July 23

It was cool yesterday even though sunny. 18C and sunny now.
Meeting at the club in am. Then bowled at MacLeans - ugh! Bowled poorly.
Worked my way through my DNA markers, finally getting a glimmer on how it works. My new kit has now arrived in Texas and the results should be showing up soon.

Me and my brother, Ernie were best friends for a long time but after he got to be sixteen or seventeen (he was two years older than me) he started hanging out with older guys and when my sister Violet got this boy friend and brought him around, Ernie and him hung together and left me out of most things.

  But all in all things weren’t too bad. My oldest sister, Erma sort of let me down, when we were younger she used to take me everywhere but from the time she got to be a teenager she really liked the boys and I became a ‘nuisance’ she used to say! I guess that’s the way it is in families, I was the youngest and they all fussed over me but when they got older I had to find my own way.

  I didn’t actually finish high school, I wasn’t much into studying and played hooky a lot. I don’t think Pa cared so much ‘cause he figured that as long as a man worked hard he’d be okay, but Ma used to whip me every time I got reported. I will say that Violet would stick up for me and in spite of her beau she would most always find time to spend with me and would try and stick up for me with Ma.

  I finally quit school when I was seventeen and was a year behind; my brother Ernie and Violet’s now husband John, were both working in a logging camp and they got me a job. Man that work was so tough I almost went back to school, but I stuck it out and for the first time I had a bit of spending money.          The summer and fall wasn’t so bad but as we were up in the mountains there was snow when winter came. Because of my size (I was five foot six) the boss started out thinking I couldn’t keep up with the other men and I always felt I had to work harder and faster than the others. I think after a few months he saw that I weren’t no quitter and he lightened up on me.

  Spring was just comin’ on in 1938 and one Saturday there was an Army recruitin’ team set up downtown, we had a couple extra days off because of Easter, Ernie had gone to John and Violet’s place at Crescent City and I was on my own so just for the Hell of it I thought I’d go and see what it was all about.

  A couple hours later I was convinced that the army life was for me. The only problem was it was just a couple days before my birthday and I was going to have to get my parents to sign a consent form. I explained this to the recruiting sergeant and the fact that my Ma’d probably tear up the paper.