Hi, I'm The Missouri Country Girl, I go by Countrygirl which I am very proud of. May 2008 will be my 10TH year for my web site. I started out not knowing one thing about building one, didn't have a clue as to what in the heck "HTML" stood for.........!!!! other than "Honey, There's Money Leftover"!!!! But since then I have picked up enough to be able to do all I need to do. I really appreciate all the help I have received from friends and tutorials made available by those in the know....!!!!

I am a blend of English, German, Irish, Native American, and Scotish but most of all, I Am An American.

I was born in Missouri, otherwise known as "The Show Me State." I get my fair share of jokes from those who like to dish it out...Lamar, the county seat of Barton, is my home town. It is a small agricultural community with lots of history and stories of it's own. I am the eldest of six living children born to my mother. She had four living daughters and two living sons. Her first son, born before me, died at birth. I always wanted a big brother but had to wait until my little brothers were born. They tower over me, so I now have two "big" Brothers.

I was born during WWII in February 1944, thus Amethyst is my birthstone, and one of my most favorite colors, and is my favorite gemstone, even above diamonds. WHAT? I do like diamonds but unless they are perfectly clean and clear, they are not very pretty.

Mom was living with my grandparents while my father was overseas stationed in Germany. I was the first baby for the doctor mom was going to and I guess from what I have been told, I have to go by what I was told, 'cause I was too young to remember, that I initiated him real good. It seems on one of her visits, as he was putting the stethoscope on her abdomen to listen for a heartbeat, I kicked real hard and his stethoscope went flying up into the air. Guess I showed him, don't be putting that cold thing on me!!!! Mom said he really got embarrassed and turned bright red. Gee, I would have loved to have seen the results of my kick!!!! Mom and my father divorced sometime after his return from the war. He had major problems with alcohol and rage.

My Grandparents were so wonderful, I loved them so much. They taught me about Jesus and His Father, God. I can't remember not loving Him, and have always loved Him, though I know, just like earthly children, I was rebellious sometimes but He never stopped caring for me. After all, He is my Heavenly Father and loved me enough He gave His only begotten Son to die for our sins.

Mom married again to a wonderful man I call my Dad. I was loved just as much as his own children by birth. Later on we moved out to the country, "Oh Boy!!! I had the run of forty acres all to myself. We had horses, cows, goats, pigs, chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits and Bantams, "BANTAMS"!!!!

You know what those are, they are miniature chickens. Now you might say, "OH, how cute!!!" Well, you are right, they are so cute but don't under estimate those little tornadoes!!!!

I found out it is not nice to swoosh a Bantam hen when she has a clutch of chicks. I had gone out to feed the rabbits and Momma and her babies were in the way. She wouldn't move and I had to go where she was!!! She and her chicks were between the rabbit hutches and the fence, and there was no other way to go. Well, I had the pan in my hand, so I swooshed it at her. All of a sudden she flew up into my face and flogged the dickens out of me. I thought I was going to die right then and there.....I sure gave that old hen a wide swath from then on.

Now, we also had one of the finest outdoor facilities in the area, we had a two seater. Of course, we always had the latest issues of Montgomery Ward and Sears and Roebuck catalogs to read, when there was enough light, then to recycle afterwards. Back then we didn't know that the word recycle was politically correct. The only thing I didn't like was "What was under the holes?" I made sure I was going to be the only one sitting there before I sat down......

As I said we had horses, Deck and Dan, who helped daddy work the fields and provide transportation. Deck also doubled as our buggy horse when we made our weekly visit to town to go to the movies and do the shopping.

One time when my cousins Darlene and Sandra were visiting, mom called out to Darlene, but she didn't answer. About that time she heard the sound of horse's hooves and here came Darlene, riding on the back of Dan, Roman style with nothing to hold onto but the reins. Mom about had a heart attack right on the spot. Darlene wasn't the least bit scared.....Heck, she knew what she was doing!!!!

