"Accidents Do Happen"

"Just an accident waiting to happen." "That's why they call them accidents." "Don't learn safety by accident." "It appears to be a very tragic accident."


We all have accidents ranging from the very serious to the very slight. Les' December automobile accident comes to mind as does Kathryn's bruised elbow last week at Annapolis.
There was a reason Mom punished Betty and me for playing in the water tank - she was afraid of an accidental drowning.
I was raised by a woman who not only saw the potential for danger in the most everyday situations, she constantly reminded us of those possibilities. "Don't run with a pencil (scissors, arrow, stick, etc.) in your hand. If you fall, you could put your eye out." "Look both ways before crossing the street." "Keep both hands on the steering wheel." "Look before you leap."


I don't think I was quite as strict with my children, but I know I did/do possess many of the same worries my Mom had. I, too, believe in being careful. And while an accident is described as an unforeseen or unplanned happening, I do believe carelessness can lead to accidents. (Talking on a cell phone and/or texting, while driving, head the top of my list.)

I was involved in a (thankfully) minor accident a couple weeks ago. It left me shaken and teary. It really wasn't my fault, although I might have been going a bit too fast at the time.

I was approaching a blind corner. There weren't any stop signs. A little boy about three years old ran out in front of me. I tried to stop but my grocery cart bumped him and knocked him down. He began crying as his father helped him up. "See what happens? I told you not to run in the store." the dad was saying. While I was saying, "Oh, I'm so sorry. Is he all right?" The parents assured me he was o.k. and that it was his fault, but I couldn't help the tears that sprang to my eyes. It took awhile for me to calm down.

I was reminded of the grocery store incident this morning when I read about a 3-year old Des Moines boy injured Sunday when he ran into the street and was struck by a car. Luckily after a trip to the hospital he was treated and released. I cannot even imagine how I would deal with hitting a child while driving a car - bumping one with a grocery cart was scary enough.

There is a reason I always say, "drive carefully" or "have a safe trip" when saying goodbye to friends and family as they leave - it is my way of guarding them against an accident, as though my invocations can somehow protect them.

"Summertime and the Living is Easy......."

LtoR Betty, Ronald & Ramona Lynam
Trixie on the kitchen stool. Aug. 1, 1951


Summers were easy when we were kids. When we woke up in the mornings we peeled off our nightgowns and pulled on a dress - no shoes - not even flip-flops. We probably didn't even brush our hair before eating some cereal or toast and running outside to play.

Our hair was combed in this picture and our dresses were probably better than everyday ones, but still no shoes. We only had a month left before school started; third grade for me and first for Betty which means Ron would have been going into sixth grade. We would have a new teacher that fall - Vera Kimball. She would stay at Jasper #2 until it closed when Les was in Kindergarten.

It would be a few more years before we started wearing shorts and t-shirts during the summer. And 'baby-doll' p.j.s would replace the nightgowns. It was so hot upstairs in the summer. For some reason it seemed 'baby-dolls' were cooler to sleep in than nightgowns. I do remember that when we did begin wearing shorts, we were embarrassed if someone drove in and saw us.

Betty and I spent our days playing in the sand box, making mud pies, playing cowboys and Indians, playing house or having tea parties and, our favourite, trying to sneak out to play in the stock tank without getting caught.

We also spent a few days with Grandpa & Grandma Ridnour or at Grandma Lynam's. I never wanted to admit I got homesick but the first thing I would do when I got back home was pick a fight with Ron or Betty or do something to make Mom yell at me just so I could cry. Once I cried I was o.k. - the homesick feeling was gone.

Ramona & Queenie; Betty in our buggy. June, 1955

Four short years later and we were old enough to harness the horse to the buggy and take water to the hay field and to threshers in the oat field. That was so much more preferable than staying in the house to help Mom get dinner for the men who came to help. It seemed there was time to help do the dishes though before jugs of cold water would be needed again!

