Margy remembers... going to the one room school house until 7th grade and then attending Chatham High School; going square dancing at Peterson's barn and the Spencertown Grange; walking; picking blueberries for the Hoystradts on Fog Hill in the summer for $2.00 a crate; going to the post office to help Mary Herron with the mail and saying I hoped to be a post mistress someday. She used to weigh me on the scale until I got to weigh 60 pounds then she couldn't weigh me anymore!

Most of our teen years were spent at the Valley Garage working at the soda fountain and snack bar. Also it was our hangout. We listened to the juke box with the other kids in town. Our Christmas' were wonderful. We all got a new doll but had to share doll carriage, dishes and high chair etc. This was one way we learned to love each other and share. Mom and Dad took us to Altmar, NY once a year for two weeks for vacation. We did so many things and have so many warm and loving memories that we could go on forever. I could write a book. We are all very fortunate to have been born in the time we were and raised in a large loving family, with such loving parents. Many other wonderful people were part of our lives in Austerlitz; Vernon Stone, Auntie and Uncle Jim, Aunt Carrie, Eloise and Tom Davey, Kathryn and Harold Hammond and their family to name a few.

I remember making a picnic lunch and taking Mom and Dad for a ride on the Mohawk Trail or just on back roads and stopping along the way to have a picnic.

We never wore jeans or slacks when we were small. We had play dresses and good dresses. I had my first paif of jeans when I was a teenager. They were red. I remember the man who came to the house peddling clothes from a truck in and Mother buying some for us. We also had a bread man and a milk man. I used to help Mom do the canning. She would put up loads of vegetables and fruits for the winter. We used to go blueberry picking and she would can them too. I learned how to sew at 4-H and homemaking at school.

Most of the kids in town hung out at our house as we were the biggest family in town and Mother was so much fun. She liked all the kids. She never turned anyone away.

Dad would cook Sunday dinner for us sometimes. His specialty was fried chicken. Before Jack and I moved into our house, Dad was the one that was up there putting up the sheetrock. Warren and Emma helped with the insulation. Any pair of hands we could borrow to help were welcome and there were many. All the family helped at one time or another. We all helped each other and took care of each other's children. We knew we could depend on each other.

Emma took care of me when I had my appendix out. They rushed me to the hospital. She took care of Johnny as well as Scott, who was the same age. Evie helped too. I have very special memories of Dottie, Emma and Evie. If it weren't for them helping Jack when I was sick a few years ago [this was written in 1993], I don't know how I would have gotten through it. They trimmed my tree, took me shopping and even took my tree down that Christmas. If I asked for help, they were there, willing and able.

I could go on forever, but I won't. I have had a wonderful life from childhood right up to the present. I'm glad I was born in the era I was.