Wednesday, June 29, 2005
MARCH AND APRIL....1994
I always begin March with a call to John on his birthday. This year it was his 37th….just a kid yet. Today he is in his 48th year and I feel sure he isn’t any “older” than he was then. John has a way of perpetuating enthusiasm for living that is infectious and eternally youthful. Watching him in action, I realize that I really am my age and that the years have slowed me down, although in spirit I am still young. I love the piece General MacArthur wrote on Aging. It is an excellent read on growing older that is only understood by those who are older. You cannot talk about something you have not experienced.
It seems there were a string of deaths that claimed famous people in the past weeks. John Candy died of a heart attack while filming in Mexico. He was as loveable off screen as on, just a big guy with a big heart. He was only 43-years old and had been warned to stop his eating habits…..the heart just couldn’t maintain his huge size any longer. His father died at a young age also.
On the 9th of the month we were hit with a snow storm that accumulated 15”…..in our part of the State we don‘t often have that much snow all at one time. Of course, it’s always pretty, but causes lots of problems. Work was called off and I made good use of the day, it kept me busy making sure the birds had plenty to eat. The very next day it turned warm and we worked in our shirt-sleeves…..melting made a messy day for us to give driver’s tests but our boots were water-proof. Good thing.
The following Saturday I made a birthday dinner for Jonathan. Becky made his cake and brought candles for it…….#19 this year. We always have a family tradition of singing Happy Birthday and the grandkids were getting old enough they got to the point where they thought it was too childish, but the custom goes on. Eventually, it won’t seem silly anymore, but a loving gesture to be enjoyed as the birthday person. A few days later, I took flowers to the cemetery for mom and dad. It would have been their 69th wedding anniversary.
We celebrated Becky’s 40th birthday with a nice dinner here. Just the three of us, Jonathan wasn’t able to come. The boys called to wish her well and we all had a nice visit with them. It wasn’t a very good day for Becky. She broke out with a case of poison ivy and was off work a few days…..she was very susceptible and it didn’t stop until she was covered from head to toe.
I took a week off work to paint kitchen cupboards. I left them in the wood-tone they were originally covered with until then but I knew it would make the kitchen much lighter to paint them off-white like the walls. It took the whole week but with painting they had been cleaned out as well. Bear stayed right with me and helped a great deal. He couldn’t crawl in them like I could but did a lot of painting on the outsides. It was one big mess but the finished result was worth all of the work. The guys couldn’t figure out why I would use vacation time to work at home…..their time was always used for hunting, hunting or hunting. I just had a different idea about what “fun” was….and it wasn’t hunting.
Our friends, the Bryants, came in early April for a week-end and we made a trip to visit George, mid-month. I made potato salad and baked beans to take…..along with his other request, Toll House cookies. He always grilled hamburgers for us so the add-ons went good with the burgers. We had a good week-end and were back home and to work again before we knew it.
April 22nd, President Nixon died. The funeral was very impressive and emotional. He is probably the only president to have four ex-presidents attending his funeral, (Carter, Ford, Reagan and Bush). It’s too bad the Watergate scandal will always be identified with him. He was brilliant in many ways but fell victim to his own demise. So often happens that way with great men.
Severe weather and tornados sent Becky, Bear and me to the basement at Headquarters where it was safe. The storms were frightening with ominous skies and wind…..the sirens sounded all over town and a tornado was sighted with Willow Springs in it’s path. We took our Jakie and Morris and Becky took Dara. We didn’t want them blown away and it looked like a very real possibility. Thankfully, the storm passed by and peace reigned once more. There is always such “calm” after a severe storm it almost seems an imagination……
The month ended with heavy rains………just like April is supposed to do.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
It seems there were a string of deaths that claimed famous people in the past weeks. John Candy died of a heart attack while filming in Mexico. He was as loveable off screen as on, just a big guy with a big heart. He was only 43-years old and had been warned to stop his eating habits…..the heart just couldn’t maintain his huge size any longer. His father died at a young age also.
On the 9th of the month we were hit with a snow storm that accumulated 15”…..in our part of the State we don‘t often have that much snow all at one time. Of course, it’s always pretty, but causes lots of problems. Work was called off and I made good use of the day, it kept me busy making sure the birds had plenty to eat. The very next day it turned warm and we worked in our shirt-sleeves…..melting made a messy day for us to give driver’s tests but our boots were water-proof. Good thing.
The following Saturday I made a birthday dinner for Jonathan. Becky made his cake and brought candles for it…….#19 this year. We always have a family tradition of singing Happy Birthday and the grandkids were getting old enough they got to the point where they thought it was too childish, but the custom goes on. Eventually, it won’t seem silly anymore, but a loving gesture to be enjoyed as the birthday person. A few days later, I took flowers to the cemetery for mom and dad. It would have been their 69th wedding anniversary.
We celebrated Becky’s 40th birthday with a nice dinner here. Just the three of us, Jonathan wasn’t able to come. The boys called to wish her well and we all had a nice visit with them. It wasn’t a very good day for Becky. She broke out with a case of poison ivy and was off work a few days…..she was very susceptible and it didn’t stop until she was covered from head to toe.
I took a week off work to paint kitchen cupboards. I left them in the wood-tone they were originally covered with until then but I knew it would make the kitchen much lighter to paint them off-white like the walls. It took the whole week but with painting they had been cleaned out as well. Bear stayed right with me and helped a great deal. He couldn’t crawl in them like I could but did a lot of painting on the outsides. It was one big mess but the finished result was worth all of the work. The guys couldn’t figure out why I would use vacation time to work at home…..their time was always used for hunting, hunting or hunting. I just had a different idea about what “fun” was….and it wasn’t hunting.
Our friends, the Bryants, came in early April for a week-end and we made a trip to visit George, mid-month. I made potato salad and baked beans to take…..along with his other request, Toll House cookies. He always grilled hamburgers for us so the add-ons went good with the burgers. We had a good week-end and were back home and to work again before we knew it.
April 22nd, President Nixon died. The funeral was very impressive and emotional. He is probably the only president to have four ex-presidents attending his funeral, (Carter, Ford, Reagan and Bush). It’s too bad the Watergate scandal will always be identified with him. He was brilliant in many ways but fell victim to his own demise. So often happens that way with great men.
Severe weather and tornados sent Becky, Bear and me to the basement at Headquarters where it was safe. The storms were frightening with ominous skies and wind…..the sirens sounded all over town and a tornado was sighted with Willow Springs in it’s path. We took our Jakie and Morris and Becky took Dara. We didn’t want them blown away and it looked like a very real possibility. Thankfully, the storm passed by and peace reigned once more. There is always such “calm” after a severe storm it almost seems an imagination……
The month ended with heavy rains………just like April is supposed to do.
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
