Recipes for Living Maryla and Abby Hart

I am five-years-old and I will be in first grade next year. In kindergarten I liked to play blocks and I liked show and tell. One time for show and tell I took a teddy bear that belonged to my grandpa, Dale. His secretaries, Vicky and Connie and Joy and Beth, gave it to him for his birthday. I have another bear, a koala, that belongs to my aunt Dee and it is cuddly and soft. I like to sleep with it.

My favorite animal is a seal. I saw one at the zoo in the Des Moines. We went to Korea to see our grandpa and grandma this last summer (1998) and on the way back we stopped in California and saw our aunt Dee and our cousin Chelsey and we all got to go to Disneyland. I jumped off the diving board at Chelsey's baby-sitter's house and this year I took swimming lessons from Blake Boldon and I passed the first level.

At the last day of school my kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Gillespie, brought her daughter and husband.

I was the third child born to Gerald and Marie Karns. I was born February 2, 1944, at home in Creston, Iowa. My mother had a hysterectomy after I was born; so I lived for awhile with some very close friends of my parents. Their children were older and they treated me like I was a little doll. I have an older sister, Cordelia Karns Holden, who lives in San Antonio, Texas, now; and a middle sister, Vallie Karns Pearcy, who lives in Osceola. My mother saw my name in the newspaper, and to this day I have never seen it spelled this way. Our neighbor, Dr. Leland Fuller, used to call me MaryLa Rae.

My dad worked for the Iowa State Highway Commission operating a dragline, and he was transferred to Osceola in 1952. We moved to the big house on the corner of North Park and East Washington. Cordelia and Vallie cried, but I was glad when we moved because my 2nd grade teacher, Ms. Scanlin, had a tradition I didn't appreciate. Whenever one of us had a birthday, she brought out what I suppose seemed to her to be a paddle, but to me it looked like a board, and she swatted the student the number of years of his/her birthday. I thought that I had escaped that because we were moving the end of January, but she announced that since I was leaving she would give me my swats early. Another reason I wanted to move was because the high school had installed a new fire escape that was a big circle and when my older sister had used it, she came home all bruised and cut, and I dreamed of this every night!!!!

On the first day of school my mother walked with us. It was in the same location as the current elementary school. The second day she trusted us to walk home alone. I was a little later than my sister, Vallie, and walked home by myself I got lost! Jones' Hill looked huge to me and I just kept walking around it. Jim Miller and Janeen Huffman were playing and saw me crying, and they helped me get home. My mother was also looking for me, and this was a very traumatic experience.

There were a couple of memories from my growing up years that have stayed in my mind: Kids would gather in our yard, and we would play ball all the time. Our bat was a piece of wood, but we had a good ball. Then there was the morning we girls, Vallie and I, left for school, but stopped to get Janeen, whose parents were Bud and Betty Huffman. She wasn't ready and we got to playing with dolls and lost track of time. When we suddenly remembered that we were to be in school, we were tardy. Our parents were called and that was the last time we were ever late. Janeen was always ready from then on.

One of my teachers was Clara Mae Howard. She was very precise about everything, and I still benefit from the fact that she taught me penmanship. I remember how we had to practice making those perfect circles. That is probably why I write well.

I went to South Ward, where the United Methodist Church now stands, to West Ward where there is now an apartment complex, and the old high school on Highway 69. My class came along in the transition period and we were the first class to graduate from the new high school that we are in now.

In high school I took speech from Lucille Maharry, who would always say, "You can do it, you know you can!" She made you feel so good about yourself and speech class was always fun. I also received the Homemaker of the Year Award in which we had to write an essay on how to be a successful homemaker and wife. I have applied this in my life and have a very happy marriage.

During high school I went with Dale R. Hart. He was my high school sweetheart and we married on February 15. We had a small wedding. I worked for a small insurance company in Des Moines for awhile and later went to work for Employers Mutual. Dale worked for Charlie Morgan. He went to work for Miller Products first in Des Moines and then in the Osceola plant, and has been there ever since, going on 36 years.

Our first home was an apartment above Young's Furniture Store; we later rented from Frank Brannon in a new duplex that he built and later sold to Mickey Thomas. I visited with Mickey the other day and he said he had been looking through old leases and found ours for $65.00. We later moved to Lincoln Street and rented from Daisy and Floyd McQuern. They taught me how to garden. One year all I had was weeds. Floyd said, "Maryla, if you will make your rows about 14 inches apart, I'll till your garden for you." From then on Floyd tilled my garden every year. He planted according to the time indicated in the Farmers Almanac; he taught me how to tie up tomato plants and to put moth balls in the corn rows. The first year I did that was the year we had lots of corn. We cleaned it and our children, Deanna and Ryan, sold it 12 ears for $1.00. The next year people called wanting to buy some more, but the kids didn't want to do it again. Under Floyd's supervision, from then on I had a beautiful garden, and Daisy taught me how to make pickled beets.

We moved to our new home, which at that time was known as the McBroom Addition, and it was the second house to be built there. It has been our home for 22 years. We have many good memories of our home and children; but, when we moved, Deanna was in the 9th grade, and she thought that she had moved to a farm. This was surely the end of the world. So we built on that and would announce, "Car coming down the main road," and she'd run to look.

