Random Thoughts: Difficult times, then and now
The Kansas Day program sponsored by Marion County Democratic Women was held on Kansas Day at Eastmoor United Methodist Church. The guest performer did an impression of Elizabeth Custer, widow of General Custer, wearing a costume of the times.
She did it very well. Her performance put me in the mood of thinking of those difficult times. In fact, I just happened to be reading a book about the Civil War, "Divided Family in Civil War of America," by Amy Merrill Taylor.
What a terrible life, especially for those people who lived in the border states. They had family members involved in both the North and the South. The book is full of stories provided by letters of the families going in both directions. The letters had to have two stamps, one of the North and one of the South. There were conflicts between husbands and wives, fathers and sons, brothers and friends. Some were love stories of maybe a southern girl and a northern man. They were very touching and sad.
I just read "A Change of Times," by Lesley Stahl, a reporter. It was an autobiography. She was involved with Washington, D.C., and the White House during Nixon, Carter, Reagan, and the first President Bush. That's what she had to say about them, of course she is still going.
I just saw her on TV interviewing one of the "desperate housewives." She still is slim and attractive and ready for blunt questions. She gives you a picture of how things run behind the scenes and how she battled competition. Life as a national reporter sure isn't easy. If you don't stand up for your rights, you soon fade away.
— NORMA HANNAFORD
