It Makes You Wonder

 Curiosity:  My grandmother had six children and lived on Main Street, Alvarado, Minnesota from aprox 1940- through 1960 (or more).  When I checked the population by decade, 1930=323 ; 1940=336 ; 1950=317.  And yet when I read accounts of how the town grew, thrived, with lists of who owned what properties, my family was mentioned once.  Once!  My parents both went to school in Alvarado, Dad lived there, played on most sport teams.  Grandma and Grandpa both worked at the creamery in town - I think it employed most of the townfolk!  

Grandma was a big church-goer, got involved in community events and such, you'd think there'd be a mention of them somewhere!  At one point, in the 1950s, they ran a cafe.  Grandma was a great cook, and enjoyed it!  After her kids were grown, she often cooked at Bible Camp. 

My hunch is it had to do with Grandpa.  He was 15 years older than Grandma.  In such a small town, usually those things don't matter, especially in 1935 when they married.  

So .... it makes you wonder ...... 

Illegitimate Children

In 1900 and for several decades thereafter, out-of-wedlock births were notorious and rare. Most pregnancies in unmarried women were rapidly followed by marriage when the pregnancy was discovered (demographers refer to these as "bridal pregnancies"). If not resolved by marriage, unmarried women who gave birth typically gave up their babies for adoption.

Still, even at the turn of the century, it was typical to consider a woman “ruined” if she were to find herself pregnant with no prospects of marriage.  Illegitimate children were stigmatized.  

This topic came up in a discussion about the lack of a headstone placed for my paternal Grandmother, Christine Hendrickson.  In searching throughout census data, and knowing about small towns and farming communities in northwestern Minnesota, much of Christine's family lived around and nearby.  Granted, being a "servant" and raising a child didn't leave a lot of room for extras, let alone savings.  She probably never drove; things couldn't have been easy for her.  Or for Harold, who probably felt the brunt of the same types of exclusions throughout his entire life as well.  

Such a sad existence for a woman who was most likely shunned from societal events, and even scorned by the local married women.  My great grandmother Christine was 28 when she got pregnant.  There's no mention of the father in any records we could find.  In fact, on the 1905 census he was listed as "Harold Pederson" and in the 1910 census he was Harold Danielson, living with his uncle, Peter Hendrickson.  

There is a lot of data regarding illegitimate births in England, perhaps because social standing and inheritance laws were more in place than during the growing spurts of American history.  But I'm certain that both my great grandmother and my grandfather lived with secret knowledge and harbored resentments over how things worked out in their lives in this regard.  

Sometimes there are mysteries we cannot actually solve.  But when you consider the circumstances, what little alternatives there were in these days, and despite the hardships Harold managed to marry and have six children, sometimes it's nice just to have a little bit of whatever you can glean of the family story.

The only known photo of Harold Danielson with his mother, Christine.

(Not sure who the other woman is)

The Cafe and Game Room

I'm looking through a book of Alvarado (MN) Memories (published 2005).   I love the story of this little town who's population in 1910 was 128, and hasn't wavered over 375 since then.  

In the book, I located this photo of the Cafe, originally owned by Mike Nordine.  Inside was filled with antiques he'd collected, including skates and copper kettles.  Mike could tell stories about every piece.  Mike died in 1953, and somewhere in there my Grandmother, Myrtle, decided to take over the Cafe and called it either M&H Cafe, or H&M Cafe (Harold being my Grandfather).  They didn't make a go of it for very long, but they tried.  My mother can recall going there to help out after church on Sundays.  

When I showed Mom this photo she told me "That's a good picture of the cafe.  It was dark inside as I remember. All his glass counters were of walnut color as the other cafes were more brightly lit.  One of them was the pool hall where your dad would get him self these big ice cream cones. Or chocolate cake with chocolate ice cream and of course where he learned to play pool."

This of course led me to search out another photo, "The Game Room".  I'm quite certain this is the pool hall; the book mentioned that they sold sweets and treats there. 

Mike's Cafe originally, it was J. D.'s cafe when the building was razed to make room for a mini mall in 1984.  

J.D.'s relocated inside the strip mall.

