You Don't Need That Much

My Aunt Blanche was born in Lima, Montana in 1905 and lived there until 1912 when she moved with her family to Pocatello, Idaho; she spent her whole life out West, mostly in Pocatello and other parts of Idaho. She died in 1996, a few months shy of her 91st birthday.

My cousin Charles was interested in history and wondered what things were like when she was growing up and asked her to write her autobiography. It took her a few years, but she managed to get it done. This is how she started it

A promise made is a promise kept so on this winter day of January 18, 1982, I will begin to do my life story which I am sure will not be of interest to anyone but the one I made the promise to. By the time he is through reading it, he will wish he had kept his mouth shut.

That probably gives you some sense of what my Aunt Blanche was like.

I was looking through her autobiography to see if I could find the story about my grandfather and the potatoes and came across this story, which seems to go well with the theme here. (This was written regarding her time in Wendell, Idaho, where she lived and taught school from 1933 to 1935.)

There are many people whom I haven’t mentioned and many whom I will never forget. I must tell you about Mrs. Parr. She was the butcher’s wife. She was always in his Butcher Shop to wait on people. She was a large woman and wore a big white apron over her dress. Very seldom did you see her with a smile on her face.

When you went in for meat, it didn’t make any difference what kind you wanted, she would always ask if you were having company. If you said, “No,” she would say, “You don’t need that much,” and give you what she thought you needed and it was always enough.