Goodbye to Dorothy

At age 90, my mother-in-law Dorothy was the oldest living Monohan in the whole extended family. She liked to brag about that and about all her kids and grandkids, and great-grandkids and even one baby great-great grandchild. Dorothy died last week peacefully in her sleep and now my husband Norbert is the oldest living Monohan in our clan.

I know he will continue to brag about his heritage " and about his wonderful family. Dorothy was a "city girl" and she worked in a fancy clothing store in Louisville, Kentucky. Things changed fast when she met and fell in love with a country boy named Norbert. They got married and had five sons: Norbert Jr., Joseph, Stephen, John and David. A midwife delivered all the boys at home, starting with Norbert Jr. who weighed more than 9 pounds. Wow, sounds like a pain in the neck, or someplace else, to me.

They moved to a farm in Corydon, Indiana, and that was definitely a culture shock for Dorothy. Their two-story log home was more than 100 years old and featured an outhouse. The mischievous boys thought it was fun to watch their mother hide in it while the big bad bull was running loose.

The farmhouse had a cistern to collect rain water and a hand pump. They had a potbelly stove that was used to heat the house and water. Every Saturday night the family bathed in the kitchen in a large laundry wash tub that was filled with hot water in the kitchen.

Feeding the family was a chore. They ate whatever grew in their very large vegetable garden. It included corn, grits, potatoes, beans, carrots, tomatoes, but especially turnips, which Norbert Jr. hated. Dorothy made all their bread with their homegrown wheat and she did a lot of canning. They had a root cellar that was as big as their house. She also made all their butter and cottage cheese.

Since Norbert Jr. was the oldest, he had the biggest chores, like milking the nine cows before going to school every morning. He also had the hardest chores, which were the most fun to him, like driving the tractor when he was only 10 years old. One time he rolled it in a ditch and came out laughing!

Indiana has lots of snow in the winter and the boys really loved that, but I guess Dorothy was not as excited by it. These were great times for the young boys, but it was a lot of work for Mom and Dad.

Goodbye, dear Dorothy. The Monohan boys have many happy memories that will last a lifetime.

n Linda Monohan may be reached at 782-5802.