Growing up with Horses

Rebecca Graber shared this on Facebook 16 March 2014 as a comment to a thread on Amish and Beyond.

My Dad was always training horses for people so we'd have all kinds of horses to drive when we worked in the field. But Dad always made sure he'd hitch the less trained ones with a solid well trained one and I never had a runaway till the day my older brother (married )was in charge to help out while my Dad was in Hot Springs getting relief for his back. My brother would not listen to me about which horses to put beside each other and made me put the ones together that were always fighting..... I made a couple rounds in the field with the disc and the four horse team when the one horse got mad and went after the other one and they started going in circles. I hung on for dear life, praying that somehow I would be able to stay out from under the disc .... All of a sudden they took off running across the field and I fell off as they crashed into a fence and a neighbor came to my aid.... That's when I started having the problem that I later learned was a hiatal hernia... When Dad came home he took me to the chiropractor which helped but of course didn't fix the hernia .... Needless to say that brother is not my favorite and for some reason he will not speak to me at funerals etc..

Memories of my Father - Part 3

   The summer between sixth and seventh grader my Dad hurt his knee real bad. So he had to elevate it awhile and missed church a couple times and those Sundays I and a couple of the younger ones, I think Danny & Sammie, got to stay home with Dad and he told us Bible stories. He started in Genesis and worked his way through the Old Testament telling us all the things he could put in story form for us.

   After supper in the summer often Dad would get us all to go out together to hoe and pull weeds in the garden or the peanut field or cane patch. Then in the fall it was picking peanuts off the stalks that had been pulled and put on stacks to dry.

   When it got cold outside we'd sit around the stove in the evening shelling popcorn(which had to be blown out in the breeze the next day) or shelling peanuts.

   My Dad was a man who was scheduled and on time. We were to get up before 5:00 and have the chores done and be at the breakfast table by 7:00. That way we had time to wash dishes & clean up before going to school; church or whatever needed to be done. In the evening the chores and milking were started at 5:00 and done by 6:00 so we could eat supper and have time to relax and get to bed by 8:00.

   The one time I can remember Dad being late was once when the turkeys were ready for market and the trucks where scheduled to be there early in the morning with the neighbors notified and ready to come help as the turkey farmers helped each other load turkeys.

   Anyway the next morning I heard the turkey trucks - big 18 wheelers come down the road and drive in. Excitedly I woke sister Katie who slept with me and we got dressed and hurried out to help.

   Lots of people where already there so when I couldn't find Dad right away I went about getting the turkeys herded up in the pens which were made the day before so the biggest guys could catch them easier and stuff them in the cages on the trucks - After a while the field manager came over to me and called me honey(which I was not used to and it kinda creeped me out) and asked where my Dad was. I said, "He's around here somewhere." He said he couldn't find him and would I please find him and tell him he wanted to talk with him. So in the semi darkness I started looking at each man closely and could not find my Dad - Strange, I thought. Well maybe he went back to the house for something - So I trotted to the house - everything was quiet and dark - I went to my parents bedroom door - I heard heavy breathing - I timidly said, "Dad?"  I heard my Dad sit up and sleepily say - "What do you need?"

   "The turkey trucks are here." - "Ei yi yi, Was zeit id es? Wie hab ich schlofa karma?" And Dad was dressed and out in a twinkling of an eye. The strangeness of the atmosphere lifted and all was right with the world - My Dad was in charge.

- Mamaw Graber

Memories of my Father - Part 2

   Some other special memories are of winter evenings leaning against the rocking chair and his shoulder as he read or told us stories - he usually told them as the younger ones couldn't understand English. One of my favorites was Rosanna of the Amish, The Little House or the Laura Ingalls series etc. Alone yet Not Alone was too sad. Christie's old organ was sad but has a happy enough ending and enough bright spots in it to carry me through and like it.

   One of my fondest memories is of the whole family being bundled in the buggy with Dad at the lines, talking to the horses and humming or whistling  and the sound of the buggy wheels whirring along, the harness clinking and clanging and nobody fussing because Dad was there and would not allow it. Oh precious family time - everyone together.

   One inbetween Sunday morning there was a lot of flies so I took a swatter and was killing them as they sat in the sunshine on the living room floor. After killing all the flies I could see I got the broom and started sweeping. In a little bit Dad comes in, looks at me and comes over, puts his hands over my hands on the broom and shows me how to sweep without kicking up dust - "You must not flip it up at the last which sends the dust flying, always stop while the broom is still on the floor then start another stroke."   I remembered that many times as I swept.

   Dad was always teaching and encouraging us to sing. We sang German and English songs. Quite often he'd bring a copy of a song he wanted us to memories and tack it above the sink where we'd see it while washing dishes. He would encourage us to sing as we worked in the kitchen so we'd learn songs but also to keep us from fussing among ourselves as we worked. Dad would get us to all sing together while driving. Not on the way to church though - he wouldn't even whistle, just hum a church hymn.