Natural Bridges State Beach 1993

 Every time I see this photograph, it makes me smile!  Being a type A workaholic, it was rare for me to take a vacation to just do nothing!  My kids were out of school for a week off, and we spent every day going to the beach.  Natural Bridges was our favorite beach.  We'd park on the hill and walk down, carrying our lunch and a few toys.  Water flowed from a creek down toward the beach, and we tunneled a path for the water, and played all day long.  It's one of my most precious memories because there wasn't an agenda or time table, just me and my kids, spending time together!  Warm, sunny days and nothing else to do.  

Big Basin Camping

1990 was a very busy year for me.  Recently divorced, dating someone else, each of us had young children -- so we retrofitted then took off in this Chevy van.  It had custom benches in an L shape so there would be room for all 5 kids to sit as we traveled.  The back half was piled with sleeping backs.  Under the benches was storage for all our things.  We "roughed it" -- each of us only carrying a small duffel.  

But one thing roughing it taught us:  how to be more independent.  One weekend, I decided I needed to get away, just me and the kids headed up to Big Basin to camp.  We didn't bring much, just essentials.  I don't recall if I planned out any meals to cook -- I'm guessing we just had hot dogs cooked over the fire (My fav meal when we're camping!)  

We explored, chopped wood, took a hike, looked at the Redwood trees, and didn't bother with setting up a tent.  We just slept in the van.  We brought along pumpkins to carve, as this was October.  Luckily, it hadn't turned cold yet!  

This was 30 years ago now, and I have no idea what my daughter remembers.  I just know that she wasn't a big fan of camping after she became a teenager!!!

Good times, family memories, makes life worth living.

Linderoth Mystery

My paternal great-grandmother is Christine Hendrickson.  She is listed in the obituary of Peter Hendrickson as his sister; her son Harold is listed as living with Peter on the 1910 Census as "nephew" -- so the family line fits.  Martin H Linderoth is listed as the brother of Peter Hendrickson (oh the joys of these swedes who came over and re-invented themselves with a new name...... ) 

So I am trying to do research on Martin H Linderoth.  I find it quite odd that I cannot locate a grave for him.  I know he was born in August 1858, and that he died after 1922.  He was the President of the State Bank of Alvarado (Minnesota) and also on the board of directors.  Wouldn't a small town make sure there was a grave marker for one of their own? 



Thanks to the Warren Sheaf for putting small town news in their paper, I know that he bought a new Ford car in 1917.   Considering he had a family, perhaps it was the Model T Touring car like this one:








And then in 1922
he was the administrator of his
brother, Peter Hendrickson's estate.




Where does one look for Mr. Linderoth after this?  I have tried to follow his children, but girls are difficult because of their possible married names.  He had four children with Carolina, who had already been married and had children prior to this marriage.  Esther, Henning, Edwin and Ida. It's also difficult to locate children when they change the spelling of their name.

Maybe one day, I will know more!

Mysterious Fire!

I found another glimmer of life on the farm with this tidbit from the Warren Sheaf, October 1916.  Peter Liden is my great grandfather's older brother, and sadly, they lost a part of their livelihood when there was a mysterious fire in the barn. 

It's easy to gain dates, numbers, marriages, childrens' names from sources like the Census data.  But it's these little newspaper blurbs that give a glimpse into the real history of your relatives.  I'm grateful the Warren Sheaf liked to print local history, colorful and otherwise!

Laidley, Sewing Award

Thanks to a free weekend at Newspapers.com, I was able to peruse the Warren Sheaf in search of my old relatives.  The Sheaf was popular for putting in the little newsy tidbits of local folk.  This one is about my Grandmother, Luella Laidley Pape .

My grandmother died when my mother was young, so she didn't know much about her own mother.  Her dad, Robert Pape, didn't discuss her much.  It was much later in his life that he told us he was "so damned mad that she died."  It's my belief that's his reason for not discussing her.

It was a pleasure for me to share this with my mother:  Luella won two awards at the Marshall County Fair in the Sewing Category for girls under 13.  August 1921.

Summer of 1930, Liden Girls

Summer of 1930

In the summer of 1930, my grandmother would have been 15 years old.  Life on a farm was a struggle for many, as this was part of the depression era.

In her memoirs, she wrote:  "Our farm had one hundred sixty acres, which was the average size of the farms people claimed as homesteads.  The farm was a mile and a half south of Thief River Falls.  The home that my father built here had a large kitchen, a large bedroom and a large living room with two porches - one in the front and one in the back.  There were two large bedrooms upstairs, one for the boys and one for the girls. 

