New Years

Camp King Officers Club Oberursel, Germany
I may be on line, I don't know. I had a college kid studying computers come to install my printer yesterday and because it was getting late and I really don't like driving after dark I took him home and was going to get him today to finish but the weather set in so I told him I'd come get him when the weather clears up. He is the youngest son of my heat and air conditioner man and that family is really good to me. His Dad comes anytime I call and his Mom makes apple butter that is spectacular and plays the flute for the nursing home residents----she also rides her own motorcycle. He got my printer hooked up but was going to get the computer set up with some more stuff and hook up the Skype. He is a little like the absent-minded professor but he really knows computer stuff. The people around here charge a dollar a minute. This kid was delighted with 20 bucks and didn't really expect anything so as soon as the weather clears I'll go get him to finish and also get him to put in some light bulbs I can't reach and really don't like climbing on ladders anymore. I did get out today and took Maggie's gift to her and picked up some groceries so I'm set now. Annie has been sick--she and Stuart got hung up in a snow bank the other day on the way to work and it took them an hour and a half to dig out and she only had on scrubs and a light jacket plus her kidney is still bothering her. No I don't have plans for New Year's Eve. Dad and I have had some terrific times on that night. We used to go and stay in the hotel or nearby so we didn't have to drive and party like there was no tomorrow or surely you remember the parties we had at Camp King. Susie Jonk used to have the evening party and I would do new years day or visa versa----at any rate it was great fun. We went to Spain one year from Portugal to the Valpariaso Restaurant. Took a Mercedes cab up from the little Hostel in Fungerola to Km 4i/2 up the mountain towards Mijas. It was really pricey but worth it .We had a whole lobster, a small leg of lamb with vegetables and for dessert half a pineapple carved out filled with fruit. An open bar, special wines with the meal. An Irish band and we danced til 4AM and took a taxi back to Fuengirola. Dad introduced me to those kind of things and then I would plan something special for us and he was usually as happy as a gooney bird----one night in Spain we were in Alicante and after we got home we sat on the floor and watched the light house light shine in the window and drank Cointreau and just enjoyed the pleasure of our love. So when I really start feeling low I try to pick out a beautiful memory like that and go with it. It might be fun to go back as far as I can remember and just write about our New year' celebrations and Patti used to call us nearly every new year's she loved that holiday. It is really painful to think of Patti, Mike and Dad not being here anymore but I do Thank God for the time we had together and the memories we shared together. Thanks for writing me-----Josh took his "Tater" and baby Case home today. I'd like to be a fly on the wall as they make it through the first night with new baby but he seemed confident he could do it. I need to get off this back porch as something is wrong with the heating unit and Jack is going to come fix it tomorrow. I Love You---Stay in touch---MOMXO

God Bless America

To my family and friends on this great holiday--A note to wish you a blessed day and remember that today is not about hot dogs and bar-b-cue as great as that is but about freedom that was (and still is being) paid for in blood and sacrifice for many years-----while it appears at this point in time our country is going to hell in a bread basket I do believe that the courage and faith of the average American citizen will prevail. When times are tough---the tough get going and the American spirit is incomparable. I have lived abroad and know this is a great country but we must keep the basic tenets of our forefathers and the principles to which they adhered. and upon which this nation was founded. May God bless and keep you in his warm and loving care and give you the strength to overcome any adversities and enjoy the enormous blessings we have. God Bless America and our troops who are minding the watch while we sleep and keep them safe from harm. Sincerely, Helena, Mom, Oma XO

Meltdown

I am going to get a note book just for instructions. I am also going to start writing every day. I made it through today and had a meltdown after wheel of fortune. The yard man was here and sat patiently in his straw hat and sweaty t-shirt as I told him some of my adventures with Dad. He laughed pretty hard at some of my stories about my life when I was 18 and during the war years. I have got to get things on paper while I am still blessed with a good memory. I love you MOMXXOO

