Those 70ish Girls

https://maryfrancismcninch.com/2016/12/21/murdo-girl-yram-and-the-man/

ON THE RIGHT: MY YOUNG GRANDPARENTS, FUTURE UNCLE AND MOM WITH GRANDMA’S PARENTS AND UNKNOWN LADY VISITING SD

There’s this memorable old b and w photo from about 1915 of my young, beautiful, hardworking grandparents: grandpa so young in overalls, thin, tall, with a full head of hair, with his oldest two year old son, Wayne, who is looking like a grumpy toddler grasping onto the pant leg of his Dad’s overalls and petite Grandma wearing a long white two-piece homespun dress, holding baby Ella, my Mom, staring seriously into the camera and wearing her dark hair up, a bit disheveled in the prairie wind and sun, next to her handsome young husband. The flat, seemingly barren, never ending prairie goes rolling out behind them. Also standing next to them is a young gal totally dressed up in opposite style clothing, clashing in her citified hat, suit and manner with the harsh unforgiving plains of South Dakota. To this day we don’t know who she was but Grandma’s parents are next to this unknown woman. They are Perry and Elizabeth Tyrrell visiting from their farm in Iowa. They, too, are dressed up in typical 1900’s style clothes, like what you would wear for a long train trip obviously not ready to work on the farm that day. Perry is politely holding his hat and his wife gently reaches out with a hand touching little Wayne. The contrast between the young farming couple with two small children and the Iowa visitors is stark. This photo reflects a myriad of feelings, family history and questions. I’m captivated seeing it time and time again, never tiring of viewing my strong, loving, hopeful grandparents and the visiting Iowa relatives. They are frozen in time, in history with this photo, yet vibrant and youthful in the hopes for their future.

My family on my mother’s side was brave, capable and ready to take on the adventure and the toil of working on the hard untilled sod of the virgin prairie. My Mom stressed throughout my young days that I came from good people and no matter how rough life gets, I was part of a strong, courageous heritage. That strength was carried within me. I can hear them saying: Don’t let it go, pass it along to your offspring. Keep the spirit alive.

I’m trying to give that to my children and let my three children know that they have the same ancestry and the strong family background especially on my Mom’s side. It’s part of them. It’s in their blood. You can almost grasp it there in these old photos.

Don’t whine or complain that life is too hard. Your great grandparents truly had it rough farming in the early 1900’s in South Dakota, with the fears of WWI in the present and the Dirty Thirties and the Great Depression soon to creep into their future, but they didn’t complain nor give up. They should be an example to us all even in these modern times.

I hope my adult children take after my Mom’s side even though my dad’s family were amazing people also but in a different environment. I keep stressing to my kids to never give up. Keep going. Follow in the deep footsteps of your ancestors. They left some plans for us, some blueprint that life was harsh, but by their example you know you have the power in your heart and your body to follow their previous ideals to get through life. My grandparents did it and did it gracefully.

THREE OF MY HARD WORKING AUNTS AND MY TALL THIN MOM ON THE HORSE CREEK FARM WITH A VISITOR IN THE BONNET AND MODEL T AND LOG CABIN IN BACKGROUND

By Lav, alias Gimmy

NEWBORNS KINDA LOOK LIKE LITTLE OLD GRANDPAS.

Our daughter just had her second baby and we are thrilled beyond thrills. We have two grandchildren to be thankful for now and this one was born on her uncle’s birthday. Our oldest son was here visiting and celebrating his birthday, when we got the good news that his sister had her baby.

A friend texted me that in 2027 our son and our new granddaughter will both celebrate Thanksgiving and their birthdays on the same day. That will be fun. What a lot to be thankful for.

After we heard that our daughter got through labor and delivery, we were relieved. We had been anxious and nervous for the past few weeks worrying about her and we live about 12 hours drive from where they live. I was pacing a lot and eating out of sheer worry. I tried to keep up with her appointments, ultrasounds and health reports yet I didn’t want to bother her too much. Being a mother is like being an automatic worry machine. We pump out things to worry about even when there aren’t any. We worry even when our kids are adults and are having kids of their own.

I had been getting more and more stressed as a mother and grandmother, texting nonstop anyone who was involved in my daughter’s pregnancy which seemed to have gone on for…almost 9 months. Yes, that’s right. I did the math correctly. So to ease my mind, I texted her husband, Sam, a few days before my daughter delivered and asked him to PLEASE, keep us posted when they head to the hospital. I didn’t hear back from him so I checked again on my cellphone. Why wasn’t my son-in-law responding? The answer was on my phone. I had texted my boss, also a Sam, with the same last name initial. I had asked my boss to please notify me immediately if his wife went into labor. I have never met his wife. You can imagine how I felt when I realized my mistake. I re-texted my boss on the spot: “Oops, sorry, wrong Sam!”

