Dorothy Wilhelms now lives at the New Hope Lodge in Stoughton, a place where she once worked in her younger years, but before this she remembers growing up in a world which many young people of today would be unable to fathom.
At six-years-old Dorothy remembers going to school, which meant a long walk from the farm to the school house, both located outside of Stoughton.
"It was a long walk," Dorothy said. "I mean that was the only way you had of getting around most of the time was to walk."
"We would have to walk home, and a lot of times it was after six o'clock because we had to stay after school and take extra classes."
Dorothy's chores at home as a youngster required her to help her mother out around the house, mainly in the kitchen.
"Mother and I got along very well," Dorothy explained. "She was a very good cook and I helped, so I got to learn some of the things she did..."
This, however, meant Dorothy didn't turn into the best farmer's wife, but John loved her immensely anyway and they would laugh about some of her dislikes in working outside.
"Even when I was married I felt kind of guilty because my mother came over one afternoon with a horse and buggy," Dorothy smiled. "I had told her I had went to the barn to milk, so she says 'How's Dorothy doing milking?' He says, 'She sat down and it was such a fuss, I finally said go back to the house, you're not a milker.'"
"I was not a farmer's wife, which made it difficult, but he was very good."
Childbirth was another difficult task for Dorothy, who is a petite woman.
" The first one was born in our farmhouse," she explained. "It was in April, in the worst part of the year. The doctor came out to the farm and I had a terrible time. [He was 13 lbs] and believe it or not they had to cut into my leg to let his head out! I was a pretty slim person... and that's what the doctor told me, had he not been a strong child, he wouldn't have lived."
The youngest child she had was born in Regina at the hospital, but again she had a difficult time as he weighed 10.5 lbs.
"Having children was not an easy thing for me."
Though not easy, Dorothy found her husband being very attentive and understanding.
"When I was pregnant, you'll never believe this, my husband did the laundry and it was a scrub board!" Dorothy stated.
In 1967, Dorothy and her husband would move into Stoughton. John would travel between town and the farm, but Dorothy remembers the house as being shabby.
If she ever mentioned this to her husband though, he simply replied, "Oh, never mind, someday I'll build you a brand new house."
She would smile at this, but as a farmer's wife, didn't actually expect it to happen. One day, however, he came home and explained that they had enough money to buy a new house.
"So, we bought right near the school and it was a little old one story house, they tore that down and we built on that," she said. "We got a good carpenter from Regina and he helped us a lot with ideas that went in... I remember we put a feature wall in the living room and to me that sounded very special."
It wasn't all hard work, although they did a great amount of physical labour in those days, they had a lot of fun as well: "...I'll never forget this part... there was kind of a shack out at the back, to the side of the house, so [Mother] called that her summer kitchen and there was an old cook stove there that she used in the summertime."
"At Christmastime she... always made Christmas cake with icing and she would put this out to freeze. My brother's name was Bill, so... we decided we would like some of the Christmas cake, so we tried to chip some of the cake off because it was frozen. I can't remember a thing about what we had for a knife, but we were little devils together."
She and Bill would get into more trouble as their mother hosted house parties with musicians in the local area bringing their instruments to play.
"One fiddler was bald..." Dorothy said. "There was a hole where the stovepipe went through, we'd look down to peak at the top of his head, I guess."
Though Walt, Dorothy's oldest son, explained one of his favourite stories included either Dorothy or Bill actually spitting on top of the bald fiddler's head.
While speaking of music Dorothy remembered another talented fiddler who only had one hand.
"For music he used to play fiddle and they would tie the bow to his wrist, and he would play."
Preparing for the house parties though were even more fun than getting to watch and play tricks through the stovepipe hole.
"...we would have our turn to have the house party and she would clean the dining room, a long narrow room with a hardwood floor, I can remember how much fun we used to have sliding on that floor until the people came," Dorothy said as she smiled widely.
In Dorothy's 97 years she has seen many changes in the world, especially in the labour intensive ways people used to do things.
"I don't know what year we got electricity," Dorothy explained. "My neighbour and husband, in order to get the power, they dug those holes by hand! And that was the way we got the power when we did [at the farm]. You had to work for things, nothing was brought to you, it was much different than today."
"I often think if the young people today had to live like we did then they'd just throw their hands up and say we can't do it."
Despite trying times throughout her life Dorothy is glad to be at New Hope Lodge.
"We were poor people and I have the best of life right now, my health isn't the best, but I've had a good life. My children are kind to me..." Dorothy stated. "When I think there's these nursing homes for us to go to now, how they treat us, you couldn't ask for something better and this home is one of the better ones."
"I've really got to be such an age that you wonder how much longer you have, but you make the best of what comes."
