I can't remember what year we had that. We couldn't have those things until we had electricity, you see. We didn't have a bathroom until we had electricity.

You had an outdoor facility.

No indoor plumbing - it was outdoor plumbing.

Chilly in the evening, in February! How would you have ironed your clothes before you got electricity?

They heated the irons on the stove. Well I remember that because I hated ironing.

How come?

Well it wasn't easy, you can imagine that.

A little bottle to sprinkle the water on?

Yes.

And how would you have kept your food cold?

I guess you didn't.

You didn't have an icebox?

No. In the basement, the cellar, that would be the coldest place to keep it.

So milk you would just drink at room temperature?

After we got the electricity you see, we got a fridge right away. So that took care of that.

What kinds of things would you grow for your own use?

Everything practically. We had a vegetable garden, apple trees, we grew our own potatoes, pumpkins, squash, beets, turnips,.

How much land did you have?

Two hundred and fifty acres, I believe. But that wasn't all planted!!!

Who was responsible for the garden in your household?

My husband. And I helped with it.

And what animals would you have kept?

We had cows and a horse.

What was the horse used for?

Well, they used it in the woods some, but it wasn't used for a whole lot.

What was the horses' name?

Kirk.

Was it a big draft horse?

No just a medium size horse. My second son use to ride horseback.

You kept cows? What did you do with the milk?

Milk would be separated and the cream would be shipped to, I think it went to Yarmouth.

And the milk itself? Would you just use it in the family or…..?

Well, they only milk that we used was what we kept for our own use and the rest was separated and the cream was shipped, and we would get our butter from the creamery.

As part payment? Did they give you butter back instead of money?

I would get money too. Whatever. According to how much cream you had.

What kind of cows were they?

Mostly Guernsey. Some of them mixed, some Holstein,

Would you have your own bull?

No.

So how would you breed them?

There was usually one kept somewhere.

Would you have raised chickens?

Yes. We had chickens, hens and we had our own eggs.

If you had extra eggs, what would happen to those?

We would take them to town and sell them to the grocery store and get groceries.

The town would be Digby?

No, it would be Bear River. That is when Barris' had their grocery store in Bear River. There was Arron and Titus Barris. And both of their wives, the four of them worked in the grocery store.

Is that store still there?

The store is still there, no, but there is a store in the same place. I don't think it is the same store. But they call it the Cherrybrook Grocery now. And I think that's the only grocery store in Bear River. Bear River use to be quite a little place, but it's downsized a lot. We use to have a bank, a drug store, we use to have a trading company and they carried everything, both clothing in one side and groceries in the other, three churches in Bear River.

What church would your family go to?

Baptist Church and that's still there. The Baptist Church in Bear River and I am still a member of the Baptist Church.

So when your children were growing up, what were Sundays like?

Well, we usually went to Church in Bear River and they would stay for Sunday School and then they would come home and change their clothes of course, and party or whatever.

Now would Wilfred be inclined to go out and work in the garden at all on Sunday? Or was it strictly a day of rest for you?

He didn't work too much on Sundays. A little; of course when you have cattle you have to work on Sunday.

So how important was religion in your family life?

Well, I felt it was quite important and I like to see the children in Sunday School and I like to be in church and I still like to go to Church. But I am a little bit hard of hearing now and I have a problem with hearing everything.

Can you remember what some home remedies would have been that you would have used on your children for minor ailments?

No, I didn't use very many home remedies.

Maybe getting a little beyond that, maybe when you were growing up as a child, your Mother might have used some of the mustard plasters.

Yes, I think I've had that when I was a kid growing up.

What do you remember about the Poor Farm?

Well, I knew the last two people that had it, the Thomas'. And I know they were very good to the residents that were there.

What were their names?

Guy Thomas and his wife, Mrs. Thomas, I can't remember her first name. They use to have a farm, and they would raise a lot of their fruit and vegetables they used, and I suppose probably their meat too, and everything.

Did you ever go to visit the poor farm?

I've been there, yes.

What do you remember about it?

Well, when the Thomas' had it, it was very good. I was never to it before.

You don't remember it being a scary place or a sad place?

It wasn't a scary place to me.

What do you remember about Maud Lewis?

I have been to her little house too. She was a very little bent over person. She loved to paint - she painted oxen with great big long eyelashes and her house - everything in her house was painted and everything - even her stove- she had flowers, horses and oxen and different things painted on it. It was a little one room house and there was a little attic to it with I think a step ladder or some kind of a little ladder and she use to crawl up the ladder to go to bed.

Did you buy any of her paintings?

I wished I had!

That is what everybody says!

It sounds like you had a very very busy life as a housewife and mother, though.

Especially when the twins came along. I was busy. But I had a girl that helped me for awhile.

Was that a normal thing to do to get a young woman in to help?

It was a necessity at that time.

How old were your other children when your twins were born?

The twins were born in 1946, and Glen was born in, now wait, Glen was born in 1945, the twins were born in 1946 and Roy was born in 1942. And Diane was born in 1953, and we got a new car the same year.

