Page 14 - Amarillo Senior Link Magazine 2020 Spring - Online Magazine
P. 14

HONORING SENIORS
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          Senior                Senior


                                                                           Dorthy Lou Conrad




                                                                          A Model




                                                                          Grandma









                                                                            by Hallie Thompson



              he was the type to pull the sheets   was wearing a new white hat and was
              back and leave the porch light on   upset that the hat had turned brown
         Sfor you, the lady to show up to    by the end of the day. When she was
         every school event, piano recital and   26, she met the love of her life, Harold
         rodeo you participated in, no matter   Conrad, on a family trip to Kentucky.
         the weather.                        They later moved to Texas and got
                                             married in Borger.
         My great-grandmother, Dorthy Lou
         Conrad, was the rock of our family.   All of my life, we had fried chicken and
         For 18 years, I spent many summers   cherry pie for her birthday. After she
         and weekends with her. l have many   passed away in October, we found a
         memories of her, although much of her   note that her mother Hallie had written
         life was told to me by my mother.   to Grandma’s husband, Harold.
                                             She talked about how she missed
         Grandma was born July 10, 1920,     Grandma and that she was sorry that
         in White Deer, Texas, to Hallie and   she couldn’t see her for her birthday.
         Bruce Martin.  She told us  a story   Hallie sent some money for Harold
         about traveling in a sled with her   to buy some stationery as a gift for
         parents to meet her new baby cousin   Grandma. Hallie told Harold to make
         Roberta. Grandma enjoyed her days   sure that she had fried chicken and
         in White Deer and growing up on the   cherry pie for her birthday. Hallie and
         farm. She went to school in  a one-  Harold both passed away years before   for a wartime manufacturer in Pampa.
         room schoolhouse outside of Pampa.   I was born, but this letter offered a little   By the time I was born, Grandma had
         Sometimes, we would drive out with   glimpse into their lives.          moved into town, but she never let the
         Grandma to that little red schoolhouse                                  memories go.
         and listen to all her stories about it. My   Grandma was an outgoing lady.
         favorite stories were those of the farm -   She was a member and an officer in   I always paid attention to her crazy
         like the time when they tied ropes from   many clubs in White  Deer. She was   tales of a life so different than mine,
         the barn to the house so they could   well-known and loved, and being   knowing I would cherish them.
         find their way during dust storms. She   introduced as her granddaughter was   Grandma’s stories demonstrated how
         was interviewed by PBS in 2014 for   something I took pride in. She owned   much she loved her life; they were
         a documentary about the Dust Bowl.   and operated the White Deer Drug   never focused on how hard times were.
         She was sixteen at the time and talked   Store when she was younger. She also   She was definitely the grandma
         about going to town on a date. She   worked for the US Postal Service and
                                                                                 everyone would want. Not only was


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