I so this picture of the kids on social media this morning and it gave me great joy. They were inseparable as kids. I am not sure where this was, but fine dining with friends is definitely one of their things. We are glad Christian has tickets to fly to Virginia in a week or so to help us drive to Texas. We plan to stop at the Trump Winery and a few other places along our leisurely way.
In the middle of our move while Lorena was sorting through stuff to throw away and stuff to pack, she found this old picture of my brother, Doug, and I. We really did have a wonderful childhood. It got a little rougher as we moved into Jr. High School and High School, but the older I get, the more I realize how important it was that we had parents who loved us and were trying in every way they knew to do well by us. There were some things that could have gone better, especially in terms of how much time they spent with us, but they were scrapping and working hard just to get by. I am truly astounded by how much better we had it than the majority that surrounded us–not talking in terms of money or creature comforts, but in parents that loved us and instilled values in us that still persist.
Dad and Mom (Grandpa Milo and Grandma Sarah) got married 73 years ago on the 4th of July. I think of July 4 as Independence Day in the USA, but first and foremost, I think of Dad and Mom. Now it is a time for reflection and gratitude. They were not perfect and suffered significant trauma in their lives, but none of us kids ever doubted that they loved God, they loved us, and they frequently made big sacrifices for each and every one of us. I miss them a lot. Here they are in front of Grandma Jenkins house. It could not have been too much after they got married.
It is Father’s Day today. Lorena and I were reminded, yesterday, that our Heavenly Father cares for us and sees us in our need. Julia sent us some great pictures taken by our Finnish Grandmother, Ida Jenkins. When I saw this with my sister, Julia, and my father (Milo), it reminded me of what a gift we had in a father who truly loved every one of us. He was unique, born in 1929, the year of the stock market crash that marked the beginning of the great depression in the USA. He never knew what it was like to do anything other than work very, very hard and he actually loved doing that until the very end. I hope to write more about him in other posts because he lived an absolutely exceptional life. He had lots of faults, but certainly not more than me. He made up for all of that because of his kindness and love, not only for us, but others.
My brother Doug and I were huge fans of Davy Crockett when we were kids. It was because of the Disney TV program about him. I think it must have been at the time of the one of the rebroadcasts of the program because the short series was filmed in 1955, before I was born. This all got brought to my attention when my sister Julia sent us some pictures she had scanned in from our wonderful Finnish grandmother, Ida Jenkins. The picture is of the Davy Crockett outfits my mother bought for us one Christmas. We cherished those outfits and the toy rifles we got to go along with them.
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