Christmas 1965

 In December of 1965 we went on a family vacation to see my Dad's relatives; our Aunt Anna, Uncle Stanley and their children Clark and Leann in Ontario California. 

 My parents took turns driving straight through to Utah.  My other baby brother napped on a blanket in the floor boards of the front seat, my baby brother and I slept in the back seat.

I recall being impressed with Salt Lake City and the Provo Utah area where we stayed in a Motel...the first Motel I had ever stayed in. Our Mom had packed food to eat along the way...we did not eat in restaurants.  At the California border we sat at some picnic tables and ate what fruit we had because it was not allowed into California.

Leann, Carey ( my baby brother), Jody ( my other baby brother), Clark and me

We had lutefisk at Sylvia and Gusty home ( Uncle Stanley's parents), luckily there was also roast pork, potatoes and gravy!  

We went to a Candlelight Church Service on Christmas Eve.  The day after Christmas we went to Disneyland. After we left California we headed toward Houston Texas and stopped at Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico and someplace that had reptile gardens (I was scared nearly to death). 

Leann and Aunt Anna.

It was a good trip, the only family vacation that I can recall. 

Far Side 

Sharing

We share our woodcarved Christmas Ornaments with many people.    

Some times the recipient dies before Christmas and the ornament is passed on to other family members. My Cousin shared her Mom's ornament..my Aunt Anna who died in November.  Happy to see it on a tree...sad that my Aunt couldn't be here to see it.   She appreciated carvings and was a woodcarver herself....but she liked quilting and fabric  more. 

Sometimes a recipient moves half a world away. Shortly before Christmas I got this photo from Belgium! 

Jonas was the foreign exchange student that lived with Andy, Jen and Adam for almost a year.  He sent Christmas greetings and a photo of the ornament we made for him in 2019. 

I do not have a photo to share for the next ornament.  Years ago Far Guy met a gal through my blog from Washington State they both had Trigeminal Neuralgia...and became a good long distance support system for each other.  We were very surprised to get an email from her daughter telling us about a very aggressive form of cancer that took her Mom within weeks.  She said her Dad placed the ornament next to the urn that holds her ashes. 

I don't share these stories of the ornaments to make you sad.  They are a reminder that each day is a gift and should be appreciated as such.  So go out, grab the day, embrace it with gusto! 

Far Side

The 31,081st Day

 That is a whole bunch of days!  31, 081 days equals 85 years and 34 days. 

Yesterday morning my Aunt Anna fulfilled all her days here on earth.  Aunt Anna was a breast cancer survivor for many many years.  Then she was diagnosed with Metastatic Bone Cancer, she has been having chemotherapy treatments for the past several years...they were doing no good and would have to be increased... so three weeks ago she decided to stop treatments and to spend her last days at home.  Her only daughter cared for her for a few weeks and a week ago Hospice brought her a hospital bed and comfort care.  I spoke with her and she was thankful for the great care her daughter was giving her... she said if it were not for her daughter that she would be in a Nursing home.  Very recently her son came home to be with her.  So the house was filled with the voices she loved.

One day I took over a shawl for her ( I left the package outside the door), so she could feel the warmth and love from her family...her daughter sent me a photo.

  

She loved all the colors! 

There will be a private family service with a Celebration of Life next summer. 

I guess that is the best we can hope for in these Covid times. 

My Aunt Anna was a marvelous person...one of my favorite people.  Her only living sibling is my Father. My Father is nine years older than her.  Are we sad...yes...but happy that her earthly struggle is now over. 

Her daughter wrote "Heaven got a little bit brighter this morning.  We will miss you Mom."

Job 14:5 A person's days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed.

Far Side

Leaves and a gathering

Leaves are all over in the yard, in Chance’s fluffy tail, in my hair after I mulched leaves.  Far Guy manned the rake and the blower and the 3rd cleanup of leaves was accomplished.  I managed to drive the lawn mower round and round in the yard. My hand is a bit swollen so I will wait a few days before doing any mulching again.

We will mulch about 9 times total maybe 10 before we call it good enough or when it snows.  Which ever one comes first.

There were some pretty leaves for my parents 67th anniversary photo…there were 26 of us that showed up to wish them well. My Aunt Anna was there too…she was a bridesmaid for them and she was just 15 years old.  Her dress was pink and my Aunt Skips was blue.  Aunt Anna said that she thought the dress was or became a prom dress.  My Mom borrowed $50 from her Grandmother for a dress which she bought at J C Penney…all the plans for the wedding took ONE week.

Uncle Delbert, Cousin Roy, Dad, Mom, Aunt Skip and Aunt Anna October 07 1950.

Lutefisk Dinner

If you live in Minnesota then you will see these signs.  Some Norwegians even mark these dates and times on their calendar and discuss who are the better cooks…and which one should not be missed if you are a connoisseur of LUTEFISK.

