Christmas!

Dear Ones:

I hope everyone had a very joyful time celebrating the birth of our

Savior.

The Halls came over Christmas eve afternoon  and brought gifts.  They are

such fun!  Ryanne had spent many many hours making a beautiful album for

me for  my birthday with pictures of me as a baby and gradually

progressing to a grey haired old lady!  It is really a nice one, and I

can't wait for the rest of you to see it.   Paytie had me polish her

fingernails and then she polished mine!  Good thing it was clear polish,

because my knuckles wouldn't look too good in  red!

We had fun at Rea Jo and David's house Christmas Eve.  We had their names

this year, so we went over and took pizza to add to their other goodies,

and ate with them.  Then we opened the gifts from them to us and from us

to them.  Rea Jo suggested we each give the receiver of our gifts a wish

for the coming year, and that was fun.  Amazing thing-- RJ wished I

would be headache free (I can't remember if she said all year or what)

but anyway I was TOTALLY headache free on Christmas Day, which hasn't

happened for a very long time! It was wonderful!

Christmas Day we spent visiting, then when we came home, Fred came over

and spent some time with us, which was GREAT!  We haven't been able to

spend that much time talking to him for such a long time!  Penny and her

Mother had gone  to her sister's in SLC for a quilting project, so he

didn't have to get back home or  anything.   It was a great Christmas

present for us!  Jeff, Lynda, Christopher and Michael came over while

Fred was  here and they were all so glad to get to visit with  him, too.

They brought us some of their wonderful Christmas dinner, which we really

enjoyed,  as we hadn't had much but junk snacks for lunch!

PARTY

I want to let you know that the Glenn Whicker fam will with us!

I would like to try doing our Minute to win it party a little differently

this time.  I think it would be fun to have all of us watching when

anyone is doing a game.  I also would like for the little kids to be able

to compete within their own peer group as much as possible.  Soooo,

here's an idea:

These are the age groups of the little ones that I think will be there (I

haven't heard from all of  them yet, so I may be wrong)

Besides the tiny babies, we have:

2 18 month olds (Chloe and Ella)

3 2 yr. olds (Aubree, Sierra, Jaycee)

2 3 yr. olds (Sophie and Payton)

2 4 yr. olds (Lexi and Addie)

2 5 yr. olds (Kayden and Ethan)

I want the little kids to have their time in the spotlight, and I want to

watch all of them, so what do you think about having a game that all 5 of

the youngest could attempt together, the the 5 that are 3 and 4 years old

do one together, and let Kayden and Ethan compete against each other in

some kind of a relay race, etc.  We could do all of them,and then divide

up into teams for the adults to play.

I believe we will have quite a number of adults and young people there,

so I hope that we can have each team pick one person to do each game to

represent their team, and have about 8 games.  We will pick the teams

when we get there, as it depends on how many of us there are.  When those

games are done, then we could  do like we did last time and have a free

for all, letting everyone try any game they want to all at the same time.

To do this, I would like to request that parents of one of the youngest 5

prepare a game for that group, parents of the 3-4 year olds prepare a

game for that group, and Benji or Mikelle prepare a game for their two.

As we did last time, everyone please bring a dish of any kind (dessert,

salad, soup, or main dish).

However, since there will be so many of us, I would like to have you

prepare a game if you want to so that we will have at least 8 games

besides the little kids games, but as long as we have 8 we will be good,

so everyone won't HAVE to prepare one.  If we have more than 8, it will

work out fine.

DUPLICATES

Let me know which game you would like  to do just so we won't have

duplicates.  Glenn  & Pam are doing the Kissing Christmas tree

ornament...that's not the official name, but you will know if you've seen

it.  We will have Nut Stacker again.  That's all I know of as of now.

The set up of tables and equipment for games, etc., will begin at 3:30

p.m.   We have the church reserved until 8 p.m.  A lot of people have to

work, so we will plan on eating at 5:30, then  playing games after

cleanup. If anyone wants to bring things that the little kids would enjoy

playing with while we clean up and after they get through with their

games, please do.

We will bring the paper plates, cups, utensils.  I haven't planned any

table decorations, so if someone wants to guide us on that, I would much

appreciate it.  I'll bring whatever you tell me to bring for that!  I

have some garland stuff, etc.   I'm just no good at planning it.  Maybe

we could all just bring a centerpiece?  Does anyone know where to get the

white paper to go on the tables?  PLEASE let me no promptly!

This takes place at our church building about 800 East on 200 North.

Any questions or suggestions, send immediately!

Should be a lot of fun!  See you there!

Love,

Mom/Gma

a little history

Thought you grandchildren might like to read this bit of our history, although I'm sure you've heard some of it. Lyndsey asked us about reasons and dates, etc., for moving around the country. The first part of this I had already sent to her earlier this month. This letter is just about the reasons for our moves. Love,Gma

The moves we made for the first 7 years of our marriage were usually because of the Air Force. However, we moved many times while we were stationed at one base, always hoping to find a better place to live. We were the lowest in pay scale, and at that time, air conditioning was only available in the houses owned by wealthy people. Most of the rental homes around a base did not even have a foundation of cement, but rather wood studs, or whatever you call them. This allowed many, many cockroaches and other disgusting insects to get into our houses, especially in the kitchen. I will give you a few such situations.

Gpa was going to Flight Engineer School at Rantoul AFB, Illinois in 1953. When we moved from Rantoul to Champaign (just a few miles apart) it was because of large, overgrown, sick flies! We lived in a small lean-to that was built onto some kind of a business; seems like maybe it had to do with mechanics working there, or something. We had a small bedroom, which also served as a living room, a bathroom that had a door so narrow that when I was 6 months pregnant with our Rea Jo, I began to have to somehow twist through the door instead of just walking through it! The kitchen was tiny...that's all the rooms we had. The wood around the large picture window in the living/bedroom was rotting and full of holes, and we could watch the termites entering and leaving this favorite abode of theirs!

We adjusted to the termites and we didn't have to live there in the winter, so it wasn't too miserable.....UNTIL, one night when I got up to make a trip to the bathroom, with bare feet, I stepped on something that crunched and was also mooshy. I screamed and Grandpa jumped up and turned on the light to see what was wrong. (Now this is no exaggeration, although it will definitely sound like a Halloween story!) As we looked down at the floor, horrified, we saw literally hundreds if not thousands of larger than normal and slower than normal, black crawling flies. They covered our floors, our kitchen cabinets, sinks and everything that wasn't in a cupboard or drawer!

They couldn't fly. Obviously, they were somehow diseased or disabled. More and more of them seemed to be slowly emerging, congregating on the floors, so we followed their direction (backwards) until we found that they were coming from a hole in the baseboard near our back door! Every time I remember this incident, I still cringe. We left the apartment (?) and went to the store to purchase some poison spray. We sprayed into the hole and all over the house to kill them. After quite awhile, they stopped coming out of the hole. We gathered up our belongings (which were not much at that time) and immediately went to Champaign and rented a two room apartment in the upstairs of a very nice house, where we stayed until we were assigned to Randolph AFB, Texas.

We bought our own home in Bowers Beach, Delaware, and it was the happiest time of my life before we moved to Utah. We joined the church there in 1959, and our 5th child was born, so it was a huge turning point in our life. I dreamed of being back there many times, especially whenever trials came up in my life. It was as if my heart and mind thought that if I was back there in Bowers Beach, all the problems would be solved! It was always the same dream, and my joy was so great in the dream that I didn't want to wake up, even though I evidently knew it was a dream!

In the Spring of 1963, a major hurricane hit the beach area. I will never forget that morning. Grandpa was on a trip. The kids were just beginning to get up and start getting ready for school and/or the day. I went to the back window and looked out at the swampy area that was just beyond our back yard, and saw the water creeping up at a pretty fast rate, coming toward our house. I ran back up to the front of the house, yelled upstairs that we might have to leave, so they needed to hurry and get dressed. Immediately, I took another look at the back yard and was astounded at how far the water had advanced since my last look, so I RAN to the stairway again and hollered, "Never mind your clothes, just put your shoes on and come down to the car!" The quickly obeyed. Our car sat near the front door on the highest ground of our property, but when I opened the front door, the wind nearly knocked me over and I knew that only the 2 oldest children could possibly stand up in that wind, as the water was now up to the middle of the hubcaps on the car! I carried each child, one at a time, to the car. Rea Jo and Glenn had to also have my help, but I didn't have to completely carry them. I hung on to the support at the corner of the porch and then grabbed for the car door so that I could stay standing in the wind, and in the deep water I had to wade through. We ended up staying with a neighbor whose house sat on higher land, as we couldn't get out of town because of the deep water on the road. Our furnace was ruined in the flood. (It was a floor furnace) We didn't have the money to replace it, so we sold the house and moved in to Base Housing. That was a very sad day for us.

Side Note: Grandma and Grandpa Clodfelter were listening to the radio as the storm progressed when it was announced that a family in Bowers Beach with 5 children had drowned. Since it was pretty unusual for families to have that many children, and because there was no phone in service so that I could call them, they thought it must be our family. So, it was a pretty panicky time for them.

(3) Grandpa is not sure whether he told you this, so this may be a repeat. In 1964, Gpa was up for reenlistment, and had made the decision to stay in the AF 4 years longer. While he was flying on the day he was to sign the papers, he suddenly had the very plain inspiration that we were to NOT stay in the AFB, but get out and go to Utah. He came home that day, announced to me that we were getting out, and we started packing. He had no job, no insurance, no place to live in Colorado or Utah, but we knew it was right.

Why did we stop moving when we got to Kaysville? Because I was sick of moving! Also, because I fell in love with our house in Kaysville, as soon as I saw it for the first time. Even though Grandpa was worried about making a house payment that was a whole $20 more than the rent we had been paying in Centerville, he knew how I loved the house, and so he asked for a raise, got it, and we moved. It was such a wonderful day, and there's no doubt that THIS is my favorite place of all! Grandpa had to commute a lot to get where he was actually based for many years, but I had told him when we bought the house that I never wanted to move again....I wanted to be buried right here! He worked hard to honor that desire!

Well, that was probably a lot more than you wanted, but maybe some of it will be appropriate for your paper!

Love you, Lyndz!
Gma

Conf.

We are at Glenn's and Pam's, having a great time. Yesterday, Pam and I (mostly Pam, of course,) were able to get a bunch of pickled beets done, which is Glenn's favorite (mine, too). One of the bottles exploded in the canner and got beet juice all over the kitchen and on to the burner, making the house smell like burned sugar! Such fun!

This morning, early, Glenn and Dad/Gpa got up and went flying in Glenn's plane. They went over Zion's and around. Now it is time for Conference. I am really looking forward to watching all of Conference this weekend.The Spirit is always so strong.

John and Ryanne are having serious water problems over at their house. Barely getting a little water occasionally until last night, then we had to have the water turned off completely, because we found out that the water meter is still running.....which means that there is at least a chance that water is running constantly somewhere, causing expense without the benefit of water in the house. It is such a mystery! Anyone have any ideas? WHY is it that every time we come to St. George, we have water problems of some sort at home???

Chuck, I have told them that they could come to our house for showers if they need to. They think they can get by for a few days until we can find the problem, so they probably won't be doing that, but just wanted you to know of the possibility.

Jeff, thanks so much for helping us with this problem. And Lynda, thank you for sending my forgotten flashdrive, camera and exterior back up disk. Sorry to have caused you both so much extra time and effort.

Often, as I am listening to a speaker, if I am blessed with the Spirit I find that truths come to my mind that are NOT what the speaker is saying, but are for my own particular learning. I can recognize these times because at each instance, I am able to comprehend all that is being spoken perfectly while simultaneously hearing the words for my own instruction. This morning, during Conference, Pres. Uchtdorf spoke of being sensitive to the needs of others. That concept led me to think of an instance recently in my life. I evidently said something one morning in a voice that was NOT sensitive to the feelings of my husband. I noticed all through the morning that he felt "down". Later that day, he said he was sorry for the times when he 'disgusted' me. Having no idea what had brought these thoughts to him, and not remembering being disgusted with him at all, I asked him when the last time was that I sounded disgusted. He said that it was that morning, but he couldn't remember what I had said or what it was about! I tried and tried to think what it could have been, and he did too, but nothing came.

Knowing that I have often said things that sounded different than I intended, I knew this was one of those times. I also knew that whatever had transpired was not at all the important
thing.........only my tone of voice had caused the pain in his heart. I would not have caused him that kind of pain for anything, IF I HAD JUST CONSIDERED THE SOUND OF MY WORDS BEFORE I SPOKE!

I've heard other spouses speak or act in uncaring and unfeeling ways to their mate, and I'm sure they didn't mean to appear that way at all. I have felt the hurt that has caused their spouse, although no verbal complaint was made on their part. It is then that I know I must change my own way of speaking and acting in all incidences. I intend to consider how my words sound before I speak, and how my actions will 'speak' before I act. I want to know that my words and actions speak only tenderness and caring, no matter the situation.

I also want to apologize and ask forgiveness for the times I am sure I have seemed thoughtless to all of you in my family. Please bear with me as I strive to overcome this weakness! I know there is absolutely no rigihteous reason for sounding or acting as if the other person, especially spouses and children, are not the most important thing in the world to me, because all of you are just that! If we can speak kindly to others outside our home and family, then obviously we can find a way to speak that way to our most beloved ones!

I wanted to share that with you, and tell you all that I love you very much.

Love,
Mom/Gma

Sunday, Sept. 26, 2010

Dearest Children and Grandchildren:

I received a letter from Alaina this week with her testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It was truly a gift to me; and I have since had a strong desire to let you all know of my love for you, and because I love you, let you know of my own testimony and my yearning for your real joy in life, along with asking your tolerance in my own weaknesses as I have journeyed and will continue to journey along my own path.

In church today, which happened to be our Ward Conference, I learned so much! I felt the Spirit more strongly than I have for months (which of course, I lacked only because of my own doing and choices) and it was such a welcome cleansing for me. I felt purely and sweetly the strong love that my Heavenly Father has for our children, their children, their children's children, and for Dad and me. I felt overwhelmingly grateful for the gift of our family and the individual gifts that each of you has brought with you. What a blessing you have all been in our lives!

I felt such incredible joy (it kept leaking out)! In Alma 26:11 Ammon explains that he was "swallowed up in the joy of his God" and that this is the kind of joy which none can receive save it be the truly penitent and humble seeker of happiness.....and I felt all of that - swallowed up in joy AND the blessed relief of repentance in my heart AND such a desire to more diligently seek the happiness that I know is available to all of us.

Happiness was the theme of our Ward Conference. I had silently offered a prayer before we left that our special speaker today would be Bishop Lundstrom, as there is no one from whom I draw more understanding as he talks. He did talk, and I felt as though Heavenly Father had anticipated my prayer as preparations were made for this conference.

I seemed to actually "visualize", as it were, the importance and great need for the plan of happiness which has been authored by God and Christ. How I wish I could just transfer my feelings into each of your hearts! I know that Jesus Christ lived and lives. I know that His love and our Father's love are so much more than we can possibly experience as mortals............I also know that is probably a good thing, as even the depth of what I experienced yesterday was almost too much to bear!

I know that the Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon testify of each other. Together they give us each personal solutions that are far beyond our own wisdom and knowledge. I know that a whole lifetime of studying and researching other "words of wisdom" cannot possibly give us the strength of character and the wisdom we need to choose the paths that lead to the happiness we all seek. Only our Heavenly Father and His Son know the beginning from the end, and our happiness is their very purpose.

There is a multitude of things I do NOT know. As Alma said, “I do not boast in my own strength, nor in my own wisdom, but behold my joy is full, yea, my heart is brim with joy, and I will rejoice in my God." And I have a great desire to continue to learn and grow and be of some service to my loved ones.

I want you all to know that when and if you ever have doubts about any of my beliefs, I only ask that you only pray with full intent to know. The guidance of our Father will never, never lead us in opposing paths, even if we perceive that it seems so at times. Therefore, the "end" will be as the "beginning" -- unity in love and purpose -- for all of us.

Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. It doesn't matter whether that fact is accepted or not, the gift remains. It is in Him whose love we all have, that we find our foundation for true joy such as I was granted today. When we have that foundation, then the forces of evil cannot have power to harm us, and we cannot fall.

Helaman 5:12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.

God's commandments are given because He wants us to experience this kind of joy, eternally.

I love you all so much. You, our family, come first in our hearts as parents, grandparents and great grandparents! And I am sure that when we graduate, you will continue to come first along with all of those who will follow in our family circle. I pray that you will all feel our love, even then.
In all that truly matters, we are always and forever "on your side"!!

All my love,
Mom/Gma

Love:

28 August 2010

Hi All:

I have been doing a lot of thinking lately, believe it or not! Sometimes it kind of, almost, hurts. I’ve known and said many times that “Love is the Answer” to almost every problem we face in this life; if we really understood and knew how to use it in our lives and relationships.

When Mom and I were discussing our lives, one time, while I was trying to figure out how she had been so strong and continued to love me even during our most difficult times, she made the statement that she knew who I really was; a very strange comment it seemed to me. How could she know that, when I was living and demonstrating such an unworthy life?

Free Agency, while necessary for our growth and progress seems to almost work against our relationships and families; however if we knew who our loved ones are instead of what they are we could give them a chance to learn from their mistakes and grow into who they really are. It is hard to keep in mind that no matter what they are at this point that they are a child of God and due to the Atonement can yet overcome the natural man, which they are, here in this existence and truly become who they are…a child of God.

The road is rough for all of us and even rougher for some. We had the opportunity to observe this truth, not only from our own personal experiences but through our Addiction Recovery Mission and those who killed John for some drug money.

What I’m trying to get across is that we all are God’s children and we all have weaknesses. Some are hard to see and seem inconsequential but sin is sin and all would keep us from returning to our Father without our partaking of the gift of the Atonement!

As I witness the difficulties that many in our family are experiencing I could easily get very depressed and some might say it would serve me right. I can’t help but realize that my horrible example for many years is bound to have had an effect on all our family; yet hopefully I can be forgiven by them as well as the Lord through his Atonement for all who will partake of it.

I want you all to know that I love you and would encourage all, no matter what circumstances you are in at the present, to remember to look at your mates, children, friends and all you know as God does and love them, no matter what; that doesn’t mean accept all they do and what they are at this time, just continue to love them and encourage them to take advantage of the Saviors gift to all.

I sometimes get concerned about how the Lord is going to straighten out my life but I’ll leave it up to him. I know that he is aware of the love I have for all of my offspring and the desire for them all to prosper and grow, and for us to all be together in his Kingdom.

Well I guess that is about it for now. I only ask that you all consider what I have been trying to say here and remember the commandments, keep them and when you stumble repent and turn around.

Love one another for who they are and not what they seem to be at this time. Repentance is the first step in taking advantage of the Atonement.

Love one another through thick and thin, no matter what.

Love Dad / GrandPap

Dover Stories

Dear Families (especially grandchildren who may not have already heard these stories!)

When we lived in Dover, Delaware, one of the members was a lady named Marion Tracy. She and her husband were quite wealthy. I worked for awhile at their publishing office, using a varityper (Now not to be found anywhere but in museums!)to print the original of some of their publications. Marion was my visiting teacher, and one day she invited me and another sister who was on her VT route, to come to lunch at her house. Anyone who was ever in her house noticed that she was a the perfect hostess, i.e., she fixed nice, semi-formal tables with centerpieces and everything, and her house was perfectly kept. We had our first 5 small children at the time, with only one of them in school, so I had to take my four little boys with me to lunch. My boys were very polite and I had told them to not be roudy or anything, so all was fine until we sat down at the table, my boys with wide eyes looked at the beautiful flowers at the center of the table, the silverware placed perfectly, the beautiful china.....and the napkins! In a quiet but very audible voice, my 3 year old asked, "Mommy what are these for?" holding up his nice CLOTH napkin! I was a bit embarrassed, not much, though. I explained to Marion that the 'napkins' at our house were two washclothes...one at each end of the table, or paper napkins if we wanted to be extra fancy; our dinnerware was durable Melmac (anyone remember that?) the glasses were plastic because we couldn't afford any breakage, and the centerpiece was a large bowl of the main course and/or a salad, because I didn't have a big enough energy or a big enough table to allow for the extra time and space that it would require for a centerpiece!

Another story that turned out to be funny after it was all over: We had five children that we took to church, and of course, the Heeshes had five also. We would have been in trouble if there had been a seat belt law at that time! We had a small station wagon that we used for these 12 mile trips to church and Primary. One Sunday, we visited out on the Green for awhile, as usual, and then loaded everyone (we thought) into the wagon and returned to Bowers Beach. When we let the Heesh children out, we were shocked to find we only had 4 Whicker children left! It was no surprise, though, to realize that the missing child was our 6 or 7 year old Chuck, who had always been (and still is) our music maker and had/has the unique mind workings of an artist/philosoper....creative, but absent minded, and often not aware of anything going on around him if he was involved in his own thinking! I was panicked, and we hurried back to Dover to find him. When we got to the church, everyone (except our Branch President and his wife) was gone and the building was locked up! Now I was really worried, because there was no sign of our Charlie outside anywhere! The Branch Pres. hadn't seen him, either! We called and called him, and there was no answer. As we stood there, thinking what to do next, we suddenly heard singing....coming from INSIDE the building! They unlocked the door and we located him -- in the bathroom -- totally unaware that church was over and everyone had gone home, and that it was almost an hour that he had been there, probably composing his own song, which he did often! As we all know, he now has many original and powerful songs. He also remains a thinker, along with all of our children, and we have enjoyed lots of family circle discussions after church as the kids grew older, because all of them were very interested in learning about the gospel.

Love,

Mom/Gma

Sunday New Edition

Hi, Everyone!

We've had a trying 10 days, at least trying for Dad who is having to take
care of me. I twisted my knee (I didn't FALL, though!) trying to adjust
the back swing. I had been having trouble with that knee for about two
weeks, and then when I twisted it, it "POPPED" so loud I couldn't believe
it came from ME. The pain was excruciating...I couldn't even put an
ounce of weight on it. Glenn, this was about an hour after I told you I
was doing very well! I was so encouraged when I talked to you;. I have
been swinging on the backswing and riding my bike, and it gave that knee
quite a bit of relief, so I thought it was getting well.

I didn't want to go to the hospital emergency because I was so afraid
they would tell me I had to have a new knee! I just don't want any more
surgery if I can help it...that's why I was so happy with the progress I
thought I was making with the backswing and the bike. I will see our
family Dr. this week and see if I can at least do some walking in an
effort to try and strengthen it.

Chuck has been doing all the cooking and dishes, all the mowing and most
of the trash gathering. He is a very big help, especially right now.
Gpa/Dad has been working on his new flyin' machine, in between his
wife-babying activities. He's only been up a couple of times this year,
I think! The red tape with the FAA now that they have to have "N"
numbers, is terrific. He has to go to Tooele to get his inspection and
training to finalize his license, and he couldn't do that until he got
his "N" number, so it is taking months to get everything done.

Years ago, I happened to strike up a conversation with a woman in the
Salt Lake Family History Library. Before long, she mentioned that she
lived in Dover, Delaware! I asked her if she was LDS, and she was, so
then I told her that we had been in that branch when we were baptized.
It was so amazing, because I don't usually get involved in conversation
with anyone when I am doing research there. We moved from that branch
the month before she and her family moved IN! She told me she was
writing a history of the Dover Branch and Ward! We knew a lot of the
same people, of course, so it was really fun talking to her. I told her
a couple of our stories from our Dover Days, and she included those in
her history This past week, I received a copy of that history! It was
so fun to read! We found out a lot about what had happened to those we
had been so close to.

One very interesting thing was about the little boy who was trapped under
the garage door and saw and/or heard birdies while he was unconscious.
I'm sure you have all heard that story. Well, he was the son of a couple
in the Dover Ward! We didn't know them, but that was fun to find out.

I'm making all of you a copy of it (at least the 5 of you who were there
with us.) as soon as I can. It is 91 pages long, so it will take a few
days! Or maybe I can scan it. Would Cute PDF take a lengthy document
like that, Glenn? It was sure fun for us!

Connie, Sarah, Jaycee and Callee were here to visit last night while Dad
was at the Temple. I really enjoyed having them....kind of a rare chance
when they get to come!

I was so sorry to miss the two blessings last Sunday. I don't like to
miss that kind of thing in our family! Those babies are all so darling.

Dad and Chuck are home from church, so I'll quit and eat the dinner Chuck
has made for us! We always love to hear how each of you are doing, and
LOVE the stories about your little ones!

Love to all,
Mom

My History

Hi All:

I was sitting here at my computer this afternoon, counting my many blessings and thought of one of the better decisions I have ever made in my life, but before I go into that day I want you all to know that I couldn’t possibly have had any better parents or siblings. I so enjoyed watching and listening to my Mom and Dad interacting with one another; they truly loved and enjoyed their time together. They laughed and joked around much of the time; especially when they would do dishes or other housework together which was practically every day when I was in high school and living at their trailer court. I remember once when they were kidding around and Dad popped Mom from behind with the dish towel; she laughed and grabbed a stick that was holding up the kitchen window by the sink and went after him, he squealed and started back stepping to stay out of her way and fell across the bed across the hall and laid on his back with his legs above his head. She started swatting him with the stick when all of a sudden he got the most startled look on his face and she stopped; it turns out that the stick had a little hail through the end and she had landed a whack with that; of course she was sorry about the whole deal but they both almost collapsed in laughter! They had so... much fun.

Even though I always felt loved I didn’t remember ever hearing my Dad tell me he loved me; men in those days were very reserved. I knew one man who was not reserved and that was my Mothers baby brother Floyd King, he didn’t care what anybody thought as he was big enough to take care of anything or anybody; he used to embarrass me and I’m sure my Dad; if Uncle Floyd had been away from the family for any length of time he would grab you in a bear hug and kiss you on the cheek when he saw you; of course nobody ever said anything as that was just Uncle Floyd and that was the way it was. You need to realize that Uncle Floyd had been a tri-state Golden Glove, heavyweight boxer in his younger years and was afraid of no one. I naturally, as I was growing up, wanted to be like him and even went out for boxing in high school for a short time but they always stopped the fight as soon as I got tagged on the nose since it would bleed rivers of blood; I (thought) knew if they would have let me go, even though bleeding, that I could have whipped every one of those guys. But, as everybody knows, they have silly rules in high school.

When we would go home for a visit after we got into the Air Force, Dad would come up to me stick out his hand for a handshake and give me kind of a halfway hug, which I would return. I decided that wasn’t good enough and thought about it for months before we went home again; I had decided that in one thing I preferred to be more like Uncle Floyd than my Dad.

The next time we went home we drove into the driveway at the trailer court and Dad came out to greet us. He stuck out his hand, I grabbed it and pulled him into me, gave him a kiss on the cheek and said “I love you Dad” He kind of stuttered a bit and said “I love you too son” We both had tears in our eyes and our greetings and goodbyes always included that kiss for the rest of his life and he would initiate it. I still consider that one of the wisest decisions I have ever made.

I determined from that day on to never be lax in letting my boys know that I loved them and to kiss them when departing or returning from anyplace; it was not easy at first due to my upbringing but I am so grateful that I stuck with it. I remember at times when a lot of people were around I still felt a bit nervous about it. But I started early enough with the boys that they thought nothing about it and when I would drop them off at school, or anyplace, they would all give me a kiss even if the whole gang was watching. As wild and rowdy as we all have been, I’m sure, nobody ever thought of any of us as sissy’s.

I want you all to know that I love you and am so grateful that we all are not afraid to show our love and gratitude for one another.

When I think about my Dad and that first time he kissed me and told me he loved me I still get teary. I’m sure he may have done that when I was a baby but I hadn’t remembered. I am also grateful for my Uncle Floyd who was my example of a “He Man” that had a very soft and loving heart.

Then of course we must not forget the girls! They never seemed to believe me that I couldn’t stand little girls, no matter how convincing I tried to be. The time I remember the best is when I came in the back door from an extended trip Ryanne was hugging my leg while I was kissing everybody hello, I looked down at her and said “you know I can’t stand little girls!” She smiled sweetly and said “But I love you Daddy” I was a complete failure with the girls too! I never fooled anybody!!!

Love, Dad…G-PaW

Berlin Wall Era:

Hi All:

They had a special on TV a week so ago and while we were watching it I started telling Mom about the trip I made to Leipzig East Germany in the winter of 1973. We picked up a load of 200 breed hogs in Chicago, for delivery to Leipzig, with a fueling stop in Shannon Ireland. Hogs are a pretty delicate cargo as they don’t sweat so they need to be kept plenty cool. When we stopped in Shannon they had to bring fans and open all the doors to keep the hogs cool enough even though it was winter time; Shannon never gets very cold. We did lose about 15 or so even at that. There was some concern as to how we would pay for the fuel in Leipzig and they thought we would need cash so we took quite a delay in Shannon while they rounded up enough cash. As It turned out when the East Germans found out it was Saturn Airways they gladly accepted our credit card. Saturn had quite a reputation throughout the world. Howard Korth the owner was very honest and always kept his credit rating perfect. As an aside when he bought his first stretched DC-8 and the crew went down to pick it up at the Douglas Factory He paid them cash, something like $8,000,000. Douglas had never had anybody pay cash for an A/C and didn’t even know how to do it so there was a slight delay in getting out of there. A few months later Korth went down to buy the second DC-8 and they treated him like a King! He paid cash for that one also. When we landed in Leipzig it was snowing lightly and was quite cold. As soon as we opened the door they rolled the air stairs up to the door and I opened up; a very large frauleine came on board immediately and made us aware that she was in charge at that point, she would have made at least 2 of me, as far as size is concerned. They off loaded the pigs rapidly. The tower operator came into the cockpit to help in filing the flight plan for us to get out of East Germany. He was a nice young man and spoke English fluently. He was very careful of what he said to us especially when the fraulein was within ear shot. While they were cleaning the aircraft, which was pretty smelly by then, the lady, I’ll call her lady, as she was a female, was worried that somebody might stow away on the airplane and escape from East Germany so with me in tow she stepped over all of the little corrals, about 10 as I remember, to get to the back of the A/C where the lavatory was and make sure nobody had hid in there to escape. She went outside with me and watched as I did my walk around inspection. While walking around with me she noticed that we had 4 belly pits on the A/C where we normally carry the baggage and sometimes some freight. She insisted that I had to open each pit and let one of her police check in there for stowaways. It was so stupid as we had only been on the ground a few minutes and there was no one there that would even have the slightest idea how to open those pits, let alone get up in there without a ladder unnoticed; anyway I opened each, one at a time, and they hoisted a guy in to crawl around and see if anybody was in there; he actually couldn’t go very far as the pits were filled with the seats that we used for passengers. All of our jets were convertibles and it only took about 5 hours to convert from freight to Passenger and vice versa. When she was satisfied she placed a guard at each hatch with a rifle to make sure nobody tried to get in.

