My grandmother, Lina Dreher, was sixteen when she kept this diary. She attended high school while also working in the family bakery, and she had eight siblings, some of whom are mentioned here.

April 4th

I suppose this diary is written as uninteresting as my life is. I’m satisfied with the way I have it, but sometimes I imagine it could be nicer. I can’t seem to get along with anyone very long. Well, never mind that, I’ll go ahead. I work very hard. So far my back aches from mopping the floor. I’ll have to fill the doughnuts, pack and carry the orders, and then I guess I’m done for the day. Oh! I’m even too tired to write.

April 5th

Tillie made a hat this evening of yellow silk braid, trimmed with Dresden ribbon. It turned out real nice. We stayed up till after three. I cleaned the two rooms and washed the dishes while she worked on the hat. Tomorrow all the moving picture houses will open for the benefit of the Ohio flood victims. Many hundreds of lives were lost.

April 6th

Got up about 9 o’clock this morning. Went to the Plaza with Joe. We saw pictures of the flooded streets of Ohio, the relief boats going to the sufferers, the collapsed houses, the people rowing down the streets in boats, etc. We also saw a ventriloquist. He certainly was great.

April 9th

Some time ago, Papa started Em, Tillie, Hattie, Mary and I, each with a share in the Building and Loan Mercantile. A short time after, he got a streak on and refused to pay any further, so we didn’t bother with it either. They gave us notice to pay or be fined when the next payment would be due. He didn’t heed this either and so they sent us a letter today stating that if he’d come and sign some papers, he could have the money and be dropped out of it. Now he won’t sign these papers and no one else can as his name is there as our guardian. The reason that he won’t is because he knows we will give it to Mama and he is jealous.

April 11th

I can’t remember having eaten so much as I did today. I couldn’t sleep good I was so full. I woke up three or four times in the night. Freddie was restless too, and feverish, his throat bothers him, too. In the night he woke up and his little shoulders and elbows were a mass of red pimples. I thought surely he had Scarlet Fever.

April 12th

Our cake baker and his helper left us. It seems as if they had it planned.

April 13th

I have a bank account since May 2nd and Papa gave me a check for $25. I will give Hattie half and we’ll each have $44.75. When one or the other has money, we share it evenly.

April 14th

We have a new helper. He is a foreigner and speaks nothing but German. Now I can speak a little German and can understand less, so I guess we’ll have a hard time trying to understand each other.

April 15th

We thought Em’s left lung was affected slightly. (Emily, Lina’s sister, has tuberculosis and lives in a sanatorium). At least we were told so by the doctor. But to our dismay, when we asked, he said the right lung had a spot on it, and the left lung was soft! Now isn’t that enough to make one feel like killing himself? I feel that way, but Em is jolly because the doctor gave her so much encouragement.

To be continued…