Writings to Young Women on Laura Ingalls Wilder--Volume Three by Laura Ingalls Wilder

Author:Laura Ingalls Wilder
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-09-10T00:00:00+00:00

Volunteer for Life:

The Personal Recollections of Irene V. Lichty

Irene and her husband, L. D. Lichty, were responsible formemorializing Laura Ingalls Wilder in her chosen setting.Their volunteer-led movement kept the idea of “doing somethingfor Mrs. Wilder” alive. With the help of Laura’s daughter,Rose Wilder Lane, they were able to preserve the mainartifact of Mrs. Wilder’s sixty-three years in the Ozarks: herhome.

Mrs. Lichty came along late in Mrs. Wilder’s earthly pilgrimage,but their paths crossed by chance. Mrs. Lichty wasthe first curator of the Laura Ingalls Wilder Home andMuseum and a driving force in its permanent establishment.

In having preserved Laura’s home, Mrs. Lichty and herhusband in some sense preserved Laura too. For that, thousandsare thankful. Of course, time stands still for no one.Mrs. Lichty passed away in 1993, full of age and the assuranceshe had preserved something truly worthwhile.

The friendship between Mrs. Wilder and me just sort of happened. I first met Mrs. Wilder—and I remember it very well—at a Methodist church ladies meeting. I noticed this nice-appearing lady who seemed to be getting a lot of attention. Everyone seemed so pleased that she was there. It turned out to be Mrs. Wilder, though I didn’t know who she was at the time.

In some ways, we just kind of slipped into our friendship. She and my mother were also good friends, but I was the one who really got acquainted with her. I have never really known why the Lord made it so easy for us to do this.

Now, let’s see . . . Almanzo was dead, so that would have been part of it. We were in Iowa when he passed away, but when we came back we would have been available and willing to take Mrs. Wilder places.

I got to know Rose quite well. Mrs. Wilder would ring me up and say, “Rose is here. Why don’t you come out?” So we were together quite a little.

Mrs. Wilder owned a car but didn’t drive it, so I would drive them around. I used to take them out to eat at a popular place down Highway 60 beyond Mountain Grove.

In some ways, we just kind of slipped into our friendship.

One day after we left there, I don’t quite know what happened, but I screwed up a little bit in my driving. I didn’t have accidents, but I must have pulled over on the shoulder. Rose didn’t exactly jump; just appeared a little frightened. Mrs. Wilder herself never seemed the least bit nervous about my driving.

At the time of Mr. Wilder’s death, as I understand, she hadn’t been very involved in church things. Her mode of living had changed somewhat and she wasn’t so active. But during the time that I knew her, if I invited her to a meeting, she seemed happy to come. I guess she was more involved in her thinking than her activities would show.

I feel that Mrs. Wilder did have quite a few acquaintances— and many people who wanted to get acquainted with her. I don’t think there was any discrimination on her part; it’s just that she had only so much time and strength.

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