D-Day

Good Morning to all. I am due at work but nothing that can't. wait. I was watching the D-Day ceremonies coming from Normandy beach. There were quite a few of the men who survived, Dad did not go on D-day even tho he shipped over about a month later. It is still very vivid to me. Dad was in Tennessee getting ready to go overseas and I was in Detroit with his Mom and Dad when news of the invasion was broadcast. Patti was born June 30, 1944---Joe came up for her birth and left on July 10th to go back to camp. I was still in the hospital. A couple weeks later he called and ask me to come and spend the weekend with him and I was not to ask any questions. I left Patti with aunt Annie and literally chased the train but got on to spend the weekend-------I was nursing Patti ----forgot to buy a breast pump. It was a weekend in Tennessee and no place to buy a beast pump. By the time I got back to Detroit I was a mess running a fever, actually pretty sick but that didn't matter-----I was with my JOE for a weekend and nothing seemed to matter except we were together. Joe left for overseas shortly thereafter and I didn't see him again until Thanksgiving 1945----Patti was walking and hid behind the couch because she didn't know who he was. Grandma Thomson had fixed a feast and we partied and celebrated the return of our hero and love. Grandma was beside herself with joy that her "Big Lug" had returned to her safe ,maybe not quite so sound because that is a tremendous amount of trauma for a 2o year old to go through but as I heard later at the Airborne conventions---he more than did his share of defending his country---Of course you all know that your Dad was a true Scottish Warrior and remained so in his heart until he could no longer remember. I need to go to work now. Have a blessed day all of you.Remember those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. God was good to us to bring your daddy back from Europe and I was so happy to see him and also brought our Tommy back safe from Vietnam. I cried for days when he was leaving and felt a tremendous JOY when he climbed out of the cab there on Chisholm Trail. My love to all of you and God bless and keep you in his warm and loving care. MOMXXXXXXXOOOOOOO

Easter

A note to my children and friends to wish you a blessed Easter. I am not computer literate enough to make you one of those lovely colorful cards all decorated. However simple the appearance, my note to you is just as meaningful. Easter is a new beginning and joyous that Christ arose and watches over us at all times. Keep the faith--- means just that. Sandy and Terri and Tommy, I really enjoyed your visits and thank you for taking time out of your busy lives to come and honor my 85th (WOW!!!!) birthday For my friends who sent me greetings-----Thanks for remembering. The nursing home where I was director gave me an awesome birthday party complete with a bouquet of Yellow roses and a cake that was Gynormous, iced like a golf fairway----complete with a little golf cart with two sets of clubs and an 18th hole flag. There was enough food cooked by the staff to feed all three shifts and some of the residents. It was pretty awesome. Jennifer, You and sweet Emma have brought a lot of Joy to my life, lately--even tho Jenny I know you have met yourself coming and going lately with your school and work and all-- bringing stuff for rootbeer floats and chips to cheer me up when I was having a meltdown and missing Opa. I feel truly blessed to have the family that God entrusted to my care--and the friends to walk a mile or two with me on my life's journey I love you guys-------I have had a really bad Upper respiratory malady and have been taking it easy the past few days and now I'm going in and watch the finish of the Masters, God Bless and keep you in his loving grace, Helena alias MOM/OMA

