This is a timed essay I had to write about the the phrase “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”. I had 25 minutes to think of examples of that quote in my life, write the paper and edit it. Sadly, creativity was compromised with the time constants.

I find the quote “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” true in my own life as seen by three examples.

Probably the best two examples of this quote being reflected in my life are when I was on a missions trip to Mongolia last summer. I had never been out of the country or experienced jet lag, save for an hour or two, before I went on the trip. On the flight, I stayed awake the whole time: twenty-five hours in all. Needless to say, I was completely drained of all my energy afterward. However, this hardship was overcome with a night’s sleep. I became stronger over the rest of the trip because I had conquered that feat.

During that same trip, I became very sick with the local flu. I began throwing up and having diarrhea. My parents weren’t there, so naturally I was having a hard time coping with the sickness. I had been paranoid about throwing up for a long time; however, after I got that flu, I was no longer afraid of throwing up once I returned home. This second example shows how overcoming this sickness made me a stronger person.

One last example of the quote pertaining to my life is my dyslexia. With dyslexia, my brain mixes up numbers and letters in my head making it hard to read, write and do math. This discouraged me from ever doing school. I never wanted to read aloud or write in a card because I was ashamed and afraid people would laugh at my poor pronunciation and bad spelling. However, over the years, through perseverance and lots of hard work, I now am able to read on grade level, and though my spelling is still not perfect, I have gotten better. This hard work in school has rubbed off on all of my activities, making me a strong person who perseveres through tough times.

These three examples show how the quote “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” runs true in my own life. This is one of my favorite quotes, and it helps to encourage me whenever I am feeling hopeless.

The idea of pilgrimage seems a medieval, archaic way of coping with sin. Traveling far distances on foot to get atonement for one’s sins seems like a waste. Does it really do away with sins? In The Ramsey Scallop by Frances Temple set in the year 1299 fourteen year old Elinor and her twenty-two year old fiance Thomas have the same worries as they are sent on a pilgrimage from their home in England to Spain to get atonement for their village’s sins. Father Gregory, who sends them on the trip, says that, “One can walk away one’s sins.” Elinor and Thomas wonder if this is really true. Both Elinor and Thomas find that, though the sins probably aren’t forgiven by atonement, a pilgrimage can be a good way to connect with people, learn about God and religion, and renew one’s spirit.

Before they are sent on the pilgrimage, Elinor and Thomas are distressed and anxious, like the people of their village, and disgusted at the idea of getting married, especially to each other. Once married, they will be Lord and Lady who will govern over the village and surrounding farms. This thought is distasteful to both alike, and they would like nothing better than to ignore each other. However, they are forced to interact on their pilgrimage. As their journey progresses, they begin to soften towards each other. During difficult situations, they find themselves leaning on each other for support, and even finding satisfaction in comforting one another. As the dangers get more extreme, and the trip continues, their admiration for each other grows. In the last few pages of the book this connection to one another brought about respect and love for each other.

Another way they connect with people is through the many different kinds of people – scholars, poets, fellow pilgrims – on their journey that they would have never met. These people help both Elinor and Thomas understand the world around them and appreciate the common person. Marthe, who pretends to be a pilgrim so she can travel safely with her three children to where her husband found work, becomes good friends with Elinor and through her friendship teaches Elinor about compassion. When Marthe and her husband are reunited, Elinor gives up her beloved horse so that the family may have some money to buy a cottage for themselves. Etienne, a man who was challenged to fight with knowledge instead of violence, constantly debates with Thomas making him think beyond his own desires and world. When Thomas breaks the pilgrim vow of nonviolence, his punishment is to lead a group of fifty pilgrims for several weeks. Thrown into leadership, Thomas rises to the challenge, not only acting as guide but protector. Elinor, too, finds ways to help, keeping the weak going, carrying small children, and making sure that everyone is fine. Through all these connections with people Elinor and Thomas learn valuable lessons that make them become the Lord and Lady they were born to be.

Besides connecting with people, Elinor and Thomas also learn about God and religious matters. Before she left England, Elinor mocked the priest and some of the fathers at her church calling them “Doomsdayers”; she believed their long prayers, loud sermons, and dark garments to be sorrowful and drab. However, she begins to question her quick judgment during the pilgrimage. Were the Doomsdayers trying to make a point? Were they just being holy? Over their travels, Thomas and Elinor ask questions about saints, scholars, faith, and other religious topics. These questions are answered from people, such as Etienne, and through careful thinking by Thomas and Elinor. The question of whether or not physical pain, such as fasting, is pleasing to God is raised. Elinor and Thomas think differently about this topic, providing two different views. Elinor also meets a Muslim, and she asks questions about his faith. Elinor wonders if his religion is so different from Christianity and why Muslims seem to know so much about her religion, but no one she knows knows anything about theirs. All of this questioning helps Elinor and Thomas discover more about God and religion.

