I had a wonderful weekend! I’m so impressed with all the help I get from young men. Some of them even cook for me. I never dreamed this would happen!

I just got a word of wisdom and I want to pass it on. Here it is: Keep your mind going and it will never leave you! I believe that’s true.

Now I have formed a habit. I buy a gallon of milk. I keep two quarts for myself and give a quart to each of the other two apartments. It only costs $1.49 a gallon. I could never drink that much in a week! It’s a cheap way to make friends.

This week, I asked one of the boys if he had a steady girlfriend. He said that he had just recently found one. I asked him, “What were you looking for in a girl?”

The first word he said was “respect.”

I almost jumped out of my skin! That’s my favorite word! If a relationship is based on respect, all will go well!

We had quite a good talk! I tell you, these kids surprise me. They are so good to me! A woman told me recently, “Those boys are spoiling you rotten.”

I wouldn’t go that far, but they are good to me!

Now we will change the subject. I received another letter from the people who are writing a book on True Hometown Memories. They received my story and want me to encourage my friends to encourage their friends to send in their memories. What better way do I have than by putting this in my column? This way, I’ll reach thousands of people! I do feel this is very important. This is part of our history and it’s being lost.

I was brought up in the part of town that was called “Little Italy.” I didn’t know they looked down on us! I was happy there and our church was called “The Italian Church.”

That’s all changed. There are so many nationalities there! I remember one Christmas, I was the only one that went to midnight Mass and I wasn’t even Catholic anymore, but I loved the music!

Here are some of the things you can write about: outhouses and chamber pots, castor oil and home remedies, old radio programs (Myrt and Marge, Just Plain Bill), party line phones, rotary phones, muscle cars, drag racing, spanking at school (and more when you got home), Saturday night baths or bathing in one tub, war stories, wringer washers, Saturday movies (sneaking in the shows), first TVs, first colored TV, homemade clothing and toys, favorite teachers, one-room teachers, Sadie Hawkins, saving green stamps, drive-in movies, farm work, stories your parents used to tell, favorite pets (we had dogs and rabbits), games and playmates, first kiss, working on the farm, farm lunches, swimming holes, old neighbors, pranks and mischief, small trips and then Europe, family time, blizzards and bad storms, etc.

Send them to Hometown Memories, 2359 Hwy 70 SE, Suite 112, Hickory, N.C. 28602 by April 30.

This is preserving history! Most of my generation is gone!