Mother is 93 !

On January 7, 2010, my Mother celebrated her 93rd birthday. The eldest daughter of Frank and Martha Rewold, Mother was born at their home on Griggs Street in Rochester.
In her early youth, they moved to a new home on Ludlow Street, which backs up to Avon Park and the Paint Creek River. Mother spent her school days in Rochester, where she graduated in 1934 from the old Rochester High School on Fifth Street (University Drive).

Her Father, Frank Rewold, was a general contractor and Mother was his bookeeper from the time she was in high school until she was in her 60's. He was the founder of Frank Rewold & Son General Contractors. Mother also worked at Meadowbrook Farm as the switchboard operator and secretary to Mrs. Matilda Dodge Wilson during the mid 30's.

Mother and Dad met at school and were childhood sweethearts. Dad often recalled lacing Mother's ice skates at the mill pond. He loved my Mother from that day until the day he passed.

I never thought that Mother would be in a rehab/nursing facility, but she is safe and I am not having my heart jumping out of my chest every time the telephone rings!
I always felt sad when Dad would call me crying and telling me that Mother had fallen. He would cry because he just wasn't strong enough with his bad knee, to lift Mother himself. He was always glad his daughter was strong!

A vivid Kodak moment was when Dad called crying that Mother had fallen and when I arrived to help, I found them sitting on the floor holding hands. Now, I had two old folks to pick up...priceless memory!

Counting Down to Groundhog Day

Each day I check the area of Bob's borrow in great anticipation of Groundhog Day, Feb 2nd. I know that he won't really be out that day, but I can tell you he has been pretty darned accurate with his forecast of the weather this winter.

He went into hibernation a little over a week early this fall, which is probably a good indicator of a cold or long winter. I sure do miss the little guy.

3 STOOGES MARATHON

Yes...I'm going to ring in the New Year with the 3 Stooges!!!! This beats the heck out of those singers and variety acts of years past. I'm ready!!! Nuk, nuk, nuk...Niagra Falls...slowly I turn, step by step, inch by inch....

Merry Christmas

It's safe to say, I'm not really in the spirit of Christmas this year, since it will be my first Christmas without Dad. He was always fun during the holiday. The tradition of chocolate covered cherries and something for him to wear will certainly be missed.
Here it is Christmas Eve and I'm having to work real hard to even turn on the small battery powered tree which sits in the kitchen window. I need to get over this feeling real fast.

O.K.

We are truly blessed with our health, our freedom and our faith in God. There...now I feel much better. God Bless our troops who are spending their Christmas away from their families to keep us safe.

Happy 93, Dad

Today would have been my Dad's 93rd birthday. Sadly, he didn't quite make it, but we ate some of those chocolate covered, liquid filled cherries in his honor. As far back as I can remember, Dad always got a box of those for his birthday and another box for Christmas. I guess we will continue this fine family tradition.
Sure miss you Dad.

Thinking about Dad today, I remembered one of his stories he told from his tour in Italy during WWII. He drove truck and carried ammunition to the front lines. Since he was a truck driver, he had access to gasoline, which he shared with an Italian man named Leo. During the war, the Nazis took vehicles from the locals and every other thing they could get, as well. So, Leo placed his car in the basement of his home, blocking it into the basement where it couldn't be found. He had barrels in the basement where he would store fuel, when he could find it. He and Dad struck up a friendship and despite the language barrier, talking with their hands (which if you stereotype, Italians do talk with hand gestures) Dad was able to supply Leo with "extra" gasoline he didn't need.

As a result of this friendship and international good will, Leo made a wood carving of a blacksmith and gave it to my Dad. He carried that carving back home to the U.S. as a cherished reminder of his friend, Leo. I have that statue now and it means so much to me to know what effort Dad went to in order to pass this on.

I plan to give this to a museum in Rochester Hills one day along with Dad's medals as a part of the skiing exhibit. I don't want my Dad's things to end up on Ebay!

My rant, so there...

If you didn't raise an eyebrow at the latest information pertaining to the use of the mammogram...you had better! I was watching Good Morning America this morning and the government is now questioning the use of mammography for those women under the age of 50 !!! I don't know about you, but I know of women under the age of 50 who have had breast cancer and if it had not been for the use of this diagnostic testing procedure, they would not be with us today.
The excuse is that there is the possibility of side effects from using the mammogram each year, which was the earlier recommendation for those at higher than normal risk. Well heck, I'd rather take that chance than not find out about breast cancer until it was too late for any treatment.
With the trend toward government control of the health care system, is this the beginning of selection ?
This also reminds me, I don't qualify for the H1N1 flu vaccine ! That's because I'm not considered "at risk" and I'm not old enough...and so on. But hey, I don't want the damn thing anyway, it's not been proven effective.
It you don't think this might be "only the beginning", you might want to reconsider.

That's my rant for today...don't get me started.

Dad made me do it

Her name is Olivia. She is 8.5 weeks old and a rescue from Pet Friendz in Caro. She is a miniature pinscher chihuahua mix, no bigger than a minute. Even our smallest cat, now appears like Hulk Hogan.

It all began not long after Dad passed away, I kept feeling as though I was compelled to have a dog. My Dad always loved his dogs. There was "Fat Jessie", "Ruby Begonia" and most recently, the stray elderly, "Jake Russell".

For fun, I looked on the pet finder site and found this little girl. I just kept going back to her. Next thing I knew, we were filling out the application for adoption. Again, it was as though my Dad was there directing this entire show.

She's now part of our family.