Although our Fathers are no longer with us. We think of them and what kind men they were who helped raised us.
Far Guy and his Dad
My Dad and me May 1952
Happy Father's Day!
Jen visited us yesterday to help me get caught up on some of the high dusting (the things I have to stand on a step ladder for) AND to visit with her Dad and she took us out for supper!
Far Side
My Father gets to spend his first birthday in heaven today! I am certain he is thrilled to be with all his loved ones who died before him. He was 96 when he died last December on his Father's birthday. My Father was the remnant.
The headstone is not in place yet...but the spot is marked. Dad's final resting place is between his sister and one of his brothers. ( The spot where the fresh dirt has been placed) Nearby are his parents and his other sister and two brothers in law.
The Maple trees put on quite a show in the Fall. We hope that the grass seed that we planted has taken root in the rainy weather we have had in the last week.
It is a beautiful country cemetery, high on a hill.
My Father had a good long life which I am so thankful for.
Far Side
Our Fathers are both gone now. I was really lucky to have my Dad for 71 Father's Days. Not many people can say that.
Me, other baby brother, our Dad and baby brother. Our sister was not born yet when this photo was taken in 1963.
Far Guy only got to have his Dad for 44 Father's Days.
Far Guy's Dad, his sister, Far Guy's Mom and Far Guy in August of 1958.
Yes we could be sad because they are gone...instead I chose to be thankful for the years we had them in our lives. Both wonderful Fathers who did the best they could.
Happy Father's Day!
Far Side
My Dad took a selfie before selfies were an "in" thing.
He took this with my Mom's old brownie camera. It makes me smile.
Far Side
Today is the day we celebrate my Fathers long life. 96 years!
Gone from My Sight by Henry Van Dyke
I am standing upon the seashore. A ship, at my side,
spreads her white sails to the moving breeze and starts
for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength.
I stand and watch her until, at length, she hangs like a speck
of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.
Then, someone at my side says, "There, she is gone."
Gone where?
Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast,
hull and spar as she was when she left my side.
And, she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.
Her diminished size is in me -- not in her.
And, just at the moment when someone says, "There, she is gone,"
there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices
ready to take up the glad shout, "Here she comes!"
And that is dying...
This photo was taken at my parents home on the lake December 24, 1977.
My baby brother has his arms around all the girls. My sister is in the back she was 11 years old. Trica age 5 and Jennifer age 2 in the front. My baby brother would have been 23 in 1977 and he was a student in Tulsa Oklahoma and not yet married, but would be the next summer.
Trica and Jenny had similar dresses, floor length, gingham and white dresses with flowers on the front.
My Dad ( age 51) in back, then me (age 26), my other baby brother ( age 17), my Mom ( age 48) with Jennifer, Trica and Julie in front.
I think someone in the family still has that couch…although it has been recovered.
This photo was taken at my parents home at the farm in 1971.
Far Guy holding Snuffer our dog. The lady laughing is Far Guy’s Aunt Beryl…she was widowed in January of 1971 (Uncle Ron was just 52 years old when he died.) My Dad with a big grin on his face is handing Beryl a snow shovel with a poinsettia on it. My other baby brother ( age 11) and my sister (age 5) look on. I believe that Aunt Beryl had complained about an old beat up snow shovel.
Far Guy is holding Snuffers muzzle to keep her from barking…she was a great watch dog! She was just a few months old. She was a $5 mutt part Scottie that Far Guy bought at a garage sale for my birthday. ( Snuffer lived a good long time and helped raise our girls to like animals.)
I believe that this photo was taken on Christmas Eve 1971. Far Guy had a lot more hair back then…we were both college students at Moorhead State College now Minnesota State University Moorhead.
We still have a Bambi eating acorns in our yard.
A very long time ago we took our oldest daughter Trica to the movie Bambi…she cried. A few months later my Dad wanted to take my sister and Trica to a movie…Bambi was playing at the theater in town. Of course Trica wanted to go…I reminded her that the movie had some sad parts….she said fine, I have already seen it and I promise not to cry. Her Grandfather (my Dad) reported that during the sad part she began to cry…so she sat in his lap, hid her face in his shoulder and sobbed.
My Dad is 91 going on 92. He still tends his tomato plants and mows his own lawn. He works in his garage and likes to do woodworking projects. He does dishes and helps my mother with house work. We go to Bingo together once a week. In the winter my other baby brother goes along, it is nice to have company for the drive back home when it is cold and snowy. When my baby brother is around he often joins us. If other relatives are around on Bingo night then we will have a full table.
I always call to make sure Dad feels up to going and the answer is almost always “Yes.” So I pick him up in plenty of time to get us settled at a table, get our cards bought and the special games marked. He is the oldest Bingo player there. He likes to sit at a table where he can easily see the monitors and the big board. We have Bingo friends that will often save our table for us!