Our horse and buggy was also used for pleasure rides especially if some of our cousins were visiting. I remember the summer bumble bees made a nest in the seat of the wagon. We knew they were there but decided to go for a ride anyway. Cousin Frank Childers was standing behind us. He decided it would be fun to jump up and down which stirred up the bumble bees. They started stinging us and Queenie. The horse started running. By the time we got her stopped we were halfway up the lane at the other place. We all jumped out. Frank & I started running back home. Betty was more concerned about Queenie. She unharnessed the buggy and led Queenie home. Betty was the only one who didn't get stung.

Now that we are retired, summertime living is once again easy. There is no alarm clock going off, no schedule which has to be kept, air conditioning when it gets really hot and humid and a nearby library full of books to be read.

Happy First Day of Summer!!

Tammy's In Love

"I hear the cottonwoods whisperin' above,
'Tammy...Tammy...Tammy's in love'
The ole hooty-owl hooty-hoos to the dove,
'Tammy...Tammy...Tammy's in love'"

There has been so much "cotton" blowing off a nearby cottonwood tree the last few days which is what reminded me of this song. Debbie Reynolds had a #1 hit with it the summer of 1957. The song is from the movie, "Tammy and the Bachelor" which starred Reynolds, Leslie Nielsen and Walter Brennan.

The summer of '57 is the summer I learned to swim. Corning's new pool opened that year. Betty and I were a little 'old' to be just learning to swim. I think there were five or six of us in our class. I was so excited the first day because I learned to float! I learned to swim well enough by the end of lessons that I passed the test which allowed me to go into the deep end of the pool. I loved diving and spent most of my time at the pool repeatedly diving off the low board. Once I thought I was brave enough to go off the high board; climbed the ladder, walked to the edge of the board, looked over and went back. I made all the kids waiting on the ladder climb down just so I could. Yeah, they laughed at me.

It was the summer before I started high school. I was pretty interested in getting to know some of the town boys who were going to be in my class. But I was too shy to actually talk to them other than a "hi". Then I would go home and write in my diary that I had "talked" to GD or JB or LH that day.

And I would listen to: "Does my lover feel what I feel when he comes near? My heart beats so joyfully, you'd think that he could hear. Wish I knew if he knew what I'm dreaming of. Tammy....Tammy....Tammy's in love." and imagine that I, too, was in love. Boy did I have a lot to learn! (But being able to remember those feelings is what makes me able to understand what my granddaughters are going through.)

Sandra Dee replaced Debbie Reynolds in the next two Tammy movies: "Tammy Tell Me True" (1961) and "Tammy and the Doctor"(1963). The theme songs from those movies aren't nearly as memorable as "Tammy". I'm sure the song and the movies had a lot to do with the number of little girls named Tammy in the late 50's and early 60's.

Juneteenth 1865, 1920, 1925 & 2003

Harris Robison, Lois Ridnour, Carroll Robison, Ruth Ridnour & either Trix or Poochie. (Back of photo says "Trix & Poochie" but I can only see one dog. Mom's beloved pet was Poochie, so I'm guessing she's holding Poochie not Trix.)


Juneteenth is an African-American holiday which began in Texas as 'Freedom Day'. Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation was issued September 22, 1862 with an effective date of January 1, 1863. It wasn't until June 19, 1865 that the news of their freedom reached slaves in Texas. The Civil War had been over two months and ten days.


It was most likely the Poor Peoples March to Washington, D.C. led by the Rev. Ralph Abernathy in 1968 when I first was aware of Juneteenth and its meaning. There has been an Iowa celebration of the date for at least twenty years.


June 19 to me had a more personal meaning - it was the birthdate of two of my aunts. Mom's little sister, Lois, was born June 19, 1920. In the picture above with Aunt Lois and Mom are two of their cousins - Harris and Carroll Robison. The boy's mom, Merle Means Robison and the girl's mother, Delphia Means Ridnour, were first cousins.


Harris died four months after his 17th birthday in May of 1936. There's no date on this picture, but I don't think it could have been taken too long before he died. His obituary says he died of complications after a severe attack of the flu. I could tell by the way Mom talked of him many years later that the death of Harris affected her deeply.

