"What is your calling in Life"
by Lola Zimmerman
 I know we probably have several callings in our lifetime, and I know I've had at least two.
The first one came at a very early age when I knew I was destined to be a wife and mother.
This happened when I was married at 21 and a few years later had two sons. This was a very happy time for me and I had a wonderful marriage and raised two sons of whom I'm very proud.
The second calling came after my husband retired, and we moved to Fall City. Little did I know when placing the wheelbarrow out by the street with a few herb plants on it that this would turn into a business that grew and grew! Even though it was a tremendous amount of work, I knew deep in my heart that it was something I was destined to do.
After 26 years, we again retired to Red Oak. I'm waiting for my third, probably final, calling. Yet I know that as long as I'm alive, my mission in life is not complete.
"Blessing for my Children and Grandchildren"
by Lola Zimmerman
I am so grateful that you came into my life.
You have been a blessing to me since the day you were born.
May you find the Spirit of God within you, and be guided along your life's path.
May your lives be full of joy and love forever.
I love you,
Mom and Grandma
"A Very Special Person"
by Lola Zimmerman, September 24, 2003
 She was one of many ladies who were at the DAR House setting up for the wedding of my Grandson Paul and Tara last Saturday.
The family was there early waiting for the photographer. This lady was always coming up to me asking if there was anything she could do or get for me.
After the wedding ceremony and we were filling our plates with food, she was there by my side to carry my food plate up the stairs to our table. This was really appreciated as I had to hang on the rail with one hand and lift my long skirt with the other. She carried my plate to my table, set me down and put the napkin in my lap, gave me a kiss and said if I needed anything, she would be close by.
After dinner was over and the dancing had started, my grandson asked me to dance. I said I could hardly stand on my feet, let alone dance, but there she was, saying "come on, come on…you can do it." So I danced with my grandson while she stood by smiling.
Later, my family and I and friends were line dancing, and she was over at the side, swaying with the music and smiling.
When the party was over and we were ready to leave, again she was right there by my side. She got my coat and put it on me and gave me a big kiss.
I think she was my angel.
"The Love Story"
by Lola Zimmerman
 She was a young woman, living with her sister in California. She worked in a rooming house, helping the owner clean and cook for twelve young working men.
They would take turns driving her home from work every night. But one young man decided to drive her home every night. They fell in love, and were married three months later in the Little Church of the Flowers in Glendale California.
They had a romantic honeymoon in Yosemite National Park.
And as the years went by, they had two sons, and watched them grow up and marry wonderful girls and then enjoyed the three wonderful grandchildren. It was a life of hard work, love and romance.
They had been married fifty-nine years, when he became ill. And as he lay dying, with the children by his bedside, she took him in her arms, told him she loved him, and that it was alright for him to go without her. He died in her arms-but love lives on.
"The Farm Kitchen"
by Lola Zimmerman
I was born on a farm in Nebraska, and lived there for the first fifteen years of my life. There were seven of us in the family, four older sisters and one older brother. A younger brother died when he was six weeks old. My father farmed the land with his two horses, Tony and Topsy. He raised corn, wheat and alfalfa. We had several milk cows, some pigs and hundreds of chickens. My mother, besides taking care of all of us, always had a large garden, growing most of our food, which she canned for winter meals. She also raised hundreds of chickens. The eggs were sold or traded at the grocery store for things like sugar, flour and salt. Of course, we also ate lots of chicken.
Some of my happiest memories were of life on the farm, and especially of the large country kitchen. It was the hub of daily life. The back door opened into a long enclosed porch. On one wall was the cream separator. By pouring the milk into the bowl on top and turning a handle, the milk came out one spout and the cream out the other. Some of the cream was made into butter. The surplus was sold at the grocery store. Our family used the milk for drinking and cooking, and the surplus was fed to the pigs.
Next to the separator was the washing machine. The water had to be carried in from the well outside, heated on the kitchen stove and then poured into the washer. The soap used was something my mother had made from beef tallow and lye. Then by turning a handle it agitated the clothes, making them clean. This was always a Monday chore.
