Staying out of farm bankruptcy in the 80s made feeling thankful difficult then, but I managed.
I’m thankful today even in these tough times without Bob.
Sorry I kind of lose it at the end. I recorded this November 12, so don’t think I’m still weepy. I’ll be meeting up with family on Zoom.
Happy Thanksgiving.
Enjoy your family and friends, even at a distance.
May you have plenty of food today, tomorrow, and all the days to come.
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
This is probably the earliest memory of my dad’s, except for a tiny memory of standing next to his father’s coffin at age 4 and being afraid of the priest.
I also adapted this memory for my novel, Chicken Charlie’s Year, though I did change his age in the book to ten years old.
This short account tells a lot about his mother and his relationship with her.
I hope you enjoyed this reading.
BTW: Mary Jane is an old-fashioned peanut butter- and molasses-flavored taffy-type candy. You can still buy this candy today. I’m not sure about Soldier candy. It might have been chocolates in the shape of soldiers.
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