Priceless Memories - Bob Barker [39]
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My mother, Matilda Kent Tarleton, was born on October 18, 1898, in Eminence, New York, the daughter of a Methodist minister. He had come over from Ireland and had met my grandmother in Eminence, New York, where he had a church and preached regularly. They had five daughters and a son. One of the daughters had a respiratory problem, and the doctors suggested that they move to a drier climate. They chose South Dakota. The winters are very cold there, but South Dakota is dry. He preached in Miller, South Dakota; Arlington, South Dakota; and ended up in Hot Springs, South Dakota—which is out in the Black Hills, an absolutely beautiful part of the state.
Once I asked my mother why my grandfather moved from church to church as he had. She laughingly replied, “Maybe he did it so that he could use his best sermons more than once.” I don’t know whether she was kidding or not.
Mother told me about a young male goat that her father brought home one day. She described the goat as a real character. Immediately upon arrival, the goat considered himself a full-fledged member of the family, and that’s the way everyone treated him.
When the children ran and played outside, the goat joined in and enjoyed every moment of it. Although he continually tried to come into the house, apparently my grandmother drew the line at that. However, the goat did find a way to check up on what was going on in the house. He learned to get up on the chicken coop and watch the family through a large living-room window.
One day my grandmother made grape jam and threw the grape skins out into the trash, where the skins fermented. This curious goat found the fermented grape skins, and of course, he ate them. A bit later, someone looked out a window, and said, “Quick, come look at this goat.”
My mother said the goat was prancing around on its hind legs, waving its front hooves in the air. She said he looked every bit as if he were dancing. My grandfather must have had some idea of what was wrong with the goat. He went straight to the trash and confirmed that the fermented grape skins were missing. My grandfather turned, came back into the house, and said, “That goat is drunk!”
When my mother graduated from high school in Arlington, South Dakota, where she was valedictorian of her class, she left home permanently. She went to college in Mitchell, South Dakota, at Dakota Wesleyan University. Her decision to leave home and seek educational achievements was typical of my mother. She was very independent, and she always put a high value on education of all kinds. While she was in college, she worked in a grocery store, paying for her room and board, and she always garnered good grades. Mother was the oldest of the six children in her family, and her father could not afford the college, but my mother would never let anything stop her when she had her mind set. She was just a kid herself, a teenager, but here she was, living away from home and working while attending college. She was that kind of woman.
Mom may have had to work to pay her room and board, and it may have been tough finding enough time to study so she could make excellent grades, but I also think she had time to thoroughly enjoy college life. I have looked through a couple of her college yearbooks and a book of photographs taken with an old Kodak box camera during her years at Dakota Wesleyan. Both the yearbooks and photographs reflect lots of friends and lots of fun. Mom belonged to several organizations and clubs, both academic and social.