The Adlers
founding family of the town of Adler's Rest

A Sims 2 Legacy Family
Begun May 2006


Generation 2




My Family: A Graduation Day Essay

by Caroline Adler
Miss Bennett's class
Cold Bluff Township School
March 18, 1844

My mother and father founded the village of Adler's Rest, about four miles from Cold Bluff. Of course, in a place as unsettled as this, founding a village is as easy as building a shack and not leaving it for a while. My father William came west from Philadelphia to avoid some legal trouble, though he has managed to find plenty more right here. He married my mother, Andrea Hogan, in 1825, and I was born in 1827.


My parents are good people although neither can cook or keep house very well.


They don't exactly do their parenting "by the book". Somehow I turned out okay anyway.


As you know, my father has spent some time in jail. His misdeeds are definitely against the law but are they really wrong?


He steals but only from travelers and gamblers and other outlaws. Sometimes he cheats at poker...


...and he gets into a lot of fights, but always with men who deserved what they got.


However, he is kind and loving towards his family and his friends, and is endlessly loyal. One night, one of his men actually robbed our house, taking our dresser and the old red sofa while we were sleeping in the next room. My father was furious at the betrayal. I actually don't know what ever happened to that man; I was really young when it happened. He must have moved away.


The townspeople seem divided in their opinions; the "nice" people fear my family, the interesting people love us. My mother sometimes helps Pa with his scams and likes to hustle men who think women can't play pool. Because their "employment" is largely at night, Ma hired a neighbor woman to watch me until I got old enough to watch myself. She was really boring and restrictive at first, but I found blackmail to be an effective way of dealing with my babysitter. After she set the stove on fire, I promised not to tell my father in return for her playing the kinds of games I wanted to play.

Bakery Holdup was one of my favorites.

As a child, I wanted nothing more than to be like my parents. I played outlaws and sheriffs with the neighbor kids for hours (I was always the outlaw, and I usually won), and my Pa taught me how to shoot for real, though he only let me shoot at bottles and apples.


I also had a tendency to play pranks on adults; some thought it was cute, and the others had no sense of humor so their opinions didn't matter to me.


When I was ten years old, Pa bought me a dollhouse, one of the few actual toys I ever had. I played with it every night, not because I liked dolls but because it was a gift from him. I think it was important to him that I learn at least a few girly things before I got too old.

Not *too* girly, though... all the dolls were boys. It was a very progressive dollhouse.

My ma did insist that I go to school, the same school (and the same teacher!) that she had. I was an average student and would much rather have spent my time at the saloon with Ma and Pa, although I did always love to read.


I made a lot of friends at school. I sometimes play a little rough, but true friends can both dish it out and take it.


One of my best friends was Alon, the son of the publisher of the Cold Bluff Reporter, our daily newspaper. Alon has a very active imagination.
 

He and his father do the whole thing - writing, typesetting, printing, and distribution - so Alon of course doesn't go to school anymore. The paper is mostly local gossip, government legal notices, and announcements of the silly exhibitions we're always putting on at school (sorry, Miss Bennett!). Occasionally there will be a Big Crime Story, a report from an outraged Easterner making accusations of theft or cheating against my father or one of his crew.


Mr. Livingston encourages Alon's friendship with me because it gives them access to my family's colorful point of view on these incidents.

Of course, sometimes Sheriff Dodge is compelled to arrest someone for real, and that's when Ma really shines. I don't think Pa has spent more than one night at a time in jail, largely due to her efforts. Sheriff Dodge has a crush on her, and she uses that to her advantage. She can be very persuasive.


Pa doesn't worry because he knows she can easily fend off the sheriff if he gets too close!


Sometimes I get irritated at Pa for fighting so much. I think his "normal" life scares him sometimes and he needs to come here to regroup.


I'm always quick to forgive him, though.


I feel lucky to be part of this family. We don't farm and we don't own a shop, but we do okay, and we do it by our rules. I hope that wherever my life takes me, I will always live by my own rules and have worthwhile people like my parents as friends.

The End


[Various photos to close out Caroline's childhood:]


the Hamlet pose


Adler Family Bar Night


William trying to decide who to beat up next


Andrea jumping for joy


Credits:
The fabulous AllAboutStyle.com for the clothing
VampCat at Sims2Workshop.com made the Winchester rifle, which I had way too much fun playing with
Jail walls and doors by atavera at MTS2 (plus Numenor's invisible wall hack, also at MTS2)
Antique water pump by fleabay at MTS2
Washbasin by Lethe_s at MTS2