A TRIBUTE TO AUNT LYNN

Myrtle in Portland, summer '44

Mike remarked that my little tribute to Aunt Lynn (Myrtle Dobson) was sad enough to bring him to tears – and this from a man who listens to country western songs! Anyway, I didn’t mean for that post to be a downer, but I am saying that Myrtle’s life was an example of what life was like for most unmarried women without resources in that day. After all, that’s why we have the women’s rights movement.

Here's an excerpt from a letter that Myrtle wrote to her brother  Earle in May, 1949:

“I still have no work. I’m going every day to the employment bureaus and occasionally get sent out to apply for work, but on every job a dozen or more people go out and of course, someone younger gets the place. I will try a little longer but will not pay another month’s rent here for it would leave me too short to have enough to wind up here and move on. I think we are facing a recession. There are thousands out of work here and the same in Seattle. I have arranged with my good English friend, Mrs. Tomlinson, to store my large trunk and books with her, if I have to leave, till some future time when I can retrieve them. One accumulates so much in 20 years, though I refrain from buying things and live in a very limited way.”

Myrtle (Lynn) & her older sister, Pearl, June '42

In summary, she says she had lived simply and frugally but had no savings and no prospects. I’m not sure she found work at this juncture. Before too many years would pass, she lived at the farm and cared for Grandma Ina until her passing in 1957. And that she could care for Grandma was a blessing, both for my grandmother AND the rest of the family.

Pearl, Bernice (Earle's wife), & Myrtle, June '42

Something else was at play in this time period that also affected Myrtle’s life – the farm to city movement. In general, farm life was subsistence living. Farm folk had food and shelter but no money for extras, so when the kids went to town for school, they stuck out as farm kids. The move from an agrarian to an industrial society left some people behind. But – appearances are deceptive. They wanted to fit in. Grandma Ina saw to it that her children were exposed to all sorts of knowledge and did her best to encourage their talents. I think Myrtle wanted to put the farm behind her, but at the same time, she loved it very much. KW

[The first photo of Myrtle was taken in Portland. The other two were taken at the farm about where my "compound" is today, looking southward.]