All I Ever Wanted Was a Good Man and a Happy Home: Memoirs of a Woman Who Married Fifteen Times

By Patricia Baxter Petralia and Mina Baxter Petralia

Starting from her birth in 1927, Mina describes her early life as the fourth of seven children, being raised by an abused mother and an alcoholic father and having to learn to cook for her entire family at the age of five. In All I Ever Wanted Was a Good Man and a Happy Home, she tells stories about struggling to finish high school, singing in a night club, dancing for ten cents a dance, hitchhiking to California as a teenager, cooking on a tug boat on the Mississippi River, working on the Alaskan Pipeline, being married fifteen times, and raising her two children.

She tells her story in colorful country words. The book has nuggets of hard earned truths. Her downhome description may shock and amaze you, but this was agricultural living less than one hundred years ago. This book includes journal entries, with all the specific details of daily living. Through the ups and downs she shows an indomitable spirit to overcome the setbacks and achieve her goals. She was a feisty woman who thrived on life and survived.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Jul 1, 2013
• ISBN: 9781475989823

Patricia Baxter Petralia

Mina Baxter, completed high school, a medical assistant program and insurance underwriter courses at Louisiana State University. Baxter was a lifelong student of religion, health, and nutrition. Patricia Baxter Petralia earned a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the University of Central Arkansas and a master’s degree in health administration from St. Joseph’s University in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She lives near Philadelphia with her husband and dog.

Book preview

Table of Contents

Dedication

Disclaimer

Acknowledgement

Forward

The Early Years

The Rebellious Years

Becoming a Wife and Mother

Adventures in Romance

Adventures Working In the World

Epilogue

Photo Legend

Dedication

I wrote my story in the hope that someone will read it that is having a bad time, and they will gain hope that they can have a wonderful life too.

Mina Baxter

Disclaimer

Most of the names in this memoir have been changed to protect the privacy of the individuals in this memoir.

Acknowledgement

First and foremost, my mother has to be acknowledged for her efforts in writing her memoirs and for her great attitude about life and living to the fullest. I am most appreciative to my patient editor, Carolyn Gelone. She is a member of The Writer’s Group and a retired teacher. She helped me to make mom’s book understandable and readable. Also, thanks to Deborah Hancock and the editorial consultants of iUniverse who provided direction during various stages of the editing process. I want to recognize Rena Tieser, another member of The Writer’s Group, who at eighty-five was the first to get her book published. Thanks to Elsa Petersen, who helped me hold on to my dream of publishing this book. And special thanks to Sebastian Petralia whose technical skills, love, and support were invaluable.

And finally, I have had the privilege of knowing inspirational teachers who encouraged me to write through the years: Mrs. Dunn, my eighth grade English teacher, Susan Purcell, the leader of our memoir writing class, and the author, James Wexler who taught memoir writing at Drexel University.

Patricia Baxter Petralia

Forward

Patricia Baxter Petralia

Being the daughter of Mina Baxter was rewarding. She created a childhood for my brother and me that she wished she had had. She dressed us in matching comboy outfits and had our horses outfitted in silver trimmed saddles. She taught my brother and me to work hard, be independent, and achieve our goals. By example, she taught us to go for what we wanted and get it! She never let anyone block her from obtaining her dreams. She taught us to laugh often and have fun. She taught us to be active in our lives. And she taught us the importance of religion.

Living with my mother was also challenging. She had many opinions and would fight for them. It made life unpredictable. So we never knew when she was going to be angry with someone. It was also unsettling that we kids never knew why she would suddenly start a new business, begin a new marriage or move us to a new home.

Other people saw my mother as a fun-loving, dynamic woman who would get things done. She was a chain-smoking, loud woman that nobody bossed around. Her favorite motto was, Don’t worry about the skinny mule, just load the wagon. She had many men and women friends alike. Our house was full of people visiting all the time. Mother was a beautiful lady. She lit up any room she walked into. Because of her beauty, she attracted many suitors and married fifteen of them. The problem seemed to be she did not believe in sex before marriage. Although she said marriage should be forever, she was usually disillusioned within three months of a new marriage and would get a divorce. She didn’t grow up with healthy role models, consequently, she didn’t know how to pick mates, communicate or work things out.

I encouraged my mother to write her story and many of the experiences she wrote about, she had never talked about. By reading this story I felt I got to know my mother better. I could see how hard she worked to achieve a measure of security, stability and love. I hope you enjoy reading her adventuresome life story as you get to know a woman who found peace within herself in the end.

Patricia Baxter Petralia

The Early Years

I’m Mina Baxter and I’m old now so I have time to write my life story. I had hard times however I made sure I had time for living, loving and enjoying life. I did what I wanted, when I wanted and made a pretty good life for my family. My kids were my priority. I was a big adventurer too, traveling the world and meeting people. The greatest relationship I experienced on earth was my relationship with the Lord as I went through some really rough times but finally found a happy home with God. I decided to write my story in the hope that someone will read it who is having a bad time, and they will gain hope that they can have a wonderful life too.

I’ll start my life story with a brief family history. In the 1800s, two brothers, John and Don, moved from Ohio to Arkansas after they learned that land was being given away to homesteaders. They were honest, hardworking folks that made up the backbone of America. Don got one hundred sixty acres in North Little Rock, Arkansas to farm cotton. He was married to Grandma, Mary Mae, but caught TB and died, making Grandma promise she would never marry again. Later she broke that promise when the other brother, John, begged her to marry him. They had four children of which one daughter died of the flu. The other