I should have been in Wahpeton Tuesday. I should have been at the funeral of my best childhood friend, Max Reinke. But I just couldn’t take another funeral right now. I’ve been to too many lately. But luckily, my friend Kevin Carvell says, none of them were mine. I know, it’s just a function of my age (soon to be …
My mom died on Leap Day four years ago. It was a blessed end to what had been a horribly long journey through the ravages of Alzheimer’s. I did not mourn her death but rather rejoiced in the New Life she began. My mom was an amazing person. I know everyone says that about their moms, but she really truly …
There’s nothing like a funeral to remind you of your own morality. Especially when you’re 73 and the person’s whose funeral you’re attending is younger. So today, as I sat in the pew at Temple Israel listening to Rabbi Marcia Zimmerman talking about a man I’d ironically never met (though I knew his wife), that’s where my mind drifted. I …
When Dorette and I visited New Zealand a while ago, we heard a Maori proverb. “Walk backwards toward the future.” I thought of it when this picture of me as a kid (above) surfaced recently from my archive (that is to say, from my boxes of clutter). It was taken by my father decades ago on the family farm in …
Sometime after I went to bed last night, I completed my 70th trip around the sun. Today I begin my 71st. They’ve been interesting trips. I’ve enjoyed most of all of them. They’ve all been different. If I could do them over, there are probably a few different roads I’d choose, a few different off-ramps I’d take, a few different corners …
It’s been a busy last few months, as a part-time job has become more “full” than “part.” At 64, there’s this ever-growing struggle between the need for self-worth and the realization that it might not be wise to put off retirement too long. Senior discounts and AARP notices have already become staples for several years. At this age, we begin …
Dorette was out of town Friday, so I drove over to St Cloud, Minn., just 74 miles from Bloomington, Minn. From 1970 to 1973, I taught at the college there (now designated a university). I stopped at the cemetery where are buried some of my relatives from the Vogel side of the family. With water and a brush, I removed most …
We were at one of those buttoned-up business luncheons — the kind with tablecloths and butter in little balls — when I noticed it. My first liver spot. Right there, on the hand I was using to stab a cherry tomato as juicy as a marble, was proof positive that I myself was a darn sight riper than the garnish …
Impatience. That’s the word that comes to mind when I think about my childhood years. Well, maybe even my older ones. It’s just that there always seemed like there were a million things to do and never enough time to do it. As a Baby Boomer, we had more choices than our parents. And now, our kids have far more …
As I was leaving the nursing home a few years back, I shook hands with an old man who pulled me toward him and pleaded, “Please, please, take me to Rollag!” Since it was Labor Day weekend, and the Steam Thresher’s Reunion was in full swing, I was tempted to load him up and go. But the old man’s son …
Kea snarled at her Master when he tried to get into bed last night. Yes, the dog was occupying His space, which sometimes is shared territory, until he needs to sleep, which is far less than the dog’s requirement these days. At least the spot her hairy body vacates is warm, a good thing when the temp is set at …