January 25, 2021 – “Being Teased!”

January 25, 2021   “Being Teased”

Being teased came naturally.  The man on the left, Herman Siemens, grew up in this family, the fourth child.  Jacob B. Siemens was born in 1876, in Buhler, KS, and died in Corn, OK, at the age of 53, 1930. He married Emily Brunn Siemens in 1897.

Children arrived beginning in 1897 – Elizabeth Reimer. Jacob J was born in 1898, Dietrich arrived in 1900, Herman came in 1903, and little Anna, in 1911, and only lived 16 months. Herman remembered rocking his little sister.

Emilie Brunn was born in 1876 in Norka, South Russia.  She came to United States with her parents in 1892.  When young Elizabeth made cookies, her brothers enjoyed them, warm from the oven.  Then Daddy Jacob came home.  He worked as an Evangelist and an auctioneer and farmed.  He participated in Oklahoma Run for farmland when Herman was a baby.  When Elizabeth gave her Dad a cookie, his teasing nature came out.  “If I had a strong enough drill, I could drill two holes in this cookie. It could be an overcoat button!”

When I was a young girl, the four boys recounted all the tricks and teasing they participated in as they grew up.  From disconnecting the ignition wire in the car and having Dietrich (on the right) continue cranking the car to make it start.  Pretty soon the celluloid collar around Dietrich’s neck melted.  In those days, going to town on Saturday night from the farm, meant wearing a suit adorned by a shirt with the fancy collar.

The youngest brother, Johnnie had two scrapes on his big toes after.  This happened to him while riding a mule.  His big brothers made a ‘saddle’ with a piece of string with loops for his big toes.  Then he fell off the mule and the loops tightened.  That was one teasing that didn’t work too well.

My favorite family Christmas gatherings are when I heard story after story about growing up and how they teased each other. I tried to listen to my aunts, but it didn’t appeal to me.  Recipes and cleaning did not appeal to me. My Dad and uncles were more entertaining. I returned to listen to the Siemens brothers.

I was the firstborn child, and my two brothers, Jim and Gene were born after me. Dad teased but not with words but actions. One day he milked our goat.  I watched him and he asked me, “Would you like some goat milk?”  Sounded good to me.

He instructed me to bend down and open my mouth. I did and he squirted fresh goat milk in my mouth.  It was the first time I realized fresh goat milk needs refrigeration. In the 1930’s our refrigeration came from the ‘ice box’.  A block of ice was periodically placed in the tray below. The scary part was removing the melted water in the tray without spilling.

Dad told about driving the loaded grain truck to town as a boy.  One hill was too difficult to make it to the top. He often had to back down the hill and gun the motor to make it to the top of the hill.  He was so short, he had to scoot down to reach the brakes and then pop up again to peer over the steering wheel to see if he parked in the right place in town.

When Dad began school, he only knew one language – Plautt Dietch – and the teacher taught in English.  She gave Dad instructions to copy some letters – and Dad always wanted to do the right thing – and he soon ‘lost’ his breakfast.   Later he taught school in a small country school.  When he didn’t understand a math problem, he told his students to work on it that evening, giving himself time to figure it out the problem before he returned the next day.

As I watched my children grow up, I saw the boys teasing each other like their Grandpa once did. A teasing mindset is a form of creativity. It is seeing from a different perspective. Teasing without a laughter isn’t teasing.

When I was a little girl, my Dad brought home an old steering wheel.  I wondered why. He put in the ground and made sure it was safe and snug in the hole he dug for it. Soon he attached straps and had us holding on as he turned the steering wheel. Soon we were flying in the air until he had another idea.

Life with Dad always had a giggle in it.  Soon, I understood that when someone teases you, they like you in a special way. To me teasing is a language of love.