The area where Kenneth and his family lived was infested with black snakes, and often the kids would find them curled up in their clothes at the river where they used to go swimming. One day one of the children caught a six-foot snake for the Barnum…
Kenneth recalls his first visit to the dentist. It was for an extensive work including multiple teeth removal and filings. The dentist wouldn't tell Kenneth, who was 7 or 8 at the time, what he was going to do, so Kenneth refused to cooperate. They…
Kenneth interjects to explains that he is one of few people whose tonsils simply dissolved. The doctor had told him that he needed to have them removed, which Kenneth didn't want to do, and fortunately at a later visit the tonsils were nowhere to be…
Kenneth can't remember ever taking a book home in high school. His memory was that his grades in High School were not good, but going through his records he was surprised to discover that he had excellent grades. He also tells about him learning to…
Kenneth sings a song from his childhood. He mentions that it just came to mind as he was washing the dishes the other day, and Margaret was surprised to that she had never heard it before. Kenneth is quite amused by the way that things that have been…
Kenneth on his first encounter with graft and corruption. He was about 11 years old and went with Jimmy, a 15 years old, to a movie. The girl that was selling the tickets liked Jimmy and so gave them two tickets before she turned around to take them…
Kenneth remembers the first time he went to the theater, at age eight or nine. Mr. Jenkins, a printer for The Evening Republican, and Bobby Jenkins took him there. He recalls being photographed wearing the dress of Alice Jenkins after a party and…
A story from Kenneth's childhood. It was fall, and very wintry, and very cold, but his brother, Bradley, wanted to go canoeing. To begin with, Bradley sat in the rear and Kenneth sat in the front. They paddled a number of miles before they decided to…
Kip says he has never seen a picture of Bradley, and Carol and Kenneth tell of the pictures down in the basement there at 4711. Some show him in a military uniform, even one with a monocle he got after Kenneth had given him a watch.
Kenneth's mother, Mae, was anemic and was told by her doctor that she should have a stout or dark beer that would help her overcome her anemia. This was standard procedure in those days. The father, Brad, was preaching against alcohol consumption and…
The sequel was just as hilarious. Mae was ill, and people from church came to call with the visiting committee. There were three women. Mae was up and thanked the women for coming. But when they came in the door, they stopped cold and began sniffing.…
Kenneth recalls his time at the University of Cincinnati, Mrs. Heintzman at whose house he was living, and the seances she held for people from the university because she was a medium.
Following Bradley Jr.'s death, Brad Sr. wanted Kenneth to have a life-transforming experience, so he took the whole family to Gull Lake Bible Conference where Kenneth met Charles Blanchard, then President of Wheaton College. That encounter led to…
Kenneth told Charles Blanchard he had quit college and Blanchard proposed that he come to Wheaton College. He remembers being mostly unimpressed by Wheaton, but as Margaret walked into the registrar's office where Kenneth and his father were, Kenneth…
Kenneth recalls having a hard time getting Margaret Mortenson to go on a date with him because she was the darling of all the football players. Eventually, Margaret named a date when she was free and they had their first date. Kenneth describes it as…
Kenneth had had so much elementary practical chemistry at Cincinnati that he felt like it was kid stuff (he had worked for so long at the Erie Railroad and knew far more chemistry than what he was studying in college). He became careless about this…
Despite his incomplete grade in chemistry from the University of Cincinnati, Kenneth had taken so many classes there that, following his transfer to Wheaton, he was told he would graduate in three years rather than four. This was astonishing to him.
Kenneth told his father Brad about Margaret, who he had met at Wheaton, so Brad came to meet her. Immediately he knew she had qualities he couldn't cope with. From the first time he met her he was afraid of her. He wished his son could find a…
Kenneth returns to the story of his time at the University of Cincinnati, life at the home of Mrs Heintzmann (who was a spiritist), his friends Bennie and Felix, and his struggle with chemistry. He also recalls his friendship with Katherine Lindner.
Margaret remembers the first time she and Kenneth met. It was at the registrar's office, where Lois McShane was with Margaret. Kenneth had met Lois before, so she was a very important factor in Margaret and Kenneth's meeting.
Margaret remembers Kenneth and his father very well dressed the first time she met him in the registrar's office. She talked to Kenneth that night at a reception at the McShane, and he made a favorable impression on her. But that was it; they didn't…
Kenneth recalls a class fight in which he got at Wheaton. It was the first time in the history of the college that this was happening. Kenneth and his pals "stacked" the rooms of their adversaries, throwing everything on the floor.
Kenneth joined a literary society, the Baltonians (Margaret was in the Aeolians). He prepared a musical program for the society. Each society had its own hall.
Kenneth tells of an important conversation with Margaret's mother, who didn't like him at first. She struck him as a wise and humble woman. The two became good friends.