My Mom Knows Kurt Warner's Grandma-In-Law

Because of several regular weekday evening basketball games being postponed due to snowy weather earlier in January, we are now making up games on Saturday afternoons. Due to the cows needing milked in late afternoon, Husband cannot attend these afternoon games. Today's contest was on the other side of Cedar Falls, so I made arrangements to pick up my daughter at UNI, and my mom, who lives in Cedar Falls, so they could accompany me to the game.

*

On the drive to Cedar Falls, I wished for scenery other than the dingy blanket of dirty snow which now covers the landscape. A-ha......here's an old, delapidated barn sitting along C-57 north of the twin cities of Waterloo and Cedar Falls. The remnants of red paint were intriguing......as was the checkered look of the old cement silo staves......and, the spindly, bare tree branches interspersed. (Sorry.....the mood may be ruined by that swing-set sitting in front of the barn.)

This next photo is nothing to write home about......I know that......its blurry, but I liked the ball hanging in the air above the basket, with the flag behind it. This scene will be in honor of my husband's nephew who just left for a one-year tour of duty in the Middle East.......in fact, I just received an email from him saying he is in Kuwait right now, enroute to his base in Iraq.
Another bad shot, but good action going on........my son going up for a layup, which he did make.

Our team squandered a ten-point first-half lead, and the score ended up tied with .9 seconds left on the clock. That's right.......nine-tenths of a second, making me fairly certain---and dismayed----that we would have to endure watching an overtime. The other team was throwing the ball inbounds on the side by their basket.......a high lob pass sailed toward their tall guy.......both teams were massed together and the whole group fell down together in a pig pile. Incredibly, a referee blew his whistle for a foul. We couldn't believe it......no time left and a foul was being called in that mixed-up mish-mash of players. "Eeny-meeny-miny-mo" and the referee's hand was pointed at my son! Oh, ____. No, I don't use bad language, but the guy next to me sure did.

*

The kid made his two free-throws and the game was over.......with us losing, which is inconsequential in the whole scheme of life, of course, but it was one of the crappiest endings to a basketball game that I have ever seen. I heard our coach say to the referee, "Thanks alot.......you handed the game right over to them." So it goes.

*

After dropping my daughter back at her dorm, and my mom at her house, I stopped at Pizza Hut so as not to arrive at home empty-handed.

While stopped for a red light at the Oster-Regent Theater corner in Cedar Falls, I tried to snap a shot of the cute "Cup 'O Joe" windows. The photo is blurry, but hopefully you get the picture......of this unique coffee shop on the downtown parkade.

*

Goodness gracious.......I almost forgot.......this post's title needs some explaining. Mom and I were pulling into her driveway after the game and she suddenly said, "I have ridden to Knights of Columbus suppers with Brenda Warner's grandmother." Another random remark from my mom, I thought.......racking my brain for a moment.......Who is Brenda Warner? Then Mom continued, "Brenda's grandma speaks very highly of Kurt." Oh, then the lightbulbs went on.......Kurt Warner, who will be quarterbacking the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow in the Super Bowl. Duh, Jeannelle, that's right......Kurt Warner is from Cedar Rapids and went to college at UNI in Cedar Falls, and met his wife, Brenda, there. Leave it to my little, white-haired mom---who possesses miniscule knowledge of and interest in professional football---leave it to her to have a connection (however miniscule) to a Super Bowl quarterback!

*

*

How About A Chat

Hey......how's about we sit right down on the bench here and have us a friendly, little chat?

*

What's that you're saying?? You don't relish the idea of sitting on snow?! Well, what is wrong with you? This bench is here for sitting on, you know.......snow or not.

Perhaps you'd be interested in going bicycling.

What?? You don't like the sound of that idea, either? Hmmph.......you are just no fun at all.

If you can't be coaxed into those outdoor activities, how's about we go indoors and look around. We're here at the Wellness Center on the campus of Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa. My son had a basketball game here a few weeks ago......on a very cold, snowy evening. It was my first visit to this sports facility, which was built not only for college activities, but also for use by residents of Waverly and the surrounding area. Its quite a place; my photos do not do it justice at all. The first two shots were right outside the north vestibule area.
*
Once inside---after my glasses unfogged---this large area full of fitness equipment came into view:
Opposite the fitness room is the swimming pool:

Further within the gigantic facility, right before we reached the basketball arena, we looked down upon this indoor track:

As stated earlier, it was a very cold evening, and we battled blowing snow all the way home. Getting a chance to see the inside of this building made the trip worthwhile, however.

