Category Archives: Family

Saving Family Stories

November 2, 2020Columns, Family, Memoriessusanmanzke

I’ve been encouraging people to save family stories for years. This 1988 column proves that my campaign started many years ago.

I hope you enjoy my Dad’s stories that I shared all those years ago.

I adapted the broken cookie story and used it in my novel, Chicken Charlie’s Year. It was one of my favorites as a child.

I hope you save and share some of your stories. They are pieces of this countries history.

The invisible man

October 31, 2020Bob, Family, worksusanmanzke

For a long time, Bob was invisible, working too much so he wasn’t seen by friends and family.

For once, it looked liked he’d be able to join the family for an Illinois wedding. Too bad for us something out of our control happened.

It wasn’t easy leaving Bob home. More was on my shoulders, but most of all I missed him.

Bob was not alone. I hear from other women who married a man like Bob, a workaholic. It’s a tough life for all, but we all continue to honor all those hardworking men.

A big help

October 30, 2020Family, worksusanmanzke

Daughter Rebecca had a day off of work and she volunteered to do work for me.

The job I gave her was cleaning out the gutters over the two porches.

First, she had to scrape the guck out, which was half-frozen.

Then she blew out leaves and muck. It was a lot of work, but managed without use of a ladder.

I so appreciated her help. To get to the front deck you have to go through a window. I used to be able to do that, but I don’t bend so well anymore.

Looking over Rebecca’s shoulder you can see the leaves of a maple tree that need to fall yet. I’m afraid Rebecca might be out blowing out gutters again after all the leaves are down.

Thank you very much, Rebecca.

A Halloween memory

October 30, 2020Family, funsusanmanzke

Things never changed for me. The kids wanted a fancy costume for Halloween but they had a mother who insisted on raiding the closets for old clothes to use.

In the end, the kids figured out how to make costumes from everything from a garbage bag to Dad’s old work clothes, which after Halloween, would go back into Bob’s to-be-worn clothes.

Halloween costume suggestions

October 29, 2020Columns, Family, funsusanmanzke

I’ve never bought a Halloween costume. Only homemade for me, which was a problem when I didn’t have time to sew, or even cared to sew.

This column from 1981, has children asking for the impossible.

Good thing they settled for easy homemade, slap-together costumes.

No matter what they were, they ended up with too much candy.

Susan Manzke

Writer, Speaker, All-Around Good Person