Living on the farm we always had plenty of food to eat and clothes to wear.  We had a very large garden where we grew all our own vegetables.  The staples were potatoes, corn, carrots, onions, beans, peas, rutabagas and turnips.  There were a few things we couldn't grow very well because of the cold winters and short growing year like tomatoes.  Yet we did grow enough to get us by.
Under the house was a large cellar where we stored our fruits and vegetables.  We had a lot of potatoes.  A large box of sand is where we stored the carrots and they stayed fresh all winter.  We would dry the ears of corn, beans and peas.  The onions and rutabagas were stored down there too.  In the winter when it was very cold my folks would hang a lighted lantern down there to keep it from freezing.  My mother would place a dish of water on the step going down there to see how cold it would get. If it looked like it would get cold enough to freeze she hung the lantern.

When we got home from school it was our job to slop the hogs, pick the eggs, feed the chickens, then it was up to us to milk all of the cows.  We did it all by hand as there were no milking machines then.  We had a water pump and we would have to pump all of the water for the animals to drink.  It took so much water it seemed we just pumped and pumped and pumped.  We had to take turns.  It took a lot of water to water all of our animals.

When the depression of 1929 hit the country, we hardly knew it on the farm.  The only things we had to purchase were coffee and sugar.  One day my father sent a cow to the herd stockyards in St. Paul but the price of meat was so low it didn't even pay for the freight so my father had to send them money instead of him getting anything for it.  He never sold any more."

At Home on the Farm

A distant cousin, Pat, sent me a copy of something "written in long hand on yellow lined paper".  Harriet is the older sister of my great grandmother, Luella Laidley Pape.  I found the tidbits Aunt Harriet jotted down as amusing and entertaining.  You certainly get a feel for what life was like.  And it's funny how life back then intertwined with other families:  Roy Gowan is related to Jim Gowan, who married my mother's sister Margie!    And just to help with the family line, Uncle Tom and Aunt Edith is Harriet's father Joshua's brother and his wife.

At Home on the Farm

by Harriet Isabell Laidley

I was born on Oct 8, 1905 in the home near Manvel, ND.  I was the 7th child of Joshua and Susie Laidley.  Effie, Roy, Wilmer, Bernice, Elsie & Della all came before I did.

I started school when I was 6 in a school near Uncle Tom and Aunt Edith's farm.  The little white school has been hauled away.

The family moved to another farm not too far away.  We all loved that farm and hated to move again.

When I was about 10 we moved to the Roy Gowan place near Oslo.  That is where we had our picture taken of the six girls.

The harvest was always in full swing about the time we started to school.  We wanted to stay home and watch them thresh the grain.

Every fall we filled our bed tick with fresh straw.  We thought it was great to get it filled.  Just like having a new bed. 

Most all country homes had an upstairs where we children slept.  Sometimes the snow would seep in onto our bed.  In the morning we'd get up and grab our clothes and run downstairs and stand around the warm old stove where it was warm and we'd dress ourselves.  Dad was always up early and had the fire going.  The stove ha a tray for the ashes and that was our job to empty that everyday.  Also to fill the wood box with split wood for the kitchen stove and front room stove.

Mother baked bread for the whole family -- 6 loaves at a time.  She kneaded the dough and let it rise and shaped it into loaves.  She always had a big garden and would can some of the vegetables.  In the Fall we would pick potatoes and garden vegetables and store them in the big cellar.

We pulled mustard weeds out of the grain fields and carried a pail and board to sweep the potato bugs into.

It was fun riding in the bob sled behind two horses.  We always loved to have the bells on the harness.  It made a joyful sound.  The wagon box was put onto sleigh runners.  We also had a one-horse sleigh.   I remember riding with Dad (I always wanted to go places.)  We had hot irons wrapped in cloth to keep our feet warm.

Christmas was the highlight of our lives.  Mother would say "Off to bed early so Santa can come."  I remember when we heard sleigh bells and we ran like mad up the stairs to bed (must have been Dad shaking the bells that went on the horses.)

At Easter Dad would say "Get up early tomorrow and see the sun dance in the water."  He would set a pan of water on the porch and of course when the sun came up it looked as though the sun were really dancing! 

We had cattle, horses, dogs, pigs and chickens.  We butchered a pig and a coy every fall and let the meat hang from a branch of the tree over night.

