My Great Grandma Laura Sjogren

Have you ever wondered about how your childhood compares to your grandparents or even your great-grandparents? My Great Grandma Laura Sjogren was born on February 13th, 1920. She had two parents, Emma and Ezra King, as well as seven siblings. She grew up on a farm in the Big Muddy Valley. I was born on July 16th, 1997. I have two parents, Lori and Cam Whyte, as well as two siblings. I grew up in the small town of Bengough Saskatchewan. The following essay will be a comparison between Laura’s and my adolescent years looking at our chores and jobs, our parents work, the type of punishments and rewards our parents used, our education, our entertainment, the traveling we did with family, and our dating practices.

Some of the chores Laura had

My sister and I were involved in various sports together such as volleyball, hockey, badminton, and slo-pitch. Volleyball was a school sport and I played it with classmates and other girls in our middle years and high school. Hockey was a sport that we played out of town. Our team was located in Kincaid and pulled from many different communities; my sister and I were the only girls from Bengough on the team. Other than sports we had movie nights with friends or family, we also went to social gatherings at friends’ homes. My peers included children in my community as well as children in other communities who I played sports

The patients did not always have to travel all the way to Bengough to see the doctor because the doctor would make trips out to the farm and neighboring communities. Laura recalled the doctor making lots of trips out to the farm when she was younger because her mother had the Spanish Flu, but after that, the doctor came out about once a month. Sometimes he returned more often if people were very ill. The doctor carried around a bag that held all of his check-up instruments as well as some antibiotic medication. During Laura’s adolescence, there was also no talk about safe sex or any talk about puberty. Laura referred to her and her peers as being quite clueless when it came to sex and puberty. When it came to risky behaviors she recalled the men occasionally drinking and smoking. Other than those activities, they did not engage in very risky behaviors.

Bengough now has just a health center where there is a Nurse Practitioner, and about twice a week the doctor from Radville comes in. Many people will go to Weyburn or Regina if they need more than just a check-up. Bengough also has a drug store where we can get all of our medicine and any extra things you may need. We were taught clinical sex education in high school and in my home it was an open topic for discussion if we had any question. We were encouraged to use contraception. My adolescent peers did partake in risky behaviors such as drinking, drugs, drinking and