RuthAnn was a very convenient baby to birth.

A fair number of years ago, my Dad needed to attend a pastor's convention in the middle of North Dakota. I was about ready to pop into the world at the same time. Dad dropped Mom (and me) off at the hospital in Minot. In a couple of days when the convention was over, Mom and I were waiting for him to take us home. We went home to Anamoose, ND where I met my two older brothers. About 3.6 years later, my baby brother came along to save me from being called the baby.

But I was not always such a good girl...I had my first puffs of cigarette by the time I was in kindergarten. A neighborhood boy snuck some of his dad's cigarettes and brought them over to our place. He joined my second oldest brother and I as we hid behind a hedge while he lit up. We each took a few shallow puffs to feel grown up--honestly, we DIDN'T inhale!!! My oldest brother had been there, but he didn't give in to the temptation. This worked out okay, because we used his nose to tell us if our breath smelled like smoke after we had brushed our teeth. (I believe this to be the first time we brushed in the middle of the day).

We didn't get caught, but that little episode seemed to satisfy our curiousity about cigarettes. Now, I can hardly stand the sight or smell of cigarettes. I may find someone attractive, but like Brooke Shields, I find watching someone light up to be a real turnoff. I found out years ago that my Dad had smoked while in college, but I'm happy to say he gave it up around the time he was courting my mother.

Anamoose is also known as the town where young RuthAnn first learned the relative value of $ MONEY $: two older brothers came back from the local gas station, each with a candy bar and something novel: CHANGE! RuthAnn ran to her bank, got a nickel for her candy bar, ran to the station and made her purchase...but no change(???). After discovering that one needed to give more than the amount of purchase, RuthAnn ran back home, got a dime from her bank, ran back to the station, and got 2 NICKELS CHANGE! On the way back, she was telling everyone who'd listen that she got change! What a great day!

Note: RuthAnn was not a big spender (like her younger brother)...by the time she was in first grade, she managed to save over $20 on her weekly allowance of 10 cents (plus some birthday/Christmas gifts)...a bit of a miserly streak embedded itself in her psyche, as she got a bit of a glow from counting the money in her bank and watching it grow.