Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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In honor of our mom, Sandy, we, her children, wanted to write one last “Just a Thought” column for her that spanned nearly a full decade. It seemed fitting since all we ever hear from the community is how much they enjoyed and missed her writing. Before we left the hospital the evening of March 7, Mom made what would be her final request, that we didn’t forget to give her cat, Ginger, her treats. The ideas came flooding in on how appropriate of a “last request” that truly was for Mom. One Last Thought Before I Go... All throughout her life,...
Textbooks have been closed, last tests taken, and new journeys have begun. For some, those journeys are a new path in life. Over the years, parents have done their best to raise their children to be responsible adults, holding themselves accountable for their actions and words, and helping others. They’ve also taught their children about managing their time and money. Parents have taken time to tell their children about their hopes and dreams for them. However, the hopes they have for their children may not be the same as what the children h...
The past few months have been in turns sweet, bittersweet, hopeful, lonesome, loving and grief. The end of January my husband was diagnosed with inoperable bladder cancer. After 10 days in the hospital in Billings we returned home. A month later he entered Valley View Nursing Home in Glasgow where he passed away on April 18. He now rests in our family’s cemetery. I am so grateful our sons and oldest daughter were with us the last four days of his life. We didn’t leave him alone for one moment. The tribute paid to my husband by our friends, neig...
Time. We talk about a long time, a short time. What is a long time? A month? A year? Fifty years? A short-time could be a week, two weeks, a month. Time is dependent upon the situation we are in, what we are waiting on, plans for a vacation, attending a family reunion, or a wedding. My husband and I celebrated our Golden Wedding anniversary in October of last year. It was difficult to believe we had been married 50 years. But looking at our five children, their spouses and our grandchildren, it was easy to see where 50 years had gone. Seeing...
As the year advances, my thoughts turn from what book to read or which craft to continue working on to my vegetable garden and how many varieties of flowers I want to decorate my yard. Many folks say they know Spring is near when their Gurney’s catalog arrives. I know I can spend hours looking at the colorful pictures and reading descriptions and prices. Then there’s the list to write and rewrite over and over again. While looking at the catalog, memories surface of gardens and flowers of years past. Like the year I planted a large ring of Swee...
Well it seems winter finally arrived with snow and zero temperatures. So I imagine that four-footed rodent was right. We are in for a few more weeks of winter. The winter of 1968-1969 saw a lot of snow. I remember that on a day in January of 1969 my husband went out to start the car so we could go to church. But we never made it there because with the temperature at 47 degrees below zero the car wouldn’t start. February of 1978 is still embedded in my memories. For me and my family we were snowed in for right at three weeks. That length of t...
We will be celebrating a holiday this week -- Valentine’s Day. The usual purchases will be made -- candy, flowers, jewelry. But have you thought about a different way to celebrate Valentine’s Day? It could be so much fun to surprise someone with an unexpected gift. I’m sure we all know of people who are living alone. Granted there are some who have family or close friends who will celebrate the day with them. But what about the ones who have no family around or who are hospitalized or in the nursing home? Even a single rose or small bouqu...
The past weeks have been filled with medical appointments and tests, consultations with doctors, and changes in medicines. With traveling added to everything, it’s been quite exhausting and I’ve been sleeping a lot. Yet, with all that’s happened, I’m grateful. Grateful for so much. A family that takes care of me, that does so much for both me and my husband. Then there’s the medical personnel who truly care about me. They take time to discuss any concerns I may have and my questions. If they can’t answer me, they research for the answer and...
Time for an update. I’ve not written my column for a while because of health issues. The first thing I want to do is say thank you to our children and grandchildren for the wonderful party they gave us for our 50th wedding anniversary. Next, thank you to all who attended the party, sent us cards, and extended their congratulations. We’ve been asked at times what our secret is for being married 50 years. As other couples who have been wed for 50 years or more will tell you, there really is no secret. For us it was taking life one day at a tim...
While doing some shopping recently, I noticed empty shelves in stores. They were empty because all Halloween merchandise had been removed. And it was slowly being replaced not with Thanksgiving items, but instead everything connected with Christmas. My mind drifted back to when I was young and would be so excited about Thanksgiving. I so looked forward to Dad saying it was time to crack and clean the black walnuts we’d gathered in the woods. Because that meant Mom was getting everything together to make the special cookies and pastry that s...
A rule in internet chat rooms is that two topics you are asked not to discuss are politics and religion. It is easy to understand that rule. Those two topics can cause violent reactions. Everyone has their own opinions and ideas about politics and religion and we should be able to discuss them in a respectful manner. But, as we know and lately have seen, that is not always the case. It is not only sad but heartbreaking as well to see what’s been happening in our country and our world. There has been many ideas offered as to why, greed, p...
Last Saturday, Ellie, our seven-year-old granddaughter, watched me as I started crocheting a set of potholders. Seeing how intensely she was watching me, I asked her if she wanted to learn how to crochet. With a big smile, she enthusiastically shook her head yes. So, I told her to go get a skein of yarn and a crochet hook. Off she went at full tilt. Returning, she handed me yarn and hook. Just like that, she started learning how to crochet. Later on that evening, children learning how to crochet, plant a garden, ways to preserve food, grow...