Mother made soap in the big black kettle hanging over the fire.  She used lye and grease.  She stirred it.  It was a hot job.  Poured and then when cooled it was cut into cakes of soap to wash our clothes.

Wilmer was called off to war in 1918.  He didn't like it.  He and cousin Alonzo Lindsay went at the same time.  They didn't go overseas.

When we lived near Manvel, Alice and Ted Buck came over and we would swing on the rope swing together.  Baby came and we all wanted her to be named Alice so that's what it was but she died.  Ted Buck married Lillian.  They live on our old home place -- new house.  He's gone.

We lived near Warren.  I said "I'm going to high school."  Della said, "I'm going too."  We graduated in 1925.  Vera and Luella graduated too (from East Grand Forks). 

We lived near Bob and Mary (unknown last name).  Popcorn at their place.  We played ball in the yard and they'd see us out and come down.

Popcorn at McClearys.  She would pop a whole dish pan full.  That's why we kyds always wanted to go to their house. 

We put plums that weren't quite ripe into the hay mow.  We went every day to look at them but it took many days for them to ripen.  We'd find baby kittens in the hay mow too.  They were born with their eyes closed.  Soon they would open.

The church from near Oslo was brought up here (East Grand Forks) to the Heritage grounds.

My brothers fished with a lantern for catfish.  Wilmer would shoot rabbits and we had rabbit meat for supper.  Roy was too kindhearted to hunt.  He couldn't stand to kill anything.  He had poor eyes and we always wanted to look through his glasses because everything looked differently.

I was married at home to Ed Betts.  I walked down the stairway as Elsie played "Here Comes the Bride".  Donna was born Dec 7, 1930.  She would always tease me and say "You were married Dec 2nd and I was born on the 7th".

(I'm guessing this is the photo she's referring to with all six sisters)

Ida aka Ingeborg

Sometimes, the internet is an amazing thing!  When I find something that pertains to my family, I try to leave a note on the page when possible, that I'm related to this person.  FindAGrave is one of my fav places to do that.  And I got a response from someone because of this!

Ida Pape, my great grandfather's wife has been somewhat of a mystery all these years, and because of a DNA test, the results came back that gave us some information into this woman.  Turns out, she had many half siblings, some of them emigrated to the US!

Here is some of the information given to me:

Every year in Sweden, the parish minister went to each house, and did a Household Examination. The word from it in Swedish is Husförhór.  Hus meaning House, förhór means investigation. Basically the minister brought the parish record book, opened it up the page for that farm, and proceeded to take down all of the information for those living there. Their birthdates were listed, where they maybe had moved from or moved to, and anything else pertaining to them. Birth, death, marriage.  He would also question them on their knowledge of the catechism, and there is a column for that too in some cases. Also if they had been vaccinated for smallpox, or had smallpox. 

In order to move to a new place, they had to have the permission of the parish, and got a piece of paper to present at the next parish, which made sure that they were accounted for, especially if they had financial obligations such as children to support.

Markus Pärsson Gran (1836-1895) was born in Dalby, Värmland, Sweden. He married Karin Olsdotter (1836-1898). They only had one child out of 3 or 4 who survived childhood. Her name was Ingeborg “Ida” Markusdotter Grahn. She was born in 1869 at the parish called Norra Ny in Värmland.

Then Markus Pärsson Gran left his wife and child about 1870 or 1871, and left the parish of Norra Ny, Värmland without signing out. 

He met  Maria Jansdotter Löf, from Gräsmark, Värmland, and they started having kids together, but way over at Delsbo, Gävleborg, Sweden, far away from their home parishes in Värmland.  They were not married.

Ida died 10 JUN 1938 • Fergus Falls, Otter Tail, Minnesota, United States (She died at the State Hospital where she had been in and out of over the years)

Great, Great Grandparents

Maria Johansdotter Lundell married Henry Kringsberg, a preacher in Sweden, in 1876.  They emigrated to the US in 1886.  With the help of internet friends, I have located this information from a Sweden registry:  

        Johansdotter Henriksson, Maria --- Hustru (married woman)

b. 9/26/1854 in Södra Finnskoga, Värmlands län (Värmland)

Emigrated 8/1/1886 from Kringsberget, Södra Finnskoga, Värmlands län (Värmland)

to Nordamerika

0221886032 - Bilaga/ytterligare information finns. Kontakta Emigrantregistret i Karlstad