WHAT? YOU MADE ANOTHER MISTAKE, GIMMY!?!

Later, at 1:50 am last Saturday, Son-in-law Sam texted to let me know they were headed to the hospital and contractions were 3 minutes apart. Baby girl was born five hours later. Everyone was doing well.

I was relieved, ecstatic and ready to go see our new granddaughter.

I didn’t text my boss the good news. But he will be glad to know his wife isn’t in labor. I hope he understands.

The sequel will be: SLOPELESS IN DALLAS

You have hopefully seen the great movie SLEEPLESS IN SEATTLE. There’s a comparison here. I know two people who are aimlessly driving all over the country on purpose and they have problems just like the rest of us poor souls. They’re not sleepless and not in Seattle but they are aimless at times ever since they were dealt a problem. This is a bigger problem, however, than probably many of us have, because you see, they’re crooked. They were in a sloping down RV. Yes, they cannot get their house level, their lives are off kilter. They are not on the straight and narrow. But let’s go back and give you the fascinating history on these two.

A few years ago Klip and May had a custom made tiny home manufactured and it was beautiful. They found a country lot in a rural area in a big state somewhere in the USA. They had it set up there after it was built. They were like a young honeymoon couple moving into their brand new home: Thrillingly happy and all set in a custom home with all the amenities . They later had a driveway poured and Klip had a warehouse style garage put on it for his tools, their jeep and the RV camper. It had to be big because his tool collection was humongous plus he had yard equipment: a mower, shovels, rakes, hoes, hose and naturally some power tools. It was his man cave.

There was also a small shed on the new property so May, not wanting to be outdone, had Klip fix it up for her as a she cave. This was a chore. This old shed hadn’t been used in ages. Being meticulous people, believe me, (it takes one to know one and no one knows one like me)- this remodel took several months. After all, it was a shed and it needed to be cleaned, reconstructed with lots of fresh wood, electrical wiring, plumbing, siding, paneling, roofing, paint and help. If you have ever turned a shed into a cave for a woman, you know it isn’t easy. It was small but had possibilities. May was willing to get her cottage comfy and cutely decorated. She was working hard. She had a place for her hats and other collectibles to be displayed

DO YOU LIKE MY HAT? IT CAN ALSO BE TURNED INTO A GIANT SOCK.

SOME TREES AND TOURISTS ON THE LAST TRIP. AT LEAST THE TREES ARE STRAIGHT.

Finally the day came to move in. May wasn’t satisfied though. She wanted the yard to be landscaped and not just with plants. She had the great idea to use rocks, painted rocks. Kind of like the painted desert. Her friends came over for tea and they helped with the rocks. The legacy was being created. The cottage would be a credit to May.

Then something happened. Things clicked into a new gear. I’m not sure if it was in Klip’s mind or May’s. Maybe it was sprouting in both their minds. Maybe the cat, Dolly, used her feline skills and was an undercover psychic. After much discussion, dreaming, analyzing and planning, they decided to sell their tiny house and hit the road. They would live full time as travelers in their RV. I’m not sure what hit them but call it wanderlust or wonderland or Disneyland or AAA. I don’t know.

Now Klip and May travel the country together seeing amazing sights and seeing many friends and relatives living in their long, beautiful RV. They send us all clear crisp pictures of trees, and waterfalls and mountains and lakes and more trees – you get the idea. They have taken many trips but on this latest trip they were beset with a couple mechanical problems. The RV- let’s name her Gladys- had some leveling issues. The hydraulics or something got angry and wouldn’t level with Gladys. Her floor wasn’t even. Klip and May were leaning and it was disconcerting not to mention annoying. They tried to get Gladys repaired and on the straight and level path again but since they were in remote areas, no help was at hand.

IT IS VERY REMOTE AND EVEN THIS EAGLE CANNOT SEE ANY HELP IN SIGHT. ANOTHER TREE PICTURE!

To make a long story even longer, Gladys had also been pounded with hail previously so they needed to get the roof repaired. She couldn’t be left with a holey roof. Now that they’ve gotten back to where they started in their hometown, they have a good doctor for Gladys. Let’s hope this time she can be straightened out.

Soon they will be back to normal and planning another adventure with Gladys and their two faithful dogs. I wonder if they ever run across Yram Sicnarf. Talk about crooked. What is she up to? I sure hope they’re on the level now. They could be harboring the sneaky Yram, but we may never know. I’m just glad they’re settling down and not aimless. Do they look normal to you?

