About 3 years ago Dad was given an old rocking chair. Actually it was his Grandma Suzie Barker’s chair and it was in very bad shape. No wonder, it was at least 100 years old. Dad remembers his grandma rocking in it on her front porch when he was a boy. He also remembers sitting with his grandma, Suzie Barker, holding a skein of yarn on both hands while she sat in her rocking chair and wound it up into a ball.

She was a small woman and the chair too was small to fit her stature. He says he thinks it was a gift to her from her father when she first left home.  It came to him when his niece Beth Dillabough nee Tatro passed away. Her husband thought Dad would like to have it. After all he is interested in history and believes in preserving things from the past and it was his Grandmother’s.

As I said the chair was in very bad shape. A board had replaced the caning in the seat, it was missing a couple supports and had some old paint splatters. So to a furniture restorer it went. What a change when it came back. It was beautiful! It is now a cherished heirloom. One the kids like to use as it is almost their size.

Suzie Barker plays a role in a lot of Dad’s stories about growing up on the farm. She and Dave, his step grandfather lived only about half a mile away. Although he says she rarely made the walking trip over.  One of the many things he tells about her was her dislike for card playing. It angered her so that if anyone was playing cards when she did come over a warning was given and the cards were quickly whisked off the table. I think her strong feelings about cards came from the trouble her brother got into over a card game. But that is another story.