Take Me Back To The Day When...

Take Me Back To The Day When...
I could sit on the dock at my Grandparents cabin and catch perch by day and bullheads at night.
Where I could spend hours out on the Lake with family.

Take Me Back To The Day When...

Visiting Grandma's ment a cold "Frostie" root beer was yours just for using you manners and asking.

Take Me Back To The Day When...
Grandpa introduced me to "Happy Joe's" special pizza. (Canadian bacon and sauerkraut) Seriously it's good.

Take Me Back To The Day When...

The entire family gathered together on Christmas Eve at Grandma and Grandpa's. A time before we all began our own families and new traditions began to replace the old.

Well today has been about reminiscing about my Grandmother who passed away last Tuesday. She was 82 years old. My Grandfather passed away 17 years earlier. This is on my fathers side. Grandma was a very headstrong woman who strongly believed in doing things a specific way and always expected everyone in the family to be respectful. For example, as a child I would often refer to my uncle as Dave. If I ever did that in front of her she was quick to correct me and tell me to address him as Uncle Dave. I was a kid and certainly did not mean any disrespect but she stood firm on certain formalities. When I was young this really used to bug me. But as I get older and look back I realize that she is part of the reason I do make the effort to speak kindly to people and to open doors for people.

As a teenager I had the opportunity one year to travel with my Grandparents to their cabin in Minnesota. I had been several times before but this year it was just me and them. I got to wear Grandpa's fishing hat, take the boats out by myself, and I got to spend time seeing my Grandmother enjoy herself. She clearly loved getting away from Des Moines and just relaxing. The year I was up there with them, a girl who was staying at a nearby resort would come down and sit on the dock and fish with me. My Grandma got a real kick out of that and teased me about my new "girlfriend."

Today at the funeral I was reunited with cousins that I have not seen in years. It's kind of sad to think about how long people can go without seeing each other, without truthfully realizing how long its been. It may be a Cliché that is to often heard at a funeral to say "it's to bad it took something like this to bring us together" but it's true. Take for example my cousin Shelley. She only lives 40 mins away from me and yet we have not stayed in touch. And I wish we had. And now thankfully it looks like we will make that effort. And Shelley if you are reading this I mean that. I have always felt that among all our cousins that we could relate to each other very well. And know this Shelley, even though many years have slipped by, I love you kiddo.

Shelley, my cousin Rod, and I were all born within weeks of each other. We were the first of my Grandparents grandchildren. We were born in the order you see us in that wagon picture. Rod, Shelley, and me in the back.

Ok now for a quick Training note.

I managed to get a run in outside tonight. 6.7 Miles 70min. At mile three I ran through an ice water puddle that was ankle deep. It was a drag, but my foot warmed back up quickly and I kept going. By mile four I was lossened up and feeling good. I decided to end the run at or just past our pal Dewey because it was getting hard to spot the black ice on the road. Yes I said road. I quickly found the sidewalks far to dangerous and kept to the streets. Yes the Ipod was low and I was cautious.

Tomorrow I will update my run to Disney data through the end of February. I have not yet decided how often to update the map.

Catch you all next time...