The Frontier Kid

I was in the sixth grade in Fuller School when my mother took sick. The doctor told my dad he had better get her to University Hospital in Ann Arbor as soon as possible for an operation to remove goiters they found. They removed 14 altogether, which apparently was a first of that nature. Her health immediately improved and continued so thru her fifties until she passed away at 81 years of a heart attack that put her in Hillsdale Hospital several times over the years. When she left for the Hospital in Ann Arbor, I was sent to live with my sister Grace in Battle Creek and in as much as she didn't want me out of school. I stayed for one year (until my mother recovered) and attended Wattles Park School in that year. I passed from 6th grade to 8th grade, then returned to Frontier High School in Frontier, MI. School was about ¾ mile from home. In order to get there without much effort, my dog Sport would pull me on my bicycle. However, I couldn't seem to teach him to come get me so I rode my bike home in the spring and summer. But, in the fall and winter, when the hunting and trapping season was in, I hunted to and from Frontier. This was in 1928 and 1929. In 1929 the Great Depression was in full force, so the game I and my dad got kept us eating, along with what we raised. Times were so tough that some kids that lived in towns did not attend school. Kids on farms had it tough, but had enough to eat even though their ribs stuck out a little bit. Wild life (rabbits, pheasants, ducks, geese, woodchucks, and coon) kept meat on the table for my family. Dad was an excellent hunter, and needless to say I got my training from him at a very early age. I remember at five years I shot my first rabbit. People didn't reflect on their hardships at this time, they just got up and tried to accomplish what they had to do to survive. Back then people helped each other, neighbor helped neighbor..