*

Hey, I'm almost giddy, sitting here surrounded by tax papers.......and typing on my very own laptop computer! Yes, my daughter's new one arrived by FedEx yesterday, and she drove home from college (only 30 minutes away) to pick it up, and leave her old one. She spent the evening here, transferring "her music" and photos to the new computer. How did I ever survive without having "my music"?

*

Due to my cold, I didn't go along with Husband to our son's basketball game. It was pleasant to spend time with my daughter, although she made me watch "Grey's Anatomy" with her, a show I've never viewed before. Good grief......can the show's premise possibly be very realistic? Years ago, I worked in a hospital for awhile as an LPN, so I know a tiny bit about the subject. In last night's episode, the group of young doctors, or interns, or residents---whatever they are supposed to be---suddenly "discovered" the morgue room and decided to sneak down there during lunch breaks to practice surgical procedures. Really? Would something like that ever actually take place?

*

And, a very risky heart procedure was being carried out by several of these very young doctors.....without any experienced specialists in the scene. C'mon. Oh, I realize though, that OLDER doctors cluttering up the TV screen would not snatch the big ratings.

*

Another thing......most of the cast must have been chosen because of their eyes. There were lots of close-ups of very expressive eyes.......which surely captures and holds the attention of viewers.

*

The show is in a similar vein as the earlier fast-paced hospital shows that began---as I recall, anyway---with "St. Elsewhere". Does anyone remember that show? I was in my baby-bearing years back then, and can remember sitting contentedly in the evening, nursing a baby and watching that show. Does anyone remember what saint the hospital was named for?

*

Then, after St. Elsewhere's demise came "ER". Lots of drama in lives inside and outside that emergency room setting. I thought that many of the procedures and decisions those ER doctors were making were not very realistic, either, but it made for a riveting show. In my own mind, "St. Elsewhere" and the early years of "ER" are all mixed up in a collage, and I can't recall what actors were in which show. Which one was David Morse in? Ed Begley, Jr.? Of course, I do recall clearly that hunky George Clooney was in "ER".

*

Anyhow.......hooray......this is my first post from the laptop. I uploaded the photos from my desktop computer, though.

*

Hopefully, you are having a pleasant day......now I must get back to the sorting and filing of tax papers.

*

Frosty Complaints

Yesterday's morning was freezingly frosty, with a fog that lingered a few hours past sunrise.

*

Here's an ash tree which continues to hold onto its seed pods long into winter:

Usually, if there's fog around, the temperatures aren't too terribly cold, but that sure didn't hold true yesterday. The dampness in the air must have accentuated the coldness. Wow.......it didn't take long for my ungloved fingers to start smarting while gripping the camera.
This was how the sun looked during morning calf-feeding chores:

Frosty branches criss-cross in chaotic fashion:

Who...who...whoooo is enjoying winter??
Not me, at this point.

*
My nose is still to the grindstone of doing farm bookwork. Its no big deal; every year the last week or so of January is devoted to preparing for tax time. Adding to the fun right now.....its my turn to host the head cold that's been roaming around our household. And, there's throbbing cracks next to each of my thumbnails. Ah-h.....winter......how we adore thee.
*
Don't you hate it when people who truly have nothing to complain about start grumping and grouching.......like I'm doing right now.
*
Have a great day!
*
[P.S. - I operate inside the delusion that others might want to know this.......for the first time in my life, I have a "cold in my eyes". It must be that. I look atrocious, my eyes are puffy and swelled, appearing as slits this morning. The vision is fine, but its difficult to keep my eyes open to focus on anything in the distance. Peering at repairs and supplies receipts on a table in front of me should be possible, though.......thank goodness.......it would be a crying shame to bail out of that task.]
*

An Award & New Blogs

A good day to everyone who happens by here!

*

Recently, Deserthen of

Gravel Roads and Daiquiris in the Dirt blog honored my blog with this award. Thank you, Deserthen! It will reside in my award post which is linked to in the sidebar.

This is a cop-out, but if your blog is listed in my sidebar, then consider yourself a recipient of this award. I truly can't choose, because everyone's blog is SPECIAL!

*

It was thoughtful of Buster to take over the blogging responsibilities yesterday, though now there's dog hair all over the computer chair.

*

Preparing tax paperwork for the accountant will take up my time again today. Every January, its the same old, boring ritual......sort the bills into piles and add up each category. No, I've never gotten into the groove of keeping the books on the computer; that surely sounds backwards and stupid in this day and age. I should take a class to learn Excel, probably.

