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August 2015 Letters

TCP Talk

Letters and comments from our readers

Earl Nottingham | Texas Parks and Wildlife Department

Remembering Mama

Your heartfelt article by Laurie Greenwell in the May 2015 issue [“Remembering Mom”] really brought my mother’s battle with cancer into perspective and helped ease my heart.

My mom died in November 2010. I have struggled ever since the day she was told she had cancer. At the time, it was perplexing to me, and I felt guilty because I was not able to relate to her quiet acceptance of declining health. It was torture for us both.

Much like Laurie’s mother, Mama put her affairs in order, gave away things to people she chose, saw all who she could and prepared for her last days.

Laurie helped me tremendously with her words: “Mama showed me how to die.” I watched my own mother starve when her body could no longer tolerate food, and the effort to eat was too much.

Shawnee Bowlin | Atlanta
Bowie-Cass EC

Who Are the “Indians?”

I am disappointed with the comment in the May 2015 Letters [in reference to “The Old Indian Doctor,” March 2015] regarding the naming of the Native Americans by Christopher Columbus—calling them Indians. The ethnic identity of Indians in India is not being hijacked, at least not by the Native Americans. They have been on this continent for about 14,000 years. I am part Native American (Choctaw) and adopted and raised a full-blood Navajo daughter. America is my country, and I stand proud, not only of my heritage but of my country.

Jerri Faulds | Highland Village
CoServ Electric

In response to the comment in Letters, I am grateful that Columbus discovered America and it progressed to the great nation in which we live. American Indians have had a lot of influence on American life.

It is my understanding that the North American Indians migrated here from somewhere in Asia. I guess that when they got here, they settled the land and established their culture. It seems like the American Indians should be the ones complaining about Columbus’ “mistake.” After all, their race has truly been discriminated against in this country.

Ben Moore | Comal County
Pedernales EC

Eating Healthy Portions

I was delighted to find recipes in the March 2015 edition that contained healthy ingredients and proper nutritional content for a reasonable diet. So often the recipes look great, but no way am I cooking anything with 800 calories or more per serving. A step in the right direction to help the public, which is in need of some discipline with its food choices.

Jeri Porter | Fischer
Pedernales EC

A Different View of 1833 Texas

Journey to Texas, 1833” by Detlef Dunt [May 2015] quotes the diary of someone who describes life in new Texas as paradise. The illustration, with its well-built homes and waterfront, seems a bit ahead of what was happening in Texas in 1833.

One example is the Johann Friedrich Ernst family, which settled in Austin County in 1831, living in a thatched-roof hut made of logs and moss, which was not always waterproof or warm. In 1838, he built a large house that served as an oasis for immigrants.

Records indicate that there were only 115 German settlers in Texas before 1836. Many later settlers died at sea from bubonic plague, and because inland transportation wasn’t available, hundreds died of the plague in Indianola. Along the wagon trails, there were visible burial mounds, reminders of the many who died on the trek to the Hill Country.

Early German settlers dealt with many hardships but adapted to strange food, different climate and new types of housing. It was difficult, but they did it!

Naomi Mitchum | Houston and New Braunfels
Pedernales EC

Flour Sack Dresses

I read in the Letters in the April and May issues about the feed sack clothing [“Feeding Their Fashion Sense,” February 2015]. I made most of my girls’ outfits out of flour sack material in the early ’60s, and those outfits are still around and passed down to their daughters.

Louise Grohman | Loyal Valley
Central Texas EC