   Dad would take us to widows or widowers or the sick or elderly people to sing. And not just the Amish, he frequently took us to Non-Amish and even took us to sing Christmas songs and encouraged us to make homemade candy to give to people at such times. Dad was always inviting people over for a meal or a bed - even brought home a homeless tramp for the night once. After supper he got us to sing songs in English for the poor fellow.

   Dad had an English Bible and Prayer book to use if people were with us who couldn't understand German. After Mother died, Dad got us to memorize songs such as; "Mother's Grave & "Will the Circle be Unbroken?" Which we'd sing for people and they'd be smiling and we'd be smiling to cheer them up.

- Mamaw Graber

Memories of My Father - Part 1

 
   One of my earliest memories of Dad was hearing the horse & buggy arriving home and tugging, pushing, and dragging a heavy kitchen chair across the uneven floor to the door and struggling to get up on it to look out the window in the door watching for Dad to come in. Then getting so excited when he comes up the path that I forget he can't come in while my chair is against the door and having to get down and push is away and then being caught up in my Daddy's arms and being intrigued by the tiny icicles on his beard.

   After supper my sisters Lizzie & Katie wold join me as we'd untie Dad's shoes and help each other tug and pull to get his shoes off, taking many a merry tumble on the floor till we finally succeeded.

   Next would be memories of sitting on Dad's lap in church. Snuggling as close to him as possible to be safe from the big boys in the back who made faces or winked at me if I looked at them and gradually being lulled to sleep by the preacher's voice droning on and on.

   Also remember getting jealous of the little boys that came over to my Dad after church when the men sat around visiting and my Dad would talk to them and give them candy - That was my Dad and therefore my candy!

   These memories I know where when I was three years old and younger because they were of Bowling Green, MO, and we moved out of there when I was three.

- Mamaw Graber

Some Exciting News.... That y'all already know but so what? :P

Well someone has officially joined us here at our fireplace. :) As of the 20th of this month, our darling brother, Jonathan has asked the lovely Marci Merkle to be his wife.

They have not yet set a date although they did set a date to set date. :P Which would be Christmas break(it's like a pun only not....).

Yay, celebration!!! *partyyyyy* Yay them. :P

P.S.

    See I waited a few days so technically it's the past. :P And it was remembered very fondly. ;)

Dorcas: The Girl Who Gave Me Her Birthday

In 1995 she was a beautiful baby. We named her Dorcas- adorable Dorcas. Today she is seventeen. Along the way she has been many things and meant a lot to me. Among other things she has been my little Texas Star, my Bluebonnet Princess, the Apple of God's eye, A Brave Adventuress, a Seeker of Hidden Treasure,  a Beloved Daughter of the King, a Bearer of Light, a Cute Young Lady, and a someone with a unique perspective on life. On top of everything else she gave me her birthday last year for my wedding!

I love you Dorcas! And just to prove that you've been all the things I mentioned above I've included photos:

Confessions of Baking, Bakeries, Bake Goods, Anything and All things Baked under the Sun.........

   Round Top......  Through The Eyes of Dorcas Graber

   Did shivers run up your spine at the very mention of the words? What memories flashed through your mind? Did the taste of smashed cherry pie somehow form on your lips? What was the first thought that passed through your mind.......

   For those of you who have moved away from our home you may have easily forgotten that this weekend is Round Top. But it's very know to all members of the Graber Nuts who still reside inside the four walls of what is affectionately know as the Graber Funny Farm. (No, really it's still known as that. Congratulations whoever started it). You know the drill. The late nights, the stressful breakdowns (I try and keep mine dramatic and artistic), the breakfast tacos, the freezing A/C to keep the bake goods, the early mornings, the trading, talking to all those people, and let's not forget the memorial car rides in between where I usually made everyone's breakfast fun by throwing up. :) Didn't you just love me?

   I well remember the uneasy feeling I would wake up with and know, just know, that later in the morning my annual appearance would be made. I also remember the first year I did not throw up on the way to Round Top. Was that a time of celebration or what? It was the first year that it was just Rosemary, David, Mom, and me.

    As a young child, Round Top was one of the most exciting events of the year! Honestly, I didn't know why y'all always complained so. I thought that is was the best thing ever. And peddling too. I thought peddling was the bomb and didn't find out until later years that Jonathan disliked it very much. Or that he sent me in because the people were more adapt to buy from me then him. Aren't we a family of business geniuses?

   Another memory that is forever burned into my memory is that of Ruth baking cookies with Rush Limbaugh talking on the radio. To this day whenever I hear his show, I can taste chocolate chip cookies. Which makes it rather hard to focus on politics. :)

   Well, I hope you enjoyed my rambling about Round Top and that maybe somehow I managed to bring up some good memories in your mind. 

   Life life to the fullest!  ;)

                                                      Following His Star,

                                                                 Dorcas  (akaMadBakerGirl)

   Note:  This post was written during Round Top week but due to extreme work overload and sketchy memory was posted at a later date.  Enjoy. :)