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I do not remember Dad going to a doctor, his health seemed always to be good. He died at the age of 88, from prostate complications.
Fred Metzger was a conservative person when it came to finances. He kept a perfect set of books, and was treasurer for the school. I suppose he could be called a workaholic, it was not uncommon for him to say on Monday morning at the breakfast table, "This is Monday, tomorrow is Tuesday, the next day is Wednesday, the week is half gone and nothing done yet." I grew up with the feeling that I always must be doing something productive, and I suppose that this is why I am also a workaholic.
Fred's father was an officer in the German Army, under the Kaiser. He came to America because he didn't want his own sons to have to serve in the army. He was an alcoholic, and Dad would have to go to the bar, late at night, and bring him home drunk. It made such an impression on him that he swore never to take a drink, and as far as I know, he never did, nor did he smoke.
When I was very young, he promised me a gold watch when I reached the age of 21, if I did not drink or smoke. I received the gold watch, as did my two brothers. In later years we all slipped a little, I like a glass of wine or beer once in a while, and both my brothers smoked at one time.
BESSIE GRACE PLATT
Bessie Grace Platt was born March 15, 1986 [sic], on a farm north east of Crab Orchard, Nebraska. She was the middle daughter in a family of five girls. James and Sarah Platt, her parents, lived on the farm until the family was grown, and then moved into Crab Orchard, where Jim Platt ran a a grocery store. My early memory of my grandparents, were visits to Crab Orchard at Christmas time when I was not more than 5 or 6 years old.
My mother was a quiet, patient lady. Life must have been difficult for her, she came from a family that was very close. She married at the age of 19 and two years later moved to a homestead in Western Nebraska, a wind swept, flat plains country, very unlike the area in Eastern Nebraska where she grew up. The closest neighbor was more than a mile away, and not even in sight, and since I was born only a month after they arrived, it would have been difficult for her to visit anyone.
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Metzger Memories
