Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
Serving Proudly As The Voice Of Valley County Since 1913
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Several evenings this past couple of weeks as I was driving, I took time to stop and take in the decorations at homes. Happiness showed through quite clearly, not necessarily in the amount of decorations but in the care with which they were put up. I thought about other times when people decorated their homes. Then I thought about how we choose the clothing we wear for special occasions. In a sense, we are decorating ourselves through our attire. And I thought why not decorate our lives through what we do? We can add so much color, not only to...
Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Year’s, Easter -- even anniversaries and birthdays -- all have on thing in common. They bring out traditions. Traditions are important in our lives. They bring memories of past holidays and celebration. Stories are told of other times when family and friends gathered together. In carrying out traditions children learn about their heritage, their family’s history. They hear of the struggles of their ancestors and how they overcame them to succeed in providing for their families. Sharing stories of past events als...
For those who have been wondering about why my column hasn’t been in the Courier: My husband and I left on Nov. 16 for Iowa to spend Thanksgiving with my brother and to visit with other family members and friends. We returned on Nov. 29. But by the time we did I was fighting a really nasty cold. A clerk at a checkout counter in a store I was in was sneezing and coughing and not covering their face or turning their head. Consequently, I was infected. For the past several weeks I have been sleeping a great deal and now feel I am on the road to be...
Last week a new president was elected. Since then, there have been many demonstrations against President elect Donald Trump. In an interview on 60 Minutes Nov. 23, Trump was asked about the demonstrations. He stated he was “sad to see them and if he was asked to tell the demonstrators one thing it would be to stop.” The demonstrations also made me sad. Sad to think there are people more interested in causing discord, more hate, more divisiveness in our country than in helping to make it better and stronger. But what makes me even sadder is peo...
This past week was a busy one. My husband had an appointment to see if the bleeding had resumed in his eyes. Thankfully, it hasn’t so he won’t have to have his eyes checked for two months. I had three medical treatments -- two of them in Glasgow and one in Billings. For the past several months, I’ve been having pain in my right leg. After a series of tests it was discovered the bursa was swollen considerably, so I had a cortisone shot to reduce the swelling and pain. Immediately following that treatment, I was given Zometa by IV to help stren...
A few days ago a commercial on television was of two young boys talking. One asked, “What is that?” The reply came, “I don’t know. Google it.” It made me stop and think. When I was young and I would ask my parents what something was, they told me to look it up in the encyclopedia. Which meant I had to go to the library to get my question answered. And in writing papers in high school, the encyclopedia was well used for my research. The commercial also made me wonder what it will be like in another 10 or 20 years when a child asks, “What is...
You were never wanted in our lives. But you entered them anyway. You are a destroyer -- of lives, of hopes, of dreams, of peace and tranquility. Because of you, patience is put to a test, it should never have to be. Sleep sometimes is difficult to come by. Conversations are a thing of the past because of you. No longer can we talk about what not only is going on in the world, but about family, grandchildren, friends. We try, but at times it takes a while. And memory - in so many instances it doesn’t even exist anymore. Oh, yes, he remembers s...
Last week my husband and I celebrated our 48th anniversary. I remember thinking years ago that anyone who had been married 50 years was amazing. Now I hear about couples who have been married not only 50 years but 60 or 70, even 80 years. My husband’s parents were married 65 years and he has a brother who has been wed for 63 years. When you commit yourself to a marriage, your intentions are, as said in the marriage vows, until death do you part. But for some, a marriage can end for other reasons. However, my thoughts this past week centered aro...
Several weeks ago we took a trip to Boulder to visit my husband’s brother for a few days. As we drove along, I noticed quite a few cottonwood trees whose leaves were turning yellow. On a day trip to Butte, I saw a few places in the mountains where a lone bright yellow cottonwood stood alone amidst the dark green pine trees. Seeing them brought back memories of the woods where I grew up. Hillsides would be covered in trees robed in gold, green, brown, tan, rust and crimson. The picture they created was impossible to duplicate. With the turning o...
I’ve heard people of all ages say “It’s not my fault” when something goes wrong. I heard it from my own children over the years and my answer was “Well, whose fault was it, then? Sorry but that doesn’t cut it with me. You need to accept the responsibility of your actions and its consequences.” Responsibility for one’s actions should and must begin at an early age. Even a 5-year-old knows what is wrong and right. They know they were the one who broke a vase or took a piece of candy or cookie when they were told not to. Taught properly, they...
Over the years I’ve learned that something we all need to have to get through our life’s journey is a sense of humor. Even when we hit some serious bumps on our path, it helps to have a good sense of humor to get past them. I grew up with a Dad who liked to tease you and pull a practical joke now and then. It didn’t take me long to learn how to give a retort to his teasing. And afterward we’d both have a good, hearty laugh. An example. My brother loved adding a large slice of onion to his hamburgers. One night, when he was 16, he had a date on...
As I harvest fresh vegetables from my garden, I travel back in time to when I was growing up. I can remember as a 3-year-old watching my grandfather push a one-share hand plow tilling up our garden space, which was quite large. I would walk behind him picking out any rocks he turned up and putting them in a pile. From then on I was in the garden every year assisting with the planting, the weeding and picking the vegetables. When I was 6 years old, Mom said I was big enough to help with canning. And so I began washing the vegetables and fruit...