Source: Household Examination Roll, p. 171

Emibas migration file ID: Södra Finnskoga S 1886 032

Their first child was Mary D Elizabeth Kringsberg.  I'm wondering if this is her with her parents, perhaps taken before the next child was born (in 1881) so she would be 4-5 years old here? Maria died shortly after arriving in America (1888).  "Doug Windle who is also researching the Linden and Kringsberg family wrote that Mary Johnson Lundell Married Kringsberg ( a preacher in Sweden) was on a train and got off to get some milk for the baby - fell under the train and had her leg cut off (died) the children were separated and Anna was raised by Pete and Lizzie Liden."  

To follow up the family chain, my father (Oliver), his mother, Myrtle. Her mother Anna, and her mother is Maria Lundell.  (My second great grandmother).  Anna married Charley Liden, and Peter (Per) Liden is Charley's older brother.   

Well Water Memories

This morning I woke up thinking about all the little things that bring us happy memories. 

Today's thought was back being a kid, traveling to Grandma's farm in Minnesota, and I remembered just how good the well water tasted.   We'd walk outside with the water pail and pump water from the ground.  There was running water in her house, but well water tasted that much better!  No matter the outdoor temp, the well water was always cold.  We'd dip it out of the water pail with a stainless steel cup.

Grandma always kept the water pail sitting on the counter near the back corner of the kitchen counter.  This is the only photo I could find where parts of the kitchen showed.  There's Grandma baking up some kind of dessert for after supper! 

Now that everyone (including me!) drinks water from a bottle, sourced from goodness knows where, or processed in some kind of facility, it's hard to remember how it was "back in the day".   I have to say that I think I miss those days.  Most of moments in every day was filled with little chores that needed doing in order to just keep going.   Living took thoughtful planning.  If you needed something for dinner, you didn't just open a freezer door and pop something in the microwave.  If you planned on a roast for dinner, most times you took it out of the freezer in the morning, left it to thaw, then began the cooking process in the afternoon.  If you wanted a cake for dessert, you needed to get baking in the late morning, or early afternoon, because both the cake pan and the roasting pan might not fit in the oven at the same time.   When the nearest grocery store was 20 miles to town, you made sure you bought what you needed for the week, because you couldn't just zip around the corner to grab something on your way home!  Although, if you were a mindful gardener, you could pick something out in the vegetable garden. 

"Sometimes, you never know the true value of of a moment until it becomes a memory."

At the Lake

Summer at the Lake, it's beautiful!

circa 1979

I just love this picture of my parents

they look happy and relaxed -

which is what a vacation is all about!!

Grand Forks ND

Courtesy of the Library of Congress, 

these are two of my fav images from Grand Forks, ND. 

There's just something about the way the cars are parked 

that makes it look like no one was in a big hurry 

when they went into town to do their shopping!

The second photo intrigues me as well. 

I believe both are 1940s era photos, 

note the banner in the background says 

"Welcome Roosevelt Our President".

New ACME Hotel EGF

 In "The City of EGF Illustrated", 

it tells The New Acme Hotel was built in 1882, 

and was located on the SW corner of Sibley St and Washington Ave. 

In the June 1887 devastating storm, the barn was destroyed. 

Damages estimated at $100.

Using a bit of logic, the hotel was built in 1882.  This building looks a little well used, so maybe this photo was in the late 1890s or the early 1900s.  It makes me wonder if any of my relatives are in this photo?   The women on the balcony ... "residents" of the hotel?  

EAST GRAND FORKS is located where the Red River of the North and the Red Lake River gently meet.  Most cities and towns on the frontier experienced rapid early growth followed by a period of stagnation before they either died or entered relatively long periods of growth. East Grand Forks was different. It grew very slowly for the first few years.  In 1889, North Dakota became a state, on July 1, 1890, Grand Forks went dry.

The city of East Grand Forks was just 9 years old, but it had a powerful allure of lawlessness. During the city's early days in the late 1800s and through the first few decades of the past century, the dusty frontier town across the Red River was booming with bootleg booze, loose women and illegal gambling.  Here were places you could go and get served alcohol; and, of course, when you have alcohol, you probably get prostitution, too. A city doesn't really want to have a house of ill repute, but some of it just happened back then because of liquor.  The city had up to 48 saloons at one time, and Ripley's Believe It Or Not in the 1930s reported a three-block area of downtown had the highest concentration of neon lights in the world.

