You Can’t Un-Ring the Bell

Creative memoir of the end of the Great Depression, and especially of the World War II years, as seen through the eyes of this child who lived through those times. It’s a book about living in a close-knit community, when times were hard but life was soft–with friends and neighbors and a loving family. Descriptions of farm life before any modern equipment had been invented, and how neighbors worked together in harvesting their crops makes for interesting reading. Hog killings, the entire process of the drudgery of tobacco farming, and being self-sufficient in growing all the family’s food is recounted. She relates humorous stories of her life experiences, as when at the age of 3 she decides she can no longer abide living with two brothers, and decides to run away from home. She is constantly told she is too little to do all the things she wishes to do, but then when she attempts to do them anyway, she suffers the consequences.

During the depression, a tramp visits her grandmother’s house, asking for scraps from supper. Using Biblical instructions, he is given the left over supper food. There are stories about the wars and the soldiers who fought for our freedom. There are vivid descriptions of what the war years were like and the sadness that resulted, because not all the soldiers came home. Personal stories about military battles as told by the author’s father, who was a Doughboy in WW I, are entertaining as well as educational. This memoir is factual because the author, who is now 85 years old, actually experienced the incidents she describes.