Linda Lou's Skagit Valley Jam Factory Blackberry Pepper Jam Arrives In Texas

Way back last month, at the end of the first week of September, mention was made of Incoming Jars From Linda Lou's Skagit Valley Jam Factory.

I had been eagerly anticipating the arrival of a box full of choice products from Linda Lou's Jam Factory, and was most eagerly anticipating the Blackberry Pepper Jam anticipated to be part of the anticipated arrival.

That anticipated box arrived. I opened it, and found no Blackberry Pepper Jam. In the part of the box reserved for the Blackberry Pepper Jam I found organic pickled carrots.

I made mention of the Blackberry Pepper Jam absence and un-anticipated carrots in the blog post about this.

Linda Lou was in Alaska when she learned that her Linda Lou Skagit Valley Jam Factory shipping department employee had made the egregious blackberry shipping error.

Those who know me well know of my fondness for anything blackberry. So, of course I experienced an intense sense of letdown when I found pickled carrots substituting for blackberries.

And then when Linda Lou returned from Alaska, upon her first day back in her Skagit Valley Jam Factory, Linda Lou personally took over from her regular shipping employees to box a new box to send to Texas.

That new box arrived yesterday, and contained only the coveted delicacy of Blackberry Pepper Jam.

That is one of the jars photo documented above, temporarily sitting on the patio outside its kitchen storage location.

I have yet to try the Blackberry Pepper Jam.

Yesterday I had the Linda Lou Skagit Valley Factory Raspberry Jam for the first time. Best raspberry jam ever, or at least in recent memory. It is like concentrated essence of raspberries in a jar.

Those living in the Skagit Valley already know what I am about to tell you.

Linda Lou's Raspberry Jam was the Blue Ribbon winner at this year's Skagit County Fair, along with winning Best in Division.

I do not know why Linda Lou did not enter her prize winning Raspberry Jam in the Washington State Fair (formerly known as the Puyallup). I suspect the trip to Alaska interfered...

Jason Confirms Grandma Graduated Lynden High School Class Of 1950

A couple days ago a caller called from the Skagit Valley who had heard from a fellow church member that my mom was no longer among the living. That caller had not seen a notice confirming this in the Skagit Valley Herald, hence the call.

About the same time as that caller calling from the Skagit Valley, my FNJ, he being Spencer Jack's dad, Jason, text messaged me asking if I knew what year mom graduated high school, and if Lynden High School was correct.

I replied that he had the high school correct, and that I would guess the year to be 1950 or 1951. I also told Jason that his dad and his aunt Jackie had discovered his grandma and grandpa's high school yearbooks whilst going through that which needed to be gone through in mom and dad's former Sun Lakes home.

And that Jason might be able to ask his dad to check grandma's yearbook to confirm the graduation date.

I assumed Jason was making these inquiries because he was working on the notice to go in the Skagit Valley Herald, and Whatcom County newspapers. I assumed such because Jason had done an excellent job of this for his grandpa, back in 2017. If history repeats I likely will be sent a copy for fact checking prior to publication.

Then, last night, Jason emailed with the below message, and the above photo...

FUD -- Don't be confused by this photo: It is not Aunt Nancy's driver's license picture from the early 1970s. Rather the gal in the picture sporting a healthy coat of lipstick is your mother. I received this from Sun Lakes this morning, confirming that Grandma was a member of the Lynden High School Class of 1950.

________________

This suggests to me that Spencer Jack and Hank Frank's grandpa Jake had used mom's yearbook to confirm the graduation date, and take the above photo via his phone.

I wish I had known those yearbooks still existed whilst I was visiting mom multiple times the past couple years. Long ago, maybe when I was a teenager, I recollect mom and dad going through their yearbooks with me and my siblings, and way back then it was amusing.

The past couple years mom was real sharp about remembering details from long ago. The present moment, not so much. Going through those yearbooks would have been a good thing. Who knows what mom might have remembered and told me?

