"Bringing Our Pioneer Spirit of Yesterday Forward Into Tomorrow"
"Bringing Our Pioneer Spirit of Yesterday Forward Into Tomorrow"
To our Family,
Over the past several years I have had the joy of developing a special friendship with Jane Rush, Jeff’s sweet wife. The year we spent planning and working on the Carr Reunion has deepened my appreciation of her. She embraces serving others with such energy and always exhibits God’s love to those around her. Now she and Jeff are facing a difficult challenge that we as their family and (more…)
One story I have shared with many folks over the years is about 
Aunt Peggy. She had some cards, may still have some for all I know, that she carried in her wallet.
Upon the cards were the words, “I see you smoke, well I chew. If you do not blow your smoke on me, I will not spit on you.”
I never saw her hand it to anyone, but I am betting that she did from time to time. It was certainly a nice, humorous way to get your point across.
My father passed away 5 years ago February 19th. He had a massive stroke back around 1996. He basically cheated death at that time, and my mother always referred to the ensuing years as “their bonus” years. And they were.
Even though he had been in poor health for many years it is still a shock when your partner of 50 plus years dies. My mother was cast adrift in her grief for a considerable period of time. But time is (more…)
What is the tag line for the web site? “Bringing Our Pioneer Spirit of Yesterday Forward Into Tomorrow”
Here is a story by young Caleb Matthews doing exactly that.
Click here to see Caleb’s story
You will need Adobe Reader to see the story, but chances are it is already on your computer. If you do not have it, it is a free download.
My dad was a loyal OU Football fan. We never (OK, once, the fall before he died, when he simply could not stay for the rest of the game) left until the game clock showed 0:00. Didn’t matter if OU was up by 60 points, or behind by 60 points. You stayed for the end of the game to support your team. Five and one-half years after his death, we still carry on that tradition (OK, once again, broken once, when there was a lightning delay, with a considerable downpour, we left – it was right around half-time – and did not come back). (more…)
I’m on the slippery side of the hill now, and reminiscing seems to be an occupational hazard. After we lost my dad, three aunts, and two uncles in less than a year starting in November, 2004 (Aunt Irene) and ending with Uncle Sam (September, 2005), I started making a concerted effort to see the aunts and uncles that were still alive. It’s not something I try to lord over anyone (except for including it in this story and bringing it up more times than people care to hear!), it’s more of a penance. When Aunt Irene died, (more…)
Mother was told last Friday that there is a good amount of arthritis in her left hip, right knee and right elbow, in addition, she has tennis elbow in the right elbow. She has been making two different quilts, one for Levi and Kayla and one for David and Jenifer. They are simple squares, but sitting at her sewing machine too long is catching up with her. She is probably getting closer to another back surgery as well. She has vertical compression fractures on each of (more…)
When I was a young teenager my father had a hi-fi stereo, state of the art. We boys were not supposed to touch it, but of course we occasionally did. In my father’s LP collection was a comedy record that we had been explicitly charged with not listening to…under any circumstances. That ranks right up there with waving the old proverbial red handkerchief at “el Toro”, with telling Brett Favre he should retire, or Mt. Everest beaconing Sir Edmund Hillary. It became a challenge. I had to hear that comedy record.
Well I found myself alone in the house one day, (more…)
Outsized would have described my Uncle Sam, Irene’s husband. He had an outsized personality, and he was prone to tell outsized tales of questionable veracity. He was physically a big man. 
I do not know what his height was, but he always seemed taller than my 187 centimeters. He was a man who loved eat, and his weight showed it. He was just a big man.
Although I never thought about them, he had one physical (more…)