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Sweeter Than Elderberry Wine
Gertrude Was Married


So it was, Gertrude Jones married her tall handsome beau whose name was Daniel Wadley.

“We were married in Oklahoma. We didn’t know there were no legal licenses at the time, but, of course, someone told us.” Gertrude wrote in her journal. “ o what to do? Well, we just took the whole wedding party out across the prairie to Kansas and a little town called Wide Awake, and we were married again.” The telling of the story brought out the Collin’s sense of humor and one could almost hear Gertrude chuckle to herself as she made a note of the incident. She goes on, “Some folks didn’t know about this and lived together for a time before they found out they were not legally married.”

‘Today in the 2007 this wouldn’t even raise an eyebrow, but in the year circa 1917 it would have been something to cause the genteel ladies to shudder.’

“She looks like a woman, and she thinks like one. There won’t be any holding her back. Gertrude is too much of a Jones, like the rest of you, to ever change her. I’ve taught her to take care of a family, and I don’t have no doubts about her being able to do just that.”

Gertrude was married to Dan T. Wadley, and she painted a broad stroke on the land, as she ever supported her husband, and was a wise manager of her family.

‘Meanwhile, the dust bowl was born and named as such. When the winds started they came with such a certainty of destruction; a tidal wave had no more power. Tall waves of black, dark dust rose up high into the sky to move across the landscape bringing total darkness so thick and complete no one could see their hand in front of them. The dirt sifted in under the door and through the edges of the windows, making little piles of sand on their ledges. Bell’s asthma returned. The tiny, frail woman was aware she could not survive the onslaughts of the dust filled air that was turning the very days into nights.

“What are we gong to do, Joe? We can’t stand this.” Bellzona was at her wit’s end.

“I tell you what we are going to do. We are selling out. Selling out for the bottom dollar. I’m taking what I can get and I’ll be thankful for that.” Joe announced, with finality in his voice.


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