14 - Far Ranging Topics
Jonathan: All right, we’re rolling. It’s November 29, 2025, Saturday night, a little after 7 PM. We haven’t done a call at this time of day before, Mom.
Laura: Yep. Well, I’ve got a couple of things I want to show you about how I live right now. I’m sitting in front of my little television, my
Peddler is on the floor, and it’s not electric. I can pedal with both feet. So I do that for half an hour in the morning and for an hour between 7 and 8 every night. So this is in place of walking, which I can’t do much of. But it’s an easy way to get exercise. Bob and Jen got me this peller, and so I was going to show, maybe I can just raise it up so you can see.
Jonathan: Okay. Yep.
Laura: Yeah. And also, when I do this, I do it wearing socks that Betsy made for me. See if I can pull that up.
Jonathan: For my next trick.
Laura: Can you see it?
Jonathan: I can’t, but maybe maybe just grab the sock or maybe take the sock off and show us. I couldn’t lift my leg up that high either, so.
Laura: Well, how high I’m as I’m as high as the screen.
Jonathan: OK, well, those are awesome socks. I see it now. OK, blue.
Laura: Yeah, OK. They’re pretty thick and Betsy made a lot of these, but I put them on every time I exercise here and it reminds me of her. Now you mentioned today that one of the subjects you’re going to go through is how I remember historical important dates in my life. So I want to share something else with you. There is a basket on the floor in my living room with a collection of newspapers and magazines for significant historical days. And I think that this collection could be valuable in some ways. Certainly it would be interesting. I want to show you some of them. First of all, it’s things like this.
Ronald Reagan dies at 93. Can you see it?
Jonathan: I can, yep.
Laura: Or like this. His place in history.
Can you see it?
Jonathan: I can.
Laura: Well, there’s a whole bunch of that sort of thing going back into the 1900s and historical days. I also have.
magazines like Biden’s being installed or Jimmy Carter dying. Okay. Can you see these?
Jonathan: I can’t. Absolutely.
Laura: Okay. Well, there’s a huge collection going back a long way and these are things that I can remember, but not many details, but I like the fact that I can sit down and record or read what some of the newspapers and magazines said about him. The funny thing is newspapers nowadays are not used very much. I know that, for example, the Grand Rapids Press does not hire newsboys to deliver the paper anymore. If anybody wants the press, they have to order it and it’s delivered into their mailbox and there are so few people. But that’s because the source of our mail, the source of our news is computerized or it’s on the television. And so I think that the prosperity of newspapers has died. You know, obviously their advertising helped to pay for the publications. But now, because hardly anybody orders or reads a newspaper anymore, I think that the way our news comes is not going to be like the headlines that I just showed you. There is one little piece of news though that you need to see.
Can you see this?
Jonathan: I can see one corner of it. As you’re looking at it, it’s the leftmost corner, but it’s a congressional record of 1973, it looks like.
Laura: Yes, it is. This is the congressional record of the day that I began teaching at Oakdale. I began in the middle of the year because one of their teachers had a mental breakdown. They hired me and in January, after Christmas vacation, I began and I taught the rest of the year. So on my first day, let’s see.
Gerald Ford was serving as a representative in Congress at that time. He hadn’t been elected president yet. But in Grand Rapids, his family had a babysitter at one time that was my babysitter too. So my first day of teaching, I asked my little class to write birthday cards to President Nixon because his birthday was going to be in that week. And they were, of course, full of funny misspellings. The way they use phonics was just hilarious.
But when I collected them all together, and there were pictures, there were cards, I brought them to that babysitter who had a personal contact with Gerald Ford. And she sent them there and he announced, he asked and was given permission to address the house for one minute to revise and extend his remarks. And his remarks were that he had a collection of birthday greetings for the president. And so then on this, if you can see, the small print, it goes all over this page and the next page. Those were all of the cards that my first graders wrote to the president. And they’re recorded in the House of Representatives. And that was the very first day that I taught there.
A lot of my parents, I think that you could order this for something like a dollar. So I still have four copies of it, but Many of my families were eager to have because their children’s names were recorded in the house congressional record.
So I just thought some of the paper products that I have kind of fit your question about what historical things were significant in my life.
