Childhood memories of Cheri Shoenfish
third daughter of Harriet (Horsager) Whelan



I remember Grandma Adele’s house in Berlin. I always looked forward to the caramel rolls that she would bring out of the freezer when we arrived. I couldn’t wait to get up the next morning! I also remember the basement, a little scary at my age, but fun too. One very vivid memory I have was going with Grandma to a baby shower (don’t know who it was for). I was sitting there listening to the ladies talk and they were talking about their kids ages. They’d say, “He’ll be 10 next month” or “He’s going on 7”. I was quite young at the time (and couldn’t count well yet), and got very frustrated because I couldn’t figure out how old anyone was.
I also remember her trailer in Edgely and how good it smelled. She used Dove soap and I always loved that smell! To this day, I only buy Dove soap.

I remember Blaine and Audrey’s mansion – that was the biggest house I’d ever been in. We loved to play in and around the house!!

I remember visiting Miles and Ruby on their farm in Minnesota and swinging from the rafters of the barn. That was a lot of fun! I also remember Aunt Esther’s trailer – she had so many humming birds around all the time.

It was always fun to pass through Hazel and Buddy’s on our trips out west. The mountains are so beautiful. I always thought I’d like to go up to one of the look outs on the top of the mountains and look for fires as they did sometimes.

I remember one of our trips to Bryan’s in Washington. We had fun going to the river and watching jet boat races. They were so fast and LOUD!!

I remember looking forward to seeing Harley and family because his kids were closer to my age. So many of the close cousins were older than me!

I got to see Helen and Elmer a bit more because they were in Bismarck. I remember staying with them and Helen and I sorting their Lion’s club pins. We put them all on felt and sorted out the doubles. It was amazing how many there were and all the different logos. I also enjoyed going to the capital with Elmer. I got to do that a couple of times and felt very grown up!!

At each of the reunions it is so fun to connect with everyone. I appreciate the genealogy work that’s been done by the cousins as well. Lots of fun and good memories.