I think it was during my visit to Arizona in July of 2018 that I asked mom about the time mom and dad drove across the country to New York City. I had heard some of that tale in years previous, but never to the level of detail I heard it that summer of 2018. I asked about this at that point in time because I thought mom had somehow traveled solo to NYC to meet dad, and I just could not picture my mom doing something like that.

Well, she didn't, which I learned when mom told me the whole story.

Dad was stationed in Germany. The year was 1951. Dad's dad died. The army sent dad home for the funeral. Mom did not remember by what means dad crossed the country, but she did remember being in a wedding party, in Lynden, getting a phone call from dad, with dad telling mom he was at the bus station in Bellingham, and could mom come pick him up.

Mom rushed out of the wedding, broke the speed limit to Bellingham. Mom did not remember how long dad's leave was. But, at some specific date he was supposed to report back in New York City to be shipped back to Europe.

But, I asked mom, if dad was supposed to go back to Europe what were you gonna do to get back to Washington, after dad sailed away? Mom's answer to that question really surprised me. Mom said that they were young and did not know what they were doing, that they thought mom could go back to Europe with dad. Did you have a passport, I asked? A visa? How did you think you could go to Europe with dad? We just thought it would work out was mom's answer.

They hung out in NYC for several days, waiting dad's orders, staying with a relative who worked in some sort of church type place on Manhattan. And then dad got his orders. He was being mustered out of the army.

So, mom and dad decided to drive back home, via the southern route, through the Deep South, including Texas.

That is the short version of the tale mom told me. One detail sticks in my memory. They drove though Las Vegas, which was not much of a town back then, heading to Death Valley. They had somehow heard that one needs a lot to drink if one tries to drive through Death Valley.

They naively somehow thought this meant an alcohol based drink. Neither mom or dad were ever alcohol consumers, but they bought a six pack of beer to take into Death Valley. At some point the car over heated. Waiting for it to cool down they got out the beer. Opening one, dad took a drink, spit it out, said that is awful. Then mom took a drink and had the same reaction.

Years later, on July 25, 2019, mom said pizza sounded good. I said, you wanna bake pizza here or do the takeout thing? Mom said whatever you want. I said I prefer to bake it myself. So, I drove Miss Daisy to WinCo where we found a bake it yourself pizza. I then said beer and pizza sounded good. So, I got a big bottle of beer.

Back at mom's I baked the pizza, put a slice on a plate, for mom, and also poured a little beer into a coffee cup. Mom took one sip of the beer, spit it out, and said that is awful.

Maybe this is how mom reacted to beer when it is consumed in a desert, what with Death Valley being in a desert, and the Arizona Valley of the Sun being in another desert...

Star-Telegram Discovers Fort Worth Needs Thousands Of Miles Of New Sidewalks

A few days ago an article appeared on the front page of the online iteration of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram asking Is your neighborhood walkable? Fort Worth needs more than 3,300 miles of new sidewalks.

If memory serves accurately I have mentioned a time or two the fact of Fort Worth's sidewalk shortage, and what effect that noticeable shortage might have when Fort Worth tries to woo a corporation to town.

Long ago Fort Worth Weekly made note of the Fort Worth sidewalk shortage. I had no memory of reading this, but the author of the Fort Worth Weekly article about the town's sidewalk shortage emailed me, years ago, after I had made mention of the sidewalk shortage. The author had long returned to the heavily sidewalked north, I think somewhere in Illinois, or maybe it was Indiana, when he read my blogging lament about the Fort Worth sidewalk problem.

Anyway, that Fort Worth Weekly writer who had also noticed all the streets without sidewalks, with pedestrians making do with muddy trails along roads, or just walking in the street, lamented that apparently nothing had yet been done about the obvious problem, in all the years since he had escaped.

And now, a couple decades later, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram finally makes note of this long obvious problem. A few paragraphs illustrating how the Star-Telegram describes the town's sidewalk shortage...

Ella Burton hopes when the new Como Community Center opens this fall, her neighbors will be able to walk there, preferably on sidewalks.