Jonathan: I had never had heard about that, mom, that that is fun. They transcribed what the individual children wrote to the president and added that to the congressional record. Is that right?
Laura: With all the misspellings, the whole funny, you know, I’ll just read a couple of them to you.
Jonathan: That has got to be one of the more entertaining parts of that document you have in your hand.
Laura: Yes.
Happy birthday, president Nixon. When you are having a picnic, I hope that rain doesn’t fall on you. Um, do you like birthdays president? How old are you? Are you going to invite your two girls?
Well, at any rate, there’s 25 birthday greetings.
Jonathan: That’s really nice. Did I see correctly that was on the front page of the of the record, too? Or was it more on the inside?
Laura: It started on the front page.
Jonathan: Let’s see.
Laura: He opened with a statement that he had something to submit. So then it starts up when it starts. It’s so continue your contribution.
Jonathan: Yeah, that’s really clever.
Well, you’re right, it has changed a lot like that.
I don’t know if they still print that, but I guess you could get an electronic record of it. But when you were growing up, your parents probably subscribed to newspapers and read, were pretty knowledgeable about activities and current events.
Laura: Yes, and I think that even when when we lived here or on Underwood that I did get the Grand Rapids press for a while. And the reason I got it was because that was the only way place where you could find the sales on groceries. Okay, so you have a computer and they didn’t really advertise on television. So there would be a section of ads from Myers way back then. And Walgreens or big, you know, Walmart, but at any rate, that was why I got it, because I could find out where the, where the deals were.
Jonathan: Okay. Well, I remember you were a contributing author for a number of occasions to the, to the Grand Rapids press. How did that, how did that come about?
Laura: When I was teaching at Oakdale later, um,
I think one of the articles talked about the music once a year when students would play for judges. What did you call that?
Jonathan: The student solo recital or something like that.
Laura: Yes. And I wrote an article about what that was like and how it affected my students.
I’ve written a number of things for the press, but I can’t think of all of them right now.
Jonathan: Well, how it you know, once you’ve done one, maybe the second one is easier. But do you remember how you first like the first article that you published or how you who you talked with at the newspaper that they were aware of your writing skills?
Laura: Well, there was a columnist, a local columnist who came to watch me when I was teaching crafts in inner city schools. And she wrote a big article with a picture of me about what I was doing and ended the article with a sentence, if you have any buttons, beads, fabric, yarn, anything that’s craft material, drop it off at Sibley School or there were three different schools. So because of that article, every time once a week when I arrived, there would be a box with my name setting in the office because the response from that article was unbelievable. That’s why I still have so much stuff, and I’ve been trying to give it away. But that was a connection for me. Because if I wanted to submit something, I could submit it to her first.
Jonathan: Okay.
But that happened, that happened way after you had published many times before that happened, I think.
Laura: Yes. And I have copies of all those somewhere. I, I, I can’t remember what the subjects were anymore.
Jonathan: That would be really a fun thing to scan and get pictures of, mom. You’re writing samples. That would be really I know I would enjoy reading that. But if you if you find those, let me know and we’ll we’ll get them scanned.
Laura: I think what I’ll do is mail them to you.
Jonathan: That’s great.
Laura: No, we won’t want them.
Jonathan: That’s great. Well, I can scan them and then we can distribute them easily. So OK, so back to now thinking when you were growing up and staying at your parents’ house, was talking about current events or the larger world part of dinner time conversations, or do you remember that?
Laura: I don’t remember what conversations were at the dinner, but
Yeah, I should have had coffee cough drops ready.
What I really had was, I think maybe I’ve found something.
Yeah.
I was very aware of the effects of World War II on our lifestyle.
Jonathan: For example… You talked about rationing and the car that your dad got last week. So we’ve covered that topic.
Laura: I think that a member of the church finally helped him find one, but I think he spent a long time looking.
Jonathan: Well, when you think back, what, like for me, news events or just notable points in history, 9-11 immediately comes to mind or Pearl Harbor. But when you think back, what are some of the most noteworthy, newsworthy events that you recall?
Laura: Well, I was very aware of the way the war, World War II, was affecting our economy because it affected every family. So my dad would have to go to an office, and I think it was something like the post office, once a month. And then he would get a packet of what would see my coupons that would allow him to buy milk, eggs, basic things. And the number of coupons that he got were based on his registration of how many in his family. So the fact that Hitler was such a scary threat and that the killings were in such large numbers that my dad’s own church had many of the young men that were serving in the service. And so prayers and concern for what the effects of that war had on our life in America and our loved ones that went overseas was the one thing I was very aware of.
