From The Economist Espresso: 2014 in review: why the oil price fell
They always get criticize…oil companies…a thanks here though for increasing oil output in spite of governmental interference. Now though, start dropping those airline tickets airlines! It will increase travel.
We spent the Christmas weeks flying back and forth to Minnesota. The first visit was to visit my Mom when she became acutely ill with a heart attack.
After she stabilize we flew back home and four days later she passed away and we were back in the air heading to Minnesota.
We buried her in farmlands she loved in fresh snow, bright sunshine and 7 degree temperatures.
We must compliment Sun Country Airline for the great four non-stop flights we had between LAX and MSP airports. Outstanding service all the way and always on time.
We arrived in LA yesterday morning at 9:14 a.m. and when we got back home we fell into a deep coma as we were up in Minneapolis at 2:30 a.m. LA time. All is well here
Even after the 100’s of flights I have taken in my life, I am still fascinated by distance one can travel in such a short time. Interestingly, the return flight brought back memories of my first flight at age 21 out of Minneapolis on Braniff Airlines…long gone…heading for the Viet Nam war.
Love travel! Love returning home! Thinking of you Mom.
I was hard to leave Dad alone without Mom even though he has cared for her for the past five+ years. Seventy two years with Mom and now he is alone. Its always been very hard for Dad to take offered help. Independence is engrained all the way to the marrow of his bones. Taking help is a sign of weakness. The weeks and months to come will be very important to Dad. A special thanks to every one for all they have done in this difficult time.
Our plane leaves early tomorrow morning for Los Angeles.
Libby and I would like to thank all of our friends, family, acquaintances and blog readers for the kind words and assistance you have given us. We buried Mom today with the bright sun shining on the fresh fallen snow in 8 degree weather. We will start a new phase of our life with out Mom.
Again thanks. Miss you Mom.
I have never had a Christmas like the Christmas of 2014 and will never will again as you can lose your Mother only once.
We are within an hour and half of Minnesota and just finished our meal on the plane. Left on time and I got an hour of much needed sleep on the very smooth flight so far. We are expecting snow when we land and lost week when we landed, we landed in snow. Those Sun Country pilots must be ready for anything in winter.
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to our friends, family and acquaintances. Thank you all for all of your support for Libby and me in this difficult time.
We are here in our motel at midnight.
A special day. Every parking lot full around the airport. Even lot C which holds 7200 cars
Finally found a place for $22.00 a day. Fun surprise. Boarding in 30 minutes.
It was a cold windy afternoon in November and the corn was picked and it was time to plow before the ground froze. Dad was on the M-Farmall with the three bottom plow, I was on the H- was Farmall pulling a two bottom plow. It was getting to be around 3 pm and it was tea time. Sure enough, here came Mom in the car slowly driving along the dirt track to where we were plowing. Tea, sandwiches, cookies. Wonder how many thousands of time Mom brought lunch out to the men working in the field.
Mom had enough. Brother Dave was tormenting me again… never the other way around. Out of the house came Mom armed with a broom. We were going to get a swat. She didn’t see our forever favorite dog “Bobbie” who was always with Dave and I. Thump! The broom came down. Snap! Bobbie went into protective mode and bit Mom in the butt. Mom’s fury went into high gear against that dog. He stayed just ahead of the swing broom and headed into the grove. Bobby go lots of treats and pets that night from Dave and I.
THE COWS ARE OUT!!!! Dad was never happy when that happened. The troops were called out including the kids, the dog and of course Mom. Even though we could never do any thing right according to Dad in the cow round up , we always got the cows back in.
She was one of the best bakers in the Grussing family. Pies,
cakes, bars and cookies. Remember her sour crème raisin pie? How about the world famous spice cake! Apple bars and monster cookies. If they have a dessert bar in heaven, Mom will be running it.
Miss you Mom.
Libby and I have have traveled together so much that I believe we could pack with our eyes closed no matter where we are headed. Traveling to Minnesota for Mom’s funeral is a little more difficult when the average temperature will range from 0-15. But we are ready.