When I woke up Friday of last week, it was to the realization it really had been 50 years since my husband and I had gotten married. “Fifty years,” I thought. "How could it be? Wasn’t it just a few days ago we’d stood in the church my grandfather had helped build, promising to love and take care of each other for the rest of our lives?” Yet, the pictures on our living room walls of our children from the time they were small through their high school graduation and their own wedding days, along with those of the arrival of each grandchil...
It’s a little of this, a little of that week. First off, I’ll start with an update. After meeting with my oncologist, Dr. Kidd from Billings, several changes have been made. Instead of having chemotherapy by infusion, I have been put on a hormonal therapy pill -- Femara -- for at least three months. If a monthly blood test (CA27/29) continues to show a decline, I will stay on Femara. Should there be a rise shown, I will either be put on a different hormonal therapy pill or return to infusion chemo but using a medicine other than Taxol. The Tax...
Another year, another harvest. Hopefully it was a good crop year. Watching combine operators unload wheat into trucks, I’m reminded of harvests of years ago. Now, so many farms are five and six times bigger than when we farmed. At that time it wasn’t very often you saw anyone but family working the land. Everyone pitched in to clean out the grain bins to get ready for the new crop coming in. The largest bin we had held 7,500 bushels of grain. Looking at that bin after it was built I was struck by the thought of how big it was. And hoping our...
For the past few months, political campaign ads have been everywhere. It is absolutely astounding how much money has been and continues to be spent on these ads. Another part of the ads I find very disturbing is their negativity. So negative, in fact, that to me they come close to being hateful. A politician’s voting record is open to the public but I feel that quite often their record is misconstrued and misleading. As an example, if a member of any governing office votes against a particular issue, my first question is why did they vote t...
Well, she, along with many, many others, started a whole new chapter in her life today. Actually, it’s almost like beginning a new book. One with surprises, twists and turns, breathtaking adventures all throughout the book. A book that will take years and years to finish. This person, our granddaughter, began her college classes on her way to becoming a music teacher. She’s always had a love for music and has pursued that love by learning to play, as all students do at Nashua, the recorder. From there she took guitar and piano lessons. Whe...
Come to the Nashua Senior Citizen Center on Saturday, Aug. 25, for watermelon, homemade cinnamon rolls, and coffee. Serving will begin at 2:30 p.m. This is a great time to visit with friends and neighbors. The event is open to the public with freewill offering being taken. The first Sunday in September there will be a social day at the Nashua Senior Citizen Center. There will also be cards and other games beginning at 1:30 p.m. At 3 p.m., root beer floats will be served. Everyone is welcome to attend. The new school year is underway. Please... Full story
This year, due to health issues, I wasn’t able to be at the fair as much or as long as I wanted to. I was able to see what my grandchildren entered in 4-H and their awards. Looking at all the entries, both individual and club, I was very impressed with the quality and detail of the projects. It was obvious that a great deal of time and thought went into the entries. As I made my way through the 4-H quonset, I was assailed by memories of when our children were in 4-H. I thought of all the work sessions they attended for some of their p...
Brunch will be served at the Nashua Senior Citizen Center, Sunday, Aug. 19, from 9 a.m. to noon. On the menu is pancakes, link sausage, scrambled eggs and fruit. A freewill offering will be taken. Proceeds will be used to pay for some much-needed updates to the center....
Quite often I’ve heard, “I don’t have cancer. But is there anything I can do other than make a monetary donation to help people who do have cancer?” Oh, my, yes, there is! And many of those ways are so simple. For instance, housekeeping tasks are at times out of reach of someone who has cancer and undergoing treatment. Dusting the furniture, vacuuming the carpeting, sweeping and mopping floors, changing bed linens, cleaning up dirty dishes, doing a load of laundry -- all these things help a person tremendously. Watering flowers, mowing the law...
Cancer survivors are asked a lot of questions. One frequent one is how you manage to keep going. At times it is difficult to keep fighting. When I was having weekly chemotherapy treatments following my surgery, a friend was also in the process of weekly chemotherapy treatments. She was halfway through her treatments when she told me she was thinking of not continuing because they were taking so much out of her. I replied I was sorry to hear that but felt that she really should keep on with them. Once I had completed six of the 12 weeks, I...
Children often remind me of what I fail to see, hear, or understand. For instance, the excitement of children when they see the first dandelions of the year. How happy they are to present the bright yellow flower to people, especially mothers and grandmothers. And I wonder how is it I don’t really see the beauty of these little flowers against the lush green grass. Seeing the dandelions does remind me that when I was a child, the dandelion leaves were the first salad we had every spring. That memory also brings another one: that of snacking o...
Our granddaughter, who will be college bound next month, asked me to write out a recipe for a dessert that I’ve made for almost 50 years. It’s also the dessert one of our sons asks for when it’s his birthday. After I wrote it out, I told her she may want to type it up and print it out. “No, Grandma,” she replied. “I’m going to keep it just like it is.” Her answer reminded me of a request one of our daughters made of me. She wants me to write down, on index cards, the recipe for many of the dishes I made during the years our children were g...
Children can put things into perspective with just a few words. For instance, several days ago our six-year-old granddaughter was telling me about receiving her birthday present early from her mom and dad. Her present was a new bike. When she finished telling me about the bike, she added, “I don’t really care if I don’t get a lot of presents for my birthday. I just want cake.” I remember thinking “Wow.” That evening as I was getting ready for bed I was thinking about what my granddaughter had said. And I thought about how even as adults, we hav...
