What Do You Have Saved From Your Childhood?

Question:
What Do You Have Saved From Your Childhood?

Answer:
A bunch of junk. And then some.

I remember a lot of my toys from late childhood are still in my father's attic but there are a few that stick out specifically. There was a red table with matching red chairs. A yellow hairbrush. White leather baby shoes. And a Snoopy doll.

That Snoopy doll is what I remember the most. I don't remember carrying it around like I've heard I used to do as a young child, but I do remember it in my collection of stuff as I got older. It was white and black (just like Snoopy!), his nose was missing, and he was filled with something that made it feel like a bean bag.

Photos:


Note: This is not an actual photo, but merely a representation of what the Snoopy looked like.

References:
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey - April 27, 1997

Transcription:

Dear Lord, these people are particularly in my heart as I pray that You will be close to them, letting them know that You love them & call for them now!!!

[there are two columns of names]

[left column]
(Church Family)
Janice, "my prayer pal"
Marian
Danny & Emma
Ivan [labeled as "teens"]
Sylvester [labeled as "teens"]
Travis [labeled as "teens"]
Mark their leader
Pastor Bill & Millie
Millie's Mom
Larry K. - as he does today's sermon
Betty Bell
Willie & Alfred

[right column]
Grace-Mom [this would be Theodore Hollingsworth's biological mother - Dorothy called her "Grace-Mom"]
[redacted] & family
[redacted] [redacted] following surgery
[redacted] (future surgery?)
[redacted]
[redacted] [redacted]
[redacted] - to know You, Lord
[redacted] [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted], [redacted], [redacted]
[redacted]
[redacted]

Today, I am thankful for: 1. Your guidance 2. my parents 3. My husbands 4. my children 5. my life

As I write to [redacted] & [redacted], please give me the words that will honor Your name, Lord, and lead them to know Thee better! Amen

Interpretation:
We redacted a lot of names here in the second column because they are family members that may want to remain anonymous and many are still alive. We left in Grace (Brown) Steinbaugh's name because we felt the tidbit of history was interesting and, unfortunately, Grace has been dead for over ten years.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey - Preface

Transcription:

"Joy is a deep settled conviction that a loving Heavenly Father is in control of the details of my life."

John 14:27 .... "Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

2 Timothy 1:7 "For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline."

Today is April 27, 1997 - I shall try to write a prayer, a quote, what I am thankful for, a prayer request or list of those for whom I am praying each day during the remainder of this year.

D.B.H.L.H.

Interpretation:
This is the first page of the journal and it seems pretty clear what Dorothy Hollingsworth intends to write about. One side note on her signature. She was born "Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth," married Andrew Lester, then married again (after Andrew died) to Theodore Hollingsworth. So her initials started as D.B.H. then D.B.L. then D.B.H. Somewhere along the line she adopted the full D.B.H.L.H. (for Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth Lester Hollingsworth). We have not determined if this was out of humor or a way of honoring her past. Whatever the reason, the signature was always the source of a few chuckles in the family.

Some of you may be wondering about her marriage to Theodore (Ted or Teddy) Hollingsworth. Dorothy married and had several children with Andrew Lester. He died in 1960, leaving Dorothy to care for several young children by herself. She remarried in 1971 to Ted Hollingsworth. Ted was the adopted cousin of Dorothy. Ted's biological parents were Homer Dean and Grace Brown. He was adopted by William Hollingsworth and Mary Lane. William Hollingsworth was the brother to Glenn Hollingsworth. Glenn was Dorothy's father.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.

Joy in the Journey

We will be departing a bit from the pattern of our last few posts to cover a different aspect of our unique family history. Specifically, we will be covering Dorothy Hollingsworth (aka Dorothy Beth Hollingsworth Lester Hollingsworth) and a journal she kept from 1997 to 2002. In keeping with our previous risk analysis, we will be redacting some personal information for various reasons. If you happen to be a family member and you want something redacted, let us know and we will research the issue before taking action. However, please do not expect us to leave everything unpublished. We want to publish this journal while staying as tasteful as possible.

So without further ado, here we go.

First, a little about the author. Dorothy Hollingsworth was born in 1919 in California. She was the daughter of Glenn Hollingsworth and Mary Ashton, both big names and big families in our country's history. She died in 2006 in Illinois after a long and productive life. She always struck me as a patient and wonderful woman who did her best to help those in need.

Her journal is a very personal thing to both her and our UFO Team. We rarely get a look inside the inner workings of a person, let alone one that has had such large impact on so many people. It is because of these strong emotions that we will attempt to limit ourselves to just one journal entry at a time. We struggled with tears last night as we read the first entry and, while it may not have had a lot of substance, the emotional weight was palpable.

The journal itself is just a simple composition notebook. Like many that you would in a local office supply store, it has that marbled black and white cover. The cover has been customized a bit with a label that has a nicely scripted title of Joy in the Journey. The pages are worn around the edges and one page has been torn out. We assume this acted as a bookmark as well as a prayer list. Upon closer inspection, the cover reveals a set of tiny footprints going across the cover.

The entries are all handwritten in ink and cover most of 1997. There are a few entries for 1998, 1999, and 2000. After September 11, 2001, the entries become almost daily until early 2002. This is were things end. The entries cover April 27, 1997 to January 10, 2002.

A few key events within that general time frame include:

- December 1996 - Dorothy's second husband dies.
- December 1996 - Dorothy's daughter dies.
- November 1997 - Dorothy's son gets remarried.
- July 1999 - Dorothy's son-in-law dies.
- April 2000 - Dorothy's mother-in-law dies.
- Several great-grandchildren were born.

So you can see that a lot happened during this time frame as well as a lot of things immediately before-hand. From here, we will be transcribing and discussing the entries.

References:
- Hollingsworth, D. B. (1997). Joy in the Journey. Private Collection.
- Numerous facts were gathered from the private Richard Family Estate collection. These facts span numerous sources of information and contain genealogical data, photos, and newspaper articles.