Kevin Knowles won my Ruger 22!

It really was not my rifle, but I thought sure that I was going to win it. It was in a raffle to benefit Greg Reynolds. Kevin Knowles won the drawing of the 50th Anniversary Ruger 22 Rifle. Thanks to everyone who bought chances. Greg appreciates the help in his fight against cancer.

PrunePicker Memories of my Sister, Juanita Aletha Moore.

This, of course, is one of my favorite pictures. My five sisters.

I look at the picture and think about my Mom getting all five of these girls all dressed up. They are all so pretty! The twins were born late in 1913. Picture taken in 1914. Nita (Juanita) eight years old is seated with the twins on the right. Don't you know that Nita was busy helping Mom. There were five girls under seven at one time. A picture of the five girls later in life is below. Can you match the ladies to the little girls?

Nita is the lady on the left. They are nice looking ladies. They were so nice and kind. I am thankful that I was blessed with such a wonderful bunch of sisters!

Nita had an interesting life. You have heard the old Chinese blessing? "May you not have an interesting life!" An interesting life was assumed to be full of hard times. Four of my sisters were married twice. (except Nita) I always thought that Nita should have also been married twice.

Nita was still living at home when I was born. Six months later she was married to Bob Moore. I can remember her coming in the front door when I was four years old. There was joy and excitement in the house caused by her visit.

Nita had seven children. The first was born when I was one year old. I had all ready been made an Uncle by sister Thelma. I was an Uncle when I was 21 days old.

I lived with Nita and her family for several short periods. I was around her children a lot. We were well acquainted and were like brothers. After a while we went different ways.

Nita had a hard life. For a time she and Bob were crop workers and followed the harvest from Arizona to California. Bob earned money as a labor broker. I am not sure how it worked. But Bob made money at it and did not pick crops. They had a truck and tent. I remember visiting Nita and her family in Arvin. They were in a tent.  One time she was chopping firewood and a splinter stuck in her eye. Her glass eye was so good, that you could not tell which eye it was.

I was living with them in a house in Pomona. My sister Jean who worked at the Pomona Tile Plant got Nita a job washing towels and industrial cloths for the plant. She did the laundry in her Maytag washing machine and clotheslines. One evening I looked out the window and the back of the house was burning! We got out but the little house burned to the ground. I remember that her washing machine had melted. To another sister's house for me that night.

Nita smiled and laughed a lot. I was talking with her about dancing once and she said that she could do the Charleston. She did it! I was amazed. She was really good. You could tell that she had really danced in her younger days!

I can remember Nita making a meal of salt pork (salt pork was 4 1/2 cents per pound) gravy and biscuits. Or potato soup. (only potatoes and tomatoes) I remember going for her to buy day old bread.

When Bob passed away. I rode with my sister Jean and her husband Butch to the funeral in Bythe, California. It was like a reunion with all her children. Nita had been living in a house in Blythe for some time. The house was owned by a son. She finally could take it easy.

Once when Jackie and I had our RV parked in Palm Springs we drove down to Blythe and went to lunch at Denny's. Some of Nita's family joined us. Here is a picture taken at that time. The oldest and the youngest of the Monson siblings.

Nita worked hard all her life. At seven she had four younger sisters. I understand that she washed the dishes from that time. She worked hard helping my Mom and then worked hard raising her own children.

I thought that Nita had a hard and dreary life. She chopped wood, she took in laundry, she picked crops, she lived sometimes in a tent. With seven children. But she was always jolly and good natured.

I remember Nita fondly. She was always kind, gracious, and thoughtful. She passed away in 1993 at the age of 86. God Bless her.

Vital Signs for August 2016.

Oh Boy! Lost eight pounds in August. Lost 14 in July. That is 22 pounds since I started dieting. Feel better, move better and my pants are looser.

My blood pressure has dropped. From around 135 to around 115. At a recent visit with Dr Carter, she thought that we could try cutting my blood pressure medicine in half. Can go back up if my blood pressure increases. Dr Carter said that my blood work indicates that I am one point from being diabetic. She is going to schedule a blood sample for three months from now to check again.

Incidentally I will be 92 in 321 days. I will be 95 in 1417 days. Sounds good.

Kylee Seto. Techster Goalkeeper.

Kylee is my hero. Last winter she taught me in my water exercise class. Now in August she is a star soccer player for the Louisiana Techster Soccer Team. Kylee is from Vancouver, Canada. (One of my favorite cities.)

I am thrilled to be in a picture with Kylee, even if my face looks glum. I have seen four soccer games so far. The Techsters lost one game, tied one game, and won two games. I played soccer in the fifth grade.

PrunePicker Memories of my Mother, Olive Knowlton Monson.

My Mother was born in Stirling, Kansas in 1889. She passed away in 1931 at the Los Angeles County Hospital. 42 short busy years.

She had nine children. First five girls and then four boys. Two of the girls were twins. I was just five when she went to the hospital. I can remember her sitting in the back seat of a soft top sedan. I was held up by someone to tell her good by. That is my last memory of her. The total number of memories that I have of her is about three or four. I really missed having a Mother in my life. I love her.

