Friday November 20 2015  HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY

Unfortunately our daughter-in-law was not able to come over this evening as planned.  Her husband, our son Courtland, attends law school in Minnesota and some weeks he is not able to live at home.  Tonight’s agenda was a planned birthday dinner and party for Amy including the boys, Dave, and I.  But, the youngest grandson became very sick with some sort of a virus with a fever.  We haven’t been able to make contact with Amy via phone lately so I don’t really know how he is faring.  The concern was that he may still be contagious or the older boy would come down with it and expose Dave and me.  This would be difficult for Dave as he is still healing in the abdominal incision area and does not need to be violently sick like Xander was (is).  So today our plans changed.

In Amy’s absence and missing her birthday party I would like to dedicate this blog to her.  I will write the poem that follows as a tribute to her.  I thank God that she was born “blank” years ago today (it is for her to share her age if she so chooses).  Because of that special day when she was born, we have our two beautiful grandsons.  Thank you Amy for all you do as mom.  I am proud of both you and Courtland for being such great parents to our grandsons.  We love and appreciate all you do.  Here is a poem to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY AMY

By Kathleen Martens

November 20, 2015

Happy birthday to a special lady,

The love of our son’s life.

What a special person you are

Both as a mother and wife.

A tribute to you on your special day,

You mean the world to us.

You gave us our grandsons

Who often bicker and fuss.

Up at nights to walk the floor

With sick little boys.

Thanks for all the work you do

And for giving us so much joy.

Just wanted you to know

On this, your special day

How very much we love you.

AND WISHING YOU A HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

As if you might have figured it out by now, it is my pleasure to do spur of the moment events if time allows.  Well, I no longer needed to cook a birthday dinner, the birthday treats were already taken care of (in the freezer now), we are expecting a snow storm tonight and may not wish to venture on the roads tomorrow, and we are retired!  Besides, I have another birthday to plan for next week so I needed to do today what needed to be done.  Our oldest grandson will turn 8 years old next week.  We plan to do his party on Thursday afternoon when we arrive home from eating Thanksgiving dinner at a restaurant.  I needed to make a special trip to buy something I want to give him on his birthday and I can only purchase it at an Amish store about 56 miles away.  The roads were clear and the day was still young when I arrived home from the gym, so we (well I guess I mean me), figured it would be a good day to do what needed to be done!  It ended up being an expensive trip.  Our destination?  Mischler’s Country Store in the Amish community north of us.  They have great prices on most things, and a variety of fresh grains and rice and a variety of other perishable items that I can’t seem to find elsewhere.  Some specialty shops may carry their products but they are always so much more expensive.  We had a shopping cart full as we do not make the trip more than about 3 times a year.  They have great spices, the best freshly ground peanut butter, and the world’s most delicious popcorn.  This popcorn is called “mushroom popcorn”.  It is a big kernel, and pops very large, and has the shape of a mushroom after it is popped.  I drizzle coconut oil on it and a touch of salt and it is magnificent.  Rebecca requested that we get her some mushroom popcorn when we met in Branson.  That was her one request.  We brought her lots of popcorn.  It is too heavy to ship economically.  We purchased many different grains as I love using them in my soups.  Mishler’s Country Store also has the best raw sunflower seeds I have ever tasted.  I bring them home and freeze them until needed.  We eat a variety of seeds at this house, our favorites being sunflower, pumpkin, flax (ground), hemp, and chia.  I believe Dave’s favorite is the ground flax.  I stocked up on that.  So you might say after reading this paragraph that we had a good time today and accomplished quite a bit.

As we traveled the back roads in Delton, Wisconsin where Mishler’s Country Store is located, I stopped and took a few photos.  The Amish do not like to have their faces photographed so I respectfully tried not to have their faces show.  Dave pulled over alongside the road so I could get out and take a picture of a horse drawn wagon.  When I later viewed the photo I noticed one little child looked back and I did capture the little eyes.  Realize that it is very cold here today, actually in the freezing range, and it was only the eyes that peeked out from layers of clothing.  Open aired wagons are not heated (except in the summer).  I took another photo of a passenger buggy coming  toward us which had the driver concealed inside.  I didn’t realize how quickly he was coming so I took the picture through the windshield and almost missed it entirely.  There was one last photo I wanted to snap.   I must admit, when I took this last picture I felt a bit like a voyeur.  But it was waiting to be taken.    And what a story it told.  See if you can find the story behind the picture tells.

On the way home from the Country Store we passed through a little town called Pardeeville.  I really like that little town.  It is the same place where we purchased our used dining room chairs for the table we reconditioned this summer.  It has a very small home town feeling.  Off to my right as we were going down main Street I saw a Veteran’s Memorial Park.  Dave turned around so I could go investigate, biting wind and all (I was dressed for it).  It was such a beautiful memorial to the citizens of that town that lost their lives in the wars.  There were 80 names from the Civil War, 8 from World War I, 14 from World War II, 3 from the Korean War, and 3 from the Vietnam War.  I assume the memorial has been in place since before all the Mideast wars we’ve been involved in because there were no other names on the wall.  There was a bench with one veteran’s name who died in Pakistan in 2010.  What a great sacrifice from one small town.  The current population is 2100 people.  In 1870 the population was 205.  

I stood there before that wall with all the names engraved into the granite and I teared up.  I cried for all the mothers and fathers and wives and children who received the news about their loved one who had died on the battlefield.  No greater pain can I imagine.  There was a walkway of bricks leading up to the wall.  On each brick was the name of others who had served but had made it home.  I stopped and wondered how each of those wars had changed the lives of those young men who had returned home.  Some scars would show.  Most would not.  War changes the course of anyone’s life who has been in its midst.  Also on the walkway leading to the wall was an area where the names on the bricks were of all the people left behind that supported the soldiers while they were gone.  What a great little town.  Family, friends and neighbors coming together to support those fighting for freedom and to reach out to family, friends, neighbors and the greater community to offer help and support and comfort.  Where do we see that today?  I’ll enclose a few snapshots of what I saw at that little Veteran’s Memorial Park.  I silently sent up a belated thanks to all those who have died for our country as well as fighting for other countries to be free.  My hat is off to any of you who read this, who have served, or the families of those who have served.  It is not easy on those left behind.  I read each name on the granite wall.

I had a great topic that I wanted to write about tonight.  Dave said something to me again this morning that gave me a great place to start.  However, when I sat down at my computer this evening I could not for the life of me bring up the memory of that short sentence.  SEE WHAT OLD AGE DOES TO YOU!!!  And, I failed to write it down.  The only problem with writing it down is I would probably forget where I stuck the note.

THOSE LITTLE JEWELS OF WISDOM

By Kathleen Martens

November 20, 2015

Sometimes the brain

Gets a bit stuck.

And what you want to remember

From your mind is plucked.

I never for a moment

Think I will forget.

But the thought seems to drop

Into a deep black pit.

So once again, I tell myself

This time I’ll write it down,

And I tuck the note aside

Where it never again is found.

Those little jewels of wisdom

Are floating around in me.

And someday when I am older

Perhaps they’ll be set free.

Good night and God bless you, especially all the veterans and veterans’ families.