In 1944 my mom and dad moved us to Riverside, from Bald Top Mountain where we had lived on "the skunk farm." I was three years old at the time and my memories were just kicking in. I remember that move fairly vividly.
The house was a rental and was referred to as a "double home" as there was a mirror-image apartment on the other side. In our kitchen was an old Kalamazoo stove. It burned coal and had at least two burners with lids for which Mom lifted with a black "lifter" as she tended the fire. I was about eye level with the front of our stove and vividly recall there was a logo that read "Kalamazoo" or "Kalamazoo Stove Company."
Our stove had a top shelf where Mom kept the saltines. The ceiling above the stove had a hole cut in the floor to allow heat to enter the upstairs.
Every Tuesday was "iron day" when Mom pressed the clothes that had been washed, hung on the line to dry, and sprinkled the day before. She used a bottle with a sprinkler attached to the top and, as each piece of clothing was dampened, it was placed into a basket to await the Tuesday ironing. Mom had a black flat iron which was kept on the stove top. The ironing board was placed next to it for easy reach from stove top to ironing board. I remember Mom teaching me to iron at an early age. Ironing was an art! In fact, I loved ironing for that very reason; each piece had its own clever placing on the board. A dress sleeve was folded this way and man's shirt was placed that way. You didn't just iron.
I remember the black coal bucket stood on the floor to the left of the stove. One day when I was somewhat older our stove caught on fire. Mom yelled, "Kay, go get Phil!" He was our neighbor. Phil came rushing over and somehow grabbed the stove and yanked it outside to our back porch. It was all anyone could have done to save the house...and Phil's too. I can't recall where the stove ever went from there and I don't remember ever getting a new one, but perhaps that old stove had seen its day and finally ended up in some junk yard.
The years had gone by and about 45 years later I was attending a Christian speakers and writers conference in California. It was there I met Nancy Dorner. Over lunch I asked Nancy, "Where are you from?" She said, "Kalamazoo, Michigan." My thoughts shifted to our kitchen in 1944 and the Kalamazoo stove. I shared my memory with Nancy. Later she invited me to fly out there for a visit. While there I agreed to join her as her assistant for which I typed her manuscripts and traveled with her on speaking engagements.
Eventually I purchased a house at 928 Parker Avenue. I lived there from October, 1990 through September, 1992 before returning home to Danville. While in Kalamazoo I got my real estate license and sold houses for the duration. None of those homes had a 1940's Kalamazoo stove, but you can bet there really is a Kalamazoo, Michigan!
NANCY L. DORNER, M.A. is a retreat and seminar leader listed on several national speakers bureaus which include: Christian Women's Club, World Bible League, and Christian
Medical Society. Married and the mother of three grown sons, this former atheist writes that God is real, God cares, and God answers prayer.
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