PRESSED BETWEEN THE PAGES
DeAnn (Wolkow) Kruempel
Side by Side
When our folks said “I do,” in 1939, they knew they would need to work together as they began married life on the farm with a song and a prayer. Having grown up in the Great Depression and seen many farms lost, they were determined to make a go of it. Though I am certain Mom focused on feeding her farmer and caring for their home and Dad managed the planting, harvest and livestock, when one needed help, the other stepped up.
The kids came along and soon fit into the routine of the farm. Dad took their sons in hand, mostly with the outside work. Mom taught the girls what they needed to know about cooking and cleaning and raising food. But when extenuating circumstances required extra help, it was all hands on deck.
Pressed between the pages of my mind is a memory of our mother’s bumper crop of peas.
She and my sisters hauled five buckets into the house and began the arduous task of shelling. Dad stepped into the kitchen between chores. Soon Deloris, Donald, Darlene, Dorothy, Delmer and I sat around the table between Mom and Dad. Pods cracked open and peas bounced into bowls. Working in sync, we had the job done in no time.
In the fall, when the pullets needed to be moved from their growing-up brooder house to
the egg-producing henhouse, every one of us helped carry those squawking girls to their new home. Some lugged four at a time, some just one, but many hands made light work!
Spring required a cattle drive in which the herd had to be moved from the home pastures
to the greener grass of the south pasture. Tractor and pickup drivers got them headed up and movin’ out while the rest of us guarded gates to the wheat field, the neighbor’s driveway, the neighbor’s corn field and the road crossing. As always in life, things did not always go as planned, but that’s another story!
Growing up on the farm in the 50s and 60s taught us many valuable lessons. Not only did
we learn to work together, we learned to step up to the plate when needed. Deloris recalls when I was born. Those days, births required a hospital confinement of several days. Mom called from the hospital and instructed the family to get the carrots dug and the apples picked. A hard frost was predicted! The carrots and apples were safely tucked in the porch before Mom and the precious, adorable baby came home.
Harry Woods wrote a catchy tune in 1927, though it was in the 1950s when Kay Starr
recorded it, and the song became a hit. The title was “Side by Side.” Our dad likely sang the song and whistled the melody. “Oh, we ain’t got a barrel of money. Maybe we’re ragged and funny.
But we’ll travel along singing a song – Side by Side.
Maybe it’s pressed between the pages of your memory, too!
DeAnn Kruempel grew up on a farm near De Smet, SD, the sixth child of Harrison and Mabel Wolkow. She attended school at Erwin and De Smet and later lived in North Dakota and Iowa.
The author worked in school and public libraries for more than 30 years. Her column has run in a growing number of Midwest newspapers for five years. Each year the author publishes the stories. She has also written a historical fiction series, “Promises to Keep.” Her ten books are available on Amazon. Signed copies can be purchased at the Harrison County Welcome Center.
Contact Kruempel at deannkruempelauthor@gmail.com.