Ruth Lynam and Leona Lynam Childers Shropshire beside the lemon tree in Leona's backyard in Phoenix, AZ, 1999.

Five years after Mom's little sister was born, Dad's little sister, Leona Maxine Lynam, was born - June 19, 1925. When I was young I wondered how my parents both had sisters with the same birthdate. I also found it fascinating that they both had sisters named Evelyn. (Dad's sister, Evelyn Lois, was born May 8, 1923 and died May 12, 1923. Mom's sister, Evelyn Grace Ridnour Roberts was born November 28, 1916; died June 1, 2000.)


For Mom's 80th birthday, we gave her a trip to Arizona to visit her sister-in-law. It was her first ride in a commercial airliner and she loved it. I think Mom and Aunt Leona were fairly close. Aunt Leona was only twelve when Mom & Dad married. Mom was the big sister Aunt Leona would have had.


Celebrating his 70th birthday, Ron's family - Nicholas, Tina & Andrew Lynam; Dale & Christine Heidebrecht; Ronald & Marge Lynam; Carston, Lorrie & Kevin Yoakum; in front, Erick & Aiden Yoakum.

June 19, 2003 found us celebrating two more birthdays. Kevin & Lorrie Lynam Yoakum's twin sons, Aiden & Erick, were born that day. For twin brothers, they seem nothing alike, but they are both equally special in their own way. I have high hopes of knowing these two for many years to come.

Juneteenth has a personal celebratory meaning for me.

A Lippincott Cousin

Jack Dodd (Picture taken at Gothenberg, NE)

Several years ago I corresponded (snail mail) for awhile with a distant Lippincott cousin in Grand Island, NE. She was related to Rebecca Lippincott who was a sister of my Grandma Ridnour's mother, Matilda (Tilly) Lippincott Means.
We fell out of touch - probably my fault for not answering her letters - and I hadn't thought of her for years. That is, until this week when I was sorting some of Grandma R's pictures and found this one of Jack Dodd. Grandma had written his name on the back of the folder and in parentheses "Descendant of Ami Lippincott".
I'm trying to get some of these old pictures back to family members. I remembered the cousin lived in Grand Island, NE. If only I could remember her name, I could possibly find an address for her. The name that finally came to me last night was 'Johnnetta Moore' so I wrote it down in order to try to track her down today.
My sub-conscience took over while I slept. I woke up this morning with the right name - Jolita, not Johnnetta, Moore. I googled her and got one hit on the name with an e-mail address at a company in Omaha. I sent her an e-mail at 7:29 and at 7:33 had a reply. The Omaha Jolita is the same one I had written to in Grand Island. We are back in touch.


This picture is of Jolita's great-grandmother, Rebecca Lippincott. For a long time I thought David and Catherine Lippincott only had the two daughters because Matilda & Rebecca along with Becky's son, Ami, were the only ones I had ever heard of. I now know there were older siblings - Sarah (Conally), Tom, Maggie and others? Maggie was Mort Staggs mother. He was born in North Dakota. I think Bertha and Tom both lived in Missouri. More research to do!


In addition to the first two pics, I also mailed this one to Jolita. It is of Ami Lippincott and Della Earl Dodd. Not sure who she is, but I'm sure cousin Jolita can tell me.

