Such Is Life In the Far, Far West

Visiting family in Kinder.

Circa. 1934

Not only were they close in age, Jennetta was just three years older than Louis, but close in spirit as well. Because of Louis’ death at nineteen, their time together was short, but their relationship is remembered as close and supportive. Their interests were different, Louis loved and excelled in sports while Jennetta preferred sewing, but they both liked to dance together when the family went to community dances. While they lived in Louisiana, Louis was taught by the old men sitting outside the entrance to the general store to dance a jig while they played music. Jennetta long remembered seeing him, at five years old, trying to keep his feet going for as long as the fiddlers picked. In Oregon, Louis taught Jennetta to swim on family picnics to the lake, but she had a hard time conquering her fear of the water. Later, when Louis became mentally ill, at about eighteen, from constant ear infections and began having violent episodes, it was his sister who, as his closest living relative, had to sign the papers to have him institutionalized. Sitting across the table from him and having him smile over at her made it the hardest moment in her life.