Fourth Place Winner of Birthday Contest

Stories inspired by this picture were submitted:

First place went to: John Lottery. He chose the ad for a year as his prize. Second place goes to: Ivy, and she chose the copy of my book. Third place goes to another new entrant, Canadian Doomer., and she chose North With The Spring

Here is the final winner, Chuck of Secondary Roads. Chuck you can choose from the garden book or a mystery. If you want one of the mysteries, I'll be sure to hunt up which ones I have duplicates of.

Grammy and Baby Kay

It was early summer of 1948. Baby Kay was sitting on the grass enjoying the warm sun under the watchful eyes of her great grandmother. Grammy enjoyed being with family. She had rejoiced when her granddaughter had married her high school sweetheart. That had happened shortly after he had returned from WWII just in time for Christmas of 1945.

Kay’s Grampy had not returned from The Big War (WWI). He didn’t go early, because he had a daughter,. Yet he was eventually called. And he went. It was neither bullet nor bomb that prematurely ended his life. It was sickness. The doctors did what they could, but it was not enough. They had buried Grampy in France just a few months before the war ended. At least the fighting had ended.

The daughter, Sarah (Kay’s grandmother), had married a farmer. The farmer grew the crops and raised the animals that helped feed a nation as it struggled through hard times in the 1930s. Grammy’s girl Sarah and her farmer raised four sons and a daughter, Rachel who would be Kay’s mother.

As 1940 began, Europe was at war. In September of 1939, Germany had invaded Poland without warning. The British and French declared war against Germany within two days. Within a week other nations had joined the fight. The burning question was if and when the United States would enter the fray. In March of 1941, congress had passed and the president had signed the lend-lease act. There was no desire for the nation to go to war. And yet before the year was over, the United States had committed to fighting war in Europe and across the Pacific.

That war had lasted nearly four years. It left an impact on every family. Fathers, brothers and sons enlisted or were drafted. Those that remained at home saved and sacrificed to help the war effort. Those intense years and everyone left home that could work did work. The nation not only tasted victory on two fronts, but it had transformed itself into an industrial giant in the process.

And so the men and women returned home. They wanted so many things that they couldn’t buy during the war. Houses, appliances and automobiles were high on the list of consumer desires. That meant plenty of work, and that included work for Kay’s parents.

Grammy would spend a couple of months with various family members and then she would pack her earthly goods into a single suitcase and move on to the next family member.

In the early summer of 1948, she had come to visit Rachel and her family. She especially wanted to get acquainted with Baby Kay. It was a wonderful time for Grammy.

Six weeks later, she would move on to be with one of her grandsons. Sixteen months later, Grammy passed quietly one night in her sleep. The family mourned her loss. Later, Kay felt sad that she could not remember the woman, but had to rely on the stories that the family told about Grammy. Kay knew her great grandmother through pictures of which this one was her favorite.

Chuck, you can go to More About the Contest and choose your gift. Be sure to send me your address!