Jennie Laverna Dean 1894-2000
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
The day arrived when all of our friends and neighbors came to help load the boxcar. I watched in silence as they loaded all of the wooden crates with our things in them, and finally the crate full of laying hens. When everything else was loaded, they led my calf Daddy had given me for a wedding gift on, and the last was Doc, Mable and Glenn’s horses. The boxcar was full. All I could think of, was to wonder how I would find Glenn the next day when I got to Eads, and what would I do if he wasn't there? I wondered if I would ever see him and our things again, and couldn't stop the tears when the train pulled out. Glenn stood at the door, holding on with one hand, and waving until the train was out of sight with the other. It was too late to turn back now, but I still couldn't feel good about the move. I spent a restless night thinking about the upcoming trip in the morning. What would I do if Glenn wasn't there? What if I got off at the wrong station? What if I went to sleep and missed the Eads station and went on to Denver? What if? What if? What if? Questions circled around in my head until I was dizzy. I was surprised when my mother put her hand on my shoulder and shook gently. "Jennie, it's time to get up. You don't want to be late for the train." I was so scared I didn't really care if I did miss the train, but I didn't want my family to know how afraid I was, or how much I wanted to just stay there with them. I was a married woman now, and expected to act like one. I was a grown woman now, and expected to go where my husband went to live. I dressed slowly in one of my nicest dresses, took the fur muff and collar Glenn had given me for Christmas, and went downstairs to breakfast. The smell of hot coffee helped wake me up, and I felt better after drinking a cup and eating the pancakes Mama had fixed. While I ate she prepared a lunch basket for me to take on the train, and tried to make small talk. Finally the time came I had to go to the depot. The train was pulling in just as we arrived. Daddy put my bags on the train, and held me close for just a minute before helping me up on the train. I know I saw a tear in his eye when he turned to leave. The conductor helped me to my seat, and in a few short minutes we were on our way. It was too late to turn back now. I was on my way to Colorado. I became adjusted to the clickety clack of the train on the tracks and began to relax a little. I leaned my head back and allowed myself to close my eyes. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Maybe we would have a little dream house, with roses growing on the white picket fence like Mama had. I would keep our little house spotless and we would be very happy in Colorado. I began to feel better, and even a little excited about the prospect of really having our own home and land. The conductor called off the towns as we went through, and we occasionally stopped to fill the tenders with more coal and the boilers with water. He had assured me that he would wake me if I were asleep when we got to Eads. It would be many hours before we would arrive. Late that afternoon, the conductor announced we would stop at a small town, that was to be our last stop in Kansas. I wondered what Colorado would look like. Could I see mountains? I would start watching out the window more. I had seen nothing but flat land, with no trees or water within sight for miles. The train stopped and several men got on board. I saw one man get on that looked like Glenn, but I knew that couldn't be. He was on the train the day before, and would be in Eads to meet me when I got there. I looked down so the man wouldn't think me unlady like as he started down the aisle towards me. Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and looked up to see Glenn standing over me. "I'm so glad you wore your fur muff," he said. "I have been going from car to car to find you, and was about to decide you weren't on this train when I saw your muff". At first I was thrilled to see him, but my happiness quickly turned to concern and curiosity. He was so dirty, and looked so tired, I could hardly believe it was him. He sat down in the seat beside me, and as the train pulled out he began to tell me what had happened.
Formats
Book Details
About the Book
This is a riveting, true story of a lady who was born in the nineteenth century, and lived through the entire twentieth century. Born in 1894 to a mother who had lost an 18-month-old baby just the year before, and who was ill herself, Jennie was told repeatedly that she wasn’t wanted. Due to her mothers’ health, she was moved from living next door to her loving grandparents in Illinois, to the plains of Kansas, where she grew up with her parents and five brothers and sisters. Among the regular hardships of life in those years, she endured more than most. She survived being trampled by cows, smallpox, fire, homesteading in Colorado, giving birth, death, a crippled baby, an abusive marriage, and many other trials in some of the hardest circumstances imaginable. This is a true account of the many trials she suffered from August 28, 1894 until her death August 29, 2000. After Jennie entered a nursing home at the age of 101, her Granddaughter, V. Charlene Beye spent many hours video taping and recording the stories she told. On her 103rd birthday she was given a draft of this book. She claimed that every word in it is true.
About the Author
V. Charlene Beye is a 63-year-old wife, mother and grandmother. She began writing children’s stories and poetry for her four children when they were small and has continued writing over the years for her twenty-three grandchildren. She has also started a fictional novel about the lives of people from her hometown in the early 1900s. Her favorite writing project this far has been this biography of her Grandmother. She lives in a small town in central Kansas, where she spends her time writing, doing volunteer work, and visiting friends when not traveling with her husband. Her favorite pastime, other than writing, is recording books for the blind and reading local newspapers over the radio for the blind and handicapped.