*

In between spurts of doing paperwork yesterday, I established a new little family of blogs. They will be a place to post the stacks of old family photos that ended up here after my father-in-law passed away last year. It does no good for the pictures to be kept hidden away in boxes; they need to be shared.

*

I certainly don't expect any of you to absorb reading three more blogs---though these will have minimal text---but here is a link to one of the blogs:

Memories of Artesian. If you follow the link you will see a photo of my husband's great-grandfather at work in the Artesian Creamery long ago. The buildings which made up the tiny town of Artesian, Iowa, are mostly gone now, torn down in recent years to make way for the widening of Highway 63.

*

As I set up the blogs yesterday, I even "exported" a blog and then "imported" it back into a new blog. Did you know you can do that.......save your blog as a file in your own computer? Then you can upload it again whenever or wherever you want. Actually, it might be a good idea to save your blog to your computer, just in case something happened at Blogger.com and your blog became lost or deleted. That could be very traumatic.

*

My daughter's new computer is in shipment as I type this. Hooray.....it may arrive today. Her current laptop will become mine, once she gets everything transferred over to the new one. I'm so excited. Yippy-skippy!

*

Buster, Blog Dog

I'm Buster and---WOW---do I ever have an exciting tail for you! (Truth is, I'm an Australian Shepherd and we don't have tails. What would I do with one, anyway?)

*

But, that's "dogressing"......right? When one starts veering from the subject at paw.....er, hand. Sorry about that. Its just that I'm SO doggone excited!!

Yesterday, after Jeallenne got home from taking this stupid, ugly skid loader tire to town for repair, she and I went for a WALK on the road! Whooeee! We haven't done that for a coon's age. Which reminds me......I've chased a few raccoons up trees in my lifetime.
Here's proof......of the walk on the road, that is. There's handsome ol' ME, waiting for Slowpoke Jeallenne to catch up. We're walking to the neighbor's house to deliver a "1099 Form".......whatever the heck that is. I hope its not a dog tax.

Hey.......will you PLEEZ pay attention to me! I'm trying to tell you a tale here!

The mailman (Its awesome to chase his Jeep!) has been avoiding our mailbox because it keeps getting buried when the snowplow goes a-plowin' by. Who cares, though.......no bills get delivered that way.

That's it........you're not taking enough notice of me. You leave me no choice but to take more drastic action. PAY ATTENTION TO ME or deal with the PAW!

While I bounded across snowpiles along the road, Jeallenne kicked clods and chunks away from the mailbox and threw them in......er, ON the ditch.

OK. That's my story. Hope you liked it. I'll quit jumping now so you can pet me.......PLEEZ.

Here's a pet joke for ya:

"Teachers pet??"

"Why sure they do!"

*

(Oh, dear.......Jeallenne might not like that one. Don't tell her I told you.)

*
HAVE A DOGGONE GOOD DAY!

*

Spring is Coming

This came in an email today:

"Winter is almost over........

We can see the deer wandering around now."

*

Legs in the Sunset

*

Welcome! This was supposed to be next Friday's SkyWatch post, but I'm sitting here using my daughter's laptop and can't upload any photos, so decided to click "publish" on this post which already contained photos. No, the laptop is not quite mine, yet........probably in another week it will be.

*

Upon exiting a high school gym one evening last week, I was treated to this colorful sunset scene:

While my eyes beheld this beautiful sight, my ears were hearing the sound of someone telling me rather unsettling news. I keep telling myself, "Take a deep breath......relax......the situation could be much worse."

There are no guarantees in life......guarantees that the best will happen........and, likewise, no guarantees that the worst will occur, either. So, what's the point of worrying......right? (I'm writing this mostly to remind myself of that.) Simply live each day.......and pray along the way. Easier said than done, sometimes.......especially when loved ones are involved.
*
The second photo shows large grain bins topped by geometric-looking "legs"......long pipes which contain augers that move corn or soybeans up and down to various storage areas. Click to enlarge the photo.......way at the top of the tallest grain leg is the outline of a star shape which was lighted during the Christmas season.

*
Sorry I've been making myself scarce with blogging and reading blogs. Oh, and did I just say that there are no guarantees in life.......of course there are! DEATH & TAXES!! Tax preparations will take up much of my time this coming week. If you're self-employed like us farmers, you know that your taxes are due March 1......so, GET BUSY!!