Folks in Como like to walk, but it can be a bit tricky, said Burton, who is the neighborhood president. There’s a hodgepodge network of paved walkways, like in many older Fort Worth districts where property owners may not have the money to maintain sidewalks. Horne Street, Como’s main street, lacks sidewalks on both sides south of Blackmore Avenue, while side streets like Littlepage and Humbert Avenue do not have any for several blocks.

“You can find folks walking around here pert-near any time of the day,” Burton said, adding that without sidewalks local drivers have grown accustomed to spotting walkers in the street. “It’s either step off into the road or walk through someone’s lot.”

______________

Property owners have to maintain sidewalks? Why aren't sidewalks just part of having a city street? During recent visits to what I refer to as Modern America, such as Arizona, I have long noted how new areas are developed, such as in Chandler, Arizona, the infrastructure goes in before the building goes up, as in roads, sidewalks, pocket parks, street landscaping. That type stuff.

Now, one can see how upgrading streets which were born back in Wild West times, as dirt trails, well, unless a town makes an effort to modernize those dirt trails as progress progresses, you know, by paving and adding sidewalks, well, you end up with a mess like Fort Worth. A town where most of the town's streets have no sidewalks.

The article tells us the Fort Worth City Council's 2020 budget approved a whopping $750.000 for sidewalk work.

$750,000.

A town populated by over 800,000 potential walkers next year will invest a measly three quarters of a million bucks addressing the town's sidewalk shortage.

And that whopping figure is on top of the $12 million allocated for sidewalks in a 2018 bond election.

Did I mention this is a town with a population over 800,000?

A town in which some clueless town leaders wonder why the town can not attract corporations to locate a headquarters in town, or even a branch?

The following paragraph makes clear how ridiculously absurdly bad this Fort Worth sidewalk shortage is...

Fort Worth has around 2,500 miles of existing sidewalks, but 3,395 miles of gaps — areas where no sidewalk exists. Most of those gaps, more than 2,000 miles worth, are in majority-minority neighborhoods, according to a city analysis.

_______________

What in the world is a majority-minority neighborhood? Does the Star-Telegram no longer employ editors? When I lived in far east Fort Worth was that a majority-minority neighborhood? I have no idea. I saw Americans of all types in the neighborhood.

And few sidewalks...

Happy Late Birthday To Hank Frank & Grandpa Jake (UPDATED)

I really have been a bit distracted of late. Somehow I forgot that September 26 was the Happy Birthdays of my little brother, also known as Grandpa Jake, and the youngest Jones boy, Henry Francis, also known as Hank Frank.

Happy Belated Birthday Grandpa Jake and Hank Frank!

UPDATE: After sending Hank Frank a belated happy birthday text message Henry instructed his dad, Joey, to send his great uncle photos of Hank Frank's first birthday party...

In Archer City Thinking About Skinny Dipping With Cybill Shepherd

This last Saturday morning of the 2019 version of September I decided to get out of town and head southwest from Wichita Falls, on Texas Highway 79 to the sprawling metropolis of Archer City.

Earlier this century, when I was in the midst of building my formerly massive Eyes on Texas website, I was lured to Archer City to check out Larry McMurtry's Booked Up bookstores.

That and to see if I could see a movie in Archer City's Royal Theater, which way back in 1969 was made famous in a movie called The Last Picture Show.

Well, the Royal Theater was no where closer to showing a new movie than when I was last at that location and webpaged what I saw in Archer City way back then. I did not bother taking new photos of that which I had photographed the first time I was in Archer City.

I did take a couple photos of a couple new things I had not seen on that previous visit. Such as that mural you see above, which is located on the west side of Highway 79, at that highway's intersection with Highway 25, also known as Main Street.

Adjacent to that mural is that which you see below.

An historical information installation the likes of which I had not seen before. The text was cut through steel. What sort of complicated piece of machinery creates such a thing?

Above is the section of the informational signage which is about the filming of The Last Picture Show, telling those who where not aware of it that Archer City's native son, Larry McMurtry wrote the novel upon which the movie is based.

There is a scene in that movie where the Jacy Farrow character played by Cybill Shepherd is lured to a pool party at a home in Wichita Falls where one of the most famous skinny dipping scenes in movie history takes place. I think I roll by that house every time my bike takes me through the area I refer to as the Wichita Falls Beverly Hills.

