I have two photos of my father as a boy. This is one of them. Owen Dwight Nance is in the back row, first one on the left! He would have been about 11. I believe it is his brother Richard front row, also first on the left. There were three other brothers and two sisters, all older. I don't know if any of them are also in the picture. The only writing on the back says: "The last year class of Arthur School before it was abandoned about 1941-42. Teacher Mrs. Jennie Cummings." It may have been soon after that that the family moved from Oak Hill, Ohio to Columbus.
I think of the Little Rascals every time I see this picture! I'm pretty sure their families didn't have much; I'm also fairly certain they weren't complaining about it. Can you imagine a bunch of kids barefoot in school these days? Likewise, imagine what these kids would think about what is happening in schools today! For one thing, if you told them that no one could carry a pocketknife or play with a toy gun, they would think we'd gone crazy! Maybe we have.
I have no photos of my mother before age 19 or 20. Early pics would have been in the 30s and 40s in southern Germany so of course also during WWII. She was raised working on a farm in southern Germany. They didn't own the land, but families from the village worked on the farm to get some of the food it produced. Plus my father was raised on a small farm in southern Ohio. Equals I'm pretty sure my love for the country is genetic.
I think of the Little Rascals every time I see this picture! I'm pretty sure their families didn't have much; I'm also fairly certain they weren't complaining about it. Can you imagine a bunch of kids barefoot in school these days? Likewise, imagine what these kids would think about what is happening in schools today! For one thing, if you told them that no one could carry a pocketknife or play with a toy gun, they would think we'd gone crazy! Maybe we have.
I have no photos of my mother before age 19 or 20. Early pics would have been in the 30s and 40s in southern Germany so of course also during WWII. She was raised working on a farm in southern Germany. They didn't own the land, but families from the village worked on the farm to get some of the food it produced. Plus my father was raised on a small farm in southern Ohio. Equals I'm pretty sure my love for the country is genetic.
