Saturday, January 24, 2009
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
We have a New President!!!!!
Stepping out of the memory blog I just have to comment on how happy I am that the United States has just had the inauguration of it's 44th president. Barack Obama is the first African American President with such vision and promise for the future of our country. How amazing it is to live in this piece of history.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Today's blog is about my siblings. I am very fortunate to be born into a large family. There are fourteen of us. I don't know how my parents felt about having so many of us. I mean it wasn't our choice. They were in charge of that. But I think they loved each and every one of us, especially me. I was everybody's favorite. Some of my family may disagree with that.
When I reveal how many brothers and sisters I have, people ask, "Are you Amish?" But no we were not Amish nor Catholic. We were a Norwegian commune. We lived together in very small and meager homes. We farmed. We raised dairy cattle, for milking and for the milk check. We raised a large garden full of potatoes, green beans, corn, and tomatoes. We raised tobacco to pay for the taxes on the farm. My mother made us have all the tobacco planted by the 4th of July or we didn't get to go to the fireworks. And then in the fall if the tobacco wasn't harvested we missed the fair. Believe me those were big events. There wasn't much else going on in our little rural utopia.
I have eight brothers and five sisters. I won't name them because I can't remember all of them. (Just kidding)....actually that would be a give away. They are all alive and in reasonably good health. I am still in awe of all that my mother did to raise us kids. My father died when I was very young. She pretty much raised us by herself. Of course the older kids took care of us younger ones. I have many fond memories of that. They also took care of some of the disciplining. I have some not so fond memories of that.
Although my mother passed away our family continues to grow. More to come on my siblings. I will tell you all the juicy details...
When I reveal how many brothers and sisters I have, people ask, "Are you Amish?" But no we were not Amish nor Catholic. We were a Norwegian commune. We lived together in very small and meager homes. We farmed. We raised dairy cattle, for milking and for the milk check. We raised a large garden full of potatoes, green beans, corn, and tomatoes. We raised tobacco to pay for the taxes on the farm. My mother made us have all the tobacco planted by the 4th of July or we didn't get to go to the fireworks. And then in the fall if the tobacco wasn't harvested we missed the fair. Believe me those were big events. There wasn't much else going on in our little rural utopia.
I have eight brothers and five sisters. I won't name them because I can't remember all of them. (Just kidding)....actually that would be a give away. They are all alive and in reasonably good health. I am still in awe of all that my mother did to raise us kids. My father died when I was very young. She pretty much raised us by herself. Of course the older kids took care of us younger ones. I have many fond memories of that. They also took care of some of the disciplining. I have some not so fond memories of that.
Although my mother passed away our family continues to grow. More to come on my siblings. I will tell you all the juicy details...
Friday, January 2, 2009
New Year
Happy New Year!!!! Happy 2009!!! The beginning of a new year sort of forces us to make resolutions to make us better people. I tire of making the same resoulution to lose weight and get in shape every year only to fail. This year I resolve to better communicate with those I love and hopefully build better relationships with my family. Then too I also hope to take better care of myself and maybe some weight will fall off.
Questions for January 1 through January 3 are related to my admission into this physical world. I was born on February 1 on a Sunday. I was born in the country. We lived in the country all of my childhood. My father was not home at the time. We did not have a telephone so my mother and oldest sister had to walk several miles to a neighbor's home to call for the doctor. My mother sent the rest of the kids to church and Sunday school and then home with aunts and uncles. Then she and my sister waited for the doctor and his midwife. I was born at home. My mother had already given birth to 12 children. My oldest brother had a twin sister who did not survive. This made me number 12 of their eventually 14 children. Our house at the time was an old log cabin. I always thought it would lead me to great destiny. After all Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin and look what he accomplished. My mother always related the story to me every year on my birthday..."It was the coldest day that winter....." I never tired of hearing how I came into the world. She didn't have an easy time of it but she always made each of us feel that we were special and worth all the effort.
Having a winter birthday, my alternate presents were knee highs and mittens. My favorite birthday cake was an angel food cake with strawberry ice cream. I loved having my birthdays. I couldn't wait to meet certain milestones, 16 years, 18 years, etc. Time could not go by fast enough. Now it seems that time goes by too fast. I am thankful to yet have another birthday to celebrate each year.
Well on to my new years resolution. I need to make some calls. Until next time....
Questions for January 1 through January 3 are related to my admission into this physical world. I was born on February 1 on a Sunday. I was born in the country. We lived in the country all of my childhood. My father was not home at the time. We did not have a telephone so my mother and oldest sister had to walk several miles to a neighbor's home to call for the doctor. My mother sent the rest of the kids to church and Sunday school and then home with aunts and uncles. Then she and my sister waited for the doctor and his midwife. I was born at home. My mother had already given birth to 12 children. My oldest brother had a twin sister who did not survive. This made me number 12 of their eventually 14 children. Our house at the time was an old log cabin. I always thought it would lead me to great destiny. After all Abe Lincoln was born in a log cabin and look what he accomplished. My mother always related the story to me every year on my birthday..."It was the coldest day that winter....." I never tired of hearing how I came into the world. She didn't have an easy time of it but she always made each of us feel that we were special and worth all the effort.
Having a winter birthday, my alternate presents were knee highs and mittens. My favorite birthday cake was an angel food cake with strawberry ice cream. I loved having my birthdays. I couldn't wait to meet certain milestones, 16 years, 18 years, etc. Time could not go by fast enough. Now it seems that time goes by too fast. I am thankful to yet have another birthday to celebrate each year.
Well on to my new years resolution. I need to make some calls. Until next time....
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