Dad and I play one wins we all win. We share all winnings if there are any.
Dad has played Bingo since he was about 14 years old and took cattle to the County Fair and stayed with them on the fairgrounds. Bingo was a nickel to play and you marked the card with corn kernels. He would win Kewpie Dolls and give them away.
My Dad when he was younger
Far Guy’s Dad has been gone a long time…24 years now. He died in 1994 when he was 80 years old.
Far Guy’s Dad with the Willys Knight
He liked to play cards and put puzzles together in the winter. Some of his favorite were Automobiles, Flannel Shirts, Cross Pens, Fried Potatoes, Angie Dickenson in Police Woman, All in the Family and Johnny Carson. He liked to read the daily paper and always had a road atlas in the magazine rack next to his chair. He was a fisherman and a hunter. He adored his three granddaughters. His favorite color in cars and couches was red.
Happy Father’s Day to all the Dad’s out there!
Last Fall I purchased some metallic water colors and really never had the time to explore how they worked.
Remember my word for 2018 is Explore.
They are easy to work with.
I stamped a bunch of butterfly cards that will be all ocassion cards. The watercolors give them a nice shimmer, I may add a bit of glitter…you can never have too much glitter….can you?
Nothing much is new here, it is warmer and we may get into the 30’s F yeah! The Janurary thaw has arrived!
My Dad and I had another Bingo date…neither of us bingoed but we were close several times. Dad was one number away from the $1,000 blackout…we will try again next week God willing and the crick don’t rise.
Was cool. The wind is raw and the humidity makes it feel colder than it is. It spit snow all day yesterday but not enough to turn the ground white.
We had two family members in the hospital. Our daughter Trica had a bowel obstruction that resolved itself after three days in the hospital. My Dad spent two days in the hospital with a kidney and stomach infection. Both are home now and recovering.
Two windows were washed….my desk is still a big mess with many projects started but none finished.
No new recipes were tried…but I do have an new recipe for Pumpkin Pie that I will try this week.
The Juncos are here and the little Redpolls showed up this week along with a few wayward Goldfinches that have their winter coats on.
We have a huge buck that has been cavorting around nearby with a couple of does…they escaped the mighty hunters.
Poor Chance has a hemorrhoid. Makes me hurt to tend to it. I am probably more bothered than he is. He does not seem like he is in pain. He has had problems before…and the Vet says to keep the area clean and use whatever hemorrhoidal remedy you have on hand. Ears and butt…now I have to keep an eye on both. He also has a little bit of dermatitis one spot on his belly and another on his right hip which we are treating with vitamin E. His right rear leg is weak at times….he looses his footing sometimes, but still makes it up and down the stairs. He has to be lifted into the car and when we let him out of the vehicle…I wrap a strip of an old towel around his belly and I steady him and lift from above and assist his decent from the vehicle. He is very cooperative and knows to wait for me to encircle him with the strip of towel and get a good hold on it before he jumps off the seat. Yes we are eldercare for a dog. I am certain he gets better care than some people.
Today is the day to thank all the Veterans in our lives. Those that serve now and those who have served. Air Force, Army, Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Air National Guard, Army National Guard at home or overseas….THANK YOU!
Far Guy
My baby brother, my nephew, my dad and my husband. Thank you all!
Luckily these family members made it home.
My Paternal Grandparents were not so lucky. Five of their twelve sons were in the military.
They all returned but one.
My Uncle Arthur is buried in the Sicily Rome American Cemetery in Italy. He was 23 years old when he was wounded and died during the invasion of Italy.
Some gave all.
I went with my Dad to bingo last night and he got a bingo! As much as he likes the game he gets frustrated when he doesn’t win. My Mother really doesn’t like bingo. If I go then the vehicle is warm by the time I get there and I see that he gets safely in and out and back home again. My Mother gets a few hours to do what ever she wants.
Dad said “When I was a kid about 14 years old ( about 1940) and was at the County Fair I played bingo, three cards were on a piece of cardboard and it cost five cents to play. We used corn to mark the numbers. I used to be pretty lucky and would play a long time….I won cupie dolls and dogs…gave the dolls to the girls and the dogs to little boys…I didn’t keep a thing. I just like the game of bingo.”
Dad’s potatoes in bloom last summer.
It was my Mom’s birthday yesterday. She and Dad had plans for the day. First was breakfast with friends and then lunch with Far Guy and I at 1 PM.
All that changed shortly after 1 AM on Mom’s birthday. Dad woke her up because he had chest pain. Off they went to the ER. Dad’s heart rate was out of control he was in atrial fibrilation, after they shocked his heart back into rhythm and with some medications he was stabilized and sent to ICU. Dad said “I thought for sure I was a goner.” Once there he continued to improve and felt good enough to go home but the Doctors wanted him to stay another day.
