If you knew the family, you knew my own mother passed away weeks before Terry and I were married. Therefore, Gladys became my mentor and role model. By country standards, we lived near each other. Terry and his father farmed together and that in itself brought us together a lot. Fortunately, we enjoyed each other’s company. And why would one take two cars twenty miles to the closest town to shop when going together saved money on gas and wear and tear on one vehicle. Yes, the Steinhour’s were very thrifty.
Until I started teaching school, over twelve years into our marriage, we took turns cooking the big noon meal for the men. For many of those years it was Terry, his father Raymond (Gladys’s husband), and Frank (Raymond’s father) working on the farm. Yes, grandpa helped on the farm well up into his eighties. This allowed us a day off to do our own thing uninterrupted. Sometimes we shared meals even if they were not working cattle or in the field. Sometimes there would be fresh fish caught and most often Gladys and Raymond would fry them. And if we decided to have beef liver, since we raised beef cattle, I would fry the liver. And if we grilled, Terry and I did the grilling. Once I fried Rocky Mountain Oyster because I knew I would not eat them.
Gladys was always good to help me with projects from painting a room to wallpapering, to canning, especially if I had a lot to do. Every summer we would go black raspberry picking in their big timber. And once just the two of us went fishing. In the spring, neighbors put money in and a neighbor stocked his pond for fishing. Our guys were planting, so Gladys and I went fishing. She said she couldn’t put a worm on a hook. I said I would if I could use gloves. So that was my job. But I said I couldn’t touch the fish or take it off the hook. So that was her job. Our husbands had fish to clean when they came in from the field that night. Another time we wanted a hot fudge sundae and figured we could get a huge and cheaper sundae if we bought a quart of soft serve ice cream and a cup of hot fudge and an extra cup, and a spoon, and make our own.
She often lent a hand with the Michael and Mark. I started teaching when Mark was in kindergarten. When they didn’t have school, and I did, they often stayed with “Ba.” Michael named her that when he was months old. Mark continued with it. Some days after school they would go up there even if our vehicle was coming down the road. She would always have some kind of snack for them that they liked.
We always asked Terry’s parents first if they wanted to keep the boys before we hired a babysitter. More than likely, they wanted to watch them. The boys spent a lot of time with their grandparents.
Gladys was the perfect example of a homemaker. She kept a very clean home; no cluster, no dirt, no dust. She made healthy meals. And her pies were the absolute best. She gave me the recipe she used for pie crusts; but mine were never like hers. Her yeast rolls were the best, too, especially her cinnamon twisted rolls. She would put just a small glaze of icing on them. Gladys was an excellent seamstress. She made almost all of her own clothes. She made play clothes, T-shirts for the boys and dresses and other clothes for her granddaughters. She made Halloween costumes for her grandchildren; a rabbit and dinosaur costume for Michael, a pumpkin for Mark as I recall. For different history fair speech projects, the boys needed period waistcoats, and without a pattern, she made a couple of those. In her later years she helped lay out baby doll clothes for her great-granddaughter’s American Bitty Baby dolls.
The last time I saw her she still had her sweet personality and cared how she looked. I have missed her for a few years now. I am happy she is with our Lord, and her husband, and her son.
