What an amazing woman!! Alice Flickinger Schenk. I wish I knew more of the details of her early life. I am blessed to have a copy of a small book that she wrote about life in the Badlands of South Dakota. Tracking her genealogy has been fun. We lived in a duplex of sorts, with my grandparents upstairs and my family downstairs. If I'd done something wrong you could generally find me hiding under my grandmother's apron. She used to give me rides on her carpet sweeper and kept a record of my height on the knotty pine wall of her breakfast nook. She fed the squirrels from the window there and more than once my father was called to help an errant squirrel back out side. She told me I had short stubby hands that were made for work and handed me a duster.
She wrote poetry and music and books; drank a small glass of red wine at bedtime; and lived into her 90s. While cleaning my scrapbook room (although it's so messy it's hard to determine it's a space) I came across one of her poems:
"Give Me a Friend"
Give me a friend, just one good friend,
to walk along the way.
A friend who cares, a friend who shares
my joys and sorrows too.
Give me a friend, just one good friend,
who stays when the road is rough,
And the hills are steep and dark clouds
roll in before the sun breaks through.
Give me a friend, just one good friend,
and I'll be satisfied.
She was truly a jewel. Thanks to all my friends who have walked with me along the way.
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