As previously stated, before the two left on their pilgrimage, Elinor and Thomas were distressed and anxious about what they would face when they got back: marriage, lordship and ladyship, governing over hundreds of people. Over their whole journey, different things prepare them for their life back home. Through caring for each other, they learn that marriage will not be so horrible. Through leading the other pilgrims, they both have had a taste of leadership. Everything that happens during their pilgrimage is a lesson worth their learning. All of these things gives them a new look on life and matures them. Furthermore, because of their adventure, their spirits are renewed and they are purpose driven. They are no longer stressed or wondering aimlessly about their future life. They have a new motivation to do what is their duty to the best of their ability.

Connection with people, learning about God, and the renewing of one’s spirit are three positive effects of a pilgrimage, and even though sins probably aren’t forgiven by merely going on a pilgrimage, if these three things are gained, the journey is worth the traveling. Personally, I believe that a pilgrimage is an excellent way to grow in faith, and would I were in Elinor and Thomas’ time, I would surely go on one.

For this assignment I had to rewrite the very beginning of My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George by adding a hook. In my opinion this book is only interesting because of the survival skills Sam (the main character) uses as he lives in the wilds of  the Catskills Mountains; the rest is tolerable. But what really ruins the book is the very beginning. The author states that Sam survives through the winter,  that he gets a pet falcon, and that he lives in a tree, all of which are the only points worth mentioning. Thus, the author says everything interesting in the book in the first chapter making the rest dull. So I was excited when my assignment was to rewrite the beginning. This is what I came up with:

I was finally going to do it. I had been preparing for years: researching, reading, talking to experts who had done it before. Now was the time. It would sound preposterous to anyone whom I told my plan to, but it wouldn’t matter what other people would think where I was going. So I started to accumulate my supplies.

I acquired my penknife by the taffy cart near Benton St., which is located four blocks from my New York apartment. I actually won it and a little extra cash on the side. This is how it happened: I was walking through the chaotic streets and happened to hear through the loud noises of every New York day this: “Solve the puzzle; get a dollar!” Now I am very fond of riddles and puzzles and those sort of things, and I have, on occasion, procured several things of value playing dollar riddles. So I located the man who was still shouting, “Solve the puzzle; get a dollar!” and jogged over to him.

“Ah!” he said. “Does the little man wish to solve my humble puzzle?”

“Yeah,” I replied.

“Well that’ll cost you a dollar.” At my skeptical visage he quickly added, “A dollar to enter young lad. A dollar if you solve the puzzle in under ten minutes; two if you solve it in five,” he smiled.

“And if I don’t solve it in ten?” I looked at him, eyebrows raised.

“A man has got to earn a living somehow,” he said with a sympathetic expression.

“What’s the puzzle?” I said.

“Oh, oh! A dollar first, then I show you the puzzle. Is the man in?”

I handed him a dollar.

“Excellent!” he said grabbing the dollar. “Now here is the puzzle.” He pulled five dice out of his pocket. “Now you know that if you add the opposite sides of each die it equals seven, right? Good.” He rolled the dice: three ones, a three and a four. “All right, now,” he said. “There are four holes in the ice, there are two polar bears on the ice, and there are twenty two fish under the ice.” He left the dice there for a second and then grabbed them up and rolled again: two twos, a three, and two fours. “This time,” he said, “there is one hole in the ice, two polar bears on the ice, and…”

“Four fish under the ice,” I said.

He looked at me, “ Well,um… let’s roll them again, shall we?” He picked them up and shook them in his hands. “This time you tell me how many holes, polar bears, and fish.” He rolled them: a one, a three, a five, and two fours.

“Three holes in the ice, six polar bears on the ice, and twelve fish under the ice,” I said.

“Well, that has to be a record,” he said in disbelief, shaking his head. I got my dollar back accompanied by two others.

How did I get the knife? Well, I bet a kid on the street I had a puzzle that he couldn’t solve, and if he did, I would buy him a candy bar every day for as long as I lived. If he couldn’t solve it, then I got his knife. He wasn’t too happy about giving it over, but by that time there was a huge crowd watching us and if he’d have refused he, would have been in for it. Thus, I got my penknife.