The picture below is an enlargement of her from a Knowlton Family picture. She is about 16 in the picture.

This next picture is the best picture that I have of my Mom. It is also a good picture of my Dad.

Mom sent me to kindergarten a year early. (She needed a baby sitter) So I went two years to kindergarten. I can remember walking to and from school. It was a good distance and across a large busy street. When I got home Mom would fix us a tasty snack.

I remember taking a nap on the school room floor. I could see Mom sitting along the side of the room.

Once Mom went to a movie theatre for a demonstration of new kitchen cook stoves. She took me along. Curtains went up so we could see the stoves. Then my Mom carried me up on the stage to get a closer look at the stoves. I was terrified. I thought that the curtains were going to come down and trap us for ever. I screamed and Mom had to leave.

Once I was a naughty four year old. Mom told me to go out doors and pick out a good switch. Three feet or so long and leave some little branches at the small end. I did not like that job. Mom switched the back of my legs! (Later in the sixth grade I got the same treatment from the Principle. In the seventh grade at Fremont Junior High School I had a fraternity paddle laid on my rear end by Principle Chance. Miss Beard, the teacher involved, observed. I remember smiling at her during the paddling.)

I remember Mom mixing strawberries, cream, and sugar in a large enameled blue bowl. She baked non sweet fluffy short bread. This was the entire meal for a bunch of family on Sunday evening during strawberry season. I loved it. I would like some right now.

I remember the funeral. A large room full of people. My cousin Elmo was holding me in his arms. It was an open casket funeral. Everyone was crying. I had no conception whatever about what was going on. I remember people saying that there was a very large attendance.

My sisters say that Mom was a good cook and a skillful seamstress. She could make two dresses for the twin girls (without patterns and each a different size) between lunch and the time to start supper. Mom would also play the piano and sing for her children. I wish that I could have heard that.

I show the Knowlton family picture again. Taken in Stirling, Kansas around 1905. Mom is the teen age girl on the left. I am so thankful that I have this picture.

PrunePicker Memories of my Father, Charles Abner Monson. Part 6.

I had said in a previous post about my Dad that I did not know when he was adopted by his Uncle Charles. And moved from Covington, Kentucky to Stirling, Kansas. I have since writing that post found out. I was re-reading an old letter from my Sister Donna. She said that Dad's Mother died when he was about seven and that he was given to his Uncle. This would have been around 1888. If I had any kind of memory or if my genealogy work had been complete I would have known the year of her death. So my Dad lost his Mom (my Grandmother) at about the same age that I lost mine.  So sad.

Dad's life was a mixed bag. Was the Father of nine. Food on the table. Worked many years as a hired farm hand and Ranch foreman. Then was a successful contractor with a team of horses in Pomona. I can remember being in a barn with the horses. They were named Bert and Beck. I remember eating some rolled oats (horse food). Then Dad fell on hard times. Due to the Great Depression and the mechanization of farm work. At the age of 59 he had a severe stroke. He spent the next 17 years as an invalid. He committed suicide by starvation at the age of 76. It is hard to fault him for this act.

27 per cent of my close family committed suicide. 3 of 11.

My oldest brother, Keith. killed himself at the age of 59.

My next oldest brother, George, killed himself at the age of 85.

I was shocked and saddened by these events. I found it hard to believe. I watch my state of mind closely. I do not want to die that way. I used to carry a concealed pistol. I got rid of it. I do not need a convenient means of suicide in my pocket.

I will now start on my memories of my Mother, five sisters, and three brothers. Let us find some happy memories.

My sixth grade Japanese friend.

When I was in the sixth grade, in the morning, I used to go to the home of a boyfriend, who was Japanese, and we would walk to school together. Then we graduated and went to John C. Fremont Junior High School. Soon after Pearl Harbor my friend was moved to a Relocation Center out at the Los Angeles County Fairgrounds. My brother in law, Butch, was hired to be a guard at the Center. With the help of Butch I was able to visit with my friend through a chain link fence. I never saw him again and can not remember his name. I often think about him and wonder about the rest of his life. Especially his time in incarceration.

Recently a monument to the Pomona Relocation center was dedicated. My niece in Pomona posted about this dedication . Along with the only published pictures of the Center. The pictures gave me a nostalgia surge.

PrunePicker Memories of my Father, Charles Abner Monson. Part 5.

My Dad was the son of five generations of Kentuckians. He taught me manners. And to say ma'm, sir, and thank you. One time he beat me with his razor strop for not speaking correctly. Another time he made me stay home for 30 days. The beating infuriated me and just made me feel rebellious. What really got my attention and made me feel so bad was when he would talk seriously to me about my shortcomings.

Dad had several sayings  that stuck with me. "Honesty is the best policy". "Anything worth doing is worth doing right". If he thought a lot about someone he would say "You sir, are a gentleman, and a scholar, and a good judge of horse flesh". If you are in a fight "Hit him in the nose, hard!". "Do not draw your gun if you are not going to use it."

He was born in a time where the ability to handle work horses was valuable. He was in his element for the first fifty or so years of his life. Then motors took over. Dad never fully adjusted to the internal combustion engine.

