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  • Noreen 6:06 pm on May 4, 2018 Permalink
    Tags: , Raymond   

    Dennis and I could do a polka in our garages this evening. Naw . . . that’s not going to happen. We wouldn’t be able to pick our feet up high enough. It started out looking for a plier. It ended up having the entire surface of the workbench in the car garage being cleared. A wastebasket was close at hand. We touched, we looked, we sorted, we sifted and we pitched. That methodology continued on all four walls. We took a break for lunch. Not much for quick choices, so we decided on oatmeal. It worked.

    Cleaning the floor was a challenge as the north wind was very strong. We closed everything up and I swept and brushed debris into a shovel and then into a bin. When we knew there was nothing left large enough to clog up the vacuum hose, we vacuumed. The ole cowboy gets very annoyed when I pick up leaves and they don’t cooperate and get sucked up and down into the canister. Yuck for silt that was as fine as powder once it was aggravated.

    When the car garage was done, I was ready to shower so I could run some errands that needed to be done TODAY! Dennis was parked in his rocking chair totally enjoying the view through clean windows. I came back out and suggested one more item as long as we were grubby . . . cleaning the floor of the pickup garage. Coming in off of a gravel surface, it was thick. A mixture of gravel, clay, snow that had melted off of the pickup that had salt included in the snow melt . . . big time mess. Again closing everything up, it was shovel first, vacuum second and garden hose third.

    Dennis’ comment as squeaky clean me was heading for the errands, “I can’t figure out how people our age complain about being bored.” My thought, “Honey, they aren’t married to Raymond and Lena’s child.”

     
  • Noreen 4:10 am on December 3, 2015 Permalink
    Tags: , , , Raymond   

    It Is a Birthday Kind of Day 

    03-22-2012 02;19;03PM (Custom)

    Oh for the wisdom that sparkles
    in Lena’s blue eyes.

    Today my Mom would have been 99 years old.  I hear many people make note of their heroes in life, from sports individuals to philanthropists.  My heroes in life were, and still are, my parents.  Today would have been Lena’s day.  No doubt she would have made plans for the entire family to come to the farm in Boon Lake Township located in Renville County either the Sunday before or the Sunday after the December 2nd date.

    When I think things get tough in my life, I only have to stop and reflect on Lena’s life.  My Mom grew up in a large family with a father who was a party man.  Emil would not think twice about staying at a local pub while his family hustles to take care of livestock on the farm.  Emil would buy drinks for others and come home with not a coin left in his pocket.  Emil also spent some time in prison as he had taken a pitchfork to my uncle Bill.

    I only bring up the information about Mom’s childhood, and it never, ever left a negative mark on her beautiful soul and heart.  Mom and my Dad met when they were both hired hands on a farm.  My parents went on to have a family of four who they raised and took care of with every fiber in their beings.  My Mom often would share with me that she never wanted for anything after marrying Raymond as he was a good provider.  When times were tough, we may not have had a lot of materialistic things, but we never knew the difference as we were happy and content within the home that was provided for us.  Dad taught his boys to work wonders in the tool shop and my Mom taught us girls the fine arts of baking, cooking and sewing.

    4th of July (Custom)I know she made a huge impact on the grandchildren, playing cards with them or letting them follow her around when they would spend time in grandma and grandpa’s home.  Even for my granddaughter, Megan,  who wants to be a writer, there would not be enough words to sufficiently describe Lena and her legacy.

    On another note, when daughter Carrie found out she would be having a baby in the late November or early December time via a c-section, Carrie reserved December 2nd for Megan’s birth.  Today Megan is 12 and Mom would have been 99; my breath is taken away for oh so many reasons and I have memories sliding down my cheeks.

     
  • Noreen 2:40 am on August 3, 2014 Permalink
    Tags: , , , Raymond   

    And Thanks Went Heaven Bound 

    Yesterday I received a phone call from my brother Michael.  He was calling me from the swing on his porch having coffee.  Is that really a cause for prayers?  It really is.  For the first time since the middle of April he was able to swallow a liquid.  Michael was diagnosed with esophageal cancer in January of 2014.  The radiation and chemo treatment began and so did the waiting game for my brother and his family.  It was the surgery that needed to take place after the chemo and radiation that became a “wait and see” for possible recovery.

    There is no need to do medical terms to high heaven.  The radiation burned his throat but still allowed for drinking and nourishment even though he could not taste anything.  From April until this last week Michael could not swallow anything, even his own saliva.  This next week he will able to have the feeding tube removed and soft foods will be totally enjoyed.

    I realize that members of my family have had TIAs (light strokes with little to no after effects), full blown strokes with definite life long effects, breast cancer and uterine cancer.  I am not making light of those family members and what they endured.  Thankfully those family members received timely help and have gone on with regular visits to make sure there is no recurrence.  No, there are no guarantees for any of those family members.  Prayers of blessings that those with cancer are, for now, free of cancer. In the case of strokes, each day is watchful with the lifestyle they live.

    The survival rate for esophageal cancer is slim as the cancer moves quickly to the brain or elsewhere.  It does take both of my hands to count acquaintances that Dennis and I have lost to esophageal cancer.  I know Michael will regain the excessive weight loss in time to come.  His energy will revive itself slowly as he putters around the farmyard.  A huge part of the recovery he has had to this point is a wife with a surgical career.  JoAnn was on alert 24/7 and picked up on the slightest of abnormalities.  I am sure their vehicle could find itself to Rochester much like a radio-controlled car.

    Today is just a day of good feelings knowing that Raymond and Lena’s family still has a head count of four children to be there for their children and their grandchildren.   Speaking as one of those four, I love my life knowing that my three siblings are just a phone call or an email away.

    In life, please give and have no memory of it, or take and remember it always.

     
  • Noreen 12:26 pm on March 9, 2013 Permalink
    Tags: , Raymond, Wendlandt   

    Is It Really Any Wonder? 

    documenting-past-sewing-projects

    Documenting sewing projects of the past with sewn-on labels

    I will have a 69th birthday at the end of this month. Recently as I was working with some of my Mom’s keepsakes and labeling them for family. It took me back to what it must have been like for my parents, Raymond and Lena Wendlandt, struggling on a rented farm acreage with their growing family and five of their own siblings that were across the seas fighting in World War II. I can so clearly remember the farm home with no electricity and bedtime came when Mom and Dad felt that there had been enough Kerosene used in the lantern that sat upon the kitchen table. One lamp that was used to see us to our beds and then be returned to the kitchen table for Mom and Dad to ponder the day they had had and what would be for the tomorrow. (More …)

     
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