Just beyond the washer was the door to the kitchen. Inside on one wall was the kitchen sink with its bucket of water and small pan for washing hands. Next to the sink was the ice box, used only in the summer and kept cool by chunks of ice, which my father had sawed from the river in the winter and stored in the ice house. The ice box was not very efficient, but served its purpose.
Next to the ice box was the kitchen table. It was oblong, large enough to seat ten very easily. It was used not only for the three meals served every day, but also a flat top for ironing clothes with irons heated on the stove. The table was also a good place to mix and knead the many loaves of bread my mother made every week.
To the left of the table was a free-standing cupboard. The top part had glass doors and shelves that kept all the dishes. Below were drawers with the silverware and dish towels.
Opposite the table was the big black coal-burning stove with two warming ovens above and a large oven beneath and on one end a reservoir. We brought the water in from the well, poured it into the reservoir and the stove heated it. This water was used for washing dishes and for Saturday night baths.
Next to the stove was another free standing cupboard that held the baking supplies-the flour, sugar, spices, pots and pans.
Most of our family life revolved around the kitchen. All of our meals were eaten there. In the winter, my mother and dad would sit in their rocking chairs, next to the warm stove, my father reading his Bible and my mother darning socks or sewing. On Sunday afternoons my dad would pop corn and my brothers and sisters would sit around the table playing cards and eating popcorn.
My older sisters were always experimenting with new recipes in the kitchen. Most of their experiments ended up being fed to the dog.
One time they told me I had to stay outside because the devil was coming to devil some eggs. Later, as I ate them, I thought the devil did a pretty good job.
Many wonderful memories were made there in the kitchen on the farm. And now that I am the only one in the family still living, the memories bring me happiness.
"Middle Vail Grade School"
by Lola Zimmerman
 I started school at our country school house called Middle Vail. Two of the neighbor boys (Donald Beal and Paul) and I made up the first grade class. They were five years old and I was four.
The school was 1/2 mile from our house. A large building, it was divided into two rooms, one for the High School and one ofr the grade school. There was one teacher for each room, teaching all grades. There were three or four students in each grade, or about 24 per room.
The school was heated with a coal-burning stove, and it was the teacher's job to get there early and start the fire and keep it burning all day long. It was not unusual for us to wear our coats all day just to keep warm.
 We started school at 8 AM and went until 4 PM. The we had to walk home. We all dressed for the cold weather. The girls wore long stockings, white or black over our long underwear, along with heavy coats, hats and mittens and boots. The teacher always helped the younger kids put on their coats, etc., before heading home.
Discipline was very strict. Anyone talking outloud when they were supposed to be quiet could get a whack on the hand with a ruler, or get sent to sit in the corner.
If you had to go to the bathroom, you held up your hand and waited to be excused. The toilets were outside, quite a distance from the school house. There was one for the boys and one for the girls, and in between the toilets was the barn for the horses, which some of the students roe to school.
Everyone brought their own lunch, at ate it at their desk or outside, if the weather was nice.
In the fall and early spring, we would play games outside. Baseball was the big favorite with the boys, but as there were not enough boys to make a team, the girls played too. Sometimes the teacher joined in. We also had some swings and bars to play on.
About once a month the school superintendent, Mrs. Montgomery, would come to visit. Everything had to be very clean, and we all had to be on our best behavior. We all liked her and was glad she came.
Sometime between my 3rd and 4th grade, the high school was integrated with the one in town, so that left an empty room in which to have socials and plays.
One of my teachers that I really liked was my 7th and 8th grade teacher, Miss Franz. She was really special and made me want to study hard and just be a better person.
I had to leave the Middle Vail school to go to high school, and I really missed it. However, the two boys I started to school with remained my friends. One of them died a few years ago. The other, Donald Beal, still stays in touch. He and his wife came to see me a few months ago, and we shared wonderful memories of a long time ago.
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