Halloween day was on Tuesday! I got home from therapy and started right away to make carmel pop corn. I decided that didn’t look like much so I made some cookies to go along in the bag. By this time it was getting near 4 o’clock. I took a folding chair down from the second floor and set it outside on the walk. I went back inside and got my roaster out and put the packages in it but decided not to put them out until after 5 o’clock.
It was after 5 o’clock and everything was outside ready for some “takers”. As it neared 6 o’clock, Kiel brought up Morgan. I offered her a bag and then I looked and saw the chair was folded up against the house, no roaster, and no goodies! Where had they gone to?
Years before this I would make over 70 popcorn balls. The older kids would watch and hand them out while I took the younger ones out for tricks-or-treating. When I got home, all the popcorn balls were gone. Yes, there had been a ‘herd’ of kids that came! Three years later, I found out that they had called their other siblings (even Jennifer from Remsen) to come and get some. That is when I stopped making popcorn balls as it was only family that got them!
Anyway, I found the roaster in the basement. I think it was the person that has a bedroom in the basement that took the treats. I only hope he got a stomach from all the treats!
I went out to the school on Saturday morning for a memory walk. Nov. 6, the school and what was left in it will be landfill material. The kids are in a new school as well as a Day Care for children who are not in school yet.
I was looking at Little House on the Prairie the other early morning. Mary Ingals was putting her dad’s horse in the barn when their dog barked and scared the horse that pushed Mary over a stall. She said she was ‘fine’ but later on that night she had a high temperature. The doctor was called and made arrangements for her to go to Rochester hospital as he thought infection was present.
The church took up a collection to send Mary and her parents to the hospital. Once there, she had one operation, then a second one and when the third one was an emergency one, the hospital administrator, Mr. Benson told the parents that he wouldn’t permit the surgery as he needed money.
Mr. Ingals signed a promissory note that he was going back home to sell his farm and would come up with the money. Mr. Benson finally agreed. Once home, Mr. Ingals found the bank had closed two days earlier because of too many loans that couldn’t be paid back.
Mr. Edwards, a friend went back with Ingals to find a job and offered his wages to go to Mary. Mrs. Ingals found a job in the laundry department at the hospital where all bed linens were ironed. The men found a dangerous job of dynamiting a tunnel so a railroad could continue through. It was good pay until one day Ingals and an older man were trapped as a side collapsed. The flame in their lantern was getting dim that meant oxygen was soon gone. The other workers didn’t want to risk their lives to get the two people out. After much discussion from Edwards, the rest of the crew decided to come and help dig these two out.
Yes, Mary did have her operation and Mr. Benson got his money. Wanting money for assurance, does this happen today? There are many people that go without because of lack of money. I
wonder if this hospital in Rochester is connected to Mayo? There was a time when my dad went there for tests. Mom and Lori were told he couldn’t be dismissed unless they got money as the Blue Cross insurance from Iowa didn’t pay in Minn. They scraped up what money they had and when they got back to Iowa, Blue Cross was investigated for this act.
The people who want this money are hired for their job as what they are trained to do—get it no matter what grief it might take to get it. Times haven’t changed!
All Saints Sunday was Nov. 5 where we at Faith Lutheran Church recognize those Saints we lost in the past year. A Saint is one who has been set by God for God’s purposes. All Saints Sunday is the day we remember those who have completed their baptismal journey and now rest in God. Faith Specht passed away June 20, 2023. She certainly will be missed by those whose lives she touched in her lifetime. Many of Faith’s family came to this service on Sunday.
Before you get this newspaper, voting was on Tuesday and the candidates have already been elected for their job. If you didn’t vote, don’t complain about the result.
Remember in your thoughts and prayers those who have lost loved ones to death, have health problems some of which are terminal, are struggling to make ends meet even though they have a job, help those who desire “wants” are more important than “needs” that prestige isn’t everything and be with those who are still struggling to shorten the distance between family/friends to build a bridge instead of a wall. Count your blessings!
I will leave you with this quote: Patience is knowing that time can make a difference in what happens…think before you act.