I wonder how much a new car would cost in 1953?

Much much less than they cost now.

If you spent $1,000.00 that would be it.

I was going to say I don't think probably too much over $1,000.00, but I wouldn't be sure.

I remember in the '60's, my parents buying just a beautiful house for $17,000.00, and now you can't get a decent car for that.

I don't know whether it is better or worse. You can't get a car for that price.

I just want to ask you about the depression. What do you remember about the depression?

Sugar was hard to get.

Where were you during the depression. Were you still home?

What years would that be?

That would be 1929 to 1933.

Yes, I'd still be home then. We had our own gardens, and we had our own fruit. My father had an apple orchard, and we had our own beef that he butchered and as far as food and things is concerned we didn't have………..

The water was gravity fed, from the north mountain. Good water, spring.

Was it unusual to have indoor plumbing?

No, there was only two houses in that community that had the indoor plumbing.

So everybody came to your house!!!!

Came to visit.

What do you remember about bath night when you were growing up?

Oh, I loved that big long bathtub. I'd stay in it and soak in it and loved it.

There wasn't too much competition either because there was just you and your brother.

My brother always got there first because he always went out in the evening somewhere. He was two years older than I was. And our hot water was heated by a boiler on the wood kitchen stove. I certainly missed that when I went out to teach.

What do you remember about the Second World War.

The first or the second?

The first, you wouldn't remember the first I don't imagine.

My father was in the first world war and he went overseas, I was born in November and he went overseas in February and I didn't know him until four years later and I was scared to death of him when he came home in uniform. But I got over it.

Do you remember that at all?

I remember when he came home. And I can remember when we were kids, with the help of our Mother we use to write him letters, they weren't much letters I don't imagine, but something always went in with her letter.

So when the Second World War came,

I had my brother in the Second World War. He lost his leg over there in Italy. So he came home in pretty bad shape.

Wilfred didn't serve?

No.

Were there very many young men from this area who went overseas?

Quite a few. Quite a few from the area where I lived in Clarence, too. And quite a few of them didn't come back, either. I had a cousin that was killed over there and a boyfriend. I hope we never have another one.

When you and Wilfred were a young couple, and then getting along a bit into your older years and raising a family, how did you plan for hard times or retirement?

We didn't plan very much for retirement. Saved a little, what you could save, and that was it. I don't think we ever thought we'd be old enough to retire.

How far did your children go, as far as their education was concerned?

Well, Roy graduated from St. Mary's; Glen went to Vocational school and he is a heavy equipment mechanic and he works for the City of Dartmouth; Greta trained for a nurse in Yarmouth - three years then; and Gordon joined the services; and Diane went to Acadia and then she went to Montreal and she taught school, after she went to Acadia she taught school one year at Cornwallis and then she taught in Quebec one year, and then she went back to college there in Montreal, and finished and she got married in the meantime and he went to college, she worked while she went to college and he worked while she went to college. She got her doctorate, so she - but they separated and she has one son, he is 16 now and just about ready to get his drivers license so……

Nana starts worrying! I was just talking to Harry Hill in Bear River the other day - he doesn't remember much discrimination in that community at all.

I don't think there is any. I mean, they are the only black family. I don't think - I think there was another one there, but they go to the Baptist Church and they are just the same as anybody else.

In this area, were there any black families living here?

No, I don't think.

Well, you wouldn't have been much aware of race relations then in your lifetime here.

No. No.

Well, I think you have told me lots of interesting things. Is there anything I have forgotten to ask you or that you'd like to, that you think it is important for young people to know about that we haven't touched on about things in days gone by.

Well, I don't think the young people nowadays realize what it was like say, 70 or 80 years ago.

In what sense?

I mean, they didn't have computers, televisions, dance lessons, or anything of the things young people - those different things weren't available to them because they had to travel and there were no automobiles to travel. Transportation was horse and buggy way back then.

So how do you think values compare to then - family values?

I don't think they are any better than they were then as far as family values go. I think perhaps the family was closer knit a few years back than they are now, although I could be wrong.

You know, you mentioned all the things kids have now that young people didn't all those years ago, but you know in talking to the people on this project, it seems to me that they didn't have any problem filling their days or…..

No, I don't think so. What you didn't know about you didn't miss it. If you didn't have it, you didn't miss it.

It is a faster pace world now.

I guess it is, much faster. Lots of time the young people don't even take time to get married now. They just go live together. And I don't know whether that's a good idea or not. According to Scriptures it isn't.

And marriages don't seem to last as long. But they say well, it probably wouldn't have lasted anyway and look what it would have cost to get a divorce. That is the attitude they take. Years ago when people got married, they worked on it to make it work. There weren't as many divorces back then, or there weren't as many people just living together not married that there is nowadays.

You and Wilfred had some good years together.

Yes. Quite a few good years.

How long were you married?

Well, we had our 50^th Anniversary before he got sick. But shortly after that, we didn't have our 55^th.

Well, I'll let you get out and enjoy the sun. The deer might show up again.

That was the prettiest thing. And it was so close to the house!