There's an old question, "How do you eat an elephant?" which is answered with, "One bite at a time." and I just have to keep asking, "But where do I take the first bite?".
I try to start...somewhere, anywhere...and am side-tracked or overwhelmed before I make any real progress. Focus. It's an issue.
Moving along...to try again.
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
Saturday, September 29, 2018
Of Low and High
The Low:
Less than two weeks ago, I learned that our kitties' veterinarian was ill and taking time away to be with her family. Sounded serious. Later in that week, I learned it was cancer and she was already on hospice. On Monday of this week, I learned she had passed away, and today was her memorial service which Nick and I attended - a huge outpouring of the community. 20 days from diagnosis to entering eternity. There's still stunned disbelief. She was younger than I. Her cancer was very aggressive. I know no other details than that. She was a wonderful, wonderful veterinarian and cared greatly for her kitty patients and their human "parents". While I only knew her from visits to her office, she was warm-hearted, kind, patient, and just one of those souls that makes you feel like you're family. She is missed, and will continually be missed.
The High:
Though that might eventually be debated by some. My daughter called the other night. She said she had recently submitted her DNA to the 23andme folks. She checked the day she called me, and discovered she had a message from someone of whom he and she shared 25% DNA. That means, a half-sibling. She asked me if I knew anything of this; specifically as to her dad having a child when he was pre-20s. She's excited and not at all upset with him, just surprised to find this out as it has never been mentioned to her. I confirmed that when her father and I were married, he had shared that he had a child but he and the mom had parted ways. I knew/remembered nothing more than that. I felt it was not my secret to divulge. I have no animosity toward my first husband, he's a good man, and has been a good father.
When I spoke with her she was still so high from finding this out that she said she probably wouldn't sleep. They have shared a number of emails, but she has not said anything yet to her dad as he was away for a few days. I don't know if this will upset him or not, but she is really, really thrilled to have another brother and to get to know him.
Less than two weeks ago, I learned that our kitties' veterinarian was ill and taking time away to be with her family. Sounded serious. Later in that week, I learned it was cancer and she was already on hospice. On Monday of this week, I learned she had passed away, and today was her memorial service which Nick and I attended - a huge outpouring of the community. 20 days from diagnosis to entering eternity. There's still stunned disbelief. She was younger than I. Her cancer was very aggressive. I know no other details than that. She was a wonderful, wonderful veterinarian and cared greatly for her kitty patients and their human "parents". While I only knew her from visits to her office, she was warm-hearted, kind, patient, and just one of those souls that makes you feel like you're family. She is missed, and will continually be missed.
The High:
Though that might eventually be debated by some. My daughter called the other night. She said she had recently submitted her DNA to the 23andme folks. She checked the day she called me, and discovered she had a message from someone of whom he and she shared 25% DNA. That means, a half-sibling. She asked me if I knew anything of this; specifically as to her dad having a child when he was pre-20s. She's excited and not at all upset with him, just surprised to find this out as it has never been mentioned to her. I confirmed that when her father and I were married, he had shared that he had a child but he and the mom had parted ways. I knew/remembered nothing more than that. I felt it was not my secret to divulge. I have no animosity toward my first husband, he's a good man, and has been a good father.
When I spoke with her she was still so high from finding this out that she said she probably wouldn't sleep. They have shared a number of emails, but she has not said anything yet to her dad as he was away for a few days. I don't know if this will upset him or not, but she is really, really thrilled to have another brother and to get to know him.
Friday, August 17, 2018
Hot August - Days and Nights
It's been a long, hot summer, as many in the west know all too well. Fires everywhere! Little relief in sight. For the next 10 days our forecast runs between 95-100 for the days, and 64 - 72 for the nights. That's just too hot when the nights don't cool. The 64 at night isn't until about the 10th day.
July 17th found me traveling north with my friend Panda, me in my car, she and her little doggie in hers. I was headed to my aunt's in Oregon, she to her daughter's in Washington. We had a fun two-day trip traveling together this way.
The first two weeks were spent at my aunt's doing the usual summer things we do. The exception to that, was meeting a 4th cousin (to me) for the first time. He lives only a little over an hour away from her, so we met at a restaurant and shared family history information.
