An Accidental Pioneer. A Farm Girl's Drive to the Finish

201 Pages·2013·3.09 MB·English

by  Lorene McCormick Burkhart

An
ACCIDENTAL PIONEER
A Farm Girl’s Drive to the Finish …
An
ACCIDENTAL PIONEER
A Farm Girl’s Drive to the Finish …
Lorene McCormick Burkhart
Hawthorne Publishing
Copyright © 2013 eBook by Lorene Burkhart
Licensed to Hawthorne Publishing
All rights reserved
For more information about the author, see the website www.loreneburkhart.com
or she may be contacted at [email protected]
Hawthorne Publishing
15601 Oak Road
Carmel, Indiana 46033
317-867-5183
www.hawthornepub.com
DEDICATION
To my parents, Emma and Clarence McCormick, the
original “Accidental Pioneers.”
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
M
emories are selective. This story is of course told from my own viewpoint,
but it’s not exclusively my story, so I enlisted the aid of several relatives in order
to glean the most accurate information.
I would like to thank my brothers Jim, Don, and Ed McCormick, with whom
I shared many a chuckle as one of us would exclaim, “No, it didn’t happen that
way!” Equally generous with their recollections were my cousins Alice Ann
Osborne Ready, Imo Jeanne Osborne Williams, Gladys Neal Rumer, Evelyn
Bobe Cofer, and John Henry Bobe.
CONTENTS
I n t r o d u c t i o n
P r e f a c e
I . F a r m G i r l
Chapter 1 Genes and Geography: The Creation of Character
Chapter 2 The Key to My Frontier: Vincennes’ Role in the Nation’s and
My Growth
Chapter 3 A Nontraditional Life on Our Farm
Chapter 4 School Opens the Door for the Long Drive Ahead
Chapter 5 Dad Goes to Washington, and Life Makes a Sharp Right Turn
I I . T h e A c c i d e n t a l P i o n e e r
Chapter 6 College: A Few Miles More on the Drive
Chapter 7 Stops Along the Drive: First Job, Second Job, Third, Fourth —
and More
Chapter 8 The Scenery Changes, and the Drive Accelerates
Chapter 9 Love Changes the Destination
Chapter 10 Is That the Garage Up Ahead?
Chapter 11 Revving the Motor, Then Running Out of Gas
E p i l o g u e : Peace at the Finish Line
R e c i p e I n d e x
INTRODUCTION
I
was born and grew up in southern Indiana, on a farm situated at the highest
point of an area bordered by two rivers, the Wabash on the west and the White
on the east.
We never used these rivers for recreation, and rarely even for fishing; they
were merely boundaries. For us, the White River held no fascination, other than
whether or not it would rise above its banks and flood whatever crops we had
planted in the bottom land. Illinois was just across the Vincennes bridge that
spanned the Wabash, but I seldom traveled there. We had just about everything
we needed right where we were.
On the surface, growing up on that farm between the two rivers was serene
and simple. As is often the case, however, things may not be as they appear, and
just as a river has unseen currents running beneath its surface, below my
family’s surface were some rather complicated dynamics. Only through the
perspectives of adulthood and my own experiences have I begun to perceive and
understand those dynamics, and how they impacted everything I have done. I
learned that with solid values, creativity, hard work, and strong faith in God, one
can break beyond any limits. I learned that life is whatever you choose to make
of it.
My careers have ranged from teaching home economics to working in public
relations and marketing, to being one of the first female executives of a major
American corporation. I also worked extensively in radio and television, beating
Martha Stewart to the broadcast “how-to” genre in home and “economic” issues.
Ultimately I reached a point where I was blessed to be able to work as a
volunteer in my community with various organizations designed to enrich and
improve the lives of others. The work may be for no pay, but I have been
compensated by the tremendous satisfaction found in giving back.
My experiences have been unbelievable, nothing like I ever visualized as a
girl growing up on a farm, a girl who wrote in high school that her career goal
was to be a home economics extension agent!
All of my achievements were enriching, but what has always been most
important to me was my family, the one I was born into and the one I eventually
had of my own.
Along the way, during my seventy-plus years, numerous men and women —
boyfriends, girlfriends, teachers, bosses, colleagues and coworkers — have had a
tremendous effect on me.
And to think it all began on a farm. This is a story of a farm girl’s life, drive,
and perseverance. This is my story.
PREFACE
I
wasn’t named “Strutsie” when I was born. It was a nickname I picked up when
I was about three years old because everyone in my family thought it fit me
perfectly. It was derived from a character in the children’s card game, “Old
Maid,” a little girl named Mandy Struts. The picture on the card showed her with
blond hair and blue eyes, playing dress-up in grown-up high heels and a saucy
hat perched atop her curls. As my mother explained it, they thought Mandy
Struts looked a lot like me. A favorite snapshot of me at about age three backs
that up: There I am, all decked out in my mother’s hat and shoes, with the added
panache of a girdle pulled up over my frock. Thus I became “Struts” or
“Strutsie,” and the nickname endures yet today by those who knew me then.
It’s a widely held belief that we’re born with a lot of our personality and that
we only refine it as we age. I guess that’s why the Struts name has stuck. (My
fondness for playing dress-up has remained a lifelong passion, except now it’s
called “shopping and showing.”)
How do we evolve into who we are? What are the forces that shape us into
the kind of persons we become?
We hear endless debates about nature versus nurture and what makes people
tick, but the answers seem always elusive. I believe that much of our character
comes from where we grow up, the people, the history, and the culture of our
childhood. Knox County, the place between the two rivers where I was raised, is
one of the richest historical and cultural areas in the Midwest, the birthplace of
many of the influences that shaped the region. I’m proud to be a product of that
environment.
We can’t thank our forebears for providing our rich heritage, but I hope to
express my gratitude in this book by presenting a look at my history. My
childhood, my family, and how we lived provided my foundation, and I used the
values and strengths of that foundation to create what I am today. I’ve
discovered also that as we peek into the crackled mirror of life, we see not only
reflections of our past, but also glimpses of our future.
In some respects my story is much like that of many women who grew up on
farms in the days before and during World War II. Women then expected
traditional worlds of home and children and the role of being wife and helpmate
for the family’s endeavors. My family was nontraditional, however, and my life
has continued to be nontraditional in ways that have amazed me. But in spite of
the forces that drive me along unexpected routes, at heart I am and will always
be a farm girl.