Econ Crisis

Hi out there my terrific children-----how' s it going. I'm still in my p.j.'s but felt the need to communicate some thoughts. I made myself some bacon, pancakes and a cup of coffee and sat down to watch T.v and have breakfast. I really enjoy watching Cspan primarily because it's live and what is said or done is there! After awhile I get a little weary of watching Who's your Daddy and 17 guys show up-----used to if you turned up " in the family way " unmarried either you were kicked out' sent away or some fella had a gun at the back of his neck and he took care of his responsibilities. As sure as "hell" we didn't expect uncle Sam to pay for our frivolities.Now we ---never mind I don't want to get side tracked from my original thought and so back to Cspan. There was a senator from Vermont , unfortunately the phone rang before I could write his name down, but he was talking about what this great and beautiful country did in 1941 when we got prepared for a war in Europe and in Asia . I was 18 years old and had lived through a depression where my Mother and Father "made do" with what they had and provided for us as best they could with whatever talents that were honest and true----you know I have told you that Mother picked cotton to pay tuition for daddy's education through Pharmacy school and we went to the cotton patch with her at somewhere around the ages of my little brother was three or four and I was five or six.but that is also another story. Generally' people have so much today they have forgotten what the BASICS are-----Tom and Sandy I know that you can pull up a few memories as you were brought up when your Dad's income and my supplemental income left a lot to be desired. In order to achieve what we have to achieve what we must to get this country back on track and really look at what is going on. The major change has to come from changing the whole mentality from a ME society to a We society. Think about it???????In 1942 lots and lots of things were rationed---Sugar, bedsheets, tires all sorts of things. We adapted to what we had to do to win the war and keep this country free and honor the blood that was shed and about to be shed in order to do so. When I followed Dad to Germany In 1946 things were rationed . The Officers had a different set of rations than did the enlisted based on an honor system of achievement. In other words there was a sense of reward when you worked hard to better your circumstances in life. We are created equal as we are born into this world naked and go out basically the same way . What we do with what the Good Lord provided us is up to us. The infirm,crippled and elderly should be taken care of up to a point They too should be provided the opportunity to maintain as much dignity and privilege to provide for themselves as opposed to the dependency society we now have. FDR was a great president and created the WPA and CCC so men could work and feed their families and feel some self respect. Used to if the wife worked it was an insult to the husband. It meant the man was not taking care of his responsibilities. The Woman's movement was good up to a point as it provided a way for women to achieve things and go places they had never been before. However from my perspective it has been carried much to far. For the most part Men no longer have the opportunity to be a " Cavalier". Look the word up. It may only exist in the European dictionary. Obama wants change----we need to change but from what I saw that the money was going toward is a farce----why do we want to refurbish the "Mall" in DC. ----that won't put food in the stomachs of the working class who's money they are stealing to provide more perks for some crooked politicians and CEO's and There's a certain Ms. P. that is the 3rd strongest person in our government that I personally would like to tell to put a sock in it as she has no clue what the average American is dealing with I would not trade for the time in which I was born and raised and the principles and beliefs with which I was raised. I should have left your Dad alone in what he was trying to teach you--He told me he was trying to prepare you for a cold world out there so you could survive when you left home no matter what. I have to go now --sorry if I have clogged up you computer. Is it going to take the survivors of previous times of disaster in this country to hold the mirror up to those in control and say to them "hey, this isn't working." I love you guys and respect you for your strengths to endure.MOMXXXXXXXXOOOOOO