There was also a special class reunion. Our class has been exceptional in having a picnic reunion on the 5-year anniversaries, and a full weekend with a casual meeting at a bar (small town, I don't drink but have gone on occasion), nice restaurant dinner the following night, and then the casual picnic the next day for the 10-years. Some make it for all events, others only one or two. This year was special as it was in-between a 5-yr and 10-yr time frame and we chose to invite the class that was ahead of us, and the one from behind us. Our graduating class had only 71 students, of which 5 or 6 have passed away, but but we still had around 20 or more show up. The lower class had only three, and the upper class just a few more than that. Being a small school community, everyone knew who everyone else was. Our next reunion will be a major one...50 years! It's hard to believe!
The better portion of the next two weeks, was spent traveling to Kansas and back. My aunt's oldest granddaughter is attending school there for the next two years aiming for her master's in mathematics. There were two cars and five people going, and one car and four people returning. We went through portions of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, and spent a day at Yellowstone. We stayed two nights in Kansas, and a couple hours from the school is the location where my great-grandparents lived. He had been there in 1893, married a gal from Cincinnati, OH in 1902, and my grandmother and her sister were born there at the property in 1904 and 1905. They then sold out and traveled to Oregon around mid-1909.
While gone I missed the every-third-year (paternal line) family reunion, but figured this would be my only opportunity in life to visit Kansas and the original family homestead (maternal line) so off I went.
After spending 10 days in motels and 8-10 hours a day in a car, I rested only two days before returning home to California, spending a night just three hours from home. The drive wasn't bad except for the smoke from the fires, and crossing the border from Oregon, all the way to the inspection station, it was black on either side of the freeway - made me cry! And that wasn't even part of the Carr fire in Redding. Only the smoke from that one could be seen from the interstate. There were signs of many fires that had burned at different places all along the interstate. Rain would be a real good thing about now, as long as it wasn't a sustained deluge.
There were only a couple of days where I felt temperatures were reasonably cool. One day was spent at the Oregon coast, the other was the day at Yellowstone. Everywhere was hot, hot, hot, and Kansas had 60%+ humidity while we were there. On the return, we spent the last night at La Grande, OR. 106-degrees at 5 o'clock at night.
Now I'm spending my days getting caught up after Marty and Nick "bached" it for nearly a month. Laundry is done and I started in on the kitchen only to promptly clog the kitchen drain after putting very old sauerkraut down the garbage disposal...who knew? Marty tried, but didn't have the necessary equipment to clear it so called in a plumber and $145 later, good to go.
On the 24th or 25th Marty heads to Colorado to comply with his late father's wishes for his ashes to be scattered near Steamboat where he had spent much of his life; same time as my sister plans to drive down for a visit for a week and which is the same length of time as Marty will be gone.
Nick will be starting his school year again soon. He continues to work at the pizza joint and seems to be happy there.
This is probably enough update for now. Perhaps there'll be a picture or two in the days or weeks ahead when I take the time to download from my phone and camera to see if any are clear enough to post...taking photos from a car speeding at 80-mph or more isn't conducive to good photography!
July 17th found me traveling north with my friend Panda, me in my car, she and her little doggie in hers. I was headed to my aunt's in Oregon, she to her daughter's in Washington. We had a fun two-day trip traveling together this way.
The first two weeks were spent at my aunt's doing the usual summer things we do. The exception to that, was meeting a 4th cousin (to me) for the first time. He lives only a little over an hour away from her, so we met at a restaurant and shared family history information.
There was also a special class reunion. Our class has been exceptional in having a picnic reunion on the 5-year anniversaries, and a full weekend with a casual meeting at a bar (small town, I don't drink but have gone on occasion), nice restaurant dinner the following night, and then the casual picnic the next day for the 10-years. Some make it for all events, others only one or two. This year was special as it was in-between a 5-yr and 10-yr time frame and we chose to invite the class that was ahead of us, and the one from behind us. Our graduating class had only 71 students, of which 5 or 6 have passed away, but but we still had around 20 or more show up. The lower class had only three, and the upper class just a few more than that. Being a small school community, everyone knew who everyone else was. Our next reunion will be a major one...50 years! It's hard to believe!
The better portion of the next two weeks, was spent traveling to Kansas and back. My aunt's oldest granddaughter is attending school there for the next two years aiming for her master's in mathematics. There were two cars and five people going, and one car and four people returning. We went through portions of Washington, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and Kansas, and spent a day at Yellowstone. We stayed two nights in Kansas, and a couple hours from the school is the location where my great-grandparents lived. He had been there in 1893, married a gal from Cincinnati, OH in 1902, and my grandmother and her sister were born there at the property in 1904 and 1905. They then sold out and traveled to Oregon around mid-1909.
