Tom Smith

Liberty Square Observed and Noted Tom Smith

- Johnnie related how he asked his future father-in-law for his daughter Anna's hand in marriage, when there was in the family an older daughter, Madeline. Johnnie said, "Him say 'no, you can't a hava Anna, you take a Madeline.' I say, 'Donta wanta the Madeline, wanta the Anna, 'Him say' no, damma haffa take a the Madeline." Johnnie and Madeline had eleven children. - The first day you started cutting tobacco you thought surely you would die. The second and third day you wished you had. - Lester was standing near the fireplace mantle, eating his supper. He finished his meal, then sat his plate on the floor. He summoned Phillip, his long-legged hound, who arose and licked the plate clean, which then was returned by Lester to a drawer. - If Bob became frustrated with me, he always used this line, along with several swear words sprinkled at the proper places, "Elvis Presley made more money in one night than you will make in your whole life." How do you argue with that? - The Amish all seem to feel an obligation to take care of the old as needed, as we once did. In talking to a few, they jokingly refer to the complex at Willow Valley as the "English Promised Land."