The past few weeks have been rough, but through it all there were some bright spots, [like] receiving a surprise visit from a daughter and her son. When I asked her what brought them to Nashua, my daughter replied, “You.” My 4-year-old granddaughter brought me wildflowers on several days. And there was a day when I saw countless butterflies in my yard and garden. I had to smile as I watch them fluttering from one spot to another. Because I was unable to make it to church for several Sundays, my son brought me Communion. His doing that helped me...
I lost a friend recently. A four-legged friend whose ears had been lost due to frost. I met her at the home of Sheila and Perry Vosen. After not having a cat for about six years, I decided I wanted one. Sheila put a cat in my arms. When I went to hand her back to Sheila, she wouldn’t let go of me. So I took her home and named her Holly since I’d gotten her two weeks before Christmas. It took her a few days to become accustomed to me and I to her. Soon she was jumping up on my bed at night and curling up next to my side. Before long she and I h...
Looking out across the prairie, fields of green are slowly turning to gold. Before long those fields will be host to combines and trucks, pickups with fuel tanks, and people delivering lunches to the harvesters. Months of field work and watching the sky, hoping for rain at the right time and praying [that] heavy winds and hail won’t decimate the crops [that] will culminate in bins filled with grain. Though we no longer farm, I still hold my breath when a weather warning flashes across the television screen warning of high winds, hail and h...
Lately I’ve been seeing and hearing articles about lives that matter - police lives, black lives, road workers’ lives, medical responder lives - even a picture of a small girl with “My Life Matters” written on her hand. Why does it suddenly seem necessary to say people’s lives in this group or that group matter? Don’t all lives matter? Absolutely. There should not be any distinction about whose lives matter. What does matter is how we are living our lives. Taking care of our families, giving everyone respect, not judging others, helping peo...
The past several weeks have been a little rough due in part to a new drug I am taking. For the last couple of years, one after another hormone therapy medication was prescribed to bring my cancer under control. Each one of them has failed after a few months. So two weeks ago I began taking a chemotherapy pill. It remains to be seen if this medicine is working. Recently, the All-School Reunion was held in Nashua. Although I didn’t get to visit with some I’d have liked to, I did get to see and talk with a few of the people who were in att...
Feb. 19, 2010, a date that is burned into my memory. That was the day I had a modified radical mastectomy for Stage 2 breast cancer. March 19, 2010. The next date that is unforgettable for me. That was the day I began five and a half months of chemotherapy by infusion. The next few years I became used to taking a hand full of pills every day. Never one who ever took a pill, other than an aspirin for a headache, I found myself having to keep track of when to get prescriptions refilled and taking pills on a schedule. At the end of my...
It was recently brought home to me just how far something a person writes can travel. I received an email with a message in it that had been sent from a Courier subscriber in the state of Virginia that was a compliment on my column. Many, many times people have stopped me and said how much they enjoy my column. To each and every one, whether I’ve received the compliment in person, by phone, by email, or as a message to another person who has passed it on -- thank you very, very much. I deeply appreciate all of your kind remarks. They really do...
Time. Minutes, hours, days, weeks. Some days time goes far faster than I can and other days seem to drag on forever. We look forward to vacations, milestones in our lives, events we want to attend. In fact, we at times spend so much time looking forward we forget about the moment we are in. We get so busy that we let things slide by us unnoticed. People plan out their time. Some have their entire day scheduled minute by minute. And if something should interrupt that schedule, they tend to get upset. Schedules do have a place, but none of them...
Last week I was on the road for four days. I covered a pretty fair sized area from Nashua to Roundup to Lewistown to Billings to Zortman and back home. Every mile I was treated to sights that could all be made into postcards. As the miles slipped away so many thoughts went through my mind. Thoughts of homesteaders and cowboys, ranchers, farmers and prospectors. Some of the hills looked as though they were covered in green velvet. And I saw an endless variety of shades of green. The lush bright green of pasture, the deep dark green of pine trees...
Graduation, a time of joy, laughter, tears. An exciting time yet a bittersweet one. Graduates are seeing the culmination of 13 years of their lives. They’ve sat in classrooms, done homework, participated in activities such as band and sports. And throughout those 13 years have made friends -- perhaps lost a few -- and increased their knowledge. They’ve been congratulated, hugged, told how proud their families and friends are of them. Now it’s time for them to move forward. To follow their own path. They’ve most likely all decided where they ar...
Several days ago, as I was planting some sweet peppers, I thought about how good it felt to have my hands in the dirt. I thought how comforting it was to physically connect with the earth. While I was planting the peppers, I was also thinking about other vegetables I want to plant in my garden and the strawberry plants that were waiting for me in my kitchen sink. It reminded me of other gardens I’d planted over the years. Gardens that produced food for my family. Food that I also shared with other people. There’s just something about put...
Last week, when I went to pay for some purchases in a Glasgow business, I chatted for a few moments afterwards with the clerk. And in the course of our talk, I heard something that surprised me. The lady told me she was 80 years old. I’m sure I had an incredulous look on my face because I would have never guessed that that was her age. She’s a vibrant, cheerful, pretty lady - one I’ve known for a long time. At home that evening, one of my sons stopped by to visit for a bit before we went to a meeting. The subject of age came up. I told him a...
A long time ago, I saw a greeting card that said, “You only have today. Make the most of it.” That was brought home to me late Friday when I received a call telling me my cousin, Dorothy, had died. She and I were the sisters that neither of us had. We spent many hours throughout the years laughing, talking, pulling pranks, and later on remembering those times. As teenagers, we did things that we knew we shouldn’t, but did anyway. Like shortening our skirts to above-knee length. Dorothy and her family lived about 30 miles from us. Her dad and my...