While gone I missed the every-third-year (paternal line) family reunion, but figured this would be my only opportunity in life to visit Kansas and the original family homestead (maternal line) so off I went.
After spending 10 days in motels and 8-10 hours a day in a car, I rested only two days before returning home to California, spending a night just three hours from home. The drive wasn't bad except for the smoke from the fires, and crossing the border from Oregon, all the way to the inspection station, it was black on either side of the freeway - made me cry! And that wasn't even part of the Carr fire in Redding. Only the smoke from that one could be seen from the interstate. There were signs of many fires that had burned at different places all along the interstate. Rain would be a real good thing about now, as long as it wasn't a sustained deluge.
There were only a couple of days where I felt temperatures were reasonably cool. One day was spent at the Oregon coast, the other was the day at Yellowstone. Everywhere was hot, hot, hot, and Kansas had 60%+ humidity while we were there. On the return, we spent the last night at La Grande, OR. 106-degrees at 5 o'clock at night.
Now I'm spending my days getting caught up after Marty and Nick "bached" it for nearly a month. Laundry is done and I started in on the kitchen only to promptly clog the kitchen drain after putting very old sauerkraut down the garbage disposal...who knew? Marty tried, but didn't have the necessary equipment to clear it so called in a plumber and $145 later, good to go.
On the 24th or 25th Marty heads to Colorado to comply with his late father's wishes for his ashes to be scattered near Steamboat where he had spent much of his life; same time as my sister plans to drive down for a visit for a week and which is the same length of time as Marty will be gone.
Nick will be starting his school year again soon. He continues to work at the pizza joint and seems to be happy there.
This is probably enough update for now. Perhaps there'll be a picture or two in the days or weeks ahead when I take the time to download from my phone and camera to see if any are clear enough to post...taking photos from a car speeding at 80-mph or more isn't conducive to good photography!
Monday, January 29, 2018
Missing Winter
I'm sure there are many of you out there who would argue and say you'd LIKE to miss winter, but for us out here in SoCal, we've had a very mild, all-too-warm, winter. Today is pushing 80ºF. I'm hoping that after this next 10+ days of heat-wave, pushing toward 90ºF, we might get some cooler temps, but that may not happen. We've only had one really good rain storm hit all fall and winter to date...not good! The hot days of summer 2018 are coming in early.
Earlier today, I took some material out to the compost bin, stopped to check on the hummingbird nest outside my kitchen window and discovered it has one egg in it. I'd not seen the hummingbird working on the nest nor sitting in it so was a bit surprised to see an egg. A short time later, she was sitting on it. I've had at least two individual hummers hanging around since summer, so have kept the feeder going with a minimal amount in it.
I also noticed the daffodil/narcissus stems are coming up and have a bud or two showing. The neighbor's ornamental pear is also starting to bloom, the jade plant had just begun to bloom a few weeks before Christmas and is now covered in little white flowers, and the little purple violet plant near my front door has several blossoms.
Genealogy, and paper de-clutter projects have been filling most of my time in recent weeks - there's much to do.
Even going to Road 2 California with my friend Panda and another very nice lady I met for the first time, hasn't sparked me to get back to much quilting. The projects are sitting there, making me feel guilty that they're neglected, but still...just sitting there. Oh, and R2C was actually a LOT of fun with these two gals, but yowza, my aching feet and back by the time the day was over - so, so out of shape!
Too many places have become over-cluttered while I've neglected to deal with them the past few years and now even my son Nick is pestering me to 'clean it up Mom'.
Earlier today, I took some material out to the compost bin, stopped to check on the hummingbird nest outside my kitchen window and discovered it has one egg in it. I'd not seen the hummingbird working on the nest nor sitting in it so was a bit surprised to see an egg. A short time later, she was sitting on it. I've had at least two individual hummers hanging around since summer, so have kept the feeder going with a minimal amount in it.
I also noticed the daffodil/narcissus stems are coming up and have a bud or two showing. The neighbor's ornamental pear is also starting to bloom, the jade plant had just begun to bloom a few weeks before Christmas and is now covered in little white flowers, and the little purple violet plant near my front door has several blossoms.
Genealogy, and paper de-clutter projects have been filling most of my time in recent weeks - there's much to do.
