Jimmy: A Son of Pioneers on the Western Prairies

Well, Jay. Last summer your mother asked me to write some of my memories of childhood. Here they are. Some are pure memories, some have been told to me, and some are simply my childhood daydreams. Some of the experiences made profound impressions on my memory and influenced my values as an adult. Others simply produce a smile over a pleasant memory. I hope they will do the same for you and others who listen to them.

Your mother and grandmother read these after they were written and made some comments. Your Aunt Enid and Uncle Joe DeBarthe read them while we were on vacation in Massachusetts. Since they spent years on or near the homestead in Wyoming, some of the situations brought vivid memories to them. So these words could not have come to be, were it not for their input. Also, Grandma Wanda and your Aunt Robin Stubbart have been of the utmost help with their computer knowledge. And finally, I sent a copy of “Jimmy” to your Great Grandmother, Audrey Stubbart, and asked her to use her editing and proofreading sklils on it. When she returned it, she commented that some of the situations in the story were not as she remembered them as “Jimmy’s Mother,” but that may simply be from one individual seeing it in a different light than another saw it. But since she is of such importance to each of us and to the story, we have copied a picture of her taken at work from the Web. The picture was similar to one used by HBO in their “A Century of Living” which was aired on Christmas Day, 1999. She was born June 9, 1895, so as soon as this millennium is past, she will be living in her third 100 years! That’s something most of us will never be able to do.

Finally, I have enjoyed writing this and making the sketches for you for your 1999 Christmas present. Grandpa Stubbart