Editor’s Note: Julie at the Ranch is, as we speak, somewhere in northwestern Oklahoma enjoying some time with friends. Incidentally, she and I will be driving to south-central and northwestern Oklahoma tomorrow. We’ll check in from time to time with information about what we found. We’ll be talking to people, seeing places, and working on developing the RDC just a bit more. In the meantime, please accept this post as a substitute for her regular, “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch” work. ~ RDK
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On November 13th of this year, I posted a short “Simple Sabbath” entry and described a project I had been working on for a while. It entailed typing up my grandmother’s handwritten memoirs she recorded over a period of about twenty-two years in order for us to have a sense of our family history from her perspective. I finished the first draft and provided her a spiral-bound copy for a Christmas present. She will be reviewing the draft for any inaccuracies and then I’m going to go over it with an editorial eye for the final draft. I asked her permission to begin sharing some of her memories with you, our RDC reading community, and she replied, “Oh yes, of course, honey. That’s fine.”
And so, with that permission tucked away in my head, here is the beginning entry of her work. I plan on publishing an excerpt on Tuesday evenings as a follow up to Julie’s posts. I haven’t decided whether or not they will come out weekly or bi-weekly. One more note…my grandmother wrote just like she talked. I may keep much of this style intact, so if you see very few periods or commas, you’ll understand why. Thanks, Kelly
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One Voice of the Oklahoma Prairie: My Grandmother’s Memoirs