Jonathan: Oh, I’m sorry.
Do you have some water? It almost sounds like you need something to drink, Mom.
Laura: I’ll get something.
Jonathan: I know just talking a lot triggers that for me too.
Laura: Um, I do not remember celebrations when the war was declared over.
Um, we didn’t have televisions to watch that then. So we probably listened to the radio and certainly it was discussed in a school.
But there was no place where you attended something, where you observed a celebration of the end of a war or the election of a new president. This was news, and it came in radio reports and papered newspapers.
I never read the newspapers that came to my mother and dad’s house.
And they weren’t that big. They weren’t fat, like when I remember the size of the press when we lived on Underwood.
But I’m sure that number one, there were church services to observe first of all, pray for the dead and then Thanksgiving when it was all over. And I think that that would be the, I would be required to go to such a service, but there wouldn’t be table conversation about it prior to our going.
Jonathan: Okay. That just wasn’t really part of the family dynamic or Yeah. So you mentioned something earlier about, yeah, and that’s different. Like today, maybe people are video and live TV streaming and it’s the New York Times or Times Square in New York for celebrating the new year that It’s not, it wasn’t like that. Like we didn’t, you were more, you heard about it on the radio or there was a delay between when the event happened and when you heard about it.
Laura: I am sure that the history of that celebration in Times Square at the beginning of the year was going on then.
I think that that’s something that is decades old.
Jonathan: But you’re right.
Laura: Yeah.
Jonathan: But the pace that you’re talking about just seems a little bit slower. I think what most Americans outside of the people that are celebrating New Year’s Day in New York, it seemed like it was a little bit slower paced.
Laura: Yes. I think that certainly the subject of war came up in schools. If nothing more, because it was a Christian school and because there was always sad news about deaths, there would be an opening prayer at the beginning of the day. I think that we didn’t intend to make children miserable with bad news. They alluded to it.
in prayer.
Jonathan: Yeah.
Laura: That’s about it.
Jonathan: So you talked about World War II and I think Gerald Ford, his presidency, I think that was something that probably stands out in memory given that he’s from Grand Rapids. But what other major historical events stand out in your memory? Because
Bless you.
And maybe we’ve covered enough, but if there are other thoughts that come to mind for you on that topic, maybe we can talk about those.
Laura: I sneezed six in a row when I taught. My class would count them.
I think that when we got into junior high, there were some essay kinds of requirements where not ever opinions asked for, but accurate information.
So, for example, if an election was a surprise or particularly if an election involved anybody in our church for local spots in the government,
That would be brought up particularly in high school.
And we would be taught the differing opinions. I don’t think that we use the words Democrat and Republican. But they were labeled somehow. We were taught. not to take a position on them, but what the differences were.
So that would have been in high school, I don’t think even in junior high, although it could have been in junior high, particularly if it was a religious subject that was being discussed or thought about. Okay.
Divorce.
Jonathan: ERA.
Laura: Yeah, maybe.
Jonathan: Civil rights topics.
Laura: Oh, yes.
particularly because at Eastern Academy, I don’t remember any black people in that school.
I do remember black children in my grade school, though. I wonder what happened.
I don’t know. But I was only in that one building for part of a year, and we left. Because I really had most of them all know.
I left New Jersey in junior high.
And at Seymour, I don’t remember discussions about right and wrong opinions about politics or how religion applied to our lifestyles.
I think they were more careful about that kind of thing. But at any rate,
Jonathan: I’ve got another question for you. It’s a little bit different in scope. But as you look back over your life, what inventions have most affected you? And which one could you not imagine living without today?
Laura: A microwave. The microwave. If I had that raising children, it would have made fixing the meal so much faster. Because I would make big, poor, big, portions on Saturday with the idea that I’d heat them up during the week when we get home at 6.30 and I had to get food on the table quickly. Obviously, computers, I still don’t feel that I’m a friend of computers. A lot of it is threatening and bewildering to me.
Gasless cars.
I have two children who have them now.
