Unnerving Nights

Hello Dear Reader,
The house the Hall family moved into was at the end of a long dirt lane. They felt quite isolated. The lane was usually full of ruts and when it rained or snowed the mud made it almost impossible to travel. Grandma (Mary) Carter said, “The sticky mud would pull our galoshes right off from our feet as we wallowed to our destinations.”

The Halls’ closest neighbors were Uncle Henry and Aunt Bertha Brooks (Laning’s sister) who lived about ½ mile west of their house. Grandpa (Jasper) and Grandma (Eva) Hall also lived ½ mile west, across the street from the Brooks. About ½ mile south of Laning’s and Caroline’s was the home of Roy Davis and his family of eleven children.

Grandpa (Jasper) had become senile and Roy Davis was, in Mary’s words, “a wife beater.” The Hall females were all nervous about being home alone at night. Grandma Hall slept with a hammer under her pillow.
Love,
Aunt Genni