Nothing quite connects the ancestral dots quite like reading something handwritten by an ancestor. That’s why I gave my grandmother, Modene Warren, a gift for Christmas one year called “The Heirloom Memories Book.” I’ve written about it once before, here. She didn’t fill out the entire book, in fact, she only filled out four pages, plus one additional page she added on a piece of notebook paper. But I’m still thankful for what she did write because it answers the question about why so many of my family members ended up in Omaha, Nebraska—where I still live.
Here’s what she said:
“I knew Ed [her husband of 49 years] about 6 years before we started dating [while they both still lived in Arkansas]. We dated for 2 years and married July 3, 1935. We moved in with Mrs. Warren and Ed’s two sisters, Nadine and Erma for a year. Then we moved into a two room house next door.
“We had no money and were always getting things on time. We’d pay them off when our crops came in. Then we’d start all over again. After we made a crop one year, I told Ed to leave farming—to go some place to find a job. He said not until we get the crop out. I said I would hire help to get it out. After talking, he said we can’t do any worse, so I said ‘go.’
“He left for Omaha the last of September. I came in November. Mrs. Warren was in Omaha by this point. He would find work at first, but only one or two days. Boy things were hard. He walked from South Omaha to North Omaha looking for work. Then, he worked for a year straight. I worked at St. Catherine’s old hospital for $25.00 a month and was glad to have a job. I worked from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., five days a week, riding the bus for ten years. Ed was always working. We saved 10 cents for a loaf of bread. Then we saved $5.00 and got an apartment in South Omaha across from the post office.”
One simple desire by two people nearly sixty years ago changed the lives of the generations who followed them. Most of my family still lives in Omaha. They've met spouses, had children, bought houses, worked, played, enjoyed life, and some have even died here already. Some of my family moved to St. Louis and did all of the same things. And I still have many relatives in Arkansas. I just love knowing how it all came together. And I know because my grandma took the time to record it.