*

Goin' Out In Style

We just got home from my sister's husband's father's funeral. The warmth of sympathy and comfort abounded inside hearts and minds, but a sub-zero windchill ruled the world outside here at a church situated amongst Iowa farm fields.

This classic restored Ford pick-up bore the casket to the cemetery behind the church:

My brother-in-law was at the wheel of the pickup bearing his dad's casket:

The man buried today had restored this pickup with the help of several of his friends.......in anticipation of this occasion. His obituary stated he died "after an eight-year battle against a multitude of cancers". He had faced the disease head-on, undergoing many surgeries to stay ahead of the game, but his heart finally gave out following an operation last week. He was 65 years old.

Pinned inside the lid of the casket were notes from the young grandchildren. One said: "Say HI to Dale Earnhardt for me." (Racing is an interest of the whole family.)

*

*

Here's what was printed inside the funeral folder:

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning 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 and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear the load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side 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.

*

*

Here's how the road looked on our way home after the funeral lunch:

*

I hope to soon get back into the swing of blogging. Everything just snowballed this week, with the funeral activities, plus make-up basketball games almost every night of the week.

Within a week or so I should have my daughter's laptop to use here at home. She's buying a new one and I am buying hers. I can hardly wait!

*

Waterloo Beer from Belgium

Its exciting to have blog readers, and very special, too, to have regular readers. One of my regular readers lives in Waterloo, Belgium. I, of course, live not far from Waterloo, Iowa, U.S.A. Recently, my Belgian friend sent me an email with a link to the

Belgian Beer Tradition Brewery website.......because one of the beers they brew is called "Waterloo Beer"!

Napoleon met his "Waterloo" there in Belgium, of course.

*

Here's part of the email from my friend in Belgium: "Hi, Jeannelle......Good idea if somebody in Iowa would import our Waterloo beer. I can tell you this beer is tasty, not light and good to sip in front of a wood fire with good friends." And, here's a bit of weather info: "Well, two weeks ago it was snowing here in Belgium and we had 14°F to 0°F. It was foggy during the night too and in the morning the trees were covered with frost."

*

The Waterloo Beer website also features this unique pottery beer goblet. I wouldn't mind ordering one, actually, and may look into seeing if that is possible. It would make a great conversation piece here in the vicinity of Waterloo, Iowa!

Kindest regards to you, too, my Belgian friend.

*

Blog News

What does it indicate when a blogger feels as if she must provide info as to why she isn't blogging much or visiting other blogs. It probably indicates that she is overly-obsessed with blogging. So be it.

*

In light of that......here's some info: There will be a post on my blog tomorrow......its about an interesting beer, so be sure to stop by and read it (I'm only sorry its impossible to provide samples for tasting.). After tomorrow, though, I might be away from the blog and not visiting blogs much for awhile. We'll see how it goes. My sister's father-in-law passed away unexpectedly last evening, and my attention will be focused there for a few days. Please send up a prayer for his family, especially my brother-in-law, who is having a tough time. He's an only son and he and his dad were very close, and operated a business together. Thank you so much.

*

The Strength of Patchwork

I'm listening to President Barack Obama's inaugural speech. He just stated that

"our patchwork is a strength".

*

As in a quilt, differences can be stitched together to make a strong fabric.

*

And, differences can make beautiful music together:

What a memorable day!!

*

Farewell To Gene

Recently, I posted about Husband telling me a few days ago that he had had a dream about attending a Catholic wake, and then a couple days after that the father of a good friend of ours passed away........prompting the fulfillment of that dream. Yesterday, Husband and I attended the funeral home visitation for Gene, shown here during his Army days during the Korean Conflict. (Yes, I took photos of photos at the funeral home......in order to have a remembrance of this special man.)

He is fondly remembered as a husband, father, brother, grandfather, dairy farmer, mechanic, carpenter, neighbor.......and a downright friendly person.

When I hugged his wife today, she said, "I've lost my lifelong best friend. I met him when I was fifteen, and I knew right away he was the one." At that time, she was working as a hired girl for her married sister, and Gene was a hired man on her sister's father-in-law's farm." I imagine both had been done with school after eighth grade; that was common back then. Gene's obituary simply said he attended country school before becoming a farmer.

*

Life for them was not all rosy. They had five children, two of whom died tragically on the same day in a drowning accident back in the early 1960's.

Gene had seven brothers and one sister. Here are the eight boys. Can you imagine cooking meals everyday for this crew! I see Gene there in the back row, on the right.

