My mind goes back to the early ’50s when I grew up on a small family farm in Iowa. We were struggling to make the payments on our farm, so my parents had to think of ways to reduce costs. One thing my mother did was to raise a garden. At first my mother planted what she thought was just enough for our needs. Invariably, it seemed something always happened to the crop. Either somebody stole it the night before she planned to harvest it, or bad weather or insects wiped it out. After several years of this, my mother finally decided the Lord must be trying to tell her something. The next year she planted more than she thought we needed. We had a bumper crop. Then my mother started thinking about all the people who didn’t have gardens or those who had less money than we did. She began giving away the abundance and found great joy in seeing people’s eyes light up. Every year after that we had huge gardens. We always had more than enough. I’m so glad my mother taught me the valuable lessons of generosity and compassion.
Joy J. Palmer
Forest City, Iowa
Back in 1955 a call went out from the editors of the then Capper’s Weekly asking for readers to send in articles on true pioneers. Hundreds of letters came pouring in from early settlers and their children, many now in their 80s and 90s, and from grandchildren of settlers, all with tales to tell. So many articles were received that a decision was made to create a book, and in 1956, the first My Folks title – My Folks Came in a Covered Wagon – hit the shelves. Nine other books have since been published in the My Folks series, all filled to the brim with true tales from Capper’s readers, and we are proud to make those stories available to our growing online community.