Mimi loves the one that they have. I don’t know. Let’s see. What else would there be? Air fryers.
Well, even this little foot pump, I think in my growing up years, there was no such thing as a physical therapist.
So the whole idea of approaching disabilities or, well, of course, the number, the kind and the number of surgeries that they do on joints. That’s my, if, if my mother had had that available to her in my lifetime, there was no such thing when my, my parents were growing up. And I also think approaches to medicines.
Um, when I grew up,
We kids all had to take a vitamin every day. Breakfast would be a vitamin. And I think that was about the only thing that people used.
And aspirin.
Jonathan: Mom, I’m gonna change the subject on you a little bit and talk about the concept of grandchildren. I’ve got a couple different questions for you.
Laura: Okay, I’ll start with my first grandson was Jonathan. And of course, the circumstances were troubling.
And although Betsy had a big heart and was generous, she was also very careless in her mothering.
At one point, Heidi and I even had to report it because when she, when she worked at the composing room, she’d come home maybe between five and six, but Jonathan would come home at three and the dirty dog poop all over the house.
Jonathan: Maybe we should save that discussion for a different channel. Let’s not go too in depth on any of that.
Laura: My being grandma. took on a much bigger role. And I love the memories of that because she let me have him often. And he was very responsive to stories, children’s books, treats. take naps at my house. It was comfortable wherever I was living, but particularly this house here.
Jonathan: So when Erin was an infant, you were still teaching. Is that true?
Laura: When Jonathan was?
Jonathan: I’m sorry. When Jonathan was an infant, you were still teaching.
Laura: Oh, yes.
Jonathan: But you were able to spend time with him evenings, weekdays, and times on the weekends.
Laura: Yes. He stayed over night often.
And I went out with my way to pick him up from school. I knew he needed structure in his life, that he couldn’t just go home to an empty house. I think that his days at Oakdale were kind of hard on him. But he could walk home from school. They were living right close to what the old composing room used to be. And Betsy was diligent about her work hours. So she had a predictable schedule that he knew went to expect her home. They always loved pets and so he always had a pal.
Jonathan: So let me back up a little bit and say you Jonathan is one of multiple grandchildren you have.
Laura: But you asked about the first and that was the sure okay started then Connie and Bob began adopting while they were still at Columbia or where was they were? They were at a college. Yes, they were at while they were at Cornell. They got their first adopted child, Rahim, and he came from New York City.
And I don’t know the agency that they got him from. But that was the first one. And so because they were quite a ways away, I would only see them holidays, summer times, things like that. And in the meantime, as they settled in in Chicago, there was a adoption agency that was wonderful. And I can’t think of the name of it right now. But most of the rest of their children came from there. However, they brought one child back from Pakistan.
So I think that adopting Rahim gave them the feeling that they had pals, the two boys now. The fact is, Rahim was hardy and tall and strong, and Tim was frail.
What is that hospital where they correct?
Jonathan: In the Shriners Hospital, probably.
Laura: That’s right. Tim was there. He was treated there at first when He came back from Pakistan. And you know what is amazing is the story of how they got him out.
Jonathan: Yeah. Hey, mom, I want to pause for just a second and say, I want to come back and say, I’ve suggested that having a dedicated call about each of your children and you This might be a great thing for us to talk about in depth in terms of the Connie.
What do you think about that? Like to maybe let’s talk about grandkids in a macro sense for a little bit today, but maybe we’ll talk about the Connie and Bob’s adoption process in a dedicated call about Connie and Bob. Would that work for you?
Laura: I guess so.
Jonathan: Okay.
Laura: I guess I don’t think I can go into great depth about all of that. But the way they snuck Tim out of Pakistan is a story that you should have Bob tell you in detail because they Someone told them about a little boy that had been dumped at somebody’s doorstep that nobody wanted. And then when they came back into the States, they were so excited about this little frail boy. He was so tiny and immediately looked for the best medical help they could get for Tim. So I, as grandma, was, in those days, still there was an email, but many, many phone calls because I wanted to know about the progress of his health treatments. He had substantial health care. And it wasn’t very long before they began adopting more. And the rest of the children, all, Raheem came from New York City, but the rest all came from this agency in Chicago. And I think that’s the same agency that Ben was adopted from by Heidi and me.