That was a nice drive in the country today. I must do this more often.

I sort of have a back log of blogging fodder which I seem to avoid bothering with. The main instance of this is an expose in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram about that town's shocking sidewalk shortage.

I'm sure I will get to those notorious Fort Worth sidewalks sometime soon...

Throwback Thursday To Mom's Final McDonald's Cheeseburger

Since this is Thursday I guess this can qualify as one of those "Throwback Thursday" things.

I had not managed to talk to sister Jackie since mom joined dad, last Friday, until yesterday, when I called and asked if sister Jackie wanted to ride to ALDI with me.

This was the first conversation in years during which one of the primary subjects was not something worrisome to do with our parental units.

I mentioned to Jackie that I'm having a little trouble adjusting to the new family reality, that I had had myself thinking I was returning to Arizona in November, during the Thanksgiving time frame, to help take care of things, and to be there at the same time as my Tacoma relatives, Michele, Kristin, David, Theo and Ruby.

I told Jackie that my last time talking to mom was a bit poignant. Sister Michele had texted me, telling me mom was being lucid, thus a good time to call. I think this was the Sunday before mom's final Friday. I called and managed to talk to mom for a couple minutes.

Mom managed to ask her usual "When are you coming back for a visit?" question. I replied that I think I will be there in November, around Thanksgiving. Mom replied that this will be soon, or something like that.

After I told Jackie this she tried to think of what had been the last conversation she had with mom, before Jackie and Jack left for Nevada at the start of mom's final week.

And then Jackie remembered.

It was the Saturday visiting mom before heading west. Mom was not wanting to eat anything. Had basically shut down on the eating thing. Jackie asked mom is there was anything she wanted to eat that she would like, anything at all.

Mom replied "A cheeseburger and fries."

Jackie replied "I will be right back."

Jackie then scooted to the nearest McDonald's and soon returned with a bag of cheeseburgers and fries.

Mom took several burger bites, seemed to be enjoying it. Along with a few fries. And was sort of smiling as she was enjoying what was to be her last McDonald's cheeseburger.

Jackie quickly realized this needed to be photo documented, hence the photo at the top, mom holding her last McDonald's cheeseburger....

Mr. Mike's $25 Million Fort Worth Heritage Park Restoration Debacle

I have been a little distracted the past week, so I forgot about that which see here, til this morning.

Mr. Mike pointing me to something he thought I might find interesting.

Mr. Mike was right.

For well over a decade, a park at the north end of Fort Worth's downtown, supposedly celebrating Fort Worth's storied heritage, thus named Heritage Park, has been a boarded up, closed, cyclone fence surrounded eyesore.

And sort of an embarrassing metaphor for what a poorly run town Fort Worth is.

When my eyes first saw downtown Fort Worth only two things struck me as being even remotely as unique. One was the Water Gardens at the south end of downtown. The other being Heritage Park at the north end of downtown.

Heritage Park featured multiple walkways and water features, sort of like a futuristic treehouse. The water features were simple and shallow.

And then, well over a decade ago, tragedy struck the Water Gardens, with four visitors to Fort Worth drowned in what is now known as the Death Pool. I remember when I first saw that part of the Water Gardens thinking that does not look safe, but it obviously must be, else wise why would access to the pool be so inviting?

Soon after the tragedy, and resulting lawsuits, a ridiculous reaction happened. Due to Heritage Park also having water features, that park was closed, pending determined that those shallow water features were safe.

As the Heritage Park closure dragged on, year after year, other excuses for its closure were added, such as (what I think are imaginary) structural issues.

Long ago I made a Heritage Park webpage about this travesty, including a message we received from one of the architects who designed the park, who was appalled to learn the city had basically destroyed that which he had helped build.

So, Mr. Mike pointed me to what seemed to me to be a bizarre article about restoring Heritage Park to its former glory. This article appears on the Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. website, and is titled Heritage Park Plaza.

Three paragraphs from this article...

