Janet month!!!

TERRY

As I write this morning Terry is reading the paper with the TV on.  She said she did not sleep much at all last night so we will see how the day goes.  Yesterday she did not feel all that well through out the day and at one time threw up but later felt better.  Hopefully she will feel better today.

Oh my I have a messy house.  The pass through from the kitchen to dining room is covered with papers as is the dinning room table.  I think it may be pick up day and by that I do not mean pick up sticks that we used to play growing up!

Our neighbors to the north arrived yesterday.  Their house is maybe 12 feet away so we do not hear them and we actually do not see them much either.  Now the neighbors to the south share a block wall with us so when they arrive we will hear chairs moving etc.  BUT they are not here yet.

October 25, 1963

As the bell rang at 3:30 the school was a bustle with activity.  It was a Friday and we were scheduled to go to Edgeley for our last football game.  We were undefeated and had high hopes of finishing the season that way.  I was angry and upset at a couple of people.  Gary S. had not checked his cleats on Monday and had inadvertently spiked me in practice.  That meant a trip to the doctor in Forman for stitches and No practice for the week.  So #1, I was not happy with Gary but of course it was an accident BUT we always were supposed to check our cleats!  #2 I really liked our coach Mr. Hanson but he said I would not be playing.  He said we could not take the chance of the wound breaking open!  I assured him that I would have Mr. Newman wrap it very very good and I would be good to go BUT it still was a no.  We knew that Edgeley was a good team as they had only lost 2 games and those were to Oakes and Ellendale.  Oakes had 1 loss and the rest of the league was down from there.  We had to win for the out right championship.  We felt that our defense needed to be tough as we had not had a great offense during the season.  Twice we had been held to 10 points as we had scored only 1 touchdown and then Todd had kicked short field goals but on the pluse side the most points we had allowed had been 12.  By 4:00 we all had our gear and were ready to get on the bus.  As I walked to the bus I stopped to show coach Hanson how Mr. Newman had my right leg wrapped and I assured him I was good to go.  He smiled and did not say anything.  I felt I had to play as I was the left end and Jack G. was the linebacker on my side.  Pretty much all of the season we had shut down any running game that went to our side.  We had shut out Oakes 10-0 and shut out Ellendale 26-0 and Jack and I were pretty much a wall on the left side of our defense.  However when we arrived at Edgeley coach Hanson stood up in the front of the bus and announced the lineup with me NOT in it.  I was crushed and angry.  It was perhaps one of the worst times I ever had as a athlete in high school.  The game was close with not much offense and in the end Edgeley scored the extra point after a fourth quarter touchdown and the game ended with us on the short end of a 13-12 score.  At first I blamed the coach as Edgeley scored both of their touchdowns on runs through our left side.  After all was done I had to admit to myself that IF I had played and the large cut opened up again that would not have been good BUT!!!  We did tie for the championship and were rewarded with a trip to Minneapolis to watch the Vikings play the Colts November 3rd.  As the Colts came out onto the field I was standing near the tunnel and there, within an arm reaches, ran Johnny Unitas who was one of my heros.  

As I walked off the field that afternoon I thought to myself, "Next year there will be NO player who does not check his cleats before practice!  I knew that we were losing some great players but I also knew that we should have a good team in the fall again.  Little did I know that the next football season would be one big disappointment BUT as I live today at the age of 73 sports are the least of my worries!

I hope everyone remembered to turn their clocks back an hour.  I have to NOT say to myself each time I look at the clock that it is actually !!!!! time now!  My FP is history and now on this first day of November it is clean up time for all the papers scattered around this house.