The story behind my ball of cord isn’t nearly as interesting. I simply found it in an alley a few days after my success with the penknife. It had probably been lying there for a couple of weeks since it was damp with cold, polluted city rain. However, it was still strong – strong enough for what I needed it for – so I tucked it in my pocked and went on my way.

It was then, after I got my ball of cord, that I encountered my first problem. My dad found my knife and my notes and wanted to know what exactly I was planning on doing. I had thought of what I would say when this situation came up, but I hadn’t thought of anything good enough that would properly reassure him, and mom, of my plan. So I just came out with it. After I told him, I got the last response I expected. He said, “Okay.” He didn’t try and stop me; he didn’t ground me; he didn’t even try to “talk some sense into me” as adults were always trying to do to kids. He even snickered a little and said, “Need anything to get you going?”

I was so taken aback that I hardly knew what to say. So I just said, “Some flint and steel? You know, to start a fire?” My voice cracked, but he didn’t seem to notice.

“All right, then.” He left my room leaving me gaping, and came back again some minutes later and was greeted by my still unbelieving face. “Here it is. Still in perfect condition, never used, from when I was a boy. Actually from when my dad was a boy. But here it’s yours.”

I had to make something clear to him, so he wouldn’t misunderstand what I was doing, “Dad, listen to me. I am not running way,” I swallowed and continued, “Running away implies going away from something, but me, I’m running to something.”

All he did was nod as if he completely understood. Then he lightened up a bit and slapped me on the back.

That day I thought I was running to the Catskills Mountains, to the woods, to my ancestors’ abandoned farm, to freedom, but I wonder now if I was running to something more, to myself, or what I hoped would lead me to myself. This much, however, is as clear to me now as it was then: I was starting my adventure, my story.

Here it is: 2012’s research paper. I chose this particular topic because of both interest and lack of interest. The interest I had was in the Great Depression and its time and culture. I also wondered how the Great Depression, that monster whose cry drowned out the Roaring 20’s, started. The lack of interest was due to my being uncreative and lazy. However, I thoroughly enjoyed researching and writing about the causes of the Great Depression.

Whether it’s jobless men selling apples on the street, children skipping school to earn some money shoe shining, or city-sized Hoovervilles occupied by hundreds of homeless, bad times are associated with the Great Depression, 1929-1939. But how did it all get started? What really caused that decade of misery? The International Chamber of Commerce held the following accountable for the tragic event: 1) overproduction; 2) decline in commodity prices; 3) world agricultural crisis; 4) industrial unemployment; 5) political unrest; 6) partial closing of several world markets, mainly China and India; 7) varied bases for monetary circulation; 8 ) disequilibrium between short- and long-term credits; 9) fall in silver prices; 10) dumping of goods by Soviet Russia; 11) unprecedented taxation to meet international indebtedness; and 12) excessive state participation in private enterprises. Needless to say, there are many interconnected causes for the Great Depression. However, the five main causes are the beginning of big business and with it, overproduction, the stock market crash, bank failure, farm failure, and the incapable government response..

The first major cause is the result of the beginning of big businesses. Businesses started to grow due to an increase in manufacturing that was possible with the use of newly found oil, electricity and electric machines. By 1929, 70% of all factories were run by electricity, and machinery was taking away jobs faster than it created them. Not only did technology create big businesses, but well-thought work plans, such as the assembly line, also contributed to businesses’ success. In the 1920s manufacturing increased by 64%. Seven million radio sets and three million homes and apartments were designed and manufactured in the 1920s. Along with the three million homes, six million telephones were installed. Automobile output from 1915 to 1925 tripled (Washburne 438-439). With this success, larger companies started appearing because of business consolidation. Little businesses merged together and before long six thousand manufacturing and mining companies, four thousand public utilities, and eighteen thousand banks all disappeared (Washburne 442). Chains, like Ford, GM, and U.S. Steel, replaced them (Ross 28).

America’s industrial development was also encouraged by the need for products in Europe because Europe was preoccupied with World War I in 1914, and the regular bombings destroyed its factories. The growing American businesses leaped further ahead to meet the demands of their new overseas buyer. World trade for the first time became beneficial. The newly formed American chains started working together for mutual benefit and profit. Following World War I, America spent money overseas for the first time. American banks loaned five billion dollars to countries overseas from 1925 to 1929, and U.S. companies invested eleven billion dollars overseas (Washburne 443-444).

