MEMORIES OF MAMA

MEMORIES OF MAMA,
by Rosa 'Rose' E. Kidd Austin

FANNIE LINDAUER KIDD - born January 8, 1900...
...went to her Maker December 27, 1949.

No finer lady ever lived than my mother, Fannie Lindauer Kidd. She was the most compassionate and gentle mother that one could ever hope for, the perfect example of Christian character. She was born in Forrest City, Arkansas, January 8, 1900 of German immigrant parents. They were so proud of their new country and were determined to be the best citizens, they taught their eight children the Christian faith and to be frugal and hard-working. Fannie followed their teachings very well. She was a tall, slim lady, very pretty, with beautiful light blue eyes and long brown hair that had only been cut once in all her lifetime when she was ten years old. She wore it in a bun on the back of her head, held up by large hairpins. She worked hard on the family farm, clearing the land and taking the large trees to the lumber mill with a horse and wagon. After graduating from high school she worked as a telephone operator.

When she was twenty one years old she was persuaded to marry a widower with three little children, all under five years of age. Ammie Ruble Kidd lived in Everman, Texas in an old farmhouse that had seen its better days with only three small rooms. Its board walls let in the rain and snow. There was no water well, rain water was caught in a cistern, and when it was used up Daddy took his horse and sled to a neighbors well and brought back water in tubs. How Mama kept the diapers washed and the house clean is a mystery to us, for within the first year another baby came. There was no electricity, no modern conveniences to make life easier. Washing of clothes was done on a rub board and hung outside to dry. Mama believed that cleanliness was next to Godliness, and clean she was.There was no bathroom, an outhouse was down a long path, and wash tubs were brought into the kitchen for baths. Fast food was unheard of, Mama had to build a fire in the wood stove to cook our meals three times daily.

It was a very difficult time in the United States during the 1930's as there was a great depression on. Daddy had no skills except farming, so the whole family had to work in the fields to have the bare necessities. Mama worked in the fields with us, working harder than anyone else, and that besides the cooking and cleaning that she did.

Her health was always fragile with frequent headaches and several life-threatening illnesses. Four more children were born, now there was a total of ten in the family. Mama's work load was almost impossible, but her devotion to her Lord and to her family kept her laboring day and night for us. There was no medicine for her many pains and aches.

It is so difficult and painful for me to recall these things now, but as children we did not realize how hard things were for her. Mama never complained or bemoaned her fate, she read in the Bible that we were to be content in the state we were in, and so she obeyed that command. Mama was the kindest lady, she always wanted others to have the best and would take the leftovers for herself. Sharing what little she had was a pleasure to her.

My brothers and sisters and I cannot remember Mama ever buying a new dress or shoes, the only new dress that she got was what she sewed from the fabric of flour and chicken feed sacks, and then only when the needs of her children were met.

Mama kept a thankful heart, always singing and praising the Lord for His blessings. Bickering between us kids was not allowed, we learned to love and be devoted to each other. She was a perfect role model for us. Mama was very wise, not only in school, but in common sense. We are left to wonder how she kept us all together at a time when there were no agencies to help. Mama had many disappointments in her short life, Early in her married life her mother, Rosa Lindauer, came to visit from Arkansas, and when she saw our needs, she sent a check to mama for $3,000. Mama promptly deposited it in a bank, but sadly, all the banks in the U.S failed because of the Depression before Mama got to use any of the money.

The government needed the land that we lived on to build a public hospital, so they forced Daddy to sell. Daddy made a bad investment on another small acreage, so very soon we were without a home and had to rent old houses to live in that were little more than shacks. We count twenty different old homes that Mama had to clean to make them livable. What a labor of love that must have been. We never knew why we moved so much, perhaps it was to be nearer the work. My brother Clarence remembers the rent was $5 per month, which seems like a small amount now, but during those days of the Great Depression, $5 was really hard for Daddy and Mama to come by.

In 1939 we had moved to an old house in the country near Roanoke, where in June of that year, Daddy died suddenly and very unexpectedly, what a horrible shock for Mama. She could not pay for the funeral so, Daddy's brothers paid it. Mama could not drive the Model T daddy had owned, so she sold it and we moved back to the blackland prairie south of Grapevine, Texas where there were many farms and we could find work.