*
There at the funeral home, we followed the line through, visiting with Gene's family, viewing the flowers, and paying our respects at the casket. I'm not a Catholic, so bear with me when I mention the loveliness of the rosary beads twined through Gene's fingers. At 4 p.m., a parish Rosary was scheduled to take place. We were still standing around visiting when Husband suddenly nudged me and said, "We better get out of here.....they're about to start the
Rosary." Besides, we needed to head home for chores, anyway. As we pulled on our coats, "Hail Mary's" were already filling the air. I asked Husband on the way home, "In your dream, were you fleeing the Rosary, too.......just like in real life today?" He smiled and shook his head, "no".
*
As we drove along, Husband reminisced about his friendship with Gene's son......how they had bonded immediately when they met in 9th grade, and the almost uncanny similarities in their lives. Both boys lived on dairy farms. On both farms, the milking barn had been destroyed in the mid-1960's (Gene's barn was struck by lightning and burned down; Husband's dad's barn was blown down by a tornado). Both dads had served in the Korean Conflict. Both sets of parents had lost a child/children. And, now, both dads had passed away within 14 months of each other. Not so unusual, I guess......but it made for an interesting conversation as we drove home.
*
Today is Inauguration Day. As you probably will be doing, too, I'll be sending up continual prayers that everything goes without a hitch today in Washington, D.C., and that everyone stays safe! It will be a very moving, memorable day.......I'm looking forward to watching the day's events on TV.
*
*

Ernest's Mother

Another photo from Germany.........Ernest's mother with two granddaughters, who would be Ernest's nieces. His mother appears to have the lustrous blue eyes which were passed down to Husband's mother. One of Husband's nieces, who is six feet tall, resembles Ernest's mother in facial features, making me curious as to whether Ernest's mother was tall, too.

*

Ernest's Photo - Cleaned Up

A very kind blog reader worked some magic on the photo of Husband's great-grandfather, Ernest---shown on the right with the cigar in his mouth (in Germany, at 12 years old):

Below is the original photo. A restoration feature in Photoshop CS3 was used. That's something I know nothing about......the improvement is amazing! Thank you, dear reader!
*

M.L.King, Jr. Day - Observed

This quote hangs on the wall here in my house. I think sometimes when we plunge ahead, doing things we may not understand at the time......that is FAITH taking over and striding on ahead, tired of waiting for us. Have you ever blurted out words and you have no idea where they came from, and you think, "Why did I say that???"....... but they end up being right on target. Same sort of thing. I wonder if Dr. Martin Luther King long-premeditated that famous declaration of his......"I HAVE A DREAM".......maybe he did, or maybe he didn't, I don't know.

*

Go ahead.......in honor of this day.......take that first step.......

*

Ernest in Germany, 1892

*

My husband's great-grandfather is sitting there playing cards, with a cigar in his mouth......at age 12. Seriously. Ernest was born in 1880 and came to the U.S. in 1893. Family legend has it that he was 12 in this photo, so it would have been taken in 1892.

*

Blogging Friends Award

Ruth, author/poet of the blog Ruth's Visions & Revisions, kindly included me recently in a list of recipients of a blogging award. I'm not much into awards, but I will go ahead and pass this thoughtful award on, and give it a home in my award post. The following explanatory paragraph is to be included when you post about this award, so remember that, recipients!

*

"The Friends Award isn't about being the most popular blogger or having the most read blog. It is just because you are a friend."Here's the cleverly written text of the award: "These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

*

It makes me uncomfortable to single people out, which is one reason I don't care that much for the blog award process. Actually, this award would fit every blogger in the lists on my blog's sidebar. Hmm......choosing is difficult......because the award picture is rather girly-looking I'll choose only female bloggers. That still leaves many more than eight friendly bloggers with charming blogs, but......here goes, anyway:

Caution

Deb

Deserthen

Gail

Gramma Ann

Nancy

Pat

Vonda

*

Keep up the friendly and charming blogging, everyone!! And, readers......if you haven't already......visit these blogs.

*

Where Is This In Germany?

This is a long-shot request........but here goes:

*

After my father-in-law passed away last year, we ended up with several boxes of old photographs, which we sorted through last winter. Several photos are from Germany, showing relatives of Husband's mother. Plus, there was this snapshot of a church:

Written on the back of the above photo is: "Church in Germany where Ernest's relatives go." Ernest would be Ernest Homan (or Homann), Husband's great-grandfather, who was born in Hannover, Germany in 1881 and came to the U.S. in 1893. Evidently, Ernest kept in contact with his relatives in Germany for many years.......one photo of a young great-niece is dated 1947. She could still be living.