I am only a tad Norwegian as my great Grandmother Amanda was from Norway. My measly 12.5 % Norwegian does not qualify me to like Lutefisk.

I ate Lutefisk once a long time ago in California. We were visiting Aunt Anna and My Uncle Stanley.  Uncle Stanley’s parents Gustie and Sylvia made it for the Christmas Eve dinner at their home.  Luckily they served roast pork too so I didn’t go hungry.  The pork was much better than the lutefisk.

Lutefisk is a dried cod that is soaked in lye to rehydrate the fish, then it is soaked in water to wash off the lye.  Then cooked…either baked or boiled.  Typically served with butter or a cream sauce and potatoes and fresh baked bread…everything on your plate is white. 

I suppose Swedish meatballs might go good with Lutefisk…perhaps this is their way of attracting the Swedes and the Norwegians. And Pie!   If you are in Bemidji Minnesota on December 10 you can go to this feast…as for me I will pass.

Wistful Wednesday : Roots Part Nine

It would be nice to know how my Father’s parents ( My Grandparents ) met.  That information was never passed down.  They didn’t meet at Church because they went to different churches.  They must have met at some neighborhood function…they lived about a mile or two apart. They were married in 1911.

I unearthed a few old photos.

My Grandfather Sam, Grandmother Hilda, Great Uncle Ike and the rest of the people are unknowns. Visitors posed in front of the car they came in.

My Aunt Anna, Grandma Hilda and Grandpa Sam.  Anna was their youngest child she was born in the Fall of 1935…Grandma would have been 46 years old and Grandpa was 45 years old.  All together they had fourteen children; twelve sons and two daughters. My Aunt looks maybe about 12 years old..so that would date this photo to 1947 or so.

My grandmother wore a scarf or a huivi ( who VEE).  I can almost smell the mothballs on my grandfathers wool clothing.  Inside those pockets are where he kept the mints…large pink or white mints about the size of a quarter but thicker.  After you greeted him in Finn Paivaa Paivaa ( PIE- Vah) and shook his hand you would get a mint…but just one.

Wistful Wednesday: 1953

I didn’t know the story about this photo before.  So I called my Aunt and asked her.  She being sharper than a tack, knew exactly the photograph I was talking about.

Arnie and me in ‘53

This is my Uncle Arnold and my Aunt Anna, siblings of my fathers.  Their Mother  (My Grandmother died in June of 1953.) This photo was taken at the train station in Detroit Lakes Minnesota.  Uncle Arnold had been home for the funeral and he was headed back to Norfolk Virginia where he was stationed.  He was in the Navy.

I had never heard my Uncle Arnold referred to as Arnie before, when I asked my Aunt she laughed and said “I did it just to irritate him.”

Aunt Anna celebrated her birthday on Monday.  She was 18 years old in this photo in 1953. Uncle Arnold was 21.  Uncle Arnold died of a massive heart attack in April of 1992 he was just 60 years old.  He was a wonderful man with a great sense of humor, he was a farmer and a carpenter.

My Dad and my Aunt Anna are the only siblings still living, out of fourteen only two remain:)

Wistful Wednesday: Aunt Anna

My Aunt Anna had surgery a few weeks ago.  She is recovering at home.

This was about 1936 when Aunt Anna was one year old.  Aunt Marie (8 years old) is holding her.  Uncle Arnold( 4 years old) is standing by.  It looks like Aunt Anna is struggling with Aunt Marie…they were the only two girls in the family..but they had a bunch of brothers. If you knew my Aunt Marie..she liked to be in charge because she was the older sister..so seeing Aunt Anna as a child giving her the “what for” makes me smile.

 

I will guess that Anna was 10 to 12 years old in this photo that would make the year 1945 to 1947. That is her Mother and Father.  (My Grandparents Y.)

Grandma has on her huivi ( scarf) and Grandpa has no tie.  I am sure Grandpa is also wearing his long underwear as he wore them year round.

I think this is Aunt Anna’s High School Graduation Photo.  So that would have been sometime around 1953…very near the time that her Mother ( My Grandmother) died. 

My Dad and My Aunt Anna are the only children left in that family (12 boys and 2 girls).  Dad will soon be 86 and Aunt Anna will soon be 77. 

Aunt Anna will wear a body brace for about nine months until her back is completely healed.  She cannot bend forward or backwards or from side to side.  She cannot pick anything up off the floor or reach for anything over her head.  When we visited with her last week we told her that she is just going to have to ask for help when she needs it.

In less than two weeks I will be done with work and I can go over and help out.  I think “the cousins” were trying to work out some kind of schedule…there are enough of us. If we all pitch in it will work out just fine:)