Way of Life at Etta Bend

Way of Life at Etta Bend

The following story is from my mother’s book, Remembering Etta Bend. These are the words of Susie Latty, who, much later, became my mom. This would have been around 1918. Most of the things we used were homemade and they had to last as long as possible. Papa carved his own handles and wood implements […]

Mama’s Story of the Easter Egg Tree

The following story is an excerpt from The Heritage of Etta Bend, a story my mother told me about her childhood in northeast Oklahoma. The “I” is my mother, Susie Latty Day. Mom told me this story and I wrote it to be included in The Heritage of Etta Bend in 1989. It was spring, […]

My Grandfather’s Barn

“He hath shewed thee, O man, what is good; and what doth the Lord require of thee, but to do justly, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with thy God?” (Micah 6:8) That verse reminds me of my grandpa, Levi Latty. I can picture him going to his barn to milk, morning and evening, […]

You Have to Use Your Imagination

You Have to Use Your Imagination

Imagination is a wonderful thing. With imagination, you can see things that really aren’t there. With imagination this morning, I can take a trip of about a hundred miles and a hundred years and, there I am at Etta Bend, my mother’s childhood home. I can see the farm as it was a century ago. […]

The Ticking of a Clock

The Ticking of a Clock

  When I hear a clock ticking, I go back a few decades and find myself in Ma and Pappy Latty’s house. They always had a wind-up clock and I can remember how the sound meant peace and security for me. I can see my grandparents’ living room, sun coming through the windows, and feel […]

A Memory Stone

A Memory Stone

It rests in my herb garden, a memory stone, reminding me of where it came from and the reason it is here. It’s a reminder of a time past–a slower, quieter time when life was different from the way life is now. It brings memories of the strong, good people who owned the farm where […]