*

The back of the next photo says: "Inside of that church in Germany." Not much to go on there. One other photo is labeled "Hann.", as if that is a place.....possibly Hannover, which could be correct since Ernest was born in Hannover.

*

I'm posting these photos just in case someone from Germany might recognize this church. These photos are very old, probably from before WWII, so its possible this church building no longer exists. But, it might. Ultimately, a goal would be to locate distant relatives in Germany. My daughter will be in Germany this summer and if we knew the location of this church, she could visit there and possibly find baptismal records, too.

*

Snowblowing by Farmlight

Hmm......was that me who said the weather was improving in the previous post?? The temperatures are much more tolerable, thankfully, but the wind has been blowing like crazy since mid-afternoon. Since about the time I put that previous post on the blog. Go figure. Or just go blow snow. Husband is doing that in the photo.......clearing a path through the snowdrifts so our son's girlfriend can leave to go home following an afternoon of watching movies here.

*

The wind is barreling in from the northwest, and notice that the snow blown out of the snowblower is blowing right back towards the tractor and the yard light. SNOWBLOWING BY FARMLIGHT is what we have going on here!

*

Heat Wave & Dreams

Hey......good news......you can cease your concern and sympathy about our extreme cold weather. It has fled the scene. The proof is in the thermometer.......the temps are in the 20's ABOVE zero today. Hallelujah! (The wind has picked up quite a bit this afternoon, however.)

To celebrate, I trekked on foot to the mailbox this morning (almost a 1/2-mile round trip), and, wow, did it ever feel good to do that!

*

*

I'm going to sneak this little story in right here: My husband took a leap in awareness yesterday......he had a seemingly precognitive dream experience. Three mornings ago he told me about a dream of the night before in which he was at a funeral home where a Catholic wake was taking place.......he recognized several couples, old friends of ours from high school days and beyond, all of them from the rural Catholic community south of Dunkerton.

*

After he told me the dream, I had the fleeting thought, "Who is going to die, I wonder?"

*

Yesterday morning, I opened up my emails and there was one from a lifelong friend informing me that the father of one of our mutual friends had passed away. The deceased's son and my husband were close friends in high school, both being dairy farm boys. At the friend's wedding, 29 years ago, Husband was the best man and I was the vocal soloist. This friend and his wife were in Husband's dream, and yes, they are Catholic, and we will soon be attending the visitation at the funeral home......God willing.

*

We were not aware that our friend's father was seriously ill, though he had had boughts with cancer in the past, and had Parkinson's Disease. The last time we saw him was maybe 9 months ago; he was cheery and full of life then.

*

My most vivid memory of the deceased is from 29 years ago when he and I were dancing together at his son's wedding reception. At that time, he would have been about the age I am now---50 years old---while I would have been 22 and married for only 2 years, and newly pregnant with our first child. As we danced, he said to me, "If you can make it to 15 years of marriage, then its clear sailing after that." He didn't elaborate, but I have never forgotten him saying that. Its one of those crystal clear, frozen-in-time memories.

*

Another recollection of him---and his wife---is that they suffered the profound loss of two children in a drowning accident back in the early 1960's. Their church was having a summer picnic at a park next to the Wapsipinicon River. Kids were wading in the river, and their 10-year-old son stepped into a deep spot and was caught by the undercurrent.......his 12-year-old sister was nearby and tried to help him and was pulled underwater also. Their names were Michael and Patricia.

*

Our friend was the younger brother of these two who drowned......he was around four years old when it happened. He's told us that mostly what he recalls is that he used to sleep in the same bed as his older brother Michael, and then suddenly he didn't anymore.

*

I just remembered this......and had thought of it one morning last week for some reason while I was making a bed. Twenty-one years ago, the deceased's son had had a precognitive dream about me. Husband and I had two kids at the time. We met him and his wife for a picnic in New Hampton, during which he proceeded to tell us that he had just had a dream in which he saw me riding on a float in a parade and I was big and pregnant. Well, on that day of the picnic.......I didn't think I was pregnant, but within a couple weeks, found out that I was!

*

Precognitive dreams and thoughts about people we have connections with is a natural part of life......I fully believe that. It occurs only occasionally, but when it does, it is definitely memorable.

*

*