Leonard at large 8/6

The day when this column is published is when my mother's funeral and burial are held. She came to the end of this life experience at Nevada Regional Hospital Sunday morning. As I sat in the hospital, I was giving thought to her life and started writing some things down. This is a person that had a major influence on my life and did much for me. I am especially blessed for her long tenure of life -- 93 years. In many ways I can not believe that this is taking place -- it is. I was not ready and others tell me that you are never ready. Following are a portion of mom's (Reta Ernsbarger's) experiences in life that I have selected: Name given to her when she was born was Cuva Reta Hawk. She was the middle child of seven children. She had pretty natural wavy red hair with freckles and was always somewhat shy. Born in Kingfisher County, where the dirt is red, she went to a country school where her father and siblings attended. She attended high school for two years in Marshall, Okla., with her sister Pearl. When the family moved to Bates County Missouri in 1926 she dropped the name she did not like, Cuva, and became known as Reta. In the area where she lived in Oklahoma -- they continued calling her Cuva. She went to about 2 or 3 days of her junior year of high school at Butler before dropping out. In her early days she worked in a laundry. The Arthur Ernsbarger family were neighbors to the Ira Hawk family. This was where she met Archie, nicknamed "Buster." She said that the reason she married him was because he had a good pair of mules. One reason Buster liked to go see Reta was that her Mother made delicious sugar cookies and always had them available. When he went to see Reta, Buster would head straight to the cookie jar -- his mother did not make anything of that type. They ran off to Harrisonville to get married on March 29,1926, while she was 19 years of age. In their early marriage he worked on a farm near Harrisonville. They then went to Chicago for a short period of time They returned to the Butler area to farm. They moved from a farm North of Butler to a Scully leased farm southeast of Butler on Highway 52. Later, they bought the 120 acre farm. When they moved to East 52, they took all of their possessions on a hay wagon and drove a few cattle. Life was hard during the Great Depression. With major droughts and hot weather, they were poor -- so was everyone else. As result no one knew they were poor. Because of these experiences, Reta was cautious where she spent her money. They purchased the farm with a Farm Security Loan. (The government agency was known at that time as Farm Security Administration -- since has had many name changes and other changes.) A barn was built in 1940 and a new house in 1941. The loan was paid off much earlier then they expected. One of the requirements of the loan was to do canning. She canned large quantities of food, including meat. She also took care of the chickens and hens, providing egg money that was used for purchasing groceries. Having her own chickens fried for Sunday dinners was a special treat for the family. World War II years came, and Buster was not drafted, because of farming. Reta's brother was in the worst of the war in Africa and Europe. His son Gilbert, lived with the family for nine months. Also, two of Reta's brother-in-laws served in the military. That time was another challenging time. Sugar was rationed and she horded it, ending up having more sugar than ever. The family also cut back on the use of sugar. During the Depression the two sons were born. When it came time for Leonard to be born, she went to the barn and told Buster that the baby was about to be born. He said, "Can't you wait until I get through with the milking?" She called both mothers and the doctors. The birth taking place at home (which was the usual plan for births in that era) was difficult. It was a breech birth. By the grace of God both survived. He was not weighted until the diaper was put on him -- 10 pounds. She was required to spend 10 days in bed, which was all mothers did during that period of time. Electricity in rural areas was not available, and due to the heat everyone else slept outside. Being born on July 4, Leonard was often referred to as a firecracker. She told him he was a fizzle. She has often said that David was born on the hottest day on record -- August 13, 1936. It was 113 degrees. While the others slept outside, they had to wet blankets up to cool her and the baby. He developed jaundice. One difficult time was while David was young he became ill, nearly dying. He nearly stopped breathing while she was holding him. Reta Ernsbarger experiences in life will be continued.