A window to the past
By Jerry W. Kram
A Centennial Celebration is a time to explore memories.
Doris Hermanstad Liffrig has a lot of memories from a girlhood on a farm just three miles north of Parshall during the Great Depression. She has collected her memories in two volumes titled "Growing Up Rich in a Poor Family." She will be selling her books in Parshall during the Centennial Celebration next week.
Liffrig, now 83, started writing the books about four years ago. She wanted to make sure her stories were passed down to her grandchildren so that they would know what it was like to make do with not very much. She thought other children would benefit from her stories so she had the book published and has just released a second volume of stories.
"I thought that there would be kids other than my kids who would like to see these stories," Liffrig said. "I am trying to educate kids that having more is not necessarily better. We had one box of eight crayons that had to last the three of us a whole year. It’s quite a difference from today with all the games and toys they have."
Liffrig has been promoting her book to schools and libraries. She said teachers are looking for good material about the "good old days" in North Dakota and her book has been used as an aid in a couple of North Dakota history classes.