Even going to Road 2 California with my friend Panda and another very nice lady I met for the first time, hasn't sparked me to get back to much quilting. The projects are sitting there, making me feel guilty that they're neglected, but still...just sitting there. Oh, and R2C was actually a LOT of fun with these two gals, but yowza, my aching feet and back by the time the day was over - so, so out of shape!
Too many places have become over-cluttered while I've neglected to deal with them the past few years and now even my son Nick is pestering me to 'clean it up Mom'.
Monday, December 18, 2017
No Urgency
It's exactly one week from Christmas.
I've not bought even one present.
What to get anyone - I've no clue.
About half of my Christmas cards are mailed.
About another half is waiting to have an additional item included.
Then there's those that I need more cards for; I ran out.
There are no gifts in the mail to my grandkids in another state.
They received last year's when they arrived here in May of this year...not even wrapped.
Once upon a time, I was very good at getting things done in a timely manner.
My head tells me, "You need to get on the ball.".
I have NO sense of urgency...but I suppose I must head out the front door, and face the crowds.
I've not bought even one present.
What to get anyone - I've no clue.
About half of my Christmas cards are mailed.
About another half is waiting to have an additional item included.
Then there's those that I need more cards for; I ran out.
There are no gifts in the mail to my grandkids in another state.
They received last year's when they arrived here in May of this year...not even wrapped.
Once upon a time, I was very good at getting things done in a timely manner.
My head tells me, "You need to get on the ball.".
I have NO sense of urgency...but I suppose I must head out the front door, and face the crowds.
Thursday, November 23, 2017
THANKS-giving
By now, I suspect most everyone has finished up their Thanksgiving
meals. I would hope, and pray, that all have had a safe day, filled with
love and gratitude for all they have, whether it be a little, or a lot. My family has been
blessed beyond what I'd have dreamed as a child and a young adult. I will never forget those very lean years and the struggles they held. For
that, I am very thankful.
Yesterday, I wasn't much feeling that way, and it carried into most of the morning too. I wasn't feeling thankful, or grateful, or appreciated, and wasn't much in the mood or mindset to prepare a regular meal, let alone a feast for my little family of three. The holiday blues were upon me big time. It hits me every year, and it's a struggle to stay cheery and motivated all the way through to the new year. Earlier in the week, I had gone to the store and purchased a whole turkey, which of course, I cannot cook in my large toaster oven in its whole form (it's now been five years since I've been able to) and so I had planned to cut it into pieces and cook the breast portion, and freeze the rest.
Last night I made sure my kitchen was cleaned of all dirty dishes, and this morning put them away. I still wasn't feeling much motivation, but after spending time in God's word this morning, had made a list of foods, and set to it. First I boiled some eggs for deviled eggs - darn eggs wouldn't peel for anything, but still I managed to make them 'good enough' and Nick watched me as mixed up the yolk ingredients, put it into a small plastic bag, snipped the corner and piped it into the eggs. He was impressed :) so that helped.
The turkey had been dissected, parts in the freezer, some bones, wing tips and such in pot of water boiling for soup later - I completely deboned the breast. I had made stuffing, which I prefer cooked in the bird, but had to find a way to do that without a bird cavity and still have it, and the breast fit into the very small covered roaster that fits in my toaster oven. I mixed up a whole package of store-bought stuffing (Mrs. Cubbison's I think) with lots of butter, some broth and of course onion and celery, lined the roaster with foil and with cheesecloth, laid down a good layer of the stuffing, and then seasoned the breast and placed it atop the stuffing. And I didn't take a single picture of this process! before or after! It ultimately turned out well. The stuffing was a little more moist than I prefer, but I'd also put some of the stuffing in a separate baking dish and fit it alongside the roaster - amazing they both fit in the oven!
Other sides were mashed potatoes (butter, cream, cream cheese), gravy, whole green beans with bacon, niblets corn from a can, Cheddar Bay biscuits, cranberries both jellied & whole from a can, the deviled eggs. I'd spent maybe 4 1/2 - 5 hours in the kitchen on my feet, having sat down only a couple of times for about 5 minutes each, cleared and set the table. We enjoyed our feast, I filled up my plate, looked at it and said "I don't know why I put so much on my plate, I'm not hungry" and I wasn't, but I ate all that I put on my plate. Less than 30 minutes later, we were done, I got everything put away and washed up, and then put a Claim Jumper frozen Dutch apple pie in the oven. By then, I could hardly move. I took an Aleve-equivalent, and went to my craft room to rest a bit and check social media. Went back down and put the crumbly stuff on the pie for the last 10 minutes of baking, handed the timer to Nick, and told him to take it out when it went off, and as I'd been so uncomfortable sitting in my chair, went in and laid down for a nap. Over an hour later I got and felt a whole lot better, but still somewhat tired.
