Friday, July 15, 2005
EARLY MAY....1995
April’s rain didn’t come until May. The first 5-days were dark and dreary. For a long time I had been urging Bear to write the story of his life. He grew up in a small town in Northeast Nebraska in hard times, left after high school to join the Navy during WW11, got out, went to college a year and then joined the Army. His stories were exciting to me because of the extensive travel and experiences he encountered. He could speak several languages and had an astute memory. His time served in the Military was a source of pride to him and his stories were amazingly categorized by a date and time……place, etc;
He had just retired from the Army when I met him in Kansas City. He came to work one week to the day after I did. He was an excellent Agent for the Department of Agriculture where we worked in the investigative section. His life before that was always interesting to me because I was not part of it. The life he lived as a child growing up in Newman Grove, NE. was foreign to his younger sister and brother, as well. His mother moved to Scott’s Bluff, NE. while he was in the Navy. The two siblings had little knowledge of the small town they came from and even many of the relatives were unknown to them.
Since the early death of his father in a harvesting accident, the death of his mother some years later and the death of his sister, his younger brother was the only immediate family member left, other than himself. Donald, being the “baby” of the family didn’t remember much about early life in Newman Grove that Bear had knowledge of. Bear was 70-years old at this particular time and I told him he needed to sit down with a tape recorder and record all of the events he could remember growing up in Newman Grove. With life being so unpredictable it would be Donald’s last chance to have all of the information Bear had stored up.
On a rainy day early in the month, he spent the day doing just that. When I came home from work he had the finished product and wanted me to hear it. I was fascinated because of course there was a lot I hadn’t known, either. He ran a tape off for Donald and we mailed it to him. Of course, it was a gift like no other. His big brother telling all about the family before he came along and the hard times they had endured. It was also a gift to me because having met his family back in Nebraska, the tape made more of an impression, now knowing the family members. The Rosenbaum and King families were large and wonderful people to know.
There is so much more to tell of Bear’s life. When I am finished writing my life story I intend writing what I know and can remember about the three men who have impacted my life. That will save for another day……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
He had just retired from the Army when I met him in Kansas City. He came to work one week to the day after I did. He was an excellent Agent for the Department of Agriculture where we worked in the investigative section. His life before that was always interesting to me because I was not part of it. The life he lived as a child growing up in Newman Grove, NE. was foreign to his younger sister and brother, as well. His mother moved to Scott’s Bluff, NE. while he was in the Navy. The two siblings had little knowledge of the small town they came from and even many of the relatives were unknown to them.
Since the early death of his father in a harvesting accident, the death of his mother some years later and the death of his sister, his younger brother was the only immediate family member left, other than himself. Donald, being the “baby” of the family didn’t remember much about early life in Newman Grove that Bear had knowledge of. Bear was 70-years old at this particular time and I told him he needed to sit down with a tape recorder and record all of the events he could remember growing up in Newman Grove. With life being so unpredictable it would be Donald’s last chance to have all of the information Bear had stored up.
On a rainy day early in the month, he spent the day doing just that. When I came home from work he had the finished product and wanted me to hear it. I was fascinated because of course there was a lot I hadn’t known, either. He ran a tape off for Donald and we mailed it to him. Of course, it was a gift like no other. His big brother telling all about the family before he came along and the hard times they had endured. It was also a gift to me because having met his family back in Nebraska, the tape made more of an impression, now knowing the family members. The Rosenbaum and King families were large and wonderful people to know.
There is so much more to tell of Bear’s life. When I am finished writing my life story I intend writing what I know and can remember about the three men who have impacted my life. That will save for another day……
Until tomorrow,
Essentially Esther