REDISCOVER HERITAGE PLAZA
Heritage Plaza sits on the natural bluff to the Trinity River. Located Northwest of the Tarrant County Courthouse, the park serves as a connection between Downtown and the Trinity River. At 112 acres, Heritage Park, which includes the plaza, is Downtown's largest open space and features some of the most scenic views in Fort Worth. 

HERITAGE PLAZA RENOVATION PROJECT 
The Fort Worth City Council has committed to reopen Heritage Park Plaza. As part of the larger renovation concept, the City of Fort Worth and DFWI have engaged partners to help restore the plaza while upgrading features, making better connections, and expanding the nearby green space, while preserving the original Plaza concept. 

A NEW VISION FOR HERITAGE PARK PLAZA
 As part of the restoration efforts, the Design Team presented a Master Plan detailing how Heritage Park could better connect with Downtown and the Trinity River. 

_______________

Downtown's largest open space? Featuring the most scenic views in Fort Worth? And yet an unnecessarily boarded up eyesore for over a decade?  The city council is committed to reopen this park? As part of a larger concept? Restoration efforts restoring something that was just fine, in no need of restoration, before an inept city leadership stupidly deemed it a liability risk due to imaginary drowning dangers?

I recollect years ago reading the city thought it needed a couple million bucks to get Heritage Park re-opened. Years ago I recollect reading re-opening work had begun. I recollect being at the Heritage Park location and it appearing that a clean up operation was underway.

I recollect, also years ago, being in a booth at the Prairie Fest, with the booth adjacent being occupied by a group raising money to re-open Heritage Park Plaza.

Reading this article from Downtown Fort Worth, Inc. one reads that in May, 2014 the city initiated a bond issue which included $1.5 million for restoration. And then in August, 2016 something called the Downtown TIF approved an additional $1 million for the project.

And now, in 2019, Heritage Park, the park celebrating Fort Worth's storied heritage, remains a boarded up, closed eyesore.

With the 2019 park re-opening fund raising goal being a whopping $25 million!

Give it another decade of being a boarded up eyesore, which in Fort Worth is a likely project timeline, and the price tag should double, triple or quadruple. Or more.

And yet it remains a mystery to those who run Fort Worth in what is known as the Fort Worth Way why the town has trouble attracting tourists, corporate re-locations, or even department and grocery stores downtown.

Potential re-locators visit downtown Fort Worth, ride Molly the Trolley, see that boarded up Heritage Park eyesore, ask for an explanation, then shake their heads as they look down below at another head shaker, that being the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle debacle, one sees from the Heritage Park vantage point, that is, if that vantage point were still accessible...

Futile Right Wing Trumpist's Boot Kay Granger Attempt

 A few days ago I blogged in Republican Hopes To Boot Kay Granger In 2020 Primary about a cryptic text message I received regarding an unidentified Republican supposedly about to announce that she or he was going to challenge Kay Granger in the upcoming primary.

And that that challenger was going to make Kay Granger's involvement in the Trinity River Vision mess, which has become America's Dumbest Boondoggle, and her son's part in creating that mess, as being the central focus of this challenger's assertion that Kay Granger needs to be removed from Congress.

I made a couple attempts to get the text messenger to tell me who it was who thought they could un-seat Granger.

I also emailed another person about this, because that person had emailed me weeks ago about his possible Republican challenge to Granger. I emailed this person asking if it was he who I was being texted about.

The reply was that it was not he, and that his attempts to ask fellow Republicans if they knew who this might be came up with no answer. Since I have no known connections to Republicans, I knew no one to ask, other than this guy who emailed me saying he was considering a Republican challenge to Granger.

Then, a day or two ago, that aforementioned emailer who was thinking about challenging Granger emailed me that which you see above. Some sort of announcement by a guy I have never heard of, Chris Putnam, planning a primary challenge to Granger.

In that previous blogging about this I made mention of the fact that I did not know why I was being told about some guy possibly running. I was then told it was hoped I would be supportive. This perplexed me. How would anything I said or did be of any use to a Republican trying to un-seat Granger?

