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It’s The Small Things That Count Sharing Memories With Marie Langeway Shortsleeve

photo by Heather Crowley Enjoying the holidays with a great-granddaughter, it is the small things in life that Marie Shortsleeve still treasures to this day!

photo by Photo Provided Russell and Marie Shortsleeve were both born in Addison County in the 1920's and raised generations on the land making memories and bonds that have now transferred to children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

photo by Photo Provided Taken by a photographer from the air, this farm shot has Marie pausing on the road to see what was going on and even Russell on the tractor looks up to see the commotion.

photo by Photo Provided Already on the farm and working it when the couple married were Russel's parents George and Brita Shortsleeve. Marie affectionately called George Gramps and named their first born son after him.

photo by Photo Provided Raised on the land, Marie's daughters had no shortage of land, animals and nature to call their own and spent hours doing so!

Tuesday January 5, 2016

By Cookie Steponaitis

Marie Langeway Shortsleeve is full of stories and observations about life in Addison County. Marie was born in Ferrisburgh in 1921 and has seen life in this county since the Great Depression, married and raised a family here and watched America grow into a nation of world stature from the views of the lake, the land and family farm.  Her reminiscences document her life and connection to the history of Addison County agriculture and key moments in the nation as well.
    Marie was raised during the Great Depression years and came of age when Pearl Harbor was attacked and World War Two happened witnessing times of great change at pivotal points in her life when growing up. Marie, her older brother and parents lived on six acres of land and were for all accounts, “Self-sufficient” to hear Marie tell it. The family had enough to eat at all times and her parents were careful to keep it that way with one milk cow, chickens, a large garden and a pig. “We never threw anything away,” explained Marie and chuckled when she shared that this practice does irritate her daughters today as they attempt to help her downsize. “We could go into the cellar,” reminisced Marie. “There would always be canned beef, pork, chicken, ham, bacon and rabbit and from our garden there would be canned vegetables and preserves. We also would go berry picking in the farmer’s woods that bordered our property. What we didn’t use for pies and other fruit dishes right off we canned.  I remember running the old cream separator and then churning cream into butter.”
    Marie’s father George Langeway died when she was sixteen but had been injured and had a leg amputated a year before that. “This is all before the time of government help,” remarked Marie. “I remember him teaching me to swing a scythe and how to cut hay. My mother would work outside the farm and then would come home and tend the animals. We all did our share.”  Growing up also meant walking to the Collins School which Marie attended with some twenty others in the one room building with grades K-8. At first Marie wanted to be a nurse but one afternoon helping her dad changed that opinion. The family pig had somehow gotten injured on a piece of fence and had a nasty gash with some of its insides showing. “My father had me come help him put them back in and sew the pig up, and while the pig did survive’” grimaced Marie. “That was the end of the nursing plans.”
    Marie like so many of her generation met her future husband Russell at a card party held at the local school. “We had no hot meals at school in those days,” shared Marie. “We would all get together for a card party and the proceeds would go to the school for things they needed.” Now it happened that another young man dared Russell Shortsleeve to ask Marie out on a date and she said yes. While five years would pass and Marie had other beaus, Russell kind of grew on her. The pair married in Ferrisburgh in 1943 and was together fifty-two years until Russell’s death in 1995. The couple never got a honeymoon and not for the traditional reasons of having to get home to milk the cows. The nation was at war and Russell had reported when called by the Draft Board. He was labeled by the Draft Board as “a necessary producer” with his marriage and role as a farmer and told if he left the farm even overnight his classification would change and he would be sent overseas.
    Teaching was Marie’s occupation and for the first few years of the marriage before the children came she taught in a variety of one room schools in the area, with each new school getting progressively larger in size. Some had no electricity and in all cases Marie was the school janitor, cleaning and fixing things as it was required.  Her last one room school was in the brick building located at the corner of Little Chicago Road and Hawkins Road with close to thirty students in it. Her teaching still brings to mind sweet memories of not only the school functioning as a family but of the kindness and love shown to each other. “We had a Christmas exercise one afternoon at school,” smiled Marie. “Some of our families were very poor and I had told them no gifts for me. As the children were exchanging their handmade gifts I looked under the tree and there was a box for me from the poorest family in school. As I reached for it the box moved. Inside was a baby white rabbit which the family raised for meat.  I took the baby rabbit home and trained him to use a litter box. That bunny would jump up in my lap, climb stairs and I had him for years. Even though they had nothing, they gave me a gift that touched me. It is the small things.”
    Their children George, Sharon, Diane and Susan arrived from 1947-1958 and the Shortsleeve family and children lived in a very different Addison County. The family could see almost twenty miles of Lake Champlain and silos of literally hundreds of family farms dotting the landscape from their porch. Sending the children out to play with their horses, rabbits or other animals was never a worry and there were no worries of theft or kidnapping as with today.  They were raised with nature and the land and Marie feels her children were lucky they grew up to learn the value of work and the responsibility to appreciate what are given.  Tractors and other farm equipment were just making an appearance in the area in the early 1950’s and Russell’s father George bought the first combine and bailer in the county. Marie remembers that after using the equipment on their land, George and Russell would go farm to farm and help the next farmer take in the crop. “I would drop them off their gasoline, oil and lunch,” explained Marie. “After I would get done teaching, I would go help or pick them up. Our equipment was used on virtually every farm in the county and back then that was a lot.” When Marie was asked what company made the equipment she responded quickly and firmly, “John Deere, of course.”
    The Shortsleeve family farming stopped in 1979 when the barn burned. “We were closing in on retirement,” explained Marie, “and we didn’t have the money to rebuild the whole barn. So Russell went to work building homes with a local contractor and I went back to work as a substitute teacher.” When asked how Russell acquired his homebuilding skills Marie chuckled, “The same way we all did. We didn’t have people to follow or learn from. If something needed doing, you learned how to do it. If a structure on the farm needed repair or building you did it.” Russell’s love of woodworking continued into their retirement years and Marie takes great joy from the holiday pieces in her home that Russell made and she painted.  While well known for her crocheting of mittens and knitting of socks, hats, and gloves, Marie’s children have been surprised to learn of their mother’s talent with painting. “I picked up a brush when Russell came up from the shop with his wood pieces,” explained Marie. “I learned to paint. It was really fun.”
    At ninety-four years old Marie has watched the family farms in the county dwindle, go big or go out to hear her tell it. She watches with joy her seven grandchildren and eleven great- grandchildren and values and appreciates holiday gatherings, family traditions and a special love of handmade pieces that Russell and she made to complete the home decorations. “It really is the small things that bring the greatest joy,” concluded Marie. Gazing out her window at the lake, the land and the valley she loves so much, Marie watches the seasons with a happy smile and a bit of advice for new couples starting out.  “Get to know each other first,” explained Marie. “Don’t ever lie to your partner and make decisions together. It is the small things that build the relationship.” Small things indeed, linking of generations, strengthening bonds and hearing stories of Addison County changing over time as America changed alongside. It is another lesson learned from the Greatest Generation who simply went out and did and learned while keeping an eye on the simple and important facts.

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