A couple months ago, our minister began her sermon by saying that it is common to hear “They had more time in the old days, even referring to the pioneers” My best friend gave me a pointed look to which I responded that Laura Ingalls Wilder had actually written an article saying as much and how it wasn’t true in the Missouri Ruralist approximately 100 years ago. She laughed, and I sent her copies of the article after church. Laura’s magazine writings are in the chapter we are discussing today.
The chapter includes discussion on the trip to San Francisco, where I would love to see the buildings as Laura saw them. Despite my pleas, our one day in San Francisco when I was 11, my parents didn’t spend it hunting down maybe still standing buildings. Which Laura site do you most want to see as it was in the books? Should we plan a trip?
 
And we delve into both Laura and Rose’s writing, and truth. Rather than reflect on how well that would still fit today regarding the news, I’ll ask if anyone has read one of Rose’s “biographies?” I read the one on Henry Ford. My Dad worked skilled trades for Ford for over 40 years, and we have been to Greenfield Village countless times. There were claims about Ford, which even The Henry Ford doesn’t make! Henry wasn’t the fan of unionization that Rose paints, even if today it is a strong partnership. His childhood sounded more like Rose’s than anything else. I found myself making many remarks towards the author repeatedly.
Lastly, the book discusses Rose and Laura – a subject that we all have strong opinions. I’m an internal auditor with no background to start, but I am an only child. I have never read anyone who has looked into the relationship through that lens. When Laura was seven or so, she may have been sliding down a hay stack with Mary while Charles and Caroline discussed their finances. However with Rose – she was in the wagon or around the dinner table less sheltered from the discussions and likely freer to speak. I would love to read someone who didn’t just dismiss it as “all only children are spoiled brats” (by the way when you are an only child, people will say this to your face) but to consider it as a research project.