~~Goodbye Summer and Goodbye Grandpa~~

Grandpa was dozing more than ever now. Berdina thought Ma seemed so tired, too. She would lay down after dinner each day.

Rose and Ottillie were home from summer school now, so Ma had plenty of help with the garden and canning.

Sometimes after dinner, Lila’s Pa would take Lila, Lydia and Berdina swimming. He was a good swimmer and Ma thought they were safe with him. Pa didn’t like to see them go swimming, as he was afraid they might drown. When Pa was a boy in Germany, he broke through the ice while skating with some friends and almost drowned. The experience had left him afraid of water.

The Black River, where Lila’s Pa took them swimming, was only a mile away. Despite its name, the water was clear and clean. It was stony where it was shallow, but it was fun to play in the water and cool off. Lila’s Pa swam in deeper water. He wore a blue and red striped swim suit with legs that went almost to his knees. If there were other people at the river, Berdina and Lydia kept on their overalls, but if no one was around, they swam in their undershirts and bloomers.

On cooler days, Pa took Berdina and her sisters and brothers to the woods where they piled wood into neat piles to dry. The wood had been cut last winter and then sawed in the spring. Piles of wood that had been drying since last year were loaded on a wagon and hauled home. At home the wood had to be piled in rows again in the back yard. Some of the wood was put in the basement through the window and piled along the walls of the root cellar.

When they had time to play, Berdina and Lydia made a play house out of old fence posts. They laid up the posts like a log cabin and put more posts on top for a roof. They had picked a grassy spot where there was a hollow knoll. This hollow gave them a place to crawl under to get in. They didn’t need a door. The open spaces between the posts gave them plenty of fresh air, yet they were enclosed enough to make them feel as if they were in their own private domain. They played games, talked and sometimes Ma would make them a lunch to take and eat in their little house.
 

Each time Berdina and her sisters came near the house they would make a lot of noise so the little woodland creatures would scurry away. They didn’t want to run across a skunk.

Berdina said, “The rabbits and other animals can have the house in the winter.”

The girls even put leaves in for the animals to sleep on.

One morning when Berdina woke up she knew something was wrong. Pa’s eyes were red as if he had been crying.

Ma said, “Grandpa died during the night from a heart attack.”

Berdina felt very sad. She would miss Grandpa.

Soon Aunt Bertha, Pa’s sister, came and several other relatives. Pa’s sister, Ottillie, who lived in Germany, had to be told. A cable was sent to her. Ottillie was the only one in Pa’s family who hadn’t come to America. Her husband had a good job and they didn’t want to leave.

Another sister, Elizabeth, lived in Michigan; she and Uncle Fred would come for the funeral. They would take the ferry from Custer, where they lived, over to Milwaukee, then drive up to Neillsville.
The next day when Berdina saw Grandpa, he was all dressed in his best suit and lying in a pretty box in the living room. He looked as if he were sleeping. There were lots of flowers and people coming and going.

Ma said, “Berdina, you are to be flower girl for Grandpa’s funeral.”

Berdina didn’t know much about funerals. She had never been to one. She wore a white dress, white stockings and her new black patent leather shoes.

She was given some flowers and was told to carry them down the aisle, behind Grandpa in the box.
Berdina didn’t feel right. She laid the flowers by Grandpa and sat in the front seat with Ma and Pa.
There was soft music, some singing and some prayers. Then the minister started talking about Grandpa. Where he was born, about his children and his life. He said Grandpa was at peace in heaven.

Berdina felt terrible. How could Grandpa be at peace in heaven when he was right there in that box?
The box was closed and carried up a little hill to the cemetery. Berdina and her family followed behind.

Berdina thought, “Grandpa isn’t going to like this.”

Soon everyone left for home, leaving Grandpa behind.

The days that followed were sad and lonely for Berdina. She missed Grandpa a lot and felt somehow that she had betrayed him. One day Berdina heard a loud, roaring noise. She ran out of the house and, to her delight, saw an airplane. It was flying low, and heading right toward the cemetery! Berdina felt much better.