Zechariah

This picture represents the way Elaine and I look tonight as we watch the "pickers" on the History Channel. Elaine is working in a "clothes washing" project but catching most of the TV program. We thought we had a lot of stuff but the things you see on that program make us realize we had very little. Sundays are rather slow days here at Brookdale. The highlight of my day was seeing Rev. James Keck deliver his message on TV this morning. It was a continuation  of his "Courage" theme which he says is having a "brave heart". One of the Fast Food Chains used the slogan, "Be like Mike" during the Micheal Jordan era. He says we should adopt a slogan of "Be Like Zech" and went on to tell the story of Zechariah's conversion from being a hated tax collector to a  after climbing a tree to see the Lord. I may have not put all the pieces together since I'm not that familiar with Zechariah but I understood the importance of his use of "showing up" as a demonstration of Courage and having a Brave Heart.

My Folks

This is one of the many 1987 pictures that I scanned today and it relates to our discussion with Carolyn and Ben this morning about growing old. We have seen the decline of some of our fellow residents and also marvel at the ability of several in their upper 90's. Dad would have been approaching his 91st birthday at the time this picture was taken and Mother was 87. While we maintained a close relationship with the Folks, we were involved with our farm and my job until retiring in the spring of '88. I was pleased that the Folks enjoyed my 2nd retirement party in Lincoln. We had our Farm Sale in the spring of 1989.  The Folks attended that and talked about all of the interesting things they had done out there including Dad's field work.  After the Farm sale we spent 6 weeks on a camping trip to Alaska and attending the International Soil and Water Conservation Society annual meeting in Canada. While there, I accepted the position of Executive Vice-President of the organization with headquarters at Ankeny, IA. We bought a Condo there and reported for duty on September 1, 1989. We maintained our home in Seward and got back quite frequently where we always saw the folks. We had a Family event at the Hughes Cabin on October 22 to Celebrate Dad's 93rd birthday and the Folks 69th Wedding Anniversary. Dad was hospitalized with Acute Leukemia on November 1st, moved to the Sunderman Rest home and died on December 15th. Mother continued to live alone with Vivian available as well as Carolyn and Jon and Mary who had moved back. Tim, Laura and Tony as well as Carolyn, Julie, Heather and Mother came to visit us in Ankeny over the Memorial Day weekend. On June 3rd, Mother had a TIA (Mini stroke), after phone calls to local Doctors as well as her family Doctor her condition improved and we took her back to Seward. Elaine stayed in Seward for a few days to be with her though she appeared back to "normal". All seemed to be going well with our getting back quite frequently including our taking Mother to Church for Communion on December 2nd. Carolyn called us on the 5th to say Mother had suffered a Stroke and was unable to speak. We came right away and went to the hospital as Don's arrived. Vivian and Gladys stayed with Mother over night and she passed away the next day after we all had an opportunity to tell her Good Bye.

Granddaughter Julie

Here are 3 of the pictures which were included in my scanning today. The first 2 were taken on Easter Sunday, 1987 and the 3rd on a few days later out at the farm of Julie, her doll and "her" hydrangea. She was so impressed with the bloom of hydrangeas that we saw earlier at Monticello that we bought one and put it on the north side of the attached garage at the farm. She and John continue to have them in landscape plantings. The Easter pictures were to show off her new dress, new doll and her long curly hair. I think the curls were all natural but she seamed to outgrow them. There is probably more to that story than what I am aware but certainly enjoy working with pictures of "those good old days".

The Royuk House

Dr. Brent Royuk, Dean of Arts and Science at Concordia University here in Seward, presented the program this evening to the Magazine Club. His topic was the history of his family home they have owned here for the past several years. He also has a web site with many old post card pictures of historic Seward subjects. We had met before but really appreciate what he is doing to document some of Seward's history. His house is in the same City Block as our house was on 1st Street. We thought of it as the "Davey Justice" house since they owned it for some time ahead of the "Royuks". The house was built in 1908 as a "Parsonage" for the Congregational Church and utilized by a number on Pastors over several years. Brent has done a tremendous amount of research on-line, through County Records, our City Library, the State Historical Society, etc. He obviously enjoyed getting all the "pieces put together"  and telling people about it. While many or even most old houses have a "story", few would have the unique background of this one and an owner with the interest and ability to seek it out.

Hot 94 Degree Day

Elaine felt much better today. She was up for our Oatmeal breakfast and went to the Dining Room for both Dinner and Supper. She had several stop by and express their pleasure is seeing her back. She took it pretty easy with a nap this afternoon but is doing a washing this evening. Betty Tomes helped her with it a bit A couple of our light circuits cut out last night at the end of the 9th inning so we went to bed. Jim got it fixed by jiggling the circuit breakers. I had checked them but none were "flipped"- just weren't making the connection.

Ken Siemek tells us that the temperature hit 94 in Lincoln this afternoon. It fell short of the 96 degree record set back in 1938. We had a cold front come through early this evening with wind gusts of up to 59 mph dropping temperatures to 63 at 8:20. We are to have a high in the mid-50's tomorrow and a 60% chance of rain during much of the coming week.

Graff Brothers -Elaine's Headache

I finished scanning my 1986 pictures yesterday and moved into 1987 today. Here is one taken at the Goehner, NE 100 year celebration on May30. This is of Bob and Lee Graff, longtime Goehner area residents. Growing beards wasn't as popular than as it is now but was done for Centennial celebrations such as this. Smith Brothers cough drops we popular in those days and pictured two men with full beards on the box as the "Smith Brothers". It was a most interesting entry into the parade that extended for nearly two miles. I showed this picture to Lavonne,  Bob's widow, at Supper here this evening. We sat at adjoining tables. We were involved in the event with a Seward Grange float telling of  Nebraska using 3,000 gallons of water and 2 bushels of soil for every bushel of corn we produce. I had noted their being more people in the parade than watching it.

Elaine woke up with a bad headache this morning and was down for most of the day. I had given her an Aspirin early and a Tylenol later. Neighbor Steve loaned her Excedrin which helped her get out of bed. She didn't go to the Dining room but the staff brought it to the room. Carolyn and Jack came up in late afternoon which may have helped as much as the pills. Jack was wearing his new rubber boots and was not going to take them off while playing with his toys. I'm going to have a pear before going to bed and will try to talk her into having one, too. We are watching the Colorado Rockies lead the Chicago Cubs 1-0 in the top of the 6th.

Collage 1986

I finished my scanning of 1986 pictures today and ended with 152 on my Flash Drive. Many of them are the ones on this collage that I did several years ago. It was a good year where we balanced our lives between the Farm, my Job, Family, Traveling, etc. The farm was a continual challenge that offered pleasure for us as well as the whole family. I believe my folks really enjoyed the place. The Guys and Dolls square dance club in Lincoln that we joined with Viv and Eddy Soucek was fun. We participated in Eddy's coffee for his Retirement from SCS. We spent Easter down at the home of brother Don and Gladys in Syracuse, NE. We went on an extensive Motor Home CW trip with Julie to visit families in Indiana, Virginia and North Carolina.  We visited Dollywood and Opryland as well as Colonial Williamsburg. Aunt Anna (Vrana) Barth's funeral here in Seward provided an opportunity for a cousins reunion. Tim's drove back and spent a week or so with us during mid-December. Julie always made our Christmas even more special. Ben always added a lot to our family activities. It was a good year.