Here we are on the first Saturday of March, 2022 and it is the 5th.

 TERRY

I got out of bed at 5:15 and Terry was awake shortly after that.  Here it is 7:25 and she is into the paper.  I do not know if she was dreaming or what but at about 4:30 she woke me up and said, "I can not get out of bed!"  I just said yes I know dear but please go back to sleep.  There are times that I have thoughts about HOW we will get her to the wedding and how that will go as it is Memorial weekend.  Time will tell and for now we will experience one day at a time.

It was April 7th of 1966

It was a Thursday and I was looking forward to a weekend at home.  Tomorrow will be Good Friday and for me yes, it will be good.  I have been kind of on edge since February when sister Janet died.  I know that both Mom and Dad have been having a difficult time and I was not looking forward to spending time at home but yet I knew it was the right thing to do.  I caught a ride home mid afternoon on Thursday with the idea I would do my best but was already looking forward to getting back to campus on Sunday afternoon.  I had been able to kind of do OK in my spring classes but that darn janitor job at Churchill dorm was actually kind of a getaway.  In work study one could put in 20 hours a week and for the money that was good but now it was good actually just to get out of my dorm room and into a situation where I could kind of get lost in my thoughts as I mopped floors, cleaned bathrooms and all the good stuff.  

I had started my work at Churchill in the fall and that was not just a good thing.  Many football players stayed there and after Saturday games my job on Sunday was not so pleasant if you get the picture.  It seemed like the football players were the worst.  AND I had the misfortune of dropping my wallet and some guy picked it up and changed the date so her could buy beer!!!  That ended with me getting a call from the Moorhead police!  

Anyway here I was on my way home for the long Easter Weekend.  As one might expect the mood at home was not all very joyous.  On Friday afternoon Mom and I happened to be in the living room alone and she, with some nervousness in her voice,  kind of threw out an idea.  She wanted me to come home for the summer and work!  I looked at her with eyes that maybe said, "I can not believe you are saying that."  Mom went on to say that Dad was just in a bad way.  She said it would really help him if I could spent the summer working at home.  I sat on the couch and within about a minute hundreds of thoughts went through my mind.  First of all I already had a new job lined up at college and I was looking forward to spending the summer in Fargo.  Dave and I had talked and were looking forward to golf and spending time together with no school in the way.  Then I, in my mind only, took a survey of what a summer might be like on the farm.  That was not a good thought.  Being away from people with really nothing to do outside of work was not a pleasant idea.  BUT in the end I just told Mom that I would think about it.  Later that day after I had done my usual by climbing up the light pole by the barn and spending time lying on the west side of the roof THINKING I came up with a thought.  I told mom that I could come home but only if I had wheels to get around and that did not mean Dad's car.  Well dad did not get into the conversation which was usual but the next day Mom said Dad could help me buy a motorcycle if I came home.  Now that peaked my interest!  Dad then got into things.  He said he knew there was a Harley dealer in Aberdeen SD and we could go there sometime and look.  In hind sight I think he had looked there already but I do not know that.  So it was planned.  I would come home in two weeks and Dad and I would drive to Aberdeen on the 23rd to see what they had. Dad also said that he cold pay me $500 for summer work which of course I had to have money for the next year of college.  I figured that I could make more if I stayed in Fargo but then I still would be getting around on my bicycle and that did not compare to a motorcycle.  So my mind was filled with many many thoughts over the next couple of weeks and I am guessing maybe, just maybe, the studies did not go so well!  Anyway I got a ride home on the 22nd and Dad and I headed to Aberdeen the next day.  It did not take very long for me to decide.  I ended up riding home on this sleek black 250 Sprint and the rest is history so to speak.  I should say that I think Mom and Dad did better than one could expect that summer.  They were less then 2 years out from Ronald's death and less than 4 months out from Janet's death.  Yes, it would not be unusual to see tears in Mom's eyes from time to time BUT I like to think that me being home for the summer helped in some small way.  I admit I really did nothing to make things easier but perhaps just being home was in some way a small help.  Yes, I did do farm work and that was good for Dad but I also admit that when Sundays came I was away someplace on my cycle.  

So ends my story of the summer of 1966 and as I hear Terry asking for a leg rub I will sign off with half a cup of FP left.