Uncles and Aunts

Meta Hill, Olen Gerdes, Mary Fast and Bob Gerdes


This is a picture of my Father, my aunts and uncle. It was taken at the funeral dinner for my Uncle Roy on Monday, April 21st. My Dad is 88, my Uncle Bob is 80, my Aunt Mary is 79 and my Aunt Meta is 74. There were originally ten children in the family, one uncle was killed in a farm accident in the 1940's, another uncle was killed in the Battle of the Bulge in World War II, an uncle died as a small child and two aunts were stillborn. Up until my uncle died last week, not of the family had been lost for over sixty years. The best part is that all of them are in pretty good health and all of them are sharp as tacks. I like to think that is a good sign for me.

Roy Gerdes December 25, 1920 to April 17, 2008

Uncle Roy and Grandma Gerdes July 1961

My Uncle Roy died a week ago last Thursday. He was 87 years old. When I was a child, he was my bachelor uncle who lived at home with my widowed grandmother. I adored him, he liked children and always had time for me. I would go to the farm in Oklahoma in the summer and stay with him and my grandmother. They were lazy summer days. We never did anything but I still remember those weeks fondly. I still remember the old farm house even though it has been gone more than forty years.

However, there was one time my uncle and grandmother did something interesting and my cousin Cindy and I were fortunate enough to go along. My Uncle Phillip and Aunt Mary lived in the San Fernando Valley and for whatever reason, it was decided we would all go out to visit them in July 1961. I was 14, my cousin was 13. My uncle was 41 and my grandmother was 64. My cousin and I must have been awful, but neither of them ever got mad or impatient with us that whole trip.

My uncle had a Studebaker sedan with air conditioning which was wonderful going through the desert in New Mexico and Arizona, they humored us and stopped in a couple of tourist traps and the petrified forest. In California, we went to Disney Land and Knotts Berry Farm. Cindy and I made a vow we would return to live and work in Los Angeles, but of course life got in the way. But this was one of the best trips I ever took in my life and this is the first time I have ever written about it.

Now that I consider this time, a lot changed in the two years afterwards. My uncle met a lady and remarried and moved to Arkansas. My grandmother became very ill and died two years later. We now know that she probably had an undiagnosed cancer and I feel guilty when I think about the teenage impatience I had for my suffering grandmother.

My Uncle Roy made furniture in Arkansas until he retired, his first wife died and he moved to Vian, Oklahoma where he remarried another very nice lady. Like my father who is a year older, he enjoyed good health up until last fall when he had a heart attack. His second wife had died a few years back and he was living in senior apartments in Pryor, Oklahoma. He was very active in the Senior Center activities and the Lutheran Church. At his funeral, the smallish church was full of his friends. This is quite an accomplishment for a man of his age. Many people outlive their family and friends.

I am going to miss my Uncle Roy. I am not grieving for him. He lived a full and wonderful life. I am certain he is in heaven enjoying the blessings he is worthy of. I don't think any of us would be sad to live our lives with the joy my Uncle Roy did. Blessings.

I did a page

I scrapbook for a hobby. As a matter of fact, I am blogging now because of the ScrapDawgs message board. However, I don't put up many of my pages. Part of the reason is that I just never bother, then there are all these people out there who are soooo good that it seems audacious for me to put my work out there for people to see. Truthfully though, I don't really have a concern about that. This blog is for me, and who ever wants to look.

I am putting this page up because Nicole said it was cute and she said I should. We were out in the yard with Wyatt last week. Ray decided to cut out the dead pampas grass with the weed eater. It was so noisy that Wyatt started to cry. Since it wasn't life threatening, I ran for the camera and took these pictures. He was talking about Papa make a noise for days. I am getting much simpler with my pages now. It seems like I am all embellished out. There isn't anything but paper on this one and I like it just fine. It is older paper too, the patterned paper is Dawson by Basic Gray which has been discontinued for a couple of years. I am doing my best to use up my stash.

Great News and Blessings

It has been a grueling week and a half for my good friend Toni and her husband Mike. Mike had a massive episode with his heart over a week ago; at least two heart attacks and failure. He didn't respond as expected to treatment and it took forever for him to be stabilized. We were all praying for him and Toni. Even though we know things like this happen to loved ones, it always is a shock when it really does occur. However, Mike was finally able to go home yesterday. He tires easily, but is in no medical danger. All of their friends are so happy for them.

Miracles do happen, and the fact that a miracle came for this wonderful couple is a real blessing.

Praise the Lord!

Category: Silly Grandchild photos

Over the weekend, Wyatt was out in the back yard playing. I had clothes in the dryer and the warm air was blowing out of the vent. Wyatt noticed this and went over. He sat down, took his shoes and socks off and warmed his feet. It is so amazing the way he views the world. Everything is new and everything is there for his pleasure, even warm linty air.

Another weekend in Denton

The First Born's just completed another weekend in Denton. You would never know by the piles of stuff on the tables, but work was actually being done here. I had my personal best this trip. I completed twenty-seven pages. Debbie actually did over sixty, but she is very organized. The chance to get together with my friends every six months is so precious to me.

Back from Vacation

Well, we are back in the real world after five days in the Caribbean. We go on a cruise and never want to come back. The stops on this cruise were Progresso and Cozumel. We went to Chichen Itza at Progresso. The ruins are magnificent. I want to go back again and see some of the places we didn't to spend as much time looking at as I would have liked. At Cozumel, we did some power shopping for gifts for our family and spent the rest of the day on the beach which is what we like to do best when we are on Cozumel.