Now Mama was faced with the huge problem of raising eight children without any support at all, no income except what we could earn in the fields. We walked to work, no matter how far it was from home. Mama always went with us, she never sent us, and she worked harder than any of us. Sometimes she was given the cull produce that we could not sell, so she carried the heavy baskets home, and after feeding the evening meal she set about to preserve it. That was the hardest job; preparing, washing, parboiling and finally putting it into the jars that had been scrubbed clean. The pressure cooker required heat, so the stove had to be heated, all of this in the house that was already miserably hot. She must have been up so late and then to bed so exhausted, with nothing to look forward to but the same miserable labor the next day.

How it must have grieved her heart to see her children have to labor in the fields and do without the things that other children had. It must have been a grief for her to see us walking to school in all kinds of weather and not be able to help. How she must have gone hungry so many times, giving up her share of the meager meals to her hungry children. She must have slept cold many nights, giving up the few covers to try to keep us warm. Many were the nights she spent on her knees begging God for mercy for her wayward children. It breaks our hearts to remember these things, what we would give to have her back and give her all the things she deserved, to treat her like the queen that she was. But alas, that is not to be.

When her heart trouble got so bad that she had to see a specialist, she would walk many miles to Grapevine to ride the Greyhound bus to Fort Worth, then walk to the doctor's office. After seeing the doctor, she would have to walk to the bus and again walk home. Sometimes she would be put in Harris Methodist Hospital to stay a few days.

In 1949 Mama's sister, Rosa Moore, sent her a small amount of money, not really enough for a house and lot, but with the help of Mama's children she was able to pay for a small house in Smithfield. It was modest, but a castle to Mama. No more would she have to worry about rent, no more to carry water from a well, no more starting wood fires, for she would have gas heating and cooking. No more walking down a path to an outhouse, for there was water piped in the house, and a big bathtub instead of a wash tub. Now she would have electricity, what a luxury. But it was not to be enjoyed for long, for God in His Mercy and Wisdom called His special child Home after only three months. Most of that time was spent in the hospital. It was a cold day in December, just two days after Christmas, she was only forty nine years old.

Amid the sorrow of remembering her life, it is a great consolation to know that she is now in that perfect Place with her Lord, and surely enjoying all the finest that Heaven affords. No more labor, no more suffering, no more sorrow and no more poverty. We are so thankful that we got to call her Mama. What a lady! A saint has gone Home and we miss her.

