Notizen zu dieser Person
Elsie Louise Barthel Watson: Elsie is the daughter of Felix Antoine Barthel and Kathleen Whittaker Barthel; granddaughter of Emily Josephine Lloyd and Joseph Barthel. She married Bob Watson October 3, 1964. The had sons Brad and Bruce Watson. Elsie always had the most positive outlook on life and was dedicated to her family
My Legacy
(Bradford Watson): I found this on my mother's computer after she passed away. I'm so glad she took the time to write it, and I'm so glad I found it:
I was born on March 12, 1935 at home on a farm somewhere in Virginia. I was the sixth of seven children. My father had retired from the navy and was working on a farm as a share cropper. He would farm the land and give the owner half the harvest in exchange for free rent. He soon decided he would rather work for himself than for someone else. He purchased ten acres of undeveloped land on a rocky hillside in eastern Oklahoma (sight unseen). Just when all the Okies were leaving for California to find jobs, he packed up the family and moved to Oklahoma, where he was born and raised. I spent my first birthday on the train, traveling from Virginia to Oklahoma.I don’t remember much about the early years in our new home, but learned from other family members that we lived in a tent, carried water up from a spring, and my mother cooked in an outdoor oven built of rocks and fueled by fire wood. My father and older brothers spent the summer clearing the land, building a house and digging a well, all by hand. They also found time to plant a small garden. By the time winter came, wewere able to move into the house. No electricity, no gas, no indoor plumbing. We burned wood for heating and cooking, and drew water from the well in a bucket. That’s where I lived until I graduated from high school. We ordered some baby chickens from the Montgomery Ward Catalogue and had them shipped to us by U.S. Mail. They always arrived alive and well. We soon had a never-ending supply of eggs and plenty of chicken to eat. I can remember going to the store with my Dad to buy chicken feed, and I got to pick out the feed sacks I liked for a new dress. Through the years, we lived on what we could raise in the garden, plus chickens, eggs, wild rabbits and whatever we could trade with the neighbors. His small pension fromthe navy was enough for the necessities such as flour, sugar, and other items we couldn’t raise on the farm. There was no money left for “extras”. I guess we were what was known as a “One Horse Farm” since we only had one horse. He was a gentle old plow horse and I used to enjoy riding him. We couldn’t afford a saddle, so I rode bare-back and didn’t have much control over him. He pretty much went wherever he felt like. When he didn’t want to be ridden, he would head straight for the clothes-line and I’d slide right off. If you’ve ever heard the expression “Clothes-lined” you’ll know what I mean. When the war came, everything was rationed. Stamps were issued to each family, and if you ran out of something, you had to do without until you got your next book of stamps. I can remember being allowed only 2 pairs of shoes per year, but that was O. K. with me. I didn’t like to wear shoes anyway. Soap was rationed, so my mother used to make lye soap to do the laundry.As soon as my brothers were old enough, they all went into the service, I was the only one left at home. My older sister had already left home to get a job in town.With everybody gone, I had a lot more chores to do. In 1944, my baby sister wasborn. I had always wanted a baby sister and was happy to help to take care of her. My mother taught me how to sew on an old fashioned treadle machine, that she’d had since she was a young girl. She made all of our clothes, and sometimes wouldmake quilts. Nothing fancy, she would take worn out clothes, salvage the fabric that was still good, cut it into squares and make 9-patches. Instead of batting, she used wool blankets that she bought at the Army Surplus Store, and always used flannel for the backing.. They sure felt good on a cold night! Her idea of paper piecing was to cut a square of newspaper and sew strips of fabric across it diagonally, then set the squares alternately with plain squares. She also taught me tocrochet. I used to sit by the battery powered radio in the evenings and crochet by the coal oil lamp while listening to my favorite programs. Sometimes I would crochet and sell doilies to earn a little spending money. When I graduated from High School, I was ready to move on. I moved to Tulsa and went to work for Aetna Insurance Company typing insurance policies on a manualtypewriter. There were no computers, fax machines or photocopy machines. When we needed more than one copy ofsomething, we had to use carbon paper. My hands were always black! They paid me $150.00 a month and I thought I was rich! It was enough to pay rent, buy groceries, and purchase store-bought clothes with enough left over to take an occasionalvacation. In 1959, I took a ski vacation to Winter Park and decided Colorado was where I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I was lucky enough to get transferred to Denver with the same company I worked for in Tulsa. I moved by Greyhound Busover the weekend and found a small apartment within walking distance of work I soon made new friends through work and a Singles Group I joined. Living in Denver was like being on a continuous vacation. Skiing every weekend in the winter, hikingand camping every weekend in the summer, and something to do every night of the week if I wanted to.In 1964, I met and married my husband and we continued to live in Denver. We had two sons and after each was born, I was able to get my old job back with Aetna. We had no paid maternity leave back then. We had to quit and then hope to get re-hired. No guarantee that you would get your job back. My husband passed away in 1982 and I was left with two teenage boys to support. Things were rough, but we survived. When my oldest son graduated from high school, he decided to join the Air Force. With only myself and my youngest son at home, I had a little more free time to do the things I wanted to do. That’s when I decided to take up quilting, and have been hooked on it ever since. Some of them I’vepieced by hand, and some I’ve pieced by machine. I’ve never been any good at machine quilting, so usually end up quilting them by hand. In 2005, I retired from my job of 50 years, having survived several mergers, several Company name changes andnumerous down-sizings. By the time I left, it had changed from Aetna to Travelers to CitiGroup, back to Travelers, and then finally to St.Paul Travelers. Just before I retired, I sold the house I’d lived in for 32 years and bought a condo.I love it. Now instead of yard work, I take leisurely walks in the park. No moreplanning my life around the watering schedule and it leaves me more time for quilting. Also, in 2005, I got some bad news. I was diagnosed with pancreatic cancerand the doctors told me I may not survive a year. After an unsuccessful surgery, I took radiation treatments and Chemotherapy. Most days, I feel pretty good. It’s been more than a year and I’m still alive and quilting. At one point, the doctor said the cancer was in remission, but chances are that it will come back sooner or later. I’m hoping it’s later.....
(Bradford Watson): My mother passed away on a Tuesday evening at about 11:50 pm after a mercifully short period of being bed ridden. Not once did she complain or feel sorry for herself. I hope that one day I can be as strong...
Claudia
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