But this business success wasn’t all good. In fact, it had two major consequences. First, after World War I ended, Europe was again able to produce all the goods it needed, so American factories and companies had fewer buyers for their products. Trading the unwanted goods to countries outside of Europe was impossible because the American prices were too high for Asia and Africa. Even if Europe needed America’s goods, it wouldn’t have been able to purchase them: the purchasing power of Europe significantly diminished after WWI. Because pre-war empires in Europe were now broken up, that complicated production of materials. Suppliers and factories that had once been in the same country found themselves on opposite sides of the new borders, making manufacturing difficult or impossible. In addition, inflation in Europe started and got worse. One American dollar was worth over four trillion German marks. For these reasons, merchandise prices in America and Europe began to fall (Ross17-20).

America’s new chains, businesses, and factories found themselves overproducing hundreds of goods. No buyers came forward. Desperate to stop the overproduction issue, America decided to place tariffs (a tax on imported goods) on overseas products. That would raise the prices of foreign goods in the U.S., and hopefully then the American people would buy more American goods. The U.S. government thought that this and the little overseas trade left would solve the overproduction problem. So in 1922 the Fordney-McCumber Tariff was established. But the tariff did more harm than good. Overseas businesses, relying on American buyers to sell their products, couldn’t afford the high tariff. Countries were left with no choice but to place tariffs on their imported goods. The small amount of world trade left was blocked by giant walls of tariffs (Ross 20-22). World trade decreased by 50%.

The second consequence of successful big businesses was none other than the stock market, and the individuals, banks and corporations purchasing ever larger numbers of stocks. Businesses continued to consolidate; they merged together so much so that by 1930 the two hundred biggest companies held one half of all American assets. For the first time, Americans bought stocks in these new companies. As the companies grew, so did the stock market and the demand for shares (Washbrune 442-443). Stock purchasing led to the second main cause of the Great Depression: stock speculation.

This new stock fever was so hot that stock prices rose by 38% in 1928. People all over the U.S. rushed to get stocks and the easy money it produced. But soon people weren’t buying stocks for their dividends (the percent an investor gets of a company’s profit), but for their resale price. People would buy stocks, the price would rise, and they would sell them again. Over nine million people and many banks invested in the “easy money” market. Americans spent all their life’s savings on stocks hoping to double or even triple that amount. As soon as the profits would roll in, they, too, would be invested back into the stock market. Soon Americans had spent so much money on stock that they had little left to buy goods (which added to the overproduction problem). If anything, this lack of money encouraged people to invest even more money into the stock market. Having all their savings already in the market, Americans bought stocks on margin (credit). Banks loaned Americans money that went right into the stock market (Ross 38-40). Amazingly, the stock market continued to rise from 1922 to 1928. In 1929 the Federal Reserve Board warned banks to stop lending money for stock purchasing, but their warning was moments too late (Ross 6-7).

Starting in October 1929, the stock market stopped rising. In mid-October the market was flat. On October 20^th the stock prices fell for the first time in a decade. Investors became uneasy as stock prices continued to fall over October 21^st through the 23 (Ross 7-8). On October 24^th, Black Thursday, rumors of brokers committing suicide because of complete market failure spread. Confidence in the stock market shattered. Investors began pulling money out of the market, and frantically tried to sell their shares (Nardo 33). About sixteen and a half million transactions to sell happened on Black Thursday (Washburne 450-451). The market lost 11% of its value in that one day (Wikipedia: Stock Market Crash) . On October 29^th, the day that officially marks the stock market crash, almost thirteen million shares were sold compared to a daily average of one to two million (Ross 7). So many stocks were for sale with no buyers that prices fell dramatically. GE went from $396.25 a share to $201 in a week. AT&T shares went from $304 to $222. A U.S. Steel share went from $261 in 1929 to $27 in 1933 (Washburne 451). Over twenty billion dollars was lost in two days (Wikipedia: Stock Market Crash).

Americans’ money was gone. Americans’ savings were gone. And people were in debt from all the stocks they had bought on margin. There was no point in trying to borrow more money from the banks; the banks were broke too (Ross 33).

