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Alphy remembers one particular day. He and Margurita had been sorting out the bundles of shingles- the younger children were napping and the older children were outside playing. Alphy and Margurita didn’t notice LeRoy and Edna going into the new house (LeRoy was five years old, and Edna was four). The doors and windows had been put in the new house, just the day before. Alphy had put a makeshift handle on the door, until he could buy the proper knob for it. The door could be easily opened from the outside, but not on the inside.

LeRoy and Edna had spent time exploring the rooms, upstairs and downstairs. Finally they decided to go outside but, to their surprise, they couldn’t open the door. LeRoy and Edna yelled out, but Alphy and Margurita didn’t hear them as the diesel engine in the forge was running. Edna started to cry, and LeRoy tried to console her. She could not be consoled. LeRoy yelled out once more, then he decided he’d have to take action. He looked around-there was a piece of two-by-four lumber lying on the floor. LeRoy picked it up and smashed the window. To his relief, Edna stopped crying.

Alphy was coming out of the forge when he heard the crash. He saw the end of the two—by—four jutting out of the window, and saw the shattered glass on the ground.

Alphy came running. When he opened the door, both children looked like they had seen a ghost, almost white with fright. LeRoy told his father that they were trapped inside, and he broke the window to get out. Alphy did not punish the children; he took out the window to repair it.

In the fall of 1941, Alphy and Margurita moved their family into their new home. It was a joyous day! The children ran excitedly from room to room. They had never enjoyed so much space.

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