It was not easy getting our children to eat vegetables, raw or cooked. And Bob was no help as you will hear in this column reading.
To get good food past our crew, it had to be hidden inside stews and soups and cut into miniscule pieces.
I allowed them to pick out one vegetable that they hated, but they had to eat the rest. Otherwise, their stew would consist of meat, potatoes, and gravy.
I hope you like this remembrance.
Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved
This is a two in one treasure today.
Sorry, I neglected to put a date on this. We made it sometime after 1993. That’s when I started wearing my gold wedding band. It was a gift for our twentieth anniversary.
My actual wedding band hadn’t been worn since I was pregnant with Rob. In 1975, my fingers swelled and I almost had to cut the ring off. Luckily, after much work, I was able to remove it in one piece.
Bob only wore his wedding ring on our wedding day. After that he put it away. He was afraid of losing his finger in a farm accident. Bob had a friend who caught his ring when jumping from the bed of a grain truck, catching it, and losing his finger in the process.
In our early years together, it bothered me that he wouldn’t wear the ring. But eventually I grew up and agreed with Bob.
Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved
Bob was a sound sleeper. Before I married him, I was warned by his family about his loud snoring. His sister told me she often had to go downstairs to his bedroom to roll him over to stop his snoring. His noise was keeping the rest of the family awake.
It took a while, but I got used to his snoring. Bob’s nightmares were a different thing.
What follows is an account of one nightmare that had me leaving our bed for safety.
I’m glad Bob remembered what he had been kicking at in his sleep. At least I knew it wasn’t me.
Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved
Things I’m thankful for.
I’m especially thankful for my column. It gave me many friends and also holds many memories, like today’s reading.
Listen to the end, as there’s a funny twist on one particular walk.
I hope that brought a smile to your face.
That’s my gift to you.
Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved
Last year, Bob sat where I am sitting as I write today. I’m at his seat at our kitchen table, looking out the window.
Our land renters are here today, starting to combine their corn from Sunnybook Farm.
This makes me sad as Bob watched as soon as they came in fall 2019 until dark. No, that’s wrong. Bob watched their lights moving across our fields after dark. It was the first year Bob hadn’t farmed.
He went outside and took our cart into the field to get a better look at the work, visiting with one or more of the Maass family as they worked.
This photo was taken earlier in 2019. Bob watched that summer as our sons and sons-in-law cleaned up a fallen tree from the cornfield after a storm.
It is good seeing the work getting done. I’m sure Bob is watching with me.
Okay that’s enough for today.
Copyright © 2020 by Susan Manzke, all rights reserved