Bank failure is the third main cause of the Great Depression. Banks first started to fail because of a new American habit: buying on credit. Stocks weren’t the only thing Americans had bought on credit. Houses, cars, new appliances, and every day necessities had been bought on credit. Buying on credit became a type of fade. “Buy now; pay later” ads were everywhere. By 1929 ten million Americans were paying off their debt with monthly installment payments (Nardo 30). When the stock market crashed, Americans had no way of paying back their debts; they had lost everything in the crash. Banks had also lost tons of money in the stock market crash, and so they demanded that people pay back their loans immediately. Of course, people had no money to do so. Banks took action. Businesses, farms, and houses were taken by the bank, but banks couldn’t sell thousands of buildings. From 1930 to 1933 nine thousand banks went bankrupt. The economy shrank by 50% from 1929 to 1933 (Ross 34).

Banks also failed because of farm failure, which is the fourth cause of the Great Depression. Just like the manufacturing industry, farming boomed along with World War I. Due to this success, American farmers began buying the latest equipment. Many farmers spent all their savings on the new machinery, or they bought it on credit ( Washburne 468).

Farms also started to consolidate, similar to businesses. That consolidation combined with the new machinery caused over five thousand workers to be laid off during the 1930s. After World War I, farmers grew poor with all the debt from the equipment they had bought on credit ( Washburne 469). When farmers began defaulting on their bank loans, banks took over the farms and tried to sell them. Given the economic situation in the country, banks couldn’t find buyers. As a result, banks couldn’t recover their money and this contributed to bank failure.

Those who hadn’t overextended themselves with too much credit weren’t in any better of a situation. Farmers’ luck continued to decrease with falling crop and livestock prices. After the stock market crash in 1929, Americans could no long afford the pay the prices for food. Farmers had to lower the prices of their goods if they wanted to sell them. From 1929 to 1933 agricultural prices fell 64%. In addition, transportation prices rose. Most farmers couldn’t pay the extra money to transport their goods. Soon it took more money to transport goods than the price farmers could get for the goods. One pound of cotton in 1929 was sixteen cents; in 1933 one pound was six cents. Since it was too expensive to harvest or ship their produce, farmers left their crops in the fields to rot. The South became a slaughter zone as farmers killed their animals rather than pay the extortionate prices to ship them to buyers. In Oregon, sheep ranchers killed thousands of their ewes ( Washburne 468 & 470).

The weather was no comfort to the farmers. During the 1930s droughts and dust storms swept the Great Plains. From Canada to Texas, Colorado to the Alleghenies, the Dust Bowl, as it is named, blew away crops and even some barns and homes leaving rock-hard dry ground. The Dust Bowl wasn’t over quickly, nor did it weaken. In fact, between 1933 and 1934 the dust and wind blew even harder taking most of what was left of the crops and killing some people. The Dust Bowl wasn’t the only natural disaster destroying crops. In 1937 the Ohio River flooded – killing over two hundred people – and ruining countless farms ( Washburne 468-469).

As the country’s economic crisis continued to grow, the American government didn’t respond much. Government role in the 1930s was lacking, and it is the final main cause of the Great Depression. Herbert Hoover (1929-1933) became president of the United States at the very beginning of the Great Depression, but he believed too much government interference would further ruin the economy and political system (Ross 31). He also thought welfare was harmful because it ruined self-esteem. For these reasons, Hoover only minimally involved the government in the economy. He asked businesses to keep production levels up, which added to the overproduction problem, and he increased spending on government roads and bridges. He thought doing so would keep some people in work and others optimistic. However, the country’s optimism didn’t rebound. He also signed another tariff act: the Hawley-Smoot Act of 1930. That tariff was the highest tariff ever – even higher than the Fordney-McCumber Tariff – and was designed to keep all foreign products out of the country for good (Washburne 554-556). Unfortunately, as stated before, tariffs increased the economic problems. Hoover, although he tried, didn’t succeed in mending the economy. Some people blamed Hoover solely for the Great Depression, and even though that isn’t true, he was never able to improve the economy.

To conclude, the Great Depression had five main causes: the beginning of big business and with it, overproduction, the stock market crash, bank failure, farm failure, and the incapable government response. All those things helped to feed the economic disaster into the biggest depression in our nation’s history. Many of these same issues were the cause of a more recent recession in 2008, but I hope the American people will examine their own past and not let history repeat itself.

References

Elgin, K.(2011). The Great Depression. Chicago, IL: World Book

Landau, E. (2007). The Great Depression. New York City, NY: Children’s Press, Cornerstones of Freedom.

Nardo, D., ed. (2000). The Great Depression. San Diego, CA: Greenhaven Press, Inc.