ANOTHER TREE PICTURE!

WHAT IS THAT GAL’S NAME ?

Have you ever had trouble recalling a person’s name, especially someone from your past? If you say, “No,” I would say, “You’re telling a fib!”

When we enter our golden year’s, it becomes harder to remember names, and it happens more frequently, at least it does for me. My retired friend, Barbara, and I went out for lunch yesterday and we had an odd experience as we chatted. We had been teachers in the same district and we were gossiping about people in our past: educators like us.

SO GOOD TO TALK ABOUT PEOPLE WE KNEW. WHO? I cannot remember his name.

“Remember that principal at my school who got fired? His first name was Arthur and his last name started with a D,” my friend started out.

“Was he the principal many years ago and he didn’t last long?” I prompted. “His last name started with a D?” She replied that he had been at her school a long time ago and yes, his last name maybe started with a D.

“Oh, Arthur Adams. That was his name,”she finally blurted out. “Adams!”

“Well, Adams doesn’t start with a D!” I scolded.

“But it has a D in it!” she emphasized. I had to admit that Adams has a D.

I started reminiscing with her about a speech therapist we had in our school district and I threw in some gossipy snarky comment about her (just to keep the conversation interesting).

“What was her name? Hmmm. Oh, Margaret- something. Last name started with a C,” I said wrinkling my brow like Columbo or Sherlock Holmes trying to solve a mystery.

My friend thought a minute. “Margaret McCall.”

“Right! You remembered. Thank you. You have a great memory. But McCall doesn’t begin with a C.”

“But it has a C in it! In fact it has two C’s!” She had a point.

This went on for quite a long time as one of us remembered a person from our past but couldn’t remember the last name or maybe a first name, and vice versa.

We admitted that we were a good team supplying info on past coworkers’ names, but only getting part of the names. However, with each other’s help-we had supplied the person’s full name. After our lunch break, we went to several shops in my little town and bought a few things to start off our holiday shopping. One of my ex-neighbors ran a cute Christmas shop and we enjoyed looking at all her festive decorations, smelling the candle scents, deciding which ornaments to buy and admiring some cute ceramics. I introduced my friend to my previous neighbor, the shop owner, Vera : “Barbara- this is my old neighbor, Vera.” My friend asked my ex-neighbor if she could call when a certain ceramic item became available. She had liked the local ceramics artist.

“Sure. Just write your name and phone number here,” said Vera.

As we walked out of the shop, Barbara’s eyes lit up. “Hey,” she asked me, “What’s Vera’s last name?”

I had to admit I didn’t know, in fact I couldn’t even remotely remember with what letter her last name started.

“You got me there,” I confessed. “Maybe I will ask her next time and you can guess what it is. This has been a fun day”

YES, LET’S TALK ABOUT WHAT’S HER FACE NEXT TIME WE MEET FOR LUNCH!

We have spent the past 3 weeks in Southern California visiting family and, at last, getting some repairs completed on the motor home.

We were in a hail storm while still in Texas, and we’ve had a devil of a time finding someone to repair our damaged roof. We took it to one place that wanted to keep it for over a month, and the cost was twice as much as the insurance company gave us. Kip was finally able to locate a company that was highly recommended, and they actually come to you and complete the installation of what compares to a new roof. We could also stay in the RV while they did it. We made some logistical changes during the process due to the fact that we had to move to a new park in the middle of having the work done. California state parks only allow you to stay 20 days. You have to move out for 2 months. We found a very nice regional park to move to. I highly recommend Bonelli State Park in Pomona and Prado Regional Park in Chino for places to stay in Southern California. Anyway, the roof is repaired, and we’re very happy with how it turned out.

While all this was going on, we managed to see my brother, Billy, and his wife Liz twice and their daughter Erin and her boyfriend, Carlos, once. We were able to spend a bit more time with Gus. He is doing so well. He’s 92 now and in good health. We really enjoyed time spent with everyone.

We are now in Williams, AZ. I’m doing laundry today. We went a couple of days over the usual week between washing, so there’s lots of it.

You’ll never guess what we’re doing tomorrow. We have with us in our storage area the ashes of 5 of our dogs. We’re going to spread them near the Grand Canyon. You can’t dispose of ashes in the canyon. Most of the 5 have been here with us during our travels, so what better place for their final resting place.

I hope this finds all of you who are traveling with us well and happy. It’s been a great trip. We head for Texas on Sunday.