Family Non-Fiction posted November 12, 2019


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Writing for memorial for my youngest brother.

Adventures With A Little Brother

by patcelaw



































Growing up with a little brother was fun at times and even quite dangerous. My first memory I want to share is when he was about 6 and I was 9.
One afternoon we decided that we wanted to be circus riders on horseback. So we got our horse Browning and took her to the field. We tried to stand on her like we imagined circus riders rode. Brownie, would have nothing to do with this and she promptly bucked, throwing us to the ground.

So that ended the circus riding days for both Jerry and me.
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Another time mom was not feeling well and we were instructed to stay on the farm while she rested.
Jerry said, "Let's go fishing".

I replied, "that sounded like a great idea to me".

We sat out to walk to our grandparents home, one quarter a mile away. Once there, we retrieved Grandpa's fishing cane poles and dug in the earth for some worms to use as bait.

Then we went to the creek on Granddad's farm to a fishing spot. The fish were amazingly hungry so no sooner had we dropped our lines in the water, we got a bite. We would throw the fish back and kept fishing. The fish we caught were perch and were a nice pan size for frying.

It was not long until we heard mother calling us, so as quickly as our legs could carry us we returned grandpa's fishing poles and ran home.

As I recall we were met by one very upset mama, who was in possession of two chock cherry switches. She wore out the switches on us for our disobedience.

I am pretty sure had we taken the 20 or so fish home we would never been punished for not obeying.
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Yet another time the creek on our farm had flooded out of its banks. In a hole close to the creek we found a catfish and a number of babies.

Jerry ran to the house and got a bucket filled with water from the cattle watering tank. We scooped up the fish, we put them in the bucket.

Taking the catfish home, we put them in the cattle watering tank. I suppose those fish lived there for the remainder of time we lived on that farm.
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Then came the day that will always remain as a painful memory.

Mom and dad both left work early each morning and we children had to leave home early for school. Since there was not time to do the morning dishes before school, it was my chore after school, to wash the dishes and Jerry was to dry them.

I went out to where Jerry was playing and told him he needed to get in the house and dry the dishes. He did not like that idea. So with a hefty swing of a hand he punched me in the nose causing my nose to bleed profusely. My nose was possibly broken or at least, had a small fracture as it hurt for many weeks.
That nosebleed, is the only one I have ever had in all my 81 plus years.
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As a little brother he could be lots of fun as well as being a pain in the neck to his older sister.
I look forward to the day when he and I will be reunited in Heaven with our Lord.

Patricia Mahnken Lawrence
11-12-19
RIP Earl Jerome Mahnken
April 21, 1941-November 10, 2019



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