There is one thing doesn’t take up a lot of space in your suitcase… your memories. When you are fortunate enough to have your Mom 91 years, you have a lot of memories to chose from when you look back on her life.
As the oldest son, I left the farm heading for college in Minneapolis in 1963. At that time, Mom and Dad did not have in-door plumbing or a television on the farm. The privy was behind the house and in the deep snow and cold, it seemed like a long walk. Even further away was the well. Water to drink was hauled into the house in 4 gallon pails from the well. A life of physical labor.
News was available from KWLM, a Willmar radio station on AM Radio that sat on top of the refrigerator. Not much time for news anyway as the 240 acres of land needed tilling, the cows, pigs, chickens and ducks, needed food and care along with four kids. Guess who did a good part of that physical work? Yep, that little 5’2” Mom. Yes, she could drag a full 10 gallon milk can to the cold water tank to cool after she got done milking the 10 cows.
I could go on and on but this memory shows how hard she worked during her life. She never complained as she was the help mate for her husband who worked just as hard as she did.
Her life slowly got less physical as the kids got older and could help her with the “chores.” Running water and even a toilet was installed. A milking machine for the cows even came later and milking by hand disappeared.
The high-light of Mom and Dad’s life was their yearly vacation to Dead Lake. It started out as four days and ended up being a full week. Early on, the vacation was a competition of seeing how many northern pike Dad and Uncle Joe could catch and the family could eat. Mom and Aunt Ruthie’s vacation was not a luxury affair. They cooked every meal for nine kids and 4 adults and kept the nine kids from drowning and injuring themselves. Vacation in those days. Wonder if heaven has a luxury Dead Lake vacation available?
nough Enough memories…time to finish packing.
When you are spending your time three days before Christmas making preparations for a flying trip on Christmas Day, there are only two things that could stimulate this; 1. You are a terrible procrastinator or 2. There is an unexpected crisis in the family. I don’t procrastinate. Mom Gone.
Mom was 91 years old and Libby and I had just gotten back from visiting her last week shortly after her massive heart attack. The winter flight to Minnesota is always painful but it was especially so when your Mother is in critical condition in a hospital. When we arrived, brother David picked us up at the airport near mid-night and with the temperature +50 the fog was hovering over the 120 miles we had to travel to his home. Thank goodness for family at a time like this.
To complete the preliminaries on last week’s trip, we visited Mom and she had improved somewhat and recognized us when we arrived. We knew however from her physician that she did not have much time left with us; weeks to months. Dad of course was looking for every sign that Mom would make a comeback and would be able to move back home with him. Dad and Mom had been married 72 years the day we arrived to see Mom. He was not ready to let that end just yet. Mom wanted to know if we were going to Dead Lake this year. Three days later we flew back to the Los Angeles area to prepare for our families Christmas.
At 0530 a.m. on Monday morning, as we were deep in our final throes of healing sleep, the phone rang. The first thing that entered my mind when I became aware of the phone was, “Minnesota call.” Brother Roger’s voice on the end line verified my expectation. “Mom had died a few minutes ago in the nursing home.” They had been getting her up for breakfast in the dining room when she died as she sat waiting in her wheelchair. She was gone very quickly.
Yesterday was a blur of texts, phone calls and emails between brothers and sister, children and grand children. Getting Dad to the see Mom. Meetings with the funeral home. Add to that a rush of finding ways to make it to Minnesota for the funeral. By mid morning it looked like driving the 1800 miles to Minnesota was the only way to get there as the all the planes were full. Not even first class seats were left.
Dad and the brothers and sister who live in Minnesota met with funeral home and minister and the dates for the viewing and the funeral were made. We made one more shot a getting a flight to Minnesota. Miracle’s do happen. Two seats left on a Sun Country fight on Christmas. Not together but we will get there.
Thank goodness for brothers and sister in Minnesota. They have done a great job in putting this all together. Packing today.
Traveling Retired 