When I was very young I remember watching Dad excavate the basement of a large building with a horse drawn earth scraper called a Fresno.

I was impressed. My Father was an important and vital part of the construction crew.

Dad supported a large family for many years. Then he fell on hard times. Poor man. My heart goes out to him. It must have been very hard on him. After his severe stroke he spent 17 years in an institution.  In his last years he tried to end his life several times but was unsuccessful. He finally stopped eating and successfully ended his life. I think about him a lot. God Bless.

Charles Abner Monson was born 9 Jun 1981 in Covington, Kentucky. He died 27 Dec 1957 in Downey, California.

PrunePicker Memories of my Father, Charles Abner Monson. Part 4.

My Father never told me that he loved me. I know that he did, in his way. I can remember several things that showed his thought for me. I used to get terrible cases of poison oak. My whole body would be involved. One time required the care of a Doctor. Another time I missed several weeks of school. This one time his Mexican friends told him of a cure. It involved boiling a bucket full of a certain weed. The bucket poured in a tub full of water. Then you soaked in the tub. I think that it helped.

One time I had a terrible ear ache. My Father poured a spoon full of my heated urine into my ear. It helped.

When my family was breaking up and going their separate ways (I think that my Grandma gave up running our home) Dad sent Warren and I to the McKinley School for Boys in Van Nuys. It was kind of fancy and cost a good bit. I know that Dad was getting letters from the School for a few years wanting money.

Times were hard. I can remember no food at times in our house. Now it was just Dad, Warren, and I. Warren was four years older than me and was soon gone. I would slip into orchards (they were all around Pomona) and steal fruit to eat.

The following story will illustrate how poor we were. Dad, Warren and I were in a grape field picking grapes.

I believe our fellow workers were mostly Mexican. When we broke for lunch I saw my first Mexican food. Lots of tortillas! I think our fellow workers had more lunch than we did. We were paid a certain amount per grapes picked. I was pretty young and did not pick a lot. But I kept track and knew that I had earned 70 cents. That was a lot of money to me and I was thinking during the day how I was going to spend it. When pay time come Dad kept all the money that the three of us had coming. I was greatly disappointed. I think now what dire straits my Dad's finances were in and I feel bad for him.

About this time I came home one day. All of our furniture was in a pile in the front yard. We had not paid our rent and had been evicted. That is poor. I had to go to a sister's house.

Later Dad and I lived in a room adjacent to a couple of rooms that the family of my sister Nita lived in. These rooms were in the back of a long ago closed up store. I can remember wandering in the store and looking out the front windows. We ate our meals with Nita. I can remember biscuits and salt pork gravy three meals a day. I remember that salt pork was 4 1/2 cents per pound. Sometimes we had potato soup.

One morning I woke up and saw my Father laying on the floor. He had suffered a severe stroke in the night. An ambulance took him to the Los Angeles County Hospital. He recovered but was paralyzed on his left side. He spent the next 17 years at the Rancho Los Amigos in Downey, California. This was the Los angeles County Poor Farm. It has been closed. There is a Rehabilitation Center with the same name across the highway. (Years later my son Chris spent time at the new facility when he had many broken limbs from a traffic accident.)

My Father lived from 1881 to 1957. Seventy six tough years.

PrunePicker Memories of my Father, Charles Abner Monson. Part 3.

How did Mom  and Dad get from Elk City, Oklahoma to Holtville, California in 1907? Holtville is 12 miles from the Mexican border.

It is a few miles from El Centro. This is not the prettiest part of California. Hot, dry, but when you have water you can hear truck crops growing. Hot day and night. I think about the young couple from Kansas working on a farm in the area. (Farms here are called Ranches) My 18 year old Mom with a baby girl (my oldest sister Nita).

In two years my sister Thelma was born. Thelma was born in Long Beach. Mom's family had moved during these two years to Long Beach. (they later settled in the Bay area. Oakland and Berkeley) I suppose that the Knowlton's were too embarrassed by my Mom's early pregnancy to stay in Stirling and sold their farm and moved to California.

Three years later Jean was born in Redlands. The Monsons stayed in the the Redlands area for some time.  Jean, Dallas, Donna, and Keith were born in Redlands. In 1918 my brother George was born in Riverside. In 1921 Warren was born in Chino. I, Charles Elbert, was born in Pomona in 1925.

I would say the surroundings were nicer in Pomona that in Holtville. I liked Pomona. It was an hour from the snow on Mt Baldy, and an hour from the beach at Long Beach. I used both places a lot.

I have no idea how much schooling my Dad had. I wish that I had asked. I suppose it came up but i sure do not remember. He was a hard working man. And until the depression had supported his family well.

Dad was good looking in the John Wayne style.

He would debate politics and religion at length. I remember his religious discussions with my Grandmother.

I remember going with him to a political feed out in the country. The feed was given by Jerry Voorhis. Jerry was a candidate for Congress. I remember slot machines at the feed. It was exciting to a young boy. It seemed so sinful, I know it was illegal. After five terms in Congress Jerry was defeated by Richard Nixon. You remember Richard, huh?