Written April 14, 1987. The following is the text from Lacy’s Grandmother Dial’s Easter letter to Lacy. Lacy’s bedroom had just been papered in the rainbow pattern that Lacy and her mother had purchased earlier. Dear Lacy Anne, Enclosed is a check for your father to pay for your “Easter Basket” of rainbows – your…… Continue reading Rainbows
Category: Adulthood
Essays referencing the adulthood years. (1920-2000)
MWD Obituary
Mary W. Dial (nee Wertenberger) Beloved wife of the late Robert J. Dial M.D., loving mother of Robert J., Jr. (Donna), Dorothy Schwartz (Abba), and Charles, dear grandmother of eight and great-grandmother of 10, sister of the late Carl Wertenberger. Passed away Sept. 1, 2000. Memorial contributions may be forwarded to Judson Park Retirement Community,…… Continue reading MWD Obituary
My Hometown
Events circa 1914-1926. Written January 1995. One morning in late August of 1914, I woke up in a new place, a new house, a new town, and a new state. Here I was, destined to spend most of the next two decades of my life. As I walked outside and looked around, I was delighted. So…… Continue reading My Hometown
McCoy Franklin
Events circa 1898-1980. Written November 1994. Meet McCoy Franklin, a Berea College senior, class of 1926, from Crossnore, NC. He was a tall, gangly, six-footer of the Lincoln type, handsome in a rugged way. A serious student, capable all-around athlete, orator, and casually outgoing with a tremendous sense of humor. He was always ready to tell…… Continue reading McCoy Franklin
Blue Roads
Events between 1818 and 1994. Written September 1994. Monday, July 18, 1994, was a most memorable day! My daughter and her husband took my fourteen-year-old granddaughter, Lacy, and me on a trip where I would revisit times gone by. Lacy would learn about some of her Ohio ancestors. We first visited Redhaw, Ohio, a small settlement…… Continue reading Blue Roads
Mississippi
Events circa 1905-1913. Written May 1993 – January 1994. During the 1907-1911 period, the Methodist Home Mission Society employed my father and mother as “Home Missionaries” in the backwoods of Mississippi. Those woods were predominantly primeval pines — huge, tall trees with most of the growth up high. The forest floor was a thick carpet of…… Continue reading Mississippi
The Storm
Event on July 4, 1969. Written April 1994 at Judson for The Scribblers. Clevelanders will always remember July 4, 1969. The day dawned hot, sultry, and foreboding. The air was so still it made the heat unbearable. Patriotic programs, parades, and fireworks were scheduled for every municipal park in the Greater Cleveland area, and the greatest… Continue reading The Storm
The Garden
Events circa 1937-1972. Written April 1994. In 1937, the Robert Dials moved, with Robert and Dolly, their two children, from the City of Cleveland to the Village of Fairview. Fairview lay just beyond Rocky River’s Lorain Avenue Bridge, offering an escape from the city to the country. It was quite a change for all of us.…… Continue reading The Garden
Springcrest Farm
Events circa 1905-1979. Written February 1994. Springcrest Farm had been in the Sechrist family for generations, having John Quincy Adams’ signature on its deed. Its big, white 14-room farmhouse dominated the quadrangle of small buildings surrounding it, expanding from a pioneer colonial to meet the needs of later generations by adding an apartment on either side.…… Continue reading Springcrest Farm
The Wedding
Event in 1935. Written April 1993. The excitement was at fever pitch in the Dial clan the day after we came home from our river trip. It was David’s wedding day! David was the family’s baby, a very special gentleman, and much loved by all. He was unspoiled, mild-mannered, gentle, and generous to a fault with…… Continue reading The Wedding
World War I
Events circa 1917-1919. Unfinished draft written [date unknown]. The events that happened during the last two years of World War I affected my family ???, so they were burned in my memory. We were living in Berea, Ky., dominated by Berea College. All four of us were engaged in some college-managed activity — my father was…… Continue reading World War I
The River Trip
Event in 1935. Written September 1989. It was the Mark Twain Centennial Year when Robert and I took a memorable vacation. We started out in our fancy new blue Buick, armed with “Tom Sawyer” and “Huckleberry Finn,” which Robert read aloud as I drove toward the Mississippi River and Mark Twain country. We went through Nauvoo,…… Continue reading The River Trip
My Trip To My Class Reunion – Ex ’23
Event circa 19331. Written September 1989. There was a brilliant full moon when I set off for my alma mater, Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. I had acquired Robert’s agreement that I deserved a brief vacation. My obligations as a wife, mother, and homemaker caused much toil preceding this departure. Bob, aged four and one half,…… Continue reading My Trip To My Class Reunion – Ex ’23
When A Distinguished Visitor Was Unwelcome!
Event circa 1931. Written September 1989. Dr. Emory Dial’s Lorain Ave. Clinic’s second floor housed the clinic surgery, recovery room, X-ray, and doctors’ offices around one huge waiting room. It also held his own spacious two-bedroom apartment. The first floor was mostly commercial, with one optometrist occupying the space by the main Lorain Avenue entrance. The…… Continue reading When A Distinguished Visitor Was Unwelcome!
The Passport
September 1965 trip to Wayne and Ashland counties (Ohio) to locate birth and citizenship documents.
The Trip To New Haven (1922, 1957)
1957 text and audio recounting of the 1922 disaster-laden family trip from Ohio to the Yale University commencement.