Margaret tells about her friendship with Lois McShane and the group of close friends that formed around them. She recalls their parties and other get-togethers/events. Some of the boys in the group dated Margaret.
It was easy to make friends and there was so much going on. One night Margaret heard music outside just as she was ready to go to bed, and her friend Muriel urged her to come out. There was a group of boys serenading them that night.
Lois invited Margaret to spend the night over at her family's home. She got there just in time for dinner, after which they went out with the intention to see a professor but instead were joined by a group of boys with whom they spent the evening…
Margaret tells of hospitality at the Mortensons. There was always someone living at their home for a year, or two, or more. That was normal and had become part of their life.
Margaret tells of Grace Van Hough who came to live with them and persuaded Adelle to let her buy a grand piano. Adelle's piano went out but when Grace was leaving she took her piano with her and didn't bother to replace Adelle's piano.
Margaret had her tonsils removed and a nurse that Grace Van Hough knew came to watch over her for 24 hours. She remembers the nurse commenting on her muscles from head to toes (Margaret had was in sports a lot and had developed pretty strong…
Margaret tells about the beginning of the end of her father's life. A.D. had his first stroke during of after one the many football games to which he would take Margaret. His health began to decline steadily after that and working became a struggle…
Margaret reads a letter to her mother in which she describes her work in the library and what she earned. She tells of her expenses and asks her mother to pray for her so that she would earn more.
Margaret tells about her family's road trip to Michigan in the summer of 1923. Three tires blew up during the trip. They had to spend the night at the Gales home, the family of Alex, who used to date Margaret. He tried to reconnect with Margaret, but…
Margaret tells about the girls at Wheaton going out early to play football. They would get permission to do so and didn't want people to see them, so they got up very early in the morning and had a "jolly time" together. They got a sense of what the…
Margaret's family made a summer trip to Stony Lake and from there to Minnesota to visit relatives. She remembers how difficult the roads were and all the troubles that this caused. They arrived in Duluth but had to make it back to Racine because of…
Margaret recalls Russell Graves who was very nice to Evangeline, but the Mortenson family had the feeling that they were country cousins. Margaret eventually found out many years later that Russell had made his home in Washington, D.C., but he had…
Following Grandmother Mortenson's death Adelle sold the family's house in Evanston and moved to Wheaton. Lois came to live with them and Kenneth visited often.
Margaret intended to win a scholarship by her good grades. She worked hard in her History class and got 95 on each examination and at the end of the semester the professor gave her 70 because Margaret and her friend had teased him. It cost her the…
In the Spring of 1924 Margaret was in a tennis tournament in which she won several games but lost one. She and her friend Ruth also lost the doubles to a pair of girls of whom one was preparing for the Olympics.
The Mortensons moved to Wheaton and bought two lots with the intention to build. The house ended up costing much more than initially planned, and following the death of A.D., Adelle struggled financially with the expenses on the house. She eventually…
Margaret remembers the Wright family who lived next to the Mortensons. The two families were not friends but good neighbors, She remembers the Wrights' house as often dirty. Mr. Wright became a fine professor of chemistry at Wheaton.
The Mortensons' cottage in Stony Lake was built in the summer of 1922. Margaret reads a letter from her father about the building of the cottage and his hope to get back to work after his first stroke.
Margaret's father went back to work after some ten months of interruption for illness. He was the Curtis Publishing Company's credit manager. The company had very high standards and a lot of strain was involved in A.D.'s position there.
Margaret reads two December 1924 letters from Kenneth about her father's illness and him stopping working again. She describes her father as very melancholic and unable to sleep or work, though he was able to get around.
Margaret reads a memo from her father about the sale of their house at 2400 Harrison St., Evanston. It was a comfortable house, well-maintained and clean.
Margaret tells again of Rufus Park, who took her father on an evangelistic tour in 1925. The goal was to reach with the Gospel people who were living in out-of-the-way places.