Category Archives: Columns

Brotherly love

Did you have to share a room with your sibling? Did you always agree?

My sister and I often divided the room in half. This side of the bedroom is yours, that is mine. Our arrangement was difficult to keep as we shared a double bed and the door was on one side of the room.

As children, Rob and Russ shared a room. This column is an account of actions and reactions when big brother Rob found little brother Russell’s dirty socks on his bed.

I know windows rattled whenever issues like this occurred between any of the siblings.

What I really love is the ending and how the problem disappeared. You’ll have to listen to get the whole picture of brotherly love.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A real farm

When I married Bob, I began noticing how farmers and their farms were depicted in the media. If all you knew about farms came from those outlets you’d get the wrong idea about modern farms.

Children’s books often set farms back in the 1940s.

In this archived column, I grumble about this problem.

Years ago, a lot of people visited relatives on the farm. My Chicago cousins helped with haying when we still lived in Illinois. Those summers Don, Ron, and Val learned a lot and worked hard.

Bob always told how he invited a Chicago teacher and her students to take a tour of the Manzke Illinois farm. At the end, he asked the students what they liked best. Bob expected to hear about calves or even the barn cats. The children said they liked seeing apples growing on trees the best. They had never seen an apple tree before. This shocked Bob.

These days many urban people are not connected in any way to farms and that’s a shame. Showing them real rural activities makes a big impression. It educates them while the farm people learn about life in the city.

So when things open up again after this pandemic, visit a farm. Go to a Breakfast on the Farm. Eat your fill and look around. You might be surprised at what you find.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Mutiny!

Rebecca (Becky) was right when she said she did more around the house than her siblings. She started helping when she was a toddler and never stopped.

Months ago, when I started my column recordings I did one about Becky not wanting to go to school. She wasn’t afraid of school. Becky just didn’t want to leave me home. She said that I might need her help with Baby Rachel and toddler Russell–she was right, but I sent her off to school with a hug.

Too bad for Rebecca we never could afford to pay her what she was worth. But I sure appreciated her help through all the years….and even today.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

A kitchen upgrade

My family still remembers this event. It was only the six of us working in the kitchen and it had nothing to do with food.

Good thing I wrote about it in my column. I was wondering when this happened and now my memory has been refreshed.

Russell’s a pumpkin, Becky a princess, Rob is the headless horseman and Rachel is the scarecrow

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I wanted to show a photo of the wallpaper but I couldn’t find one of the kitchen except for this Halloween photo from 1982. It was 1984 when we pulled down all that wallpaper and revealed the yellow-painted walls underneath.

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved

Looking good

I love taking photos. I prefer to be in back of the camera, not in front.

This column tells of the time I had my photo taken for the cover of my first romance novel, Never Bring Her Roses.

FYI: I found more copies of this novel in my back closet. Just in case you need a hardbound copy, just contact me. (sunnybook@aol.com)

Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved