It was the 1979-80 school year and I was at college. I remember seeing this cute thing eating by herself in the cafeteria. I decided that that just would not do. I went to her table, grabbed her food tray and asked her if she would like to come and sit with us (my roommate was there too). She didn't say anything, just got a nervous look and, of course, followed her food. She was pretty shy. We chatted for a bit and said we would pick her up for food and a movie. We stopped at White Castle on our way to the theater. A taste treat she had never had ( and still won\'t to this day). The movie was '10' with Bo Derrick. In retrospect, perhaps not the best date night choices but ... Been married now for almost 40 years. I think it was a great first date! (Apparently, opinions vary.)

There was a period of time (about 10 years) where every end of February, beginning of March the Unc, some special guest and I would go trout fishing down in Branson. As you would expect, it was pretty cold! On this particular year, Tim Filla went with us and was kind enough to take his boat. I remember, it was 0 dark thirty and we were going to head out to do some fishing. It was freezing. Actually a little below. The Unc and I were on the dock nearer the shore and Tim was getting his boat ready. The Unc and I were chatting when we heard, "SNAP!!" a second then, calmly, "Shiiitt!". We both looked over and saw Tim holding part of the steering wheel. The chunk from 10:30 to about 1:30 was missing from the boat. We still went fishing and I laughed every time I looked at Tim. It looked like he had the wheel from the Batmobile. The fishing was incredible that day, but, that's another story. 

A long time ago Daddy was building a cabin, and I can't remember if it was by the lake or a river.  Anyway it was a ways to the water. He had a couple of water buckets he needed to keep full for whatever he was doing. It became real tiring for him to walk all the way to the water, fill the buckets, come back and use the water, then do it all over again. Finally one time when he went for the buckets they were already full. Then it happened again and again. Was somebody there? Was SOMEBODY there?

When The Unc's house was hit by a tornado it was a weird deal. The entire roof was removed with the exception of a bedroom and the bathroom. At night we slept in the good bedroom after walking down a hallway that was open to the sky. I remember seeing bats flying around. In the morning, with light I remember seeing house contents scattered all over the yard and was told that it was even on the far side of a large lake. One part of the hallway had a 2x4 across the top and setting on the board was about 18" of chimney. The entire square! I was told, "DO NOT WALK THERE!". The kitchen table had the grocery list still on it while the rest of the room was in disarray. Phone poles in the area had grass driven into them like little spears. People were driving by looking to pick up what they could find. I don't know if they were looking for their stuff or just what they could find. Things were everywhere. The kicker was that The Unc had just sold the house. Obviously, that sale fell through. He collected the insurance money, rebuilt it a little bigger and better and sold it for more. He knows how to come through.

As a kid, and into early teens Mom made my clothes. She didnt use patterns - just looked at me, decided on the style, and started cutting.  The fabric? --  feedsacks. My grandparents lived on a farm, so feedsacks were always available.  In 8th grade we had "Dress up Day" each year. We had to look our best. So, of course, Mom went to work on it and made me a beautiful dress.  When I got to school the teacher thought My dress was so pretty that she had me stand on top of her desk so everybody could get a good look.

Both my maternal and paternal grandparents lived on farms, so we spent a lot of time on farms --summers, weekends, holidays. Once when I was at the Dothage farm I had the following experience. Don't remember how old I was - maybe 6 or 7. Grandpa and I were going to Whoopup. (so named because people would go there to whoop it up). We had to pick up the mail there. So grandpa and I got on the horse and headed off. Whoopup is a crossroad and a farm store. That was it. The store had a porch clear across the front with chairs and checker games. Kind of like today's Cracker Barrel. I always got a nickel to spend, so I would get candy or a "sody pop". This particular day when we arrived at the farm store there were some old men sitting on the porch playing checkers. One of them looked up and said, "Well, here comes Gus and Manuel's girl."

Several years ago I was shopping at Walmart. I had Trinity with me and she was probably 3-4 years old and was sitting in the cart. We got ready to leave and just as we got to the door it began to pour down rain. I grabbed Trinity out of the cart and ran like crazy to the car. Locked! Keys! In my purse -  and I had left it in the cart. I went into panic mode, and we raced back to the store in the pouring rain. Gobs of people were coming and going in all that rain. good time to grab a purse and run, but there it was - sitting in the cart where I left it.  No way will I ever be convinced that it wasn't the hand of God. I know He had an angel standing there guarding my purse.

Around 2008 or 2009, Diana had gone up north to visit family. I stayed home for whatever reason but decided to go up and visit her later. I had purchased my Harley in 2006 and this seemed like a great time for that 'epic' road trip that everyone dreams about. I started out about 6 in the morning and I remember the air being quite brisk. I had short sleeves on and more than once thought about stopping to put on a jacket but never quite got cold enough to do it. It was exhilarating! Wentzville, Bowling Green, Hannibal all slipped by and everything was right with the world. State line crossed and things were glorious. Just south of Iowa City, however, things began making me nervous. It seems the sky going north was beginning to darken. Some might say even look ominous. As a fairly new rider, I have not been in rain often. As a matter of fact, I kind of feared riding in the rain. I hit Iowa City and the rain hit me. I slowed down, mainly because those little droplets really hurt. I rode from Iowa City all the way to the north of Rochester, MN in rain. Not just mist, rain! About 5 hours worth. It finally broke north of Rochester. By the time I hit Moose Lake my clothes were finally dry!! I spent about 4 or 5 days up north and came home. As soon as I left Chisholm, yep, it started raining. It followed me all the way to Iowa. I finally dried off by Waterloo. I don't think I fear the rain as much anymore. I just DO NOT like to ride in it.

Ahh, Farmington. So many memories. I was about 11 or 12. One of the big competitive sports was Croquet. It got rough. I remember that there were basically two different courses. The normal and the big one. The big one was in an adjoining field and it was BIG! The normal one was just outside the garage in the yard amongst all of the trees and bushes. I remember being sent on a journey as I was 'roqueted' and ended up behind a peony. The Fox laughed his laugh, looked at me and said, "It looks like you've been peonied." From that day forward, that was what it was called when you got put in a tough spot.

Most kids don't start travelling until they are old enough to appreciate it. I guess Diana and I never got that memo. We had a Chevy S10 pickup with a topper in the 90's. I don't know if it was legal but we put a thick foam mattress in the back, covered it with a sheet, added some stereo speakers, put Diana and Paul in back, attached a pop-up trailer and traveled. One trip took us to Timber Lee camp in Wisconsin. The day we were leaving was the day that a huge storm rolled in. Being a pop-up, there was a great deal of outdoor work required to break camp and Paul 'needed' to help. After just a few minutes we were soaked. Fortunately, the camp was fairly empty so we drove the truck under a pavilion that happened to be near the showers. A quick hot shower, in the back with Diana and we were on the road. As I recall, he was sleeping after no time, as was mom.