Ross, S. (1998). Causes and Consequences of the Great Depression. Austin, TX: Raintree Skeck-Vaughn Publishers.

Washburne, K. C. (2003). America in the 20^th Century. New York City, NY: Marshall Cavendish.

For this assignment I had to write a paper on a disease of my choice. I have been reading a book on smallpox so naturally I decided to write about it. Here in a young English girls Journal you can here about smallpox and it’s vaccine.

March 20th 1762,
Today I was in a mad mood. I wasn’t even really mad; I just wanted to be. Well, maybe I was mad. Mad because I had to go to the market to get fruit because it was our maid’s day off. Normally, I love going to the market, but it is the injustice that I am mad at. No middle class English girl suffers as much as I do. Why couldn’t my sister, Penelope, do it? She is just as capable as I am. After all, she is just two years younger. But mother said that she hasn’t been feeling well. Huh! I’m not feeling well! I will show them who is ‘not feeling well’. When I came to my house, I threw open the door and stomped my feet extra hard on our marble floor. To my surprise the hall was empty. No one rushed to my side to delicately grab my hat and “ooh and ah” over me. I walked through the hall and peeked into my father’s office. Empty. I ran up the stairs and stopped at the top. Quiet. Wait. No. I heard the murmuring of voices. I quickly melted into a sad mop and walked dolefully towards the voices. I started making up a story why I should be upset and rumpled up my hair a bit before walking into the room. I straightened at the sight I saw. Mother, father, and the surgeon were all crowded around Penelope.

April 13th 1762,
The last few weeks have been a troubling blur. Penelope has smallpox. It has gotten worse and worse. First, the aches and pains on that day I went to the market. Then the fever. And then the horrid spots. Penelope’s once beautiful dainty little face is full of hideous swollen bumps. The bumps are everywhere, not just on her face. They are on her hands, feet, and chest and pus runs non-stop. The surgeon said she must be separated from the rest of us or we will catch it, too, though I wonder if we have not already.

April 27th 1762,
Today she died. We are all overcome with grief.

April 30th 1762,
Father said that I must get a vaccine to the pox. I have started the preparatory process today. The surgeon said it will last six weeks. Six weeks of being bled to see if my blood is fine. Six weeks of a low diet and drinking a diet drink to sweeten my blood. I am not sure if I will survive, but when I think of my sister…

May 9th 1762,
Two ounces of blood are taken from my veins each day. And with the low diet I feel week. And besides that, I am made to vomit every day. I have lost 4 kilograms already, and I am only on the second week.

May 10th 1762,
I lay in my bed barely able to write. My room reeks of vomit and blood.
Our maid has left. What I would give to go to the market now.

June 13th 1762,
I haven’t written in so long only because of how weak I am, but in a few days I get my vaccine.

June 15th 1762,
The vaccine process is far different from what I expected. It almost seems like the surgeons themselves don’t know what they are doing. They slice open a vein on my arm and then rub some of the pus of a smallpox sore into it. I will have pox symptoms for a time, and until I don’t have any, I must be separated from the rest of the town. So I am sent to the quarantine stables in the country. There I will live until my small case of smallpox ends.

June 20th 1762,
I didn’t really think that the quarantine stables were really stables, but they are. I share a stall with eight people: Mrs. Lunderson, a grouchy old widow; Andrea, Mrs. Lunderson’s daughter; Adam White, a carpenter; Miss Peable, a meek, young woman; Mr. Hunter, who happens to be a hunter; John, Amy and Gretchen, who all are quiet little things who mostly keep to themselves. We each have our own straw bedding and a rough wool blanket. We are given two meals a day. There is nothing to do here, and I feel terribly tired.

June 24th 1762,
Found out that Amy and Gretchen are twins and have a very troublesome nature when they are bored. Mr. Hunter threatens to hunt him some chil’en if they don’t keep quiet. Mrs. Lunderson starts screaming that someone has messed with her knitting, which leads Andrea into a fuss about how embarrassing her mother is being, which gets John excited and he starts making faces at Andrea, which makes Adam upset so he starts lecturing John about how to treat a lady, and then Miss Peable says, “Why doesn’t every one just calm down?” I just sit and watch from my corner.
I started getting some spots today.

July 26th 1762,
My symptoms are over, and I am going home today. I say good-bye to all my stablemates and gather up my few things. Almost six months of my life has been consumed with the smallpox. But more importantly, it consumed my sister’s whole life and the lives of many others.
Today I am freed from its grasp forever.