Here is March 20 and we start the last full week of the month

 TERRY

As I sit down to write Terry has been awake for some time and has read part of the paper.  As I went into the kitchen to get a refill of FP it looks like she has fallen asleep with the paper on the bed.  I would say she is doing fairly well BUT she has this nasty rash and we can not get rid of it.  I am thinking we may need to go in to urgent care today.  I hate to do that as it is not easy to get up, into the car and get going but it does not look like it is getting better and really something has to be done.  We will see as the morning goes on.  I have tried several anti itch creams and they seem to make it more mild but does not take it away.  

I will start with some comments and a memory on this Sunday morning.

Watching the NCAA men's tournament over the last few days has brought back many memories of my high school days.  Many of them are really fun to recall and of course some are not so pleasant!  This is from our annual from 1965, the year we were seniors.  Before I get into that year I will say a bit about the basketball I have been watching today.  I would say college men's BB has pretty much turned into a contact sport.  I can hardly believe the pushes, the shoves, the hacks etc etc as I watch and most of the time the whistle does not sound.  Regardless on to my senior year.  We actually had a good team and ended up with a record above 500 while we played several school much larger than us including in a Fargo tournament etc.  But the memories are vivid and kind of fun to remember.  Some things that are of note.:

• John lived in Forman and had the good fortune of playing a lot of pick up ball in town.  Because of that he was a great ball handler and a very good player.
• I, on the other hand, had the experience of playing by myself much of the time in the BB court we had by the barn.  We put up the hoop to the height of 10 feet and had a real basketball rim and net BUT the court itself was dirt/grass so the dribbling skills were hard to come by!  In the winter I would practice in the hay barn with a 5 gallon pail with the bottom cut out hanging on the wall 10 feet high.  Well one does not have to be real smart to know that my experience MAY lead to good shooting but not some much ball control if you know what I am saying.  
• John on the other hand had many many scrimmages with other guys on the outdoor courts in Forman where it was cement and actually dribbling became an art kind of!  He saved us many times during the year with his ball handling skills.
• So what did that translate too?  Well John was the guy we went to for bringing the ball up court and also dribbling and passing to break the press.  
• I will not say a lot but my scoring average was the best on the team as shooting was my strong point.  
• One of the things I remember and this is not really that important.  I took pride in my free throws and was always upset if I missed a shot.  I looked in our annual and saw that the 13th game of the season was against Briton SD and in the second half I missed my first free throw of the season.  If I remember I was going for #17 when I missed.  I have no idea what I did after that but I remember being upset.  AND we lost the game by 2 so that was not such a good thing!  BUT I still say we lost because coach Wohler did not put me in the game for the first several minutes!!  Why?  I forgot my put up socks that were part of our uniform!!!  No more said about that.
• I am very very thankful for my sports experiences in HS in both football and basketball.  It actually was sports that made HS kind of a fun time.  Well there may have been other interests too but will not get into them today!!!
• To this day I can remember the last day of my HS sports career.  We had lost in the opening round of the district BB tournament but had gone on to play in the 5th place game and I had something like 27 points as it was a good day of shooting for me.  The game was in the afternoon and it was in Wydemere ND.  We beat Lidgerwood so it was a winning end to the season BUT really it was the end of my HS career and it was sad sad.  Larry, Pat, JoEllen and I spent about an hour after the game walking the street of Wydemere with nothing in mind just kind of a dead end kind of walk.  We knew the bus was leaving in an hour and we kind of walked, talked and maybe kind of made like it was the end of the road IF you know how HS kids can be.  As I boarded the bus for the short trip back to Cayuga I almost felt as if it was the end of HS even though we had at least 2 months left.  As I look back on it I guess it kind of was a bit typical for HS students!!!  For me it meant that for the most part HS was over.  Yes there were two months left but for me sports was HS.
• And of course one might suspect that after brother Ronald died in October of my senior year often when I became deep in thought he came to mind and at times tears flowed pretty freely.  Of course I could not know that 16 months down the road when I was a college freshman sister Janet died and once again our family was in an emotional turmoil which included me as well.
• I was a senior when Ronald died and to this day I remember the months following Ronald's death.  Our home was not a fun place nor a happy place and of course I do NOT blame Mom and Dad.  I was not living at home when Janet died but Helen was and I am thinking she felt the pain very very much through Mom and Dad.  What can one do in those situations?  Well for sure the pain is real and difficult to deal with.  One can say well you just have to accept and say it was the Lord's territory but that does not push away the pain.  You can accept and move on but you can not shove pain under the rug.  You must accept, pray, share and then move on with life as best you can.  Time does heal but it does leave scars as well.

Here I am at 9:15 and I am going to listen to church on the computer.  I have found that it is better for us to have church on the computer than for me to go alone to church.  So it is about that time.  AND what the heck I can drink FP as I watch and pray.  Really, I have found one can pray and have a cup of FP in your hand at the same time.  Not all the time but some of the time.  As I talk about church I think back at the last family reunion we had in Rapid City as we all went to church with Glorine.  That was special.  

So time to sign off and get on with the day.