Jonathan: So let me ask you, you know the count. How many grandchildren and how many great grandchildren do you have now?
Laura: I have 27 grandchildren.
And I think 19 great-grands.
Jonathan: That’s amazing. I don’t know very many other people that can say that, Mom.
Laura: That’s amazing.
Jonathan: What do your grandchildren call you? And was that something that you encouraged them, or do they all have different names for you?
Laura: They all call me Grammy. There are a number of them who make an effort to stay in touch with me, not because they’re with their parents or that someone has laid a path for them to do that, but they’ll be in touch with me individually. And that’s precious to me.
Jonathan: I’m sure. Absolutely. You get phone calls, you get emails.
Wonderful. So go ahead. You were going to say something.
Laura: But the truth is that so many of them are far away. Or even as far away as Allegan, I just don’t get to see them that often.
And it’s very curious when some of them come here for a visit.
The young ones particularly are very curious about what’s in my house. So while the adults would be talking upstairs, they would meander down into the basement. And then we would wonder what they’re getting into.
But they’re curious because they don’t come that often. that they go exploring.
Jonathan: You’ve got a lot of stuff. I remember kind of a parallel of being at Agnes’s house. There were a lot of novelties in her house. Maybe in your your your grandparents, too. I remember going to the college and having that sensation like you just you want to snoop around and you’re having that happen, too, it sounds like.
Laura: Yeah. Yeah. And
What I love is seeing how my grandchildren are in close contact with their siblings. For example, Sarah and Amanda. Sarah has four boys. Amanda now has six children.
But they get together often. They do things together. And so the connection of my grandchildren with other grandchildren is fun to watch.
Jonathan: How has having grandchildren changed your relationship with your own immediate children?
Laura: Well, obviously, children make my children’s lives terribly busy.
And so the availability to, oh, say, go out for lunch or things like that is much harder when you’re trying to raise children at home, especially little ones. And I think that
I love how some of my children tell me memories that I’ve done with their children. I wouldn’t even remember these things. I took the boys to the Detroit Tigers or that when I had a cottage that Nomi would ask if she could stay with me. And I think that the children, the grandchildren who live out of the state or farther away from me probably don’t know me as well. But I do feel a warmth from all of them. I can’t think of a single grandchild that I feel at arm’s length from.
And they know I’m tickled to get little cards or little notes. I’ve gone to a couple of graduations.
I’ve gone to any baptism I could.
Jonathan: You came all the way down to Georgia to, I think definitely for the twins and I think for errands too. So I can confirm what you’re saying there. That’s a slog.
Laura: Well, I think my grandchildren know I love them. I think some of my grandchildren think I’m funny.
A handful of my grandchildren have asked if I would give them piano lessons.
Jonathan: That’s nice.
Laura: So my relationship with my grandchildren has been warm and wonderful. Really, everyone. Some I can enjoy much more often than others.
Jonathan: understood.
Mom, we’re bumping up on the hour and the video stops recording at an hour. So I wonder if or there we got looks like a minute or so left. Are there other things that we haven’t covered today relating to current events or grandchildren that you’d like to talk about?
Laura: Well, I can’t think of anything except as my Children had children. It was very interesting to watch their parenting styles.
And I’m pleased at what I watch.
There’s a reason why we don’t have children in the jail or children in trouble.
There’s a reason why most of them are doing well in school and going even beyond high school, many of them. Education in the eyes of the parents is important and they lead them that way. And it seems as though kids thrive, my grandkids thrive in school.
What’s especially interesting to me is watching them choose an area of college to study continually, to narrow things down to what’s interesting to them. And so often, it’s a subject that it’s hard for me to even explain to myself what it is.
Jonathan: Mom, this has been a great call today. Thank you for taking time out. I’ve got more questions for you. We’ll pick this up again next Saturday morning.
Laura: OK. OK.
I think my one worry is that we get interrupted. If it had happened this morning, I mean, two people came and three people called. And so we’ll be in touch usually on Friday to see what your day looks like and mine looks like.
Jonathan: That’s great.
Laura: OK.
Jonathan: That sounds good.
Laura: But it’s annoying if the phone is ringing while we’re, you know, or the kids pop in here when I don’t expect them, you know, I knew Ted is coming this morning, but I didn’t expect