While eating dinner, somehow we got on the subject of concerts. Kicking it around, and talking about where to go for concerts - Nick's never been to one - I mentioned Las Vegas, and that way back in time, like in the early 1980s, my first husband and I had gone to LV and I don't even remember who we were seeing, it was a dinner lounge show or something, that required you to buy dinner. So we had the prime rib. It was served with the usual including horseradish. What I DO remember is, the then husband, without testing the horseradish first, put a huge blob on his piece of meat, which went promptly into his mouth, and which he nearly spit out as it was the hottest horseradish one has ever had. For some reason, today, it just seemed funny as could be...it wasn't at the time!
I will probably spend the rest of what remains of the evening, watching TV and working on genealogy. Nick is in his room doing whatever he does there, and Marty's downstairs (I think) watching football or the political talking heads.
Yesterday, I wasn't much feeling that way, and it carried into most of the morning too. I wasn't feeling thankful, or grateful, or appreciated, and wasn't much in the mood or mindset to prepare a regular meal, let alone a feast for my little family of three. The holiday blues were upon me big time. It hits me every year, and it's a struggle to stay cheery and motivated all the way through to the new year. Earlier in the week, I had gone to the store and purchased a whole turkey, which of course, I cannot cook in my large toaster oven in its whole form (it's now been five years since I've been able to) and so I had planned to cut it into pieces and cook the breast portion, and freeze the rest.
Last night I made sure my kitchen was cleaned of all dirty dishes, and this morning put them away. I still wasn't feeling much motivation, but after spending time in God's word this morning, had made a list of foods, and set to it. First I boiled some eggs for deviled eggs - darn eggs wouldn't peel for anything, but still I managed to make them 'good enough' and Nick watched me as mixed up the yolk ingredients, put it into a small plastic bag, snipped the corner and piped it into the eggs. He was impressed :) so that helped.
The turkey had been dissected, parts in the freezer, some bones, wing tips and such in pot of water boiling for soup later - I completely deboned the breast. I had made stuffing, which I prefer cooked in the bird, but had to find a way to do that without a bird cavity and still have it, and the breast fit into the very small covered roaster that fits in my toaster oven. I mixed up a whole package of store-bought stuffing (Mrs. Cubbison's I think) with lots of butter, some broth and of course onion and celery, lined the roaster with foil and with cheesecloth, laid down a good layer of the stuffing, and then seasoned the breast and placed it atop the stuffing. And I didn't take a single picture of this process! before or after! It ultimately turned out well. The stuffing was a little more moist than I prefer, but I'd also put some of the stuffing in a separate baking dish and fit it alongside the roaster - amazing they both fit in the oven!
Other sides were mashed potatoes (butter, cream, cream cheese), gravy, whole green beans with bacon, niblets corn from a can, Cheddar Bay biscuits, cranberries both jellied & whole from a can, the deviled eggs. I'd spent maybe 4 1/2 - 5 hours in the kitchen on my feet, having sat down only a couple of times for about 5 minutes each, cleared and set the table. We enjoyed our feast, I filled up my plate, looked at it and said "I don't know why I put so much on my plate, I'm not hungry" and I wasn't, but I ate all that I put on my plate. Less than 30 minutes later, we were done, I got everything put away and washed up, and then put a Claim Jumper frozen Dutch apple pie in the oven. By then, I could hardly move. I took an Aleve-equivalent, and went to my craft room to rest a bit and check social media. Went back down and put the crumbly stuff on the pie for the last 10 minutes of baking, handed the timer to Nick, and told him to take it out when it went off, and as I'd been so uncomfortable sitting in my chair, went in and laid down for a nap. Over an hour later I got and felt a whole lot better, but still somewhat tired.
While eating dinner, somehow we got on the subject of concerts. Kicking it around, and talking about where to go for concerts - Nick's never been to one - I mentioned Las Vegas, and that way back in time, like in the early 1980s, my first husband and I had gone to LV and I don't even remember who we were seeing, it was a dinner lounge show or something, that required you to buy dinner. So we had the prime rib. It was served with the usual including horseradish. What I DO remember is, the then husband, without testing the horseradish first, put a huge blob on his piece of meat, which went promptly into his mouth, and which he nearly spit out as it was the hottest horseradish one has ever had. For some reason, today, it just seemed funny as could be...it wasn't at the time!
