Thoughts For The Day From Papa ‘a

Good Morning All & Happy Tuesday!

How about those Virginia Cavaliers & Texas Tech Red Raiders!  What a great championship game last night…entertaining to the end!  Either team deserved to win.  I was happy to see one of my favorite coaches, Tony Bennett, and his team get the win.  A remarkable story about their team going from heartbreak last year to the national championship this year.  A testimony to Tony’s leadership and character.  Here’s to Tony Bennett & the Virginia Cavaliers!  Speaking of celebrations, here’s to my friend Gary Robinson, as he celebrates his 73rd birthday today!  Also, Happy Birthday wishes go to my friend, Danielle Riggs, who turns 63 tomorrow.  Here’s to you, Danielle!

Well, the adage “April Showers Bring May Flowers” has certainly been true this past week or so.  Lots of “liquid sunshine” in Spokane!  Bring on the water…the staff of life.  I really love this time of year because everything looks so green and fresh.  Not to mention the variety of birds that have arrived just within the last few days.  I’m still on the lookout for my favorite Spring bird, the brilliant yellow & black American Goldfinch.  I don’t seem very many of them around here, but when I do it’s quite an event!  There’s one bird in particular that has been serenading the neighborhood of late…I think it’s a male and he’s looking for a mate.  He’s got a beautiful song, but I can’t quite make out the species…it’s time to consult my trusty “A Field Guide To Western Birds” by Roger Tory Peterson.

My mom & I were out and about yesterday running various medical errands.  We checked her pacemaker and a new device that can be inserted into her arm that will allow her to take her blood sugar counts throughout the day without having to do the painful needle sticks on the ends of her fingers.  Aren’t the advances in medical science terrific?  My mom is one tough cookie.  At age 92 she still manages her checkbook and all financial affairs, can do math in her head and on paper like nobody’s business, makes beautiful custom jewelry/beadwork for family & friends (her handmade necklaces look like they came from Tiffany’s Jewelers, I kid you not!), and stays engaged with current events and always ask me great questions that keep me on my toes.  She’s one remarkable lady!

Speaking of remarkable people, my father-in-law, Dwain, and my mother-in-law, Marianne, are still going strong at age 88.  Dwain enjoys staying abreast of developments in the business world, has been enjoying all of the basketball games of late, and takes an avid interest in activities of his children and grandchildren.  Marianne (and Dwain) are avid readers.  My guess is that they have read more books than all of the rest of our family combined.  Marianne is a great encourager…always has a good word for everyone and it’s always great to receive one of her notes of praise and/or encouragement.  Dwain is a great cheerleader for our family and is a man with lots and lots of friends, which speaks volumes about him as a loving father, grandfather and friend.  Best of all, they both have a fantastic sense of humor…there’s lots of laughter in their home, for sure.

Even though it is said that “you can’t pick your parents,” I would have picked my folks and Judy’s folks in a heartbeat.  How fortunate I am to have such terrific role models and loving parents and in-laws.  Here’s to you Mom, Dwain, Marianne and Dad (Pumpa)—who is enjoying being in the presence of Almighty God and His Son Jesus, along with other loved ones who have gone before.

One of my favorite publications, “Rural Montana,” had a great article about a gentleman by the name of John Foster, who just retired as a mortician in Beach, North Dakota of all places.  Beach is real close to Wibaux, North Dakota, if you know where that is.  He’s been the mortician in Beach for 30 years.  At age 66, he has decided to give up being on call for grieving.  He dreams of being free to leave town for a day, or attend a concert