My Cousin Betty

Betty is the daughter of my father's sister. And she still lives in Ft. Madison, Iowa.

The last time my brother and I were in Ft. Madison, she took us on a tour of the town. We began with what used to be the RLDS church - that used to be a busy place, with lot of children, everywhere. Now there are only a few old people left.

Next, we went to the part of town where she grew up, and where her parent's house still exists. I can only describe as a small-town slum, only occupied, by the poor, who are not interested in maintaining it properly. The house we grew up in, is only a few blocks away - and the neighborhood there, is in even worse shape, with most of the houses unoccupied, and the windows boarded up. We didn't bother to go uptown and view the remains of the Sheaffer Pen Company, whose large, modern factory (built in the Fifties) stands vacant.

The situation here can be described easily - the factories are gone, and the workers are gone. And they will never come back.

Next, we went to Betty's new house. Her father was a successful businessman, and employed a number of people. He bought a farm, on the outskirts of  town - just as a hobby. Now he is gone, and the buildings that once housed his Ft. Madison Feed and Seed, are gone too. But the farm remains, and this is where Betty, and her husband, and her two sons, and their families live - quite comfortably, in new houses.

While Betty was cooking a meal for us, we got to meet her sons. They have jobs, but not not jobs they are proud of. One son works in a factory that makes cans - a terrible place, according to his mother. The other son works in a lumber mill - turning logs into lumber. There aren't many places that grow trees, in that vicinity - so this remains a small company. Her sons can only survive, because they live on their mother's farm.

Betty was the youngest of three daughters - her two older sisters, are dead. But she is still alive, and her mind is active.

She is the only one left, of a world we can hardly remember.