And when I read this Putnam guy's announcement it further perplexed me as to why anyone would think I would think this guy was a good Granger replacement.

I then text messaged the entity who originally texted me about some un-identified person who was thinking of challenging Granger, who supposedly wanted me to know such a challenge was in the works. I asked if it was this Putnam guy and why in the world would anyone think I would think this was a good guy to challenge Granger?

Just the following from the announcement is disturbing, saying Putnam is someone who "will stand with...Trump, protect our border, & defend the sanctity of innocent life. Kay Granger hasn't - I will".

Stand with Trump? Okay, anyone standing with Trump is someone the majority of Americans do not want to stand anywhere near.

"Protect our border"? This is what is known as a dog whistle, heard by the types who are unable to figure out our current president is a moron, with this protect our border dog whistle being shorthand for stopping that imaginary invading flood of illegals marching into America so they can vote and overthrow the government, whilst stealing government services, like food stamps and health care. If you have no awareness that this type nonsense is believed, just listen to right wing hate speech. WBAP radio, if you are in the DFW market.

And then there is this Putnam guy's other dog whistle, "defend the sanctity of innocent life". Right wing Republicans are big on worrying about protecting unborns from being aborted. But, after those unborns are born the right wing Republican concerns mostly disappear. Defending the sanctity of innocent life from automatic rifles is not a concern. Or making sure kids have adequate health care, or mom's get both pre-natal and post-natal care from places like Planned Parenthood.

The following meme, gleaned from Facebook is illustrative of this point...

If this Chris Putnam guy who wants to replace Kay Granger wants to defend innocent life, how many of these other pro-life issues is he supporting?

So, no, I will be of no support to this Chris Putnam guy's attempt to boot Kay Granger.

Quite the contrary...

Sunday MSU Scary Blonde Encounter With Stampeding Mustangs

On this next to last Sunday of September, the day before the Autumnal Equinox begins the season which goes by the name of Fall, ending the season known as Summer, I opted to stay off my muddy bike and instead opted to take a walk around the Midwestern State University campus.

Eventually, if you keep reading I may explain that blonde under a red cap and big sunglasses looking borderline Halloween scary, who startled me today whilst strolling at MSU.

But first let's take another look at MSU's newest building. The just opened for business Centennial Hall, now with its landscaping installed, along with all four mustangs.

The four mustangs represent the four classes attending MSU: freshman, sophomore, junior and senior. That big mustang you see running into you is the senior mustang about to leap out of the pond into the real world. This is a very metaphoric art installation.

And above we see the freshman mustang about to gets its hoof wet in the college pool pond for the first time.

Let's see if my Official Wichita Falls Outdoor Adventure Guru Key can get us a closer look at the new building.

Well, no need to use the key, I found an unlocked door. This is an extremely futuristic interior of the sort I like a lot. The interior has lighting fixtures the likes of which I had not seen before.

The view above is looking out at those four mustangs through that tall glass wall you saw in the second photo.

I've been binge watching old James Bond movies on Pluto the past couple days. This interior seems like being in the lair of Dr. No, or some other Bond villain.

Turning around from the view out the window wall one looks up a white stairway to the next floor. There are four floors and elevators to reach them. Where we are above is on the ground floor, with a big atrium open to all the floors above. That brown stair looking structure to the left of the white stairs appeared to be some sort of series of benches, with USB/Power plug-ins, which are the square white dots you see on the vertical sides of the benches.

A closer look at the atrium's futuristic furnishings. Has me trying to remember the lyrics to the theme song for The Jetson's.

Oh, I almost forgot to explain that scary blonde wearing a red cap. I entered the building from the west side. I followed the glowing lighting around a couple corners. And then I came to a corner closed off by glass, with the blonde sitting behind the glass, making some point about getting ones vision checked. A right turn from the blonde took me right into the big open atrium and away from the scary blonde...

