have seen several entries in Troy's 1957 appointment book about meetings in Sarasota. We had families driving many miles in order to attend an Evangelical United Brethren Church. There were two or three families driving the ten miles each way from Sarasota almost every Sunday. There seemed to be a nucleus of people quite interested in having a church of our denomination in that city. Troy began having services one night each week in the Coffman home and after a period of several months they banded together to build a church. I do not know the date, but I know that the church was built and we witnessed its dedication. We knew well the Boles family and later the John Winters family, who served that congregation while we were still in Bradenton.

Marion's family came down from Cleveland, Ohio, to spend the Christmas holidays with us in 1957. Elma was with them and Marion drove her almost new car. I had prayed that we would have pretty weather while they were in Florida and my prayers were answered! We gave Lanny a pup tent for Christmas and he put it up on the back of the parsonage lot. He had quite an adventure sleeping in it while they were in Florida. We got the girls a nice doll each and we have cute pictures of all of them with their gifts. They thought it was summer and went barefoot all week. The day after they left the weather changed and we had to have heat every evening and morning for over a month.

We talked to Marion and Dottie about moving to Florida that week. Marion said later, that when he got back to Akron and had difficulty starting his car in the cold, he made up his mind that would be the last winter he would spend in the cold north. So the next Christmas they were spending the holidays in their own home in Bradenton. We were so happy to have them so close to us.

The 1957 holiday was spent in visiting relatives and friends in relatives in West  Virginia, Ohio and Virginia. Each trip was very hurried, but we saw the Bumgarners in Mason County, Ruby Clayton in Cairo, the Smiths near Morgantown and spent time with the Hahns in Waynesboro.

Robert Martin Brady was born April 12, 1958, in Akron. Ohio. Howard and his first wife, Carolyn Ann Curry, moved to Florida August 29, 1958.

Someone from R.C.A. came to Akron and advertised for workers willing to transfer to Patrick Air Force Base and Howard went to work there as a technical writer. They wanted to surprise us so did not let us know of their intended move. When I answered the doorbell, there just outside the door was this little abandoned waif, in a baby carrier. No adults were in sight but I knew immediately that it was the grandson I had not seen before. (On a personal note, I remember Pop Troy telling me “all I had to do was take one look at your ears and I knew you were a Brady!” I had big ears for a newborn. RmB)

Vacation in 1958 was almost a repeat of '57, except that our route to Singers Glen was somewhat different. We stayed the first night with Melvin and Betty George, in Milledgeville, Georgia, July 21st. We were with both the McQuain families in Elkins, at Bland’s, at my sister, Ruby's, at Zylpha's and at Rosalyn's. On to Akron, August 4th. Here we spent one night with each sibling. On the way back we stayed Saturday night with Jim and Helen Smith. On the 10th we went with them to church. In the afternoon we went with them to Coopers Rock State Park. (Photos)

We had Lanny with us on this trip, but Troy's entry on the 13th is the only time this is indicated. We visited so much during this vacation that we could not have done much on the house. As I try to recall now, I think this was before we had made up our minds to really make that into our retirement home. For a period of time after buying it, we thought of it as sale property. We really intended to build on the nice lot, just back of the church. This was the choice lot of our entire three acres. I remember that I spent all the spare time on one vacation enameling all the woodwork in the entire house, not because we expected to keep it but to make it more attractive for sale.

Such a waste of money, time and energy! Before we retired we had decided to remodel and make the house into an attractive home. All the woodwork, including the doors, were replaced with new ones. I think that is the explanation of why, in his appointment book of '58 no mention of work on the house is made.

We started back to Florida August 13th, at 1:00 p.m. and spent that night in South Carolina, on Route 601. We delivered Lanny back home in Bradenton at 9:15 p.m. on the 14th.

1959

On the last day of 1958 Troy had finally convinced me that it was important for him to confirm his willingness to spend much of his vacation period in a revival in Cleveland, Ohio. So we did not go north during the summer. He went alone in October to Cleveland and after the revival went to Akron and visited the relatives.

I made good use of the summer, by starting my shell collection. I had bought several books which helped me to study and identify the things we found on the beach. Bradenton was only six miles from the Gulf and I made it a practice to visit the beach after every storm. The children in school knew nothing about the animals which had lived in the shells they picked up. I spent a little time each day teaching about a different shell. In my collection were beautiful ones which I had bought, as well as those I had gotten from the beach. At the end of this unit of study each child picked out a shell to tell about, and we asked Mr. Patterson to come to our room for a demonstration of what they had learned.

We had several out of state guests during the year. Blair and Gladys McQuain came on February 21st. We visited Brills and they visited us several times in 1959.

Troy made a train trip north on April 29th, to attend a dedication of a building at Shenandoah College. Hahns loaned him a car and he visited the relatives in West Virginia, before returning home. He gave his half-sister, Lois, $45.00 on May 2nd, leaving a balance of $90.89 in his checking account.

1960

Shortly after Marion moved with his family to Florida, Dottie went to work for Dr. Gervais, and worked until shortly before the birth of Drew, on September 13, 1960. The children were so proud of their new plaything. Heather was past seven years; Skip was a regular little mother to him at ten years, and Lanny was the big twelve year old brother, who took him in his bicycle basket to a ball game to show to his friends.

I finished this segment of my memoirs today, October 12, 1991. I am now ready to try to incorporate the writings of the decade of the 60's, into this.

Please remember that I wrote the segment of the 60's before writing any of what you hate read, up until the present time. This is now October 12, 1991. I began this writing on May 1, 1991, never dreaming when I began that this would reach this length.