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Four Generations of Smiles
DeAnn (Wolkow) Kruempel
The little girl’s eyes sparkle with joy. Contemplating the photo before me, I can almost hear her giggle. Close by her stand three women. All three smile proudly. The photograph was taken at our parents’ 25 th wedding anniversary. It represents four generations and spans a time period of 80 years.
As I study those faces, I cannot help but wonder how times have changed from the birth of the oldest to the youngest. My grandmother Selma Anderson, was born in 1882 in a sod house in Dakota Territory. I can imagine what childbirth may have been like more than 140 years ago:
Settlers lived in isolation. There were no hospitals in the area and very few physicians.
Pioneers handled their own medical needs. Family was miles or oceans away. Likely, Selma’s mother was on her own when she gave birth in that sod house. Three of Selma’s eight siblings were born there. Did our great-grandmother suddenly find herself responsible for three toddlers?
They needed to be fed, kept warm, dry and clean in that home that was plainly part of the prairie. Grandma Selma was born in April. The good thing about that was spring warmth made the house easier to heat with the small woodstove. The bad thing was that Selma’s father was probably out working the ground for planting.
Life wasn’t easy for our grandmother. But she grew strong and tough, married Adolf Anderson and soon gave birth to a new generation. Their oldest child died at six months.
Whooping cough. Then twin girls came along, and another girl. Another of the women smiling in the photo, our mother, was born next. The year was 1912. Medical facilities were still nonexistent except in large cities. A few doctors maintained makeshift clinics in their homes. In emergencies, they made house calls. Births were not considered emergencies, so likely Grandma was also on her own when her babies came.
It was December, so Grandpa helped keep the house warm, the frame house they had built. Neighbor ladies may have brought a loaf of bread or a jar of fruit soup, but I imagine Grandma was up and running soon after Mom was born.
Mom’s life was not easy. There were wars, hunger, drought and hard work. But Mom grew up tough and strong and married Dad. Deloris, another of the happy people in the photo, was also born at home. A doctor from De Smet helped with delivery, gave orders to Mom to stay in bed for a week, and he would stop back then.
Deloris does not consider her growing up years as hard times, but still she grew up strong and tough, married Lowell and soon Susan came along, the happy child in the photo. Susan was born in a hospital at Madison, South Dakota. She was delivered by Dr. Anderson. Mom and baby stayed in the hospital five days.
That little baby, Susan, grew up and married Bryce and eventually they had Emily.
Another story, a miracle in itself. Life and having babies have changed considerably in the last 144 years.
But one thing remains the same. Great grandmothers, grandmothers and moms all smile proudly about every new generation.
The author’s column appears in a growing number of Midwest newspapers. Kruempel compiles and publishes the column stories every year. She has also published a historical fiction series, “Promises to Keep.”
Her ten books are available on Amazon. Signed copies may be purchased at the Harrison County Welcome Center. Contact Kruempel at deannkruempelauthor@gmail.com.