From Jason & Joey: A Family Loving Mother, Grandmother And Great Grandmother

Above you are looking at me, mom and dad, my siblings and my four nephews, long ago, up near the Canadian border, at Uncle Mel and Aunt Judy's for the annual combo Christmas/Grandma Slotemaker birthday. On the upper left that would be my brother-in-law, Jack, next to Jack is his first wife, my sister Jackie, then sister Nancy, then my Favorite Ex-Sister-in Law, Cindy, next to Cindy is her Favorite ex-Husband, Jake, then me, holding my Favorite Nephew Jeremy (FNJ3). On the lower left that would be sister Michele, next to mom and dad with Favorite Nephew Jason (FNJ) standing in front of me. In front of mom and dad that is Favorite Nephew Christopher (FNC) next to Hank Frank's dad, my Favorite Nephew Joey (FNJ2).

Last night an incoming text message arrived from FNJ2, after I was horizontal for the evening. I got back vertical to read "She was a wonderful Grandma. Henry, Monique and I are thinking about you." This morning when I woke up my computer and checked email the first incoming was from Joey's big brother,  FNJ.

Jason's email included two photos, the one you see above, and another below the email message from Jason. I then found a few other photos, from mom and dad's 50th Anniversary, which are also below. First the message from Jason, then the other aforementioned photos...

FUD --

I received a text about an hour ago from my father informing me that grandma passed away.

Dug through some old photos, and thought I'd share them, although I'm pretty sure you have the same copies.

If I had to summarize anything about Grandma, it would be as simple as this:   Your mom loved her family.

From what I heard, she missed your dad a lot!  I'm looking forward to seeing her and Grandpa reunited in Lynden where it all began many years ago.  A small service at Lynden's Monumenta's Cemetery will hopefully take place.

Until then, I hope they are both sitting in their chairs tonight in heaven, side by side, eating lots of sweets and falling asleep while watching TV.   That would make me happy.

Hope all is well, FNJ.

In the above photo we are at the house I grew up in in Burlington, Washington, getting ready to caravan north to Lynden, for the funeral of Grandma Slotemaker, my dad's mom. Everyone who is in the first photo is also in this one, except for sister Michele, who, if I remember right, was heading north from Tacoma, or maybe Seattle, and going directly to Lynden. I do not remember if this was when Michele was in pre-law at UPS in Tacoma, or in law school at the University of Washington in Seattle. As you can see we are a little older in that second photo than the first.

And then we get even older in the following photos, from August 11, 2001. My birthday, one month before the infamous 9/11. I had driven solo from Texas back to Washington to surprise mom and dad at their 50th party at my sister's in Kent. Jason and Joey were the only ones who knew I was heading north. However, complications arose and neither went with me, as planned, to the anniversary party.

Mom and dad's anniversary is on August 6. But, just like it did on their 40th, the following Saturday turned out to be a better, more convenient day to schedule such a thing, hence it being on my birthday. I remember the 40th one took place on Samish Island.

I am not 100% sure, but I am fairly certain that that 50th Anniversary Party was the last time mom and dad had all their children together at the same time at the same location.

Oops, just remembered, July 27, 2002, the biggest family reunion in our family's history, took place in Lynden. We were all there, along with all the nephews. I shall now go see if I can find the photo taken of all of us on that day. Almost forgot to mention, that is grandma Vera, mom's mom, sitting next to mom, above.

Dad and mom opening cards and presents at their 50th party. I do not recollect myself bringing a card or present, other than myself. I do remember a quick makeshift birthday card given to me that day after my unexpected arrival.

Okay, found the photo which I think may document the last time mom and dad had all their children together at one time at one location. The Lynden Fairgrounds on July 27, 2002.

Behind mom and dad, from left to right, that would be Joey, Jason, Jill, Jake, Jackie, Jack, Nancy, me, Christopher, Michele and Jeremy. Of those in the photo, in addition to mom and dad, Jill is also no longer with us, removed from the family via the divorce method.

I remember on this day, at this reunion, my brother-in-law asked me if I could try and convince my sister that all would work out if she agreed to try something new and move to Arizona. I do remember talking to sister Jackie about the moving idea, but I have no memory of what I said. Apparently I did a good job of convincing, because soon thereafter the move to Arizona was made.