About fromsandyknob (From Sandy Knob) by Karin Noren
Born on the North Dakota Prairies, of predominantly Scandinavian ancestry, I was the only ‘chick’ on the place and often felt I had too many mother hens around on occasion. I also became a daddy’s girl in short order, like my mother before me, who was also an only child. I learned to be a grandmother from my dad’s mother who survived until halfway between my 9th and 10th birthdays. We were very close . My mother(BS 1934), whose mother was also a teacher , had taught school for about 15 years before marrying my dad in 1945. My dad’s only sister who never married, taught for 34 years before retiring and moving permanently to the farm place. She had also been my teacher for two of those 34 years. She was a very loved teacher, who made sure her students learned how to read and write. She was also extremely jealous of my mother and the one who was very over-protective of me. Our’s was an uneasy relationship.
Out of this came many stories and insights that took a long time to develop as I had no other relatives around to share the ‘family story with or get other objective (or not) views of what was transpiring.
My many loves include music, history, and science, and the basics of a very strong faith from my parents. God bless their memories.
And my husband, Don, children, step-children and our collective grandchildren.