Go Big Red!

"January 1, 1995:  We're both on the mend.  Didn't go to church.  Jean called today.  They will go to Florida next Sunday.  The Cornhuskers defeated Miami -- they are National Champions.  Game was exciting.
January 2, 1995:  Greta came and put things away for me -- like Christmas boxes, etc.  She took me to her place and cut the strips for my 9-patch sampler quilt and for a baby quilt for Lora.
January 3, 1995:  Tom came in p.m. for wood.  We played a few games of Pitch.  Cold - cold - cold but no strong wind."

Sweet!  I probably watched the football game but cannot recall anything about it.  I really reading and being reminded, however, that we beat Miami.  I do remember watching the one game (Orange Bowl?) when we could have tied with a point-after kick, but went for two and didn't make it and lost.  I watched that in Wahoo with Dale and Lynn when they lived up there.

Speaking of Dale, here we are with a homemade tackling dummy.

Bad weather and bad luck at cards

"April 13, 1993:  Bad day -- rain, sleet and hail pellets!!
April 14, 1993:  WELCA -- cold and cloudy.
April 15, 1993:  Jean, Hank and two granddaughters here.
April 16, 1993:  Pinochle Club's play off party was here.  Laura, Ella, Ida and I were the losers."

I am guessing even in the confusing-to-me game of Pinochle, losing is bad so that's why I mentioned bad luck at cards.  But I am open to correction.  I really need to figure out how to play Pinochle just to make sure I am a well-rounded person.

I wish I remembered Hank better.  By all accounts he was a great guy.

I don't know if it was raining or sleeting or hailing on the day this photo was taken, but it does look like it was a chilly day at least.

A-visiting to Wahoo

"September 12, 1992:  Jean, Dorothy Jo and Hank here in p.m.
September 13, 1992:  John and Helen took Howard and me to Wahoo to have dinner at Bill and Jenny's.  A delicious dinner of course, and a good visit.
September 14, 1992:  TOPS met here in p.m.  Have changed meeting night from Wednesday to Monday."

Not much to work with here.  I do like the mention of a delicious dinner.  And how Jean and Hank, usually referred to as such, had Dorothy Jo inserted in the middle there.  Quirky, Grandma.  Quirky.

With visiting and good times in mind, here is a photo of two gents certainly looking to be enjoying themselves.  I believe it is Nels Petersen on the left, Little Grandma's brother and Peter Iversen on the right.  Also, they have a little friend there between them.  Cheers!

Poor Dane again, maybe

"September 6, 1992:  Greta, Howard and I left at 6:30 for Lincoln.  Greta took us to Nancy's and then went to Mary's.  Nancy had dinner for us and Tom's.  In p.m. to Dale's for Dane's birthday.
September 9, 1992:  Went to Ladies Aid.
September 10, 1992:  Irene D. came in a.m. and shampooed the carpet.  Jean and Hank stopped for a few minutes in p.m.
September 11, 1992:  Irene D. came and vacuumed the carpets."

I have to wonder if this is the party for Dane when we all hid in the garage.  Dale or Lynn said something to Dane about his bike being missing and maybe stolen and they lured him in to the garage to check where we all promptly scared the poor kid to death.  If it wasn't this birthday, it was maybe the next one as I remember he was pretty young.  It's a wonder he isn't scarred for life.  Turns out he was more scarred by watching a show about a kid being abducted that he watched after Dale fell asleep and couldn't change the channel.  But I think I wrote about that before.

Here's a photo of Grandpa anxiously awaiting the trip to Lincoln.  (Actually it was taken in 1989, but he sure does look like he's anxiously awaiting something.)

Hosper

"January 16, 1992:  Jean and Hank here for dinner.  They have been at Tom's -- are on their way to Tennessee to see Scott and family and then on to Marjorie's in Florida.  In p.m. they took Helen and me to visit Irene.
January 17, 1992:  Pinochle Club at Laura J.'s.  Arlene R. took me to club."

I often think of Marjorie's cat when I think of Marjorie.  At one of the family reunions (when I talked to people other than the ones I see all the time), I asked her if Hosper was still around.  She said he was and that he was over 20 years old.  He wasn't up to much anymore, but did like to lay in the sun on the driveway.  Sometimes he would start to groom himself but in his old age would forget to move to a new spot.  Eventually he would lick all the hair away and be down to bare skin.  She said he would have hair stuck to his tongue and would stop with a befuddled look on his little cat face.  I am not sure how old he was when he died, but he has gone on to kitty heaven.  He had one of the coolest names ever for a cat.  Or any pet for that matter; Hosper Jean Tom Rospierre Calcavecchia.  Jean is with the French pronunciation, like John with a "Zsh" at the beginning.  And "Tom" may have a French spelling but I went with the more familiar.

Here's a photo of some unknown Siamese cat in place of Hosper, who was Siamese.

March, all at once

"March 1, 1990:  March came in like a lamb -- but had a sleet storm on 6th and 7th.  We ladies finished my quilt on Wed. March 14.  The last week of March I pieced the 20 blocks for a 9-patch sampler quilt.  Jean and Hank were here Thurs. March 29.  LeRoy P. died of cancer -- was buried March 19.  Shirley F. died of cancer -- was buried March 27."

I am guessing from what she did write, that all of March is condensed in one entry because Grandma was busy quilting and sewing quilt blocks that month.

Jean and Hank.  I must admit I do not remember Hank very well, but from all accounts he was one heck of a good guy.  Not that he minded, I am sure, but it was probably hard to make a memorable impression on a youngster like myself when your other half was Jean.  People talk about someone walking in and lighting up a room; I think Jean made a room sparkle.  I don't recall that she ever seemed nanoseconds away from a good laugh or a good story.  I wish I had written down some of her never-before-heard sayings when we visited in 2004.  The only one I remember is "oh, for crying out the window." 

In a family of quite a few stay-put people, Jean and her sister Marjorie, were adventurous enough to go to Washington DC to work for the Navy when they were young women.  They were there for V-J Day.  The two of them jumped on a street car and went downtown to join in all the celebrating.  After a time the street cars weren't running anymore because of all the people in the streets and they finally got a ride back to their apartment with a Chinese General.  Wow.

Nancy has saved family Christmas letters for some time and told me of a story in Jean's 1994 letter about her putting a plastic plate full of her granddaughter's bars in the oven to save them from a kitten that didn't know yet about staying off of counters.  Hank set the oven on preheat to make a meatloaf.  Well, the plastic plate caught fire.  Jean described in humorous detail her repeated confessions that it was all her fault, how Hank let a "huge black genie" out of the oven when he opened it, and about her son's dashing around finding not one, but two, non-functioning fire extinguishers.  Oh, and the granddaughter's running around crying and scooping up kittens to save from the raging inferno.  Lastly, Jean spoke of her and Hank cleaning up afterwards and busting out laughing often as they did so.  What a bunch!

The picture I have here isn't the best, but Jean has her eyes closed in the other one I have from that trip, so I went with this one.