I will probably spend the rest of what remains of the evening, watching TV and working on genealogy. Nick is in his room doing whatever he does there, and Marty's downstairs (I think) watching football or the political talking heads.
Sunday, October 8, 2017
With the passing of Marty's dad on September 18th, I thought I'd share some information and photos of him and his family. "Richard" was a very independent man. His mom passed away when he was about three due to complications from a burst appendix. Four years later, his father passed away from leukemia. Upon his mom's death, he and his older brother went to live with his mom's sister and her husband. In a paper Richard had written, he said that during the time between his parents' respective deaths, he only remembered his dad coming to visit a couple times. The reasons are not known, but I'm sure the absence of both natural parents had life-long consequences even though his aunt and uncle were good people and cared for him and his brother greatly.
He graduated high school, joined the Navy during WWII serving aboard the USS New Mexico. The ship was engaged in a battle at Okinawa where it was hit by kamikaze planes. Over 50 of his crew-mates immediately surrounding him were killed and over 100 wounded, but he survived with only bruises. Upon returning to civilian life, he went on to college and entered the work force becoming instrumental in developing FAX transmission machines. He married, had three children and later divorced and never remarried.
Richard's early life was spent in Colorado. He returned there for a time later on and was there for a family reunion in 2002.
As his family was in Colorado for a number of years in the early to mid-1900s, along with his wife's family, I researched online for Colorado records. One source I came upon is the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. This site is free and I located a lot of small-town tidbits that gave insights into who the family visited, how they spent their time, what relatives came to visit, hospitalizations, and school activities and events. I found information on some marriages, some deaths, but surprisingly little on births. We even discovered that "Fred" had a first wife, which Marty didn't know or remember ever hearing about.
I hope you enjoyed this very brief journey of a man who, as Frank Sinatra sang, did it (his) way. He had a good life. He had a long life. We will miss him but will remember the times we shared in his life. Ten years ago we thought he was not going to make it after an illness incident, but after three months of care, he regained his strength, rebounded and went on his way living alone until he was gone.
Today is a day of celebration as Richard's grandson, our very own Nick, turns 19. Being the birthday-boy, he gets to choose where we eat dinner.
He graduated high school, joined the Navy during WWII serving aboard the USS New Mexico. The ship was engaged in a battle at Okinawa where it was hit by kamikaze planes. Over 50 of his crew-mates immediately surrounding him were killed and over 100 wounded, but he survived with only bruises. Upon returning to civilian life, he went on to college and entered the work force becoming instrumental in developing FAX transmission machines. He married, had three children and later divorced and never remarried.
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| ca. 1926/7 |
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| "Fred" & "Richard" ca.1929/30 |
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| "Richard" with his aunt & uncle |
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| "Richard" in Navy |
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| USS New Mexico after being hit by kamakazes (photo taken from USS Wichita) 12 May 1945 Richard said he was between the forward superstructure and the stack, about 40 feet from point of impact. |
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| "Richard" and "Alice" on their wedding day |
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| "Fred" and "Richard" with their mom |
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| "Fred" and "Richard" with their dad |
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| "Richard" with his maternal grandparents. |
Richard's early life was spent in Colorado. He returned there for a time later on and was there for a family reunion in 2002.
As his family was in Colorado for a number of years in the early to mid-1900s, along with his wife's family, I researched online for Colorado records. One source I came upon is the Colorado Historic Newspapers Collection. This site is free and I located a lot of small-town tidbits that gave insights into who the family visited, how they spent their time, what relatives came to visit, hospitalizations, and school activities and events. I found information on some marriages, some deaths, but surprisingly little on births. We even discovered that "Fred" had a first wife, which Marty didn't know or remember ever hearing about.
I hope you enjoyed this very brief journey of a man who, as Frank Sinatra sang, did it (his) way. He had a good life. He had a long life. We will miss him but will remember the times we shared in his life. Ten years ago we thought he was not going to make it after an illness incident, but after three months of care, he regained his strength, rebounded and went on his way living alone until he was gone.
Today is a day of celebration as Richard's grandson, our very own Nick, turns 19. Being the birthday-boy, he gets to choose where we eat dinner.
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