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	MEMORIES OF MAMA, by Rosa 'Rose' E. Kidd Austin
	FANNIE LINDAUER KIDD - born January 8, 1900... ...went to her Maker December 27, 1949. No finer lady ever lived than my mother, Fannie Lindauer Kidd. She was the most compassionate and gentle mother that one could ever hope for, the perfect example of Christian character. She was born in Forrest City, Arkansas, January 8, 1900 of German immigrant parents. They were so proud of their new country and were determined to be the best citizens, they taught their eight children the Christian faith and to be frugal and hard-working. Fannie followed their teachings very well. She was a tall, slim lady, very pretty, with beautiful light blue eyes and long brown hair that had only been cut once in all her lifetime when she was ten years old. She wore it in a bun on the back of her head, held up by large hairpins. She worked hard on the family farm, clearing the land and taking the large trees to the lumber mill with a horse and wagon. After graduating from high school she worked as a telephone operator. When she was twenty one years old she was persuaded to marry a widower with three little children, all under five years of age. Ammie Ruble Kidd lived in Everman, Texas in an old farmhouse that had seen its better days with only three small rooms. Its board walls let in the rain and snow. There was no water well, rain water was caught in a cistern, and when it was used up Daddy took his horse and sled to a neighbors well and brought back water in tubs. How Mama kept the diapers washed and the house clean is a mystery to us, for within the first year another baby came. There was no electricity, no modern conveniences to make life easier. Washing of clothes was done on a rub board and hung outside to dry. Mama believed that cleanliness was next to Godliness, and clean she was.There was no bathroom, an outhouse was down a long path, and wash tubs were brought into the kitchen for baths. Fast food was unheard of, Mama had to build a fire in the wood stove to cook our meals three times daily. It was a very difficult time in the United States during the 1930's as there was a great depression on. Daddy had no skills except farming, so the whole family had to work in the fields to have the bare necessities. Mama worked in the fields with us, working harder than anyone else, and that besides the cooking and cleaning that she did. Her health was always fragile with frequent headaches and several life-threatening illnesses. Four more children were born, now there was a total of ten in the family. Mama's work load was almost impossible, but her devotion to her Lord and to her family kept her laboring day and night for us. There was no medicine for her many pains and aches. It is so difficult and painful for me to recall these things now, but as children we did not realize how hard things were for her. Mama never complained or bemoaned her fate, she read in the Bible that we were to be content in the state we were in, and so she obeyed that command. Mama was the kindest lady, she always wanted others to have the best and would take the leftovers for herself. Sharing what little she had was a pleasure to her. My brothers and sisters and I cannot remember Mama ever buying a new dress or shoes, the only new dress that she got was what she sewed from the fabric of flour and chicken feed sacks, and then only when the needs of her children were met. Mama kept a thankful heart, always singing and praising the Lord for His blessings. Bickering between us kids was not allowed, we learned to love and be devoted to each other. She was a perfect role model for us. Mama was very wise, not only in school, but in common sense. We are left to wonder how she kept us all together at a time when there were no agencies to help. Mama had many disappointments in her short life, Early in her married life her mother, Rosa Lindauer, came to visit from Arkansas, and when she saw our needs, she sent a check to mama for $3,000. Mama promptly deposited it in a bank, but sadly, all the banks in the U.S failed because of the Depression before Mama got to use any of the money. The government needed the land that we lived on to build a public hospital, so they forced Daddy to sell. Daddy made a bad investment on another small acreage, so very soon we were without a home and had to rent old houses to live in that were little more than shacks. We count twenty different old homes that Mama had to clean to make them livable. What a labor of love that must have been. We never knew why we moved so much, perhaps it was to be nearer the work. My brother Clarence remembers the rent was $5 per month, which seems like a small amount now, but during those days of the Great Depression, $5 was really hard for Daddy and Mama to come by. In 1939 we had moved to an old house in the country near Roanoke, where in June of that year, Daddy died suddenly and very unexpectedly, what a horrible shock for Mama. She could not pay for the funeral so, Daddy's brothers paid it. Mama could not drive the Model T daddy had owned, so she sold it and we moved back to the blackland prairie south of Grapevine, Texas where there were many farms and we could find work. Now Mama was faced with the huge problem of raising eight children without any support at all, no income except what we could earn in the fields. We walked to work, no matter how far it was from home. Mama always went with us, she never sent us, and she worked harder than any of us. Sometimes she was given the cull produce that we could not sell, so she carried the heavy baskets home, and after feeding the evening meal she set about to preserve it. That was the hardest job; preparing, washing, parboiling and finally putting it into the jars that had been scrubbed clean. The pressure cooker required heat, so the stove had to be heated, all of this in the house that was already miserably hot. She must have been up so late and then to bed so exhausted, with nothing to look forward to but the same miserable labor the next day. How it must have grieved her heart to see her children have to labor in the fields and do without the things that other children had. It must have been a grief for her to see us walking to school in all kinds of weather and not be able to help. How she must have gone hungry so many times, giving up her share of the meager meals to her hungry children. She must have slept cold many nights, giving up the few covers to try to keep us warm. Many were the nights she spent on her knees begging God for mercy for her wayward children. It breaks our hearts to remember these things, what we would give to have her back and give her all the things she deserved, to treat her like the queen that she was. But alas, that is not to be. When her heart trouble got so bad that she had to see a specialist, she would walk many miles to Grapevine to ride the Greyhound bus to Fort Worth, then walk to the doctor's office. After seeing the doctor, she would have to walk to the bus and again walk home. Sometimes she would be put in Harris Methodist Hospital to stay a few days. In 1949 Mama's sister, Rosa Moore, sent her a small amount of money, not really enough for a house and lot, but with the help of Mama's children she was able to pay for a small house in Smithfield. It was modest, but a castle to Mama. No more would she have to worry about rent, no more to carry water from a well, no more starting wood fires, for she would have gas heating and cooking. No more walking down a path to an outhouse, for there was water piped in the house, and a big bathtub instead of a wash tub. Now she would have electricity, what a luxury. But it was not to be enjoyed for long, for God in His Mercy and Wisdom called His special child Home after only three months. Most of that time was spent in the hospital. It was a cold day in December, just two days after Christmas, she was only forty nine years old. Amid the sorrow of remembering her life, it is a great consolation to know that she is now in that perfect Place with her Lord, and surely enjoying all the finest that Heaven affords. No more labor, no more suffering, no more sorrow and no more poverty. We are so thankful that we got to call her Mama. What a lady! A saint has gone Home and we miss her.

		To include your stories and other information in this site, Email us at Webmaster.
Comments, suggestions, additional info are always welcomed., Please contact: Webmaster