TERRY
It is 10:20 as I write and Terry is in the middle of the paper but fell asleep for a time. I would say she is the same today as yesterday. So one day at a time as I often say.
The weather is currently 76 with a high expected to be 82. Nice January weather I would say.
I am going to go down memory lane today for a time. It will be about the Ruby and Lawrence family.
It all started in June of 1935. At that time both Mom and Dad were 23 and I am guessing that was kind of an old age for marriage back then. I would say Mom was a looker and Dad this handsome guy and so marriage was a go. They moved onto the farm that Dad had grown up on as his parents moved to a farm a few miles away. Mom lived to be 83 and Dad to 85.
In 1936 Ronald was the first of 6 to arrive on the scene. He would grow up to be a smart, good looking and successful man. It seemed that he could do pretty much anything he wanted to do as his work and his brain went hand in hand with so many things. Well there was a tiny bit, and maybe more than a tiny bit, of mischief in Ronald which came out in many ways. I could tell the story of his home brewed beer exploding in the dorm room to girls that he brought home to meet Mom and Dad. He was a wonderful BIG brother and greatly influence my life. Tragedy struck in October of 1964. Ronald died in a Fargo hospital and it changed the Lee family forever.
As much as I could talk about Ronald I would say he did not outdo sister Janet. She came into the family in 1938 and Mom had her daughter. Janet was the second and last of the 6 kids to board in Lidgerwood while going to high school. If you wanted an example of a popular gal Janet fit the bill perfectly. After HS she enrolled in college in Ellendale ND where Ronald was. There she met the love of her life John and they tied the knot in January of 1968. Jane got her two year degree and she and John, also a teacher, moved to Kulm where John taught. Later Ronald and Glorine would join him on the faculty in Kulm. Janet did not work outside the home as the Lee's first grandchild arrived as Esther came on the scene. Janet filled her time with sewing, knitting etc and I would say she became an expert at whatever she did. In 1965 John got an assignment to go over seas as he was a helicopter pilot and the war was going on. Janet became sick and in February of 1966 Mom and Dad lost a second child and the impact was devestating to put it mildly. Janet left behind a husband, two young children and a family that was reeling from the death.
Well we go back to 1942 and sister Joan came on the scene which made three children now. Joan would grow up to be a pillar in whatever she did. She also carried on Janet's charm as she became the second homecoming queen in the family! From Osco Drug to many other jobs Joan, with her always white polished shoes, became the indespensible employee wherever she worked. Today she is the proud GREAT GRANDMA of quads among many many other things. AND I might add at the age of 79 is going strong and it looks like she will pass both mom and dad in age.
Mom and Dad were happy with the three kids BUT with all their talents and charm they thought why not try for more! Dave came along in 1944. I would say Dave had at least as much ability as Dad in terms of doing things. I mean he added on to their home in Jamestown, an addition larger than the house. He rebuilt vehicles, he played music and the list goes on and on and on. At an age of around 65 or so Dave started having issues with his heart which had been detected as defective when he was in HS. After a major surgery and many other medical things one night, at the age of 75 Dave drew his last breath as he and Marlys were watching TV. IF a person ever was looking for a model man to be like Dave would fit the bill "for sure".
Well now I am at "ME". What should I say as one should not brag nor put down self, right?? I will just say that now, as I approach 75, I feel the I have lived a good life with some ups and some downs. Could I have done better? I think so. Could things have been worse? I think so. At this time I feel I still have things to do, places to go and projects to complete!
Lastly we come to Helen. She was born in 1950 nine months after Dad returned from deer(dear) hunting! I think Dad said something like this to Mom, I love you deer!!!" Helen, like her siblings, has had a life of success and much more. From several years in the Air Force to a salesperson and many other things I would say her life is an example of success and DOING. Even now at the advanced age of 7? she is working, doing things with friends and all kinds of things. She did move out of the wonderful house she and Mike built and now has a smaller place which I am sure is nice but not up to the standard of the one they built. I have to add that she became the THIRD of the three sisters to be homecoming queen. Do you think MOM was proud????
So that is the end of my writing today. I hope I did not make one person look better than another. I would say that the 6 children that were the result of Mom and Dad's marriage ALL were in their own right gifted, good looking and people who made the world around them a better place. Now as Joan, Helen and I are left I know all three of us are thankful for our upbringing (OK so it was not perfect but whose is), our spouses and our kids. I would say that the best part of the Lee family is what is coming down the road as kids and grandkids arrive at adulthood with ideas, plans and dreams. What they may accomplish probably will make what us kids did look like peanuts!
In Laws for another day!!!
That is all for now.
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