Here we are at Saturday #2 in February 2022 as it is the 12th.

 TERRY

Terry is doing OK today.  She slept a little late but as of 11:00 AM she is watching TV and has read the paper.

Today is a day full of memories.  As I look at my calendar it shows a picture of sister Janet and the writing is 1966.  After dealing with the death of brother Ronald in October of 1964 here we were 16 months later dealing with the death of sister Janet on February 12 of 1966.

The memories go like this.  As I got into my senior year of high school things were not going well at all.  I was the captain of the football team and our quarterback John had a broken arm.  We really had No replacement.  As our bus headed home from a huge loss at Enderlin the gloom in the bus was so thick one could almost cut it with a knife.  After stops in Cogswell and Forman the bus came to Cayuga.  As usual there was no Dad to pick me up so I knew it was Grandma's place for the night.  I was surprised to see Grandms's house all lite up as it was almost midnight.  As soon as I entered into the house there was Grandma with a grim look on her face.  Brother Ronald had been transported to Fargo in serious condition and Mom and Dad had driven to Fargo.  Grandma gave me the keys to her car and said I could drive home.  Well the story goes like this.  Mom and Dad arrived home in the late morning with tear stained faces and the look of having lost a great prize.  Ronald had died in the early morning.  

So that was October 3rd of 1964.  Now we fast forward to the winter of 1966 which was only 16 months later.  Life is greatly changed.  Sargent Central is only a memory in the rear view mirror as I am now a freshman at NDSU in Fargo.  I am now on my own kind of with Mom, Dad and Helen still on the farm I am thinking my future is bright as I am now FREE of the farm which had become an active antique.  I am rooming with my best friend Larry and life seems to be getting back to normal as I still think of Ronald often and miss him so much but life goes on and I am enjoying college life.  Well the fall quarter brought grades that were not the best BUT they were passing and so no complaints.  Dave and Marlys married in September and now we are into the winter quarter and I like my classes better than the fall.  I fall asleep Thursday night thinking maybe I need to get into some social things at college.  It has taken me this long to kind of get out of the mentality of high school, farm and old girl friend!!!  A fellow student who lives on the 3rd floor knocks on the dorm room door mid morning and says there is a call for me.  In those days there were NO cell phones and there was 2 phones for the entire floor.  Sister Joan is on the phone and says that Janet is very sick in bed and could I go over and watch Bob and Esther?  No problem as I had planned to study BUT this was a great excuse to NOT.  I got on my bike with the semi low tires for the snow and headed to south Fargo.  When I arrived Janet was in bed with the dog under the bed and it would not come out.  Esther and Bob were there so I settled in for the day.  It did not take long to realize that Janet was not dealing with the flu but there was something more serious.  I called Joan and said I felt we needed to get Janet to the hospital.  Ron came over and between the two of us we got Janet into the car and headed to St. Lukes.  Well the rest is just kind of blurry.  Joan took Esther and Bob and I headed back to the dorm.  John was called as was Mom, Dad and Glorine. I do not remember the timing but I do believe Janet died the day or the next.  So from my perspective here I was not in a good place.  I was in my first year away from home and now my two oldest siblings were no longer with us.  They were the ones that I looked up to and they were, to me, the model of what older siblings should be.  AND I say that as much as I experienced sadness I am sure it was nothing if measured up to what Mom and Dad went through.  Later in the spring Mom asked at Easter time if I could come home for the summer.  She said Dad needed that.  Well I have written in the past about saying I had to have some transportation and then Dad suggested a motorcycle.  

ALL these memories came flooding back as I looked at my calendar with Janet's picture on today, February 12th.  Oh my the years and decades fly by at now 1966 seems so so so far away.  

Today I note that we have also lost brother Dave how passed away in 2020 so here it is Joan, Helen and myself.  So many memories, so many events and so many fun times are now history.  It seems almost unreal and not fair that not only are person of importance gone but the farm is long gone as well.  

So it is now one day, one week, one month, one year at a time and a person needs to remember, live in the present and look towards the future as life goes on.  AND of course that means FP every day!