The kids had lots of advantages of there being no houses on the east side of the street. That is where Ryan learned to ride a small motorcycle, with a strict rule that he couldn't ride it unless his dad was home. Deanna and Ryan also learned to drive a stick shift in the field. Since this was our own home, Ryan found a little kitten in the field and wanted to keep it. The kitten became known as Mr. Sue because we had first called her Sue. When she was at one vet clinic we said "she" and the vet said, "He!!!!"

Edison was our first dog. He was a Brittany Spaniel and was shot. Then Dale found "Pup" during an ice storm. Someone had abandoned him and left him by the side of the road. His nose, ears, and tail were frostbitten. When we took him to Dr. Lewis, he said, "I think he needs a new tail" and he ended up with a little stub. We named him Pup because we didn't think that he would stay. We did not tie him up and found out that he had been walking Charlie Paul to work at the hospital everyday. Pup died in September of 1998. Our next dog was "Jigger" who won Dale's and my heart. ..,

Celesta Jackson and I rode bicycles everyday when LeRoy was ill. It was a relaxing time for her and LeRoy liked for her to get out of the house for awhile. When their dog had puppies, she told me we could have one. I said, NO! One day she came over with two and said to Dale, "Pick out the one you want." He was so tiny that we could hold him in our hand. Pup and Mr. Sue were not that thrilled to have him come into their domain. We enjoyed him for two years and then he was hit by a car. He loved everyone. That leaves us with a German Shepherd "Maxx" who is Hannah and Abby's dog. He is now living with them in Georgia.

We have two children, a daughter, Deanna, who lives in California with her daughter, Chelsey Rae. She has lived in California for 15 years and calls it home. She and her daughter enjoy the sunshine and warm weather. Ryan, our son, lives in Ft. Benning, Georgia, with his two daughters, Hannah and Abby. They left for their new home on July 5th of this year with their dog Maxx.

Our three granddaughters, Hannah, eight-years-old; Chelsey, six-years-old; and Abigail (Abby), also six, are the highlight of our lives. We enjoy them so much but it is usually only once or twice a year that we can be with them. Some people don't realize what it means to have their family so close. We do feel, however, that we have given our children the security and confidence of being on their own.

This year we had two of our granddaughters live with us. Every day was a joy and a new adventure. Hannah was in Mr. Boldon's class and Mrs. Underwood would come and listen to the students read. Hannah became very good friends with Mrs. Underwood, who is editing this book. She wrote Hannah's story first and then Great Grandma Beulah Hart, Abigail Kim Hart, her sister, and then their Grandma Maryla's story.

Another joy of mine is cross stitching, and I was taught by my best friend, Carla Crosser, who was our neighbor and taught Spanish at Clarke Community School. She was always doing a lot of cross stitch and one day she said, "Maryla, you can learn to do this." My first cross stitch was for my dad's 80th birthday. When Carla moved to Red Oak, I made a cross stitch for her. When our first granddaughter was born I made a lot of them for her. A special one was a quilt that I cross stitched, and then Great Grandma Beulah stitched the rest. Then our other two granddaughters came along and I had to do the same for them. I have also done cross stitches and framed them for Secretaries' Day, weddings, birthdays, new babies and graduation. I have probably done 200 or more and enjoyed every moment. When I wanted to give them for graduation, I would start in March and work every night and weekend on them. I tried to have them ready for their reception tables. I did two for retirement and those were a lot of fun. I try to take pictures of the ones that I have done.

Another joy that I have has been from my work at the school, where I have been for 27 years. I began as a volunteer helping Dorothy Wilson in the library in the 1971-'72 school year. I gave my time the first semester and then was hired under Title I to work with Beverly Schader. Funding had to be applied for each year, so when there was an opening in the Guidance Office with Ralph Evans and LaVerne Duncan, I applied and was hired. Now I am the receptionist and attendance secretary in the high school. It has been a wonderful experience. I feel like I am all the kids' MOM. When one of them needs a dollar or picture money I always help out. Parents know that they can call me anytime.

One of the worthwhile projects has been the Senior Insert Page in the Osceola Sentinel that Stack Samuelson started. I collect all the materials for it-pictures and questionnaires. I know that not all kids can afford to buy an annual, and this way they, too, can have a picture of everyone in their class and something about them to remember.

When I worked in the guidance office, I had an opportunity to help seniors apply for scholarships and learned to listen to what the kids have to say. That is important because kids today have a lot of problems that maybe no generation before them has had to contend with. There was one boy who everybody had given up on. I let him know that I was there for him and when school was out in the spring, he came to me and said, ''Thank you for caring about me." I guess I have always been for the underdog, as they say. Sometimes it is necessary to look for the good and bring it out in the child. The Class of '86 gave me a gift at class day and every member of the class gave me a hug. Those things mean more than the pay.

My dad is still living. He is 92 years-old and lives by himself in the home where we first moved in Osceola. My mother passed away with cancer in 1983. I miss her very much; she was a wonderful cook, and I enjoyed all our talks. She loved our daughter very much because she is the only granddaughter that they have in the family. My mother-in-law, Beulah, has taken over the role of mother for me since mom is gone. We enjoy a lot of fun times, and she is also a very good cook. My father-in-law, John, died in 1980. Ryan, our son, is the only grandson for them so he is special to her. She still lives in her own home and enjoys going on a lot of trips.

If I were to give my Recipe for Living, I would say "Listen to what everybody has to say and always be a friend."