What we need to know is how precious freedom is. The people in East Germany were as bad off as those in Russia, and we need to realize that there is actually little, if any, difference between Marxism and Nazism, and I might add progressivism which many are trying to pawn off on this country at the present time; they are all one and the same trying to take away freedom and the Free Enterprise System. I wish all of our family could have the opportunity to visit all of the places I have observed during my many travels. Our freedoms are precious and we must not let those seeking for power to take any of them from us; there has been too much blood shed over the years to preserve them for us. Believe me there has never been a country in the history of the world that has done so much for the worlds millions. We can’t say we are perfect but far better than any previous government experiments. I suspect the only civilization to come close to our accomplishments would have been the Roman Empire in its’ earlier days before they were taken over by Emperors. They took a lot of progress to much of the world at that time, but the greedy for power got in control just like they are trying to do in our country. When the government has more people dependent on them for their living than those who are independent they will have the votes to keep the power hungry in control of the government.

Now to get back to East Germany: They only had the necessities of life with little, or no, luxuries. When I first came down the steps from the aircraft there were probably 20 or so police accompanying the fraulein in charge. As I came down the steps they all started pointing at my shiny black boots; wanting to trade for or buy them from me. That is what made me start noticing how poor they really were; they would have traded everything they had for my boots.

When we got back to Shannon Ireland we laid over while they cleaned the A/C and put the seats back in. We ferried it back to New York and 3 days later we took a load of people down to the Caribbean with 254 passengers. While they were refueling the heat and humidity caused a strange odor to show up in the airplane as they had fumigated it good in NYC to cover the pig odor. I was standing near the door when the next 254 passengers for the return trip to the states. By then we had been sitting on the ground a couple of hours so the odor was pretty strong though not a pig odor; it was more like the odor of some kind of perfume.

The DC-8 we were flying on that trip was one of the ones that Korth paid cash for. The stretched DC-8 is my all time favorite A/C. It was so reliable and you could still fly it with complete electrical and or hydraulic failures; I don’t know of any other large aircraft in history that you could say the same about. It was such a reliable, tough airplane that they spent millions to update it with modern turbo fan engines producing much more power yet using much less fuel.

I have always been pleased that the U.S. doesn’t make a big deal about all of the good we do in the world but unfortunately, since they don’t make a lot of hullabaloo about our exploits our own young people aren’t aware of half of the things we have done for the citizens of the world. I know, because I was involved in many rescue and humanitarian missions. The U.S. military was always the first on the scene of earthquake, flood, and hurricane disasters world wide, and yet even many in our own country talk negatively about our contributions to humanity: how quickly the world forgets about World Wars 1 and 2 when Europe and much a Asia were spared from being conquered by the Evil Axis.

I wish all of our posterity could have the opportunity of visiting almost any part of the world, outside of the U.S. and Canada, other that the tourist areas. You would all be amazed at the difference that Freedom has made in the standard of livings. Paris, London, Amsterdam….any of the civilized countries of the world are very poor when you get away from the tourist attractions. Well I guess I’ll make this it, for now.

I love you all so….much! I just want you all to be grateful for the privilege you have inherited by being citizens of this country! It has it’s faults but we should be doing our best to correct them and must be careful in who we elect as our Representatives and Senators etc. there are far too many people in this country who don’t realize that freedom and the free enterprise system is why we are where we are today and if we allow our leadership to continue on this progressive and socialist road all of these advantages will disappear quickly. Socialism has never led any group to a higher standard of living except for the ruling class; a close case in point is Cuba, right here at our doorstep. Where FREEDOM wanes, so does the standard of living. As previously noted in this epistle East Germany was virtually enslaved until that wall came down and the free enterprise system was reinstated to some degree.

I LOVE YOU ALL G-PaW.

Happy Father's Day!

I hope this day is special for all of you..-- fathers now or to be! We
sure do have some men in this family who are skilled fathers, and who are
striving to become more so as life goes on. Thanks to all of you who
have diligently taught our grandchildren! Taking care of their hearts
and souls is your quest, and I am so thankful.

Thanks, too, to those who have taken on the extra joys and challenges of
loving the children of others and caring for them as lovingly as any of
their other children! What a blessing you have been to us and to those
children.

Love,
Mom/Gma