Frank Duffy of the East Grand Forks Courier once wrote "The police are kept unusually busy looking after the peace and quiet of the city, and a number of arrests have been made as follows: Wm. Casey, drunk; Henry Lewis, very drunk; B. Holland, hilariously drunk; Albert Ross, vociferously drunk, and Samuel Brown, dead drunk. The prisoners in each case got the usual dose."

By 1933, the Minnesota Legislature approved the sale of 3.2 percent beer.  April 28, 1933 was referred to as "New Beer's Eve." In one day, 100,000 bottles of beer were sold in East Grand Forks.

That's one interesting little city!

Anniversary

  

Mom and Dad celebrating an Anniversary .. 

and Mom slips into her Wedding Dress for a photo!

Yummm, the summer garden is planted and looking great! 

We'll have plenty of delicious tomatoes soon! 

Growing up I wasn't a fan of tomatoes, but now .... 

there's nothing better than a slice of tomato 

with just about everything! Especially if it's home grown!

Spring!

Perhaps Easter or Mother's Day ... 

Dad, Mom, Grandma Myrtle and husband Bill Greer. 

ca 1976/1977

Buffy lolling in the grass (we STILL have flamingos in 1976/77??)

 Lori dressed up, that was such a cute dress style! 

And Lori with Diana and Rene Nault in the front yard. 

(and a flamingo in the background here too!!!)

Anna Liden

Very little is known about relatives so many generations back.  But I'm trying to imagine, to piece together a timeline on some of them, just because. 

Anna Liden was born in 1877.  She came to America with her mother, and 3 brothers at around age 10. 
I like to think that they came to Pennington County, Minnesota, because they knew someone who could assist them.  Anna is my great grandfather Charles' sister. 

I believe she was baptized as
Anna Cecelia on July 9, 1877,
in Nikolai församling, Sweden
with no Father's name, and her Mother's name as Kajsa Andersdotter.

In 1893 she married Ole Lundberg.  She had her first child, Albin, in 1895.  Clara was born in 1896.  Signe was born in 1898.  Mable Olive in 1900.  Rudolph was born in 1902.  Silwer was born in 1903, and then died.  (Oddly enough, the listing in the Minnesota Deaths shows her name as Anna Danielson).

In 1904, Ole dies, and Rudolph and Albin are sent to live with Charles' family.  I don't know if Clara or Mable went with them; Clara died in 1908.  Mable is found on the 1920 Census as a "boarder" with Anna and her second husband.

In 1906, Anna marries Carl Bergan.  He was married previously, and had seven children with his first wife, Karoline.  His two youngest children, Mabel and Marie, would have been only a few years old when he marries Anna, and yet, the next Census in 1910 doesn't list any of his first wife's children living with him.  Which leaves me to assume divorce, rather than being widowed.

Carl and Anna go on to have more children:  Arthur in 1907, Gladys in 1910, Ruth in 1911, Arnold in 1913, Ettle (or Ettie?) in 1915, Myrtle in 1917, and Frances in 1920.  By this time, Anna is 43 and has given birth to more than twelve children.  Anna dies in 1924, Carl dies in 1927.

In 1940, Rudolph is a resident at Fergus Falls Hospital.  He is buried in the Liden family plot at Greenwood Cemetery in Thief River Falls, MN.  He was 77 years old.  I don't have a clue why he was at Fergus Falls, or where he lived after 1940. 

Piecing together this little bit of history hasn't been easy!

I can't imagine what life was like for Anna when her husband dies.  She can't provide for her children, so they are sent to live with other family members.  She remarries and continues having more children. 

At this point, I haven't located where she is buried, or where her children all ended up. On one of the message boards that I frequent, Dianna Hanson was looking for information, her grandmother is Mable Olive Lindberg.   Maybe some day, we'll be in touch!

Anniversary and the Garden

Mom and Dad celebrating an Anniversary ...

... and Mom slips into her wedding dress for a photo!

Yummm, the summer garden is in and looking great!

We'll have plenty of delicious tomatoes soon!

Growing up I wasn't a fan of tomatoes, but now ....

there's nothing better than a slice of tomato with 

just about everything! Especially if it's home grown!