Back then all the farmers got together during planting and harvest season to help each other out. This one particular day we were all over to the Coles' farm. I was thru eating and asked to go out to play. Mom said OK, and Mr. Cole said to stay away from his horses, they were mean. I guess I forgot......cause the next thing I knew everyone was out on the porch, the women all shaking, their fists up to their mouths, and Mr. Cole telling everyone, "Be still, those horses will trample her to death." Well, I don't know what all the fuss was about, I mean I had been playing under them, right underneath them, right between the two of them, for along time. Heck,they didn't mind at all.....

I started school at Forest Grove country School, which was about two miles west of our farm. We lived at the end of the road and our nearest neighbor was about half mile West of us. Mom would take me down to the neighbors then I would walk with Carolyn and Jerry Bill down to the corner where we met with Doug and another boy. From there we all walked onto school, a one room building where grades 1 through 8 were held. Whenever an 8TH grade student graduated, a graduation ceremony was held in the Memorial Hall in Lamar. It was a real grand celebration. The last one I attended, I caught the measles, I was so awfully sick. It was about the same time, Mom was pregnant with my baby sister which she lost at 8 months.

Later on, she became pregnant again and my sister Carolyn was born. She had bronchitis and had to be taken to the hospital emergency room without notice because she had trouble breathing. Dad and Mom decided, after many trips to the hospital, we needed to be in town closer to the hospital.

While in my third grade, daddy bought a house in town. Before we could get moved, a fire broke out in the Lamar school and a large part of it burned down. I remember standing, looking out the window of our one room country school house, crying that my new school was burning down.

Fortunately, the entire structure was not destroyed, the band room remained intact, and later on, a new building was constructed, and school was back in session. So off to the big school I went, and we all had our own classrooms that we didn't have to share with all the other grades.

Later on, October 3, 1954, Mom had another baby, and I had another baby sister, they named Kathryn Elois. She was such a pretty little girl, natural curly hair, not straight like my sister Carolyn's. Carolyn inherited the Native American features from my Grandmother. Grandmother's Great Great Grandmother, Mary Ann (Parker) Marsh was Cherokee Indian.

My Dad died suddenly in May, 1957. He had finally gotten a civil service job at the post office. He was so happy because that meant he didn't have to work at the grain elevator anymore. He had been employed around a month and he was at work when it happened. He was one of two men I most treasured. The other was my Grandfather Hamilton. There has never been a man in my life who could ever compare to the two of them.

Mother remarried and then there were three more siblings, my brother Bill, my sister Teresa and my brother Larry.

I married early according to some, October 1961, I was 17 the first part of that year, it was a rough and rocky road but we were blessed with four beautiful children, three sons and a daughter who have blessed us with ten grandchildren, seven grandsons and three granddaughters. My husband died May 20th, 1991 of cancer. We had been married just short of 30 years. It was an extremely difficult time for me, I found I wasn't strong as an ox after all. Then the first week of October, my Mom's third husband passed away. Even though they had been divorced for a long time, the pain of losing him too, was nearly too much to take.

I moved to Kansas a few months after his death. I needed to make a new start and later on met a man who was born in NE Oklahoma and grew up in SE Kansas. We dicovered we had quite a bit in common and after many months, we married.

In February 2002, my sister Kathy, died after having a heart attack. My second husband's Mother, passed away in June of the same year following a massive stroke.

We were together from September 1992 until November 2003 when he died of heart disease. We were married 11 years. I moved back to Missouri ten months later, in September and am so glad to be back home. There is a lot of beautiful country in Kansas from rolling plains to hilly, timber country but I like Missouri.

My Mother passed away in October, just a couple weeks after my return to Missouri following a long illness.

I still have animals, and live in a small community not far from my home town, Golden City. I have children and grandchildren here and I work part-time in a rewarding job caring for others.

I have a lot more stories to tell if I can get them out of storage!!! But for now, you know all you need to about me. If you really need to know more you can contact me.

I will try to remember the password to my file box locked in my memory to bring out some other memories of my youth. Then there was my first flight in a plane but that will take some telling, I have some pictures also. But that is coming later on!!!

I am just so thankful I know and love Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. He has carried me when I could not walk, comforted me when I was in so much pain, wiped away my tears and laughed with me when I was filled with joy. My God lives.