Remembering North Dakota: Homesickness, A Disease of the Heart

By Avis Hornbaker

“Remembering the good ol’ days” certainly applied to my mom, Lovida. Perhaps raising four children in the heart of a deep depression contributed toward this. Her young life was full of interesting, funny, trying, and dangerous experiences.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Trilogy Christian Publishing
• Release date: Oct 15, 2019
• ISBN: 9781640884885

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Remembering North Dakota: Homesickness, A Disease of the Heart

Avis Hornbaker

Trilogy Christian Publishers

A Wholly Owned Subsidiary of Trinity Broadcasting Network

2442 Michelle Drive

Tustin, CA 92780

Copyright © 2019 by Avis Hornbaker

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise noted, taken from THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) taken from The Holy Bible, King James Version. Cambridge Edition: 1769.

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Trilogy Disclaimer: The views and content expressed in this book are those of the author and may not necessarily reflect the views and doctrine of Trilogy Christian Publishing or the Trinity Broadcasting Network.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available.

ISBN 978-1-64088-487-8 (Print Book)

ISBN 978-1-64088-488-5 (ebook)

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My mom, Lovida Anderson, was having a difficult time sleeping during the months when Alzheimer’s was taking over my dad Albert Anderson’s life. He’d wake her up in the night, go back to sleep, and leave her staring at the ceiling.

Having just read an interesting booklet of interviews of elderly people in nursing homes, done by college students, I suggested that she write her memories during those wakeful hours. She had a marvelous memory, even at almost 100 years old. I am so glad she did. She gave me her writings, which I would type, copy, and distribute to the family. Of course, there was no sense of order to them. That is what I tried to do in this book.

As she remembered what thoughtful, giving parents she had growing up, a sense of guilt swept over her. She had thought this word entitlement was only about our present generation.

Her mother was an excellent seamstress. For every occasion, for every play, her mother would sew the appropriate dress or costume that she needed, and had it pressed and ready to wear at the right time. Too often, her mother would be too tired to attend the function, having been up all night sewing.

Mom’s dad started his day at 4:00 a.m. He worked hard all day, ate dinner, and then went to the barn to hitch up the horses so he could take her to town for a rehearsal or performance; then he would wait for her, go home, put the horses in the barn, and put the buggy away.

There was never a complaint from either.

CHAPTER 1

THE VIRUS BITES

It was a sunny spring Seattle day—just eighteen months since we had left North Dakota for a better life in Washington State. My husband Al was working. We were living in a cozy house on a quiet street. Loraine could walk to school. My favorite cousin Gladys Derickson, her husband Pleyel, and her daughter Delna lived only a few blocks away. On top of all that, I now had a sweet baby girl, Shirley, at the easy stage of six months. Then why was I so out of sorts?

Mother and Dad came to see us at Christmas. Mother realized I was just plain homesick, so when Dad had to go home for his job, Mother decided to stay awhile, hoping that would help. She certainly was very helpful; especially since Lowell, now aged three, had a habit of running away every chance he got. Hard as she tried, my mood did not improve much.

Mother received a letter from Dad that same day. After reading it, she came to me with a plan. Dad was tired of batching and had sent her enough money for her return train ride that it could instead cover the cost of my driving her home and having a good visit! Did my mood change fast. I could hardly wait for Al to come home.

Al knew how much that visit would mean to me, but he said our car needed constant work