My mother was raised by Weaver T. Darling and Edith Hanna Darling in Eureka, Kansas. He was a Chiropractor and she was a retired school teacher. Like my father’s parents, they also had to be married secretly. While he was completing his education she had to continue to work. At most locations in the 1920’s, teachers were not allowed to be married, so my grandmother had to keep it from nearly everybody she knew to keep from being fired. “Doc” Darling liked to play all kinds of games, and always had a nervous energy that kept him tapping his hands and staying busy. Edith was noted locally as a remarkable gardener and made great peanut brittle. My grandmother’s family had some money because of some successful oil wells they owned in Kansas. They both loved to fish. They were frugal, and managed money very well. My mother was born Joyce Ardith Darling in August of 1929. She had an older brother Dean who was 2 years old. When she was growing up during the depression, because they were living in a farming community, a lot of their income was in the form of trade rather than cash for Doc’s services. They were provided plenty of eggs, meat and milk for food, and Mom never recalls any hardship during that period. Joyce lived a fairly normal middle-class life in middle America. When she was in high school, she was one of the most popular girls. She still has her date book from those days and literally recorded hundreds of dates with boys. Joyce attended Kansas State University where she majored in Physical Education and joined a sorority. After a year, it wasn’t her cup of tea, so she moved back to Eureka. She now found the small town to be boring and yearned for an opportunity to explore the world. That’s when she met Bob Orton, from Boston, on a date. They were married February 27, 1949. He was just 22, she was 19. Since he recently received a large inheritance from his mother’s estate, they decided to take a long honeymoon and reside in California. Needless to say, it didn’t pan out and, after a few months staying in a hotel in San Diego looking for work, plus learning my mother was pregnant, decided to return to Boston to live and raise a family.
Some trivia about influential ancestors and relatives: Edward Orton was the first President of The Ohio State University. The oldest building on campus is named after him; Vrest Orton, my great uncle was an author and founded the Vermont Country Store as well as the Orton Foundation which is committed to protecting old buildings and keeping small businesses viable in Vermont and Colorado. His books can still be bought on Amazon; My uncle Dean Darling became a Life Master Bridge Champion. Partially deaf, he was banned from several Las Vegas casinos because of his ability to count cards.

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