Life

Life and how we live it-----in my circumstance it's pretty scattershot and always has been. I came in from work last night----opened a can of Tamales ---yeah! yeah1 I don't know how healthy they are for you but I love them and besides I only ate half and put half in the ice box for whomever might be dropping by or myself. However back to the subject------I have found that Multi tasking is the best way to go. My mother, my husband and my sister all accused me of being the slowest, most disorganized person they had ever known but while they were running their mouths I was running my agenda. A couple of my kids accuse me of having aliens in the garage that fixed the huge meals they partook when they all came home at once with kids and spouses in tow. You two and you know what I'm talking about especially you ,Sandy who used to stick some of everything aside to take home to your Chef husband. I came in from work last night , washed my hands and culled the butter beans I had put on to soak before I left for work (they cook faster) if you soak them and that's what I did last night while I watched the 4th quarter of the Superbowl and put them up in freezer containers,------I also took time to put the ham out that I had put in the freezer left from a ham I baked a couple of weeks ago and put it in the butter beans also took some hamburger out of the freezer as I had a head of cabbage in the veggie drawer ----Are you keeping up?----sooooo this morning after a good night's sleep I woke up shortly before five fixed myself some of that beautiful instant oatmeal and coffee and set about making stuffed cabbage---to do that I put on a pan of boiling water to pre-cook the cabbage leaves ,two for every cabbage roll you plan to make. I looked at the amount of hamburger I had and mentally calculated how many cabbage rolls it would make when I got it all put together (and if I couldn't do that after all these years there's something wrong) so I cooked 12 outside cabbage leaves and while they were softening up I mixed the meat, It went something like this:1 lb ground beef or turkey if you like-- 1pkg onion soup dry added to the meat 1 egg--=season with1/4th tsp paprika and mix. add about a 1/2 cup of dried, uncooked oatmeal (some people like rice but Grandma Thomson taught me oatmeal had more protein and would stick to the ribs better 2 things I loved that beautiful Scotch/Irish woman who could conjure a meal up from next to nothing and believed what she told me and she was frugal---not cheap but FRUGAL----a lot of people today are going to learn the difference in today's economy.and Scots love oatmeal. I was told that that's what they have in that little purse they have on their kilts that covers their you know whats-----raw in case they got stranded and after being married to a Scotsman who had to guide his commanding officer through the Battle of the Bulge and years later back from Juarez ,Mexico to El Paso(but that's another story) so back to the stuffed cabbage---you mix all the meat together and make a small hamburger ball and wrap it in the softened cabbage leaf. Place in a slightly oiled pan and cover with a can of tomatoes and two cans of tomato sauce or one large can with a little water so the cabbage is covered and cook over a low heat for about an hour while you write your kids a letter on the computer or fold laundry or shower or whatever ---and if you are a working mother this can be done in the crock pot so when everyone comes in in the evening the house smells wonderful and inviting and makes everyone so much happier. There's almost nothing that smells like a home with good stuff cooking, I should have had a cooking show and ended up independently wealthy instead of cooking so much with your Dad and ending up with 8 kids. You can give the money away. Which crossed my mind about the kids when they hit their teens. Well----the cabbage rolls are finished and can be served over boiled or mashed potatoes , rice or eaten with a beautiful dark bread and a good , hearty red wine, Pickled beets would be a good side dish. I am trying to decide if I want to check my eyelids for leaks for about an hour or go on to work. The staff is not used to seeing me before 11 O'clock so I think I will just do the first thing. Tip for the day-----use you oven to the fullest by planning meals and desserts that can be cooked at once in the oven, LUV you guys MOMXXOO Terri can you put this and the letter I wrote last week on my Blog? Please Thanks love Mom

ME!!!!!!

I should be on my way to work but had some thoughts I needed to put on paper. I watched Oprah the other day and It was about putting yourself back on the list--------I have not felt well since October. Before that I was feeling great-----so I really don't know what transpired that sent me on a downward spiral. I just know for the greater part of my life it has been about what would make someone else happy or make life easier for them----never mind what toll it took on me. I thought I had found the answer when I went to nurse practitioner school. A big part of that program was about how to value yourself and it gave me the courage to face whatever issues that came along and there were issues with Dad about going back to school and neglecting the family -----with the general medical community in pioneering such a new concept as a Nurse doing many of the "Mickey Mouse" things that Doctors had done for years. Now it is much more than that. I have really sabotaged myself for years now into putting everyone else first and allowing myself to be----No! that is not true---I have not even allowed that. The question is "Am I feeling bad because I have devalued myself as a person or am I devaluing myself and that is causing me to approach life in a negative way?" I had never felt OLD until well into Dad's illness-----watching him disappear was extremely difficult to begin with---in the back of my mind Dad was indestructible and never in my wildest dreams did I think I would ever see His name on the electric gate sign telling others when his services would be or that I would be sitting with Annie at his bed side watching him taking his last breath and changing appearance from a tired demented old man to the handsome man I had so much admired for his strength of character--his daring-do ways, his tenets and creed and for what he taught me and most of all his courage to stand up for what he believed I do so appreciate both of you in that you are like friends who listen and neither of you has said to me get over it and move on .God!! how I appreciate that. I have accomplished so much in my lifetime there is great thought in ----to what? I'm in my eighties. I have no energy to take on a new relationship.Dad was bigger than life to me and sometimes when I just looked at him I felt like a kid looking in a huge department store window at Christmastime.-----completely awestruck as I was the first time I laid eyes on him-----he ruled and there were times when his behavior made me just want to do him in and tell God he died but that was the behavior and not the person. SOOOOO now I really must find my way back from the loss of beautiful vivacious Patti, my accomplished son Michael who tried so hard to please his Dad but never quite got there and Dad.------Those losses have had such an impact on my tender and loving soul----but I know in my heart if I just set my mind not on the losses but what I have left to ponder over-----I will be OK. Now I really must be on my way. I truly feel that my blessing s are many and the good Lord dwells within me and has given me the strength to get through some really tough times in my remarkable life and he will continue to do so. Thanks again for being there. I love you guys MOMXXOO

Personal changes.

