story – Arkansas Women Bloggers

Our Story {Women’s History}
Written by ARWB March 2012 Bloggger of the Month, Jennifer Janes, of Jennifer A. Janes

As I considered the topic “Women’s History,” I thought about some of the women I have studied and considered researching one who inspires me as fodder for this post. All I could think about, though, was our history.

I have regrets. I am not a genealogist, and I really don’t have a desire to spend lots of time tracing our family roots back to debtors’ prison in Europe. (I have family members who have already done that for me.) What saddens me is that I’ve lost stories that are part of who I am, part of who my daughters are. Our family is full of amazing women, yet their stories are lost because the storytellers have died, relationships have eroded, or I neglected to write down the stories I was told while they were fresh on my mind.

I have some mementoes to pass on to my daughters: a wedding band from my great-grandmother, jewelry from my grandmother, the quilt with flour sacking on the back that my great-great-grandmother made. I have a few stories too, but not as many as I wish I had. One woman in our family survived abuse at the hands of a man struggling with mental illness. After her escape, she got her college degree while raising two boys and had a successful career as an English teacher and school counselor.

Another woman in my family has been strong through circumstances that would have destroyed a weaker person. At the end of her ordeal, her husband’s health was wrecked, and she had relocated and left behind all of her friends and most of what she owned. When my girls are older, I will share her story with them, and they will look at her with new respect and will appreciate even more the time she has invested in their lives.

I remember snippets of other stories too: a crippled cousin who had to live with other family members because her own family couldn’t care for her medical needs, a maiden aunt who had a very long and successful nursing career, the woman who watched her brother walk away to buy a pair of shoes and never saw him again. No one ever knew what happened to him.

As you think about Women’s History this month, please take time to consider your story. Don’t make the same mistake I did. Talk to the history-keepers this month. Record or write down their stories. Your children will thank you.

Jennifer is a history buff who lives with her husband and two daughters in Southwest Arkansas. She enjoys reading, writing, Bible study, and spending time with friends and family. To follow her story, visit:

Blog: http://jenniferajanes.com

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/jenniferajanes

Twitter: http://twitter.com/jenniferajanes

Pinterest: http://pinterest.com/jenniferajanes

Loving Laura {Love Story}
Written by Julie Kohl of Eggs and Herbs

I think my first true love as a girl was for Laura Ingalls Wilder. Not necessarily the real Laura but the fictional Laura that lived in the pages of the Little House on the Prairie books. I romanticized the pioneer lifestyle and everything that was Laura. I found myself drawn to pioneer type activities (sewing, crafting, cooking) and loved going to museums where the “olden days” came alive within their walls. Old Sturbridge Village, Colonial Williamsburg and the Billings Farm and Museum, where my mom worked, all had amazing pioneer exhibits and were places I loved to visit.

I looked forward to stormy winter nights (I grew up in Vermont) when the power would go out and we were forced to live by candle light and warm ourselves by the fireplace.

I channelled my inner Laura every time my sister and I played “Indians” or “Cooking Rock” by the pond in our back woods.

I always had a penchant for things that were handmade, homemade and simple.

I have read every book written by Laura Ingalls Wilder, several times.

I have read many books written about Laura.

Laura was a sister, a friend, a confidant, a mentor and long before I understood that Laura was real, she was real to me.

Laura was my first true love.