June Reads I

I did not read Minette Walter's second book, "The Sculptress" next as I supposed I would on my June 1 post. Instead I turned to a book on my own library shelf - Wallace E. Stegner's "Angle of Repose" - the Pulitzer Prize winner of 1972.
I know I've read Stegner before because I recognize him as a 'favourite author'. But it has been a long time and I'm not sure which of his books I've read. It might be "Crossing to Safety" or "Remembering Laughter" - maybe both.
"Angle of Repose" is narrated by Lyman Ward - a retired history professor confined to a wheelchair due to a debilitating disease and the amputation of one leg. He has returned to live alone in the house where his grandmother died against the advice and insistence of his son who thinks he should be in a care facility. Ward is dependent for much of his care upon the same woman who cared for his father during his declining years. He has decided he will research his grandparent's lives and write a chronicle of their years spent on the western frontier a century before. He has his grandmother's letters, drawings and articles but nothing of his grandfather other than his own memories of the man.
Stegner based his grandmother, Susan Burling Ward, on the real life of Mary Hallock Foote. He had been given access to Foote's historical letters by a family member. There was controversy about Stegner's use of substantial passages from Foote's letters without credit after he won the Pulitzer. I agree with one critic that while the letters added to the authentic feeling of the story, it was Stegner's own imagination and prose which made the book so enjoyable.
It took me almost two weeks to read this book, partly because I was busy, but mostly because it is a book to be savored. When I finished the last page, I just sat in awe and asked, "How does he do that?" Then I ask myself why I would spend time reading some of the books I do when there are such first rate authors like Wallace Stegner?
I finished "Angle of Repose" a couple of days ago which gave me just enough time to read Anita Brookner's "Hotel du Lac" - winner of the 1984 Booker Prize.
Our protaganist, Edith Hope, has reached the hotel, on the shores of Lake Geneva, in a state of confusion. Her best friend made the arrangements and drove her to the airport, insisting she stay away until she has atoned for her unfortunate mistakes and "grown up". Of course we do not know what her mistakes have been until more than half-way through the book. We are allowed to learn about romance novelist writer, Ms. Hope, as she learns about herself through her interactions with and observations of some of the other hotel guests.
When one of those guests, Mr. Neville, proposes marriage after only a brief acquaintance and Edith accepts even though they do not love one another but because she does not want to end up in life alone, we do not know what happens until the final page. Even then we are left wondering about the future of Edith Hope; just as we are left thinking about our own life's choices.
And now I begin "The Sculptress".

Lynam Cousins Not Lynams

Patricia (Patty) Lynam Wyrick, Springfield, MO and her three children.


Friday I attended the funeral of Lois Chubick Lynam in Nodaway. She was the widow of Dad's first cousin, Kenneth Lynam. Dad's father, George and Kenny's Dad, William were the sons of Barney Lynam. Patty and I share the same great-grandfather.

The first time I met Patty was at a family reunion at Paul & Evelyn Lund's farm home in 1955 (?). She and her older sister, Marilyn were near the same age as Betty and I. We got over our shyness enough to at least talk to each other a little. I probably saw her again a few times during our growing up years, but not any that stand out.

In the past fifteen years, I've seen her twice - both times when she was in Iowa visiting her parents and with her Mom otherwise I would not have recognized her. But once I re-met her, I was drawn to her - partly because of her friendliness and partly because she reminded me so much of my Aunt Leona.

Kenny & Lois had five daughters. The middle one, Karen Hardy, died of cancer about a year ago. the youngest, Marianna Harris, gave the eulogy for her Mom. It reminded me so much of my own Mother that I could not help but cry - for their loss and my own. I do not know if Mom and Lois knew each other before they married cousins, but there seemed to be a bond between them the few times I saw them together. Maybe it was just that they were both five feet tall and Kenny and Dad were both six foot six.
Whenever I am around any Lynam relatives, I look for the family similarities. What I call the "Lynam look" but in reality if we go back far enough it is the "Gravett look" (Barney's wife, Nancy's, parents.) A nephew of Kenny & Lois's, Greg Hackett (Velma's son), was at the funeral. I had never met him before. He certainly took after his Mom's side of the family.

This is a picture of 14 of the 15 grandchildren. I hope someday to have all their names and which daughter they belong to. One grandson, the middle one in the back row in the burgundy shirt is Marilyn's son, Keith Lynam. He is the only one with the Lynam name - choosing to take his mother's maiden name because he loved his grandpa Kenny so much.
Patty and I talked about how we wish we could have a Lynam family reunion - similar to the one I planned in 1990 when I invited any and every 'Lynam' I could find in the phone books. (How much easier that would be now with the internet.) Perhaps we will. She took my e-mail address and said she would be in touch. I hope she is. I hope we become better acquainted. One of the problems with a family reunion is that everyone is so excited to meet one another at the time but then we go back to our own daily lives, get busy with them, and never do anything about staying in touch with those distant cousins.