The Quarter

Betty was a single mom in 1931 struggling to raise two kids, Peg and Ron.  After the divorce, Betty and her family were making their way from Baudette, MN to Fort Frances, ON.  Their house had been burned by the Spooner fire and the only recourse for her and the children were to walk the whole way.  They may have picked up a ride along the journey, I am not sure. My dad, Ron tells a story of sitting around a campfire on that trek with nothing but the clothes on their back.  Betty found a room to rent in Fort Frances.  It was upstairs in the building where the Bonnie Blue used to be.  It had no windows but had a hot plate for cooking.

In order to look for work, she left the kids with a new acquaintance, the fellow who had the apartment next to their little room. 

Her first job was with George H Ross company making bed sheets. Her payment for the day was one sheet. She chose a pink one because as soon as she got home, she used that sheet to make a little girl's dress to sell. She worked all night long and finished the dress. The next morning, she trudged to the Post Office corner where she stayed until she sold the dress: it was nightfall by then. She had gotten 25 cents for her efforts.  

When she returned home she asked her son, Ron to go downstairs to the grocery store to buy macaroni, one big tomato, (the biggest he could find) and a red onion with the quarter. When he had chosen all of the items, he went to pay with the quarter Granny had given him, but it was not there...he had some how lost the quarter!

The owner of the grocery store told him to take the bag and go home.  Ronnie felt sick to his stomach since he had lost the only money they had and his Mom had worked so hard for it. As he climbed the stairs to their rented room, he prayed with every step "Please God, I will be a good boy if you let me find that quarter...I will do anything you ask if I could only find that 25 cents!" Once at home, he gave the bag to his mom and she started to make a meal with the ingredients...my Dad said she could make a delicious meal out of anything. As he watched her cook on the hot plate, Ron sat on the little heater repeating silently his prayer to God. He bowed his head in tears with worry and prayer and low and behold, he saw a shiny thing nestled in the cuff of his pants!!!!  Yelling towards his mom GOD HEARD ME...here is the quarter!!!   Betty didn't ask him what had happened, she was too kind and anyway he had the quarter, why bother. She was so happy in that moment that she said to Ron and Peg, "let's have a jig" and the three of them danced in the small room until they laughed so hard, they cried. Years after, that was her go-to meal when family would get together..macaroni, tomatoes and onions.  It was a family favourite...IT WAS DELICIOUS!                                    

Christmas was just around the corner. A man appeared at their door with a wooden orange box containing a little hammer and nails for my Dad - it was his first Christmas present!  Things were looking up for Betty and her children once they settled in Fort Frances.

Here is the picture of my dad, Ron Anderson and his sister, Peg Ballard when they were children.