All this because....

Two people fell in love


Happy 43rd Anniversary mom and dad.

Farewell's

Sometimes good bye's are breezy and easy. Friends will be seen again very soon and there is no reason to mourn. They are bittersweet, a warm lingering embrace echoing with the fond time having just been spent.

In the last days I've said to far too many good bye's than I care too. For just a few precious moments I feel the privilege of sweet fellowship with a friend. Moments that slip by altogether too quickly and than it's good bye till a time that is not known. Phone and e-mail make me very glad for hearts can be shared even over a great many miles.

Miles separate my brother and I now. This feeling fills me when he's home. Just the lovely thought that my brother is close by and I can tease him whenever I like makes me happy. I don't mind when he teases me. I don't mind when gives what I think is far too much advice but secretly am very grateful. Now he resides somewhere else serving with his gifts and desires and most importantly doing God's work.



I kissed my grandma's check never knowing it would be the last time. I wouldn't have said good bye even if I would have known. Instead I breathed a cheerful good night. For I knew even if I didn't see Grandma in the morning I would see her in heaven. My farewell would not be forever. Good bye's are never forever in Christ whether we say them with expectation of meeting again on earth or whisper a quiet good night for the last time.

Winter Wonderland on the Farm

Only the soft squish of my boots laying on the snow could be heard. Soft misty fog surrounded the fields, whimsically creating a glow over the land covered in snow. I have gone walking in the field when it's covered with green grass and new flowers of spring. My walks took me across the brown prairie land. Gorgeous sunsets simply left speechless and unable to walk. A new phenomenon was discovered now this morning. Right in our own backyard lay a winter wonderland. Magic it felt did the work of transforming the prairie. I have eaten snow, made snowmen, and snow angels. But that morning I could only enjoy the beauty. Like a jealous lover my eyes were only for the snow. Harshly the icy rain drove me inside but never would I forget the magic.

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Mutiple Birthdays

Recently we celebrated my dad's birthday with my family. Carrot cake, dad's favorite, was on the menu. I also made another kind of cake. Two of my nieces received the responsibility of putting on the candles. I gave them all our candles. Apparently they thought they all needed to be used. Both cakes were nearly ablaze!. In fact we saved on our electric bill for awhile because lights just weren't necessary. My five year old niece described it best when she inquired "is it every one's birthday"?

Happy Birthday Aunt Frieda

Tomorrow my dear great aunt would have celebrated her 99^th birthday a party was planned but Aunt Frieda passed up the invitation for something far better.

Two days before celebrating her birthday Aunt Frieda was taken home to Jesus. She is celebrating today with her sister who went home just a few short months before her, with her only brother who died before adulthood, her parents, and the list goes on.

We nieces and nephews have many fond memories of Aunt Frieda. She never married so we were her children to spoil. The older one’s have fond memories of sleeping over at her house, with special things just for them. I remember the Aunt Frieda who took us out to eat getting us anything we wanted. Braum’s was always the place for dessert. Even if we had already indulged our sweet tooth’s Aunt Frieda always at least had to buy us ice cream (and a few other things!) to take home. Braums was probably as much as part of Aunt Frieda as brushing her teeth. She frequented the place so much that the employees eagerly recognized her.

I fondly remember cleaning for Aunt Frieda. It was so fun to clean her little apartment and then there were the breaks to have instant iced tea with lots of sugar. And the rare treat of store bought cookies. And did I mention I was getting paid by the hour?

Later as Aunt Frieda moved to the nursing home she became known for her sweet tooth. The nursing staff quickly found out that while Aunt Frieda didn’t have an appetite for much else she could eat 3 glazed doughnuts for breakfast. Indeed Aunt Frieda was known to empty a good amount of the sugar bowl into her coffee!

After Aunt Frieda’s move to the nursing home she declined slowly. Her hearing always bad grew worse till she was could barely understand anything. Her sight wasn’t any better; she preferred not to wear glasses because of comfort so it was hard for her. It was very hard to watch the dear sweet Aunt Frieda we had always known slowly decline till she didn’t even recognize us.

The afternoon before Aunt Frieda died I saw her. She was sleeping and did not look well. I kissed her and told her I loved her. It was the last greeting spoken to her by her beloved nieces and nephews.

In the morning received word that Aunt Frieda had died. And we rejoiced. This earth is nothing, we new Aunt Frieda’s pain and we were happy she was in a place where there is no pain or tears.

I feel it wouldn’t be out of order to bake a cake and eat it tomorrow in celebration of Aunt Freda’s home going. It is we that are missing the party not Aunt Frieda.

Picture taken at her 98th birthday last year. L to R, Grandma, Aunt Frieda, Myself.