So Mom spent her birthday at the hospital near Dad’s side. Hopefully he will get out this morning. He did not have a heart attack, the Doctors can find no physical reason why his heart acted so badly. All his blood work looks great. He does have a bad tooth that is worrisome but only to me as the Doctor shrugged off that possibility.
I didn’t get a photo of Mom on her 88th birthday…so here is one taken a long time ago. We will celebrate one day next week after they get back to “normal.”
My Dad was 91 years old yesterday.
I had him smile for a photo before we had cake, Mom made a brown sugar spice cake that was gluten free and it was really good. The dining table behind him is filled with flowers, cards, letters and gifts.
During cake and coffee Dad said “ Your name is on the wall and when the good Lord yanks it down your time is up.” I asked him what the Lord does with your name then…Dad said “Probably just tosses it away.” Far Guy thought your name was in the book of life. I am not sure where your name is….maybe you don’t have a name at all but God calls your soul which has it’s very own name that only God knows. Someday I guess we will find out.
My Dad is the oldest living person in his family…he has one younger sister that is living the rest of his 12 siblings are dead. I won’t say “passed on” or “gone to their great reward” they are dead…plain and simple… I pass people on the road…and as for the great reward that could be a sundae at DQ.
I asked Dad how it felt to be 91 and he replied “Not much different than 81.”
My parents will celebrate their 67th Wedding Anniversary today.
I made this card for them a number of years ago. The photo of the church they were married in is the background photo.
They had a candlelight ceremony at 7:30 in the evening. Dad was soon to be 24 years old, Mom was almost 21. Their birthdays and anniversary all happen within a week.
Since I am the oldest and most responsible I have been there for all 67 of their anniversaries. I was born just 17 days before their 1st anniversary and Mom and I celebrated all by ourselves since Dad was in Korea.
A card I made for them this year. I took a photo last year on their anniversary and I will take another photo today.
Happy 67th Anniversary!
Relatives on my side of the family have an autoimmune disorder called Celiac Disease or Celiac sprue. When you have the disease you are very sensitive to gluten. When you eat gluten you may have a variety of symptoms; bloating, gas, diarrhea, constipation or vomiting. There are about 200 different symptoms.
My Dad was diagnosed in about 1999. In retrospect his brother Adolf most likely died from it in 1998. My Aunt Anna was diagnosed a number of years ago about the same time as Cousin Geraldine.
My sister Julie has been diagnosed with it and her son Jacob who not only has the gluten intolerance but a dairy intolerance also.
Our youngest daughter Jennifer was diagnosed about two weeks ago.
Cross contamination in kitchens, the same spatula used to flip a pancake and then used to flip your egg can cause you to become ill. Using the same toaster for regular bread and then gluten free bread. If someone in your family has Celiac then you are better off having the whole household go gluten free.
From the Celiac Foundation:
When people with celiac disease eat gluten (a protein found in wheat, rye and barley), their body mounts an immune response that attacks the small intestine. These attacks lead to damage on the villi, small fingerlike projections that line the small intestine, that promote nutrient absorption. When the villi get damaged, nutrients cannot be absorbed properly into the body.
Celiac disease is hereditary, meaning that it runs in families. People with a first-degree relative with celiac disease (parent, child, sibling) have a 1 in 10 risk of developing celiac disease.
So far I have escaped this disease. I do not eat certain foods…pancakes which I love but rarely eat. There are also certain places I do not eat…some resturaunts are worse than others…some must not be as clean as my system likes. Here at home I adhere to a clean side and dirty side of the kitchen and if they meet, then everything gets disinfected. I also have a limited amount of fru fru on my kitchen counters.
My Dad was ninety yesterday. We celebrated with a open house gathering in the afternoon at church. Cake, ice cream, cookies, nuts, mints, lemonade and coffee. I will guess that just about 200 + people came to the celebration.
We had eight huge cakes. Spice, lemon, white with lemon curd, strawberry, chocolate of several kinds. We served gluten free cake and cookies also…my Mom baked a gluten free cake and Aunt Anna made the gluten free cookies.
My grandaughter Paige took photos with my camera.
We sang happy birthday!
My Dad and Mom
My Mom will celebrate her 87th birthday in four days. My parents celebrate for a whole week in October between their birthdays and anniverary.
Guests came from all directions and from all sides of the family. Trica, Richard, Madison, Paige, Andy, Jen, Noah and Adam were all there. ( Savannah had to work.) They all helped in the kitchen along with my brother and she who see Robins first and my sister. It was a great kitchen crew.
It was a good afternoon, my Dad said “I can’t believe that so many people showed up for my birthday!”
My Dad is the oldest living person in his family. His sister Anna is younger than him…they are the remnant.
Dad says there was a snowstorm and it was 20 below zero back in 1926 and he weighed in a whopping twelve pounds.