Good morning my beauties----It's a little chilly out here on the back porch but that's where the computer is and I choose to be. I was lying in my warm bed a bit ago, thinking (that's what the racket was) about the changes that have come about in me since Dad died. I finally admitted to myself that I have become a coward------your Dad kept me on my toes and challenged me which was goood for me as that's how I was raised. Always trying to be good enough to get approval, not so much from myself but from the one that happened to be managing my life at the time-----primarily BIG MAMA and then your dad Terri, you told me that I was having a hard time because I didn't know who I was and you are absolutely right. I have had very little time in my life to figure out or be by myself alone with my thoughts Things have almost always been about "somebody else ". A lot of that is good but now that I no longer have that I finally realize that I must fill that void------I have lots of acquaintances and working colleges and patients who respect and admire me but they steer clear of me as one of them told me once when we were golfing that most of the younger women were "sort of in awe of me because of who I was and what I had accomplished ". That seemed like a bunch of BS as I don't see myself as anybody special. I know I have done a lot of special things,which I intend to get on paper but to me it was just that the sun came up and life happened, the sun went down and life also happened. I was presented with amazing opportunities and with the help of God managed to take advantage of that. Soooooo I am going to have to take a good hot shower and wash the yellow streak off my back and figure out a way to be comfortable in my own skin without somebody daring me to be something other than a sweet little girl from West Texas who is Happy to see a magnificent sunset or hear a newborn baby cry and hold it to her breast to nourish It. Dad is out here with me ----every now and then I hear a strange noise and sense he is standing behind me reading this letter and wondering "What the Hell is she talking about". There are times when I feel he has just given me a soft tender kiss like he used to do when he was feeling a special deep love for me in his heart and not just in his pants There are different kisses you know. .I need to get dressed and go to work and watch those who are younger than me struggling with devastating illness, mental and physical. Then I will also thank God for my family, my life and all the other blessings he has bestowed on me throughout the 80 plus years I have been on this earth and was blown in here along with 13 windmills in a sandstorm that happens only in West Texas------That's what Mother told me as she didn't want me to know what you do to make a baby. But then I met this fast talking Yankee who told me all about it and showed me all about how beautiful life can be and between us that was probably the best part. I'm o.k. and hope this is not too much for you guys on a glorious Saturday morning to get such a letter from me. I'm going in and fix some fresh coffee---a cup for me and a cup for dad. He really enjoyed a good cup of coffee. There were times he would fix some himself and bring me a cup in bed. So much for now-----I'm going in to get ready for work and resist the temptation to crawl back under the warm covers and watch movies all day long. I love you guys and thanks for being there for me. Terr, I guess I should have put this on my blog but I really didn't know how . I will get with you next week and you can talk me through it or maybe you can forward it. God Bless you both MOMXXOO.

Printer

Hi Terri--Got your Blog . Thanks, it is really great and gives me some good ideas. Followed your advice and now the printer is up and running and I can put together a little album memento for Pat and Jimmy. Also for Kaye and Ann as I have pictures they don't have. Thanks so much for your help. What a great picture of Dad---Thank you it helped----all day long I have just wanted to crawl back into bed----but now I am going to throw a couple of Lemon cakes in the oven and let them cook while I play with the computer---Dad loved a slice of lemon cake with the peaches I had put up in the season and a dollop of Cool-Whip on top. He was a man of simple pleasures,Rum and coca cola , beautiful and meaningful lovemaking and good food-----Probably in that order. I was a willing student while he patiently and for the most part calmly went about teaching me what he wanted me to know. He taught me how to be strong in the face of adversity as did my Mother and between the two of them I have been able to survive the good and bad of a most interesting life. I thank God every morning for my blessings and for blessing me so. So much for now---I am multitasking as usual. I am so glad you are over the" Mal de Mer". Until next time my beautiful and great-hearted daughter---I love you MomXXOO