by Sarah Darling

Created on: July 09, 2008

Let me begin, by telling you that I was raised in what we call the maritime. It was as mall town, and had small town values. We lived about 60 miles from the Atlantic ocean but it seemed a million when I was small. My Dad worked for the government garage. He maintained the large equipment, such as road-graders, ferries, etc. We had a two story shingled house, and a good size yard. My father made sure the yard was always spotless, the grass cut, and everything ship shape. My mom had a way with flowers, and she took care of the aesthetic aspects of the yard as well as the interior. Mom also took care of everything else, like cooking, cleaning, laundry and the dozen things required to make a house a home.

I remember small things, like helping to make cookies or learning to cook simple dishes. She always had time to show me and told me some day I would appreciate being able to do the things she was teaching. While at the time I did not quite understand how that would ever apply to me. I went to school, did my chores and played.

In the summer we went swimming, something I never got the hang of, although I loved trying. One time I went with a bunch of kids. We were at a place where the pond was very deep. The older kids, I was only about 10 at the time, decided to jump from the high part of the cliff. I was with them and a boy a lot older decided to push me into the water, not knowing I could not swim. He pushed and I fell about 20 feet into the water. Thank goodness someone realized I could not swim and dove in after me or I would not be alive to tell the tale. Life was nothing if not exciting. I returned home, not too badly off considering, and enjoyed a lovely dinner of chicken, fried potatoes, and strawberry shortcake for desert.
We always could depend on mom to have homemade desserts as she raised her own strawberries and had a grand vegetable garden. We all worked in that garden to keep it weed free and growing healthy. We also helped weed and plant during the spring. When autumn came around, we picked potatoes to store for winter. My mom would get ready to can the vegetables and fruit for a long cold winter. We had scores of delicious things to fall back on, when the arctic winds blew.

I had my share of accidents growing up and some of them, today, seem rather funny. I remember in the Fourth grade, when I had a strange accident that scared me to death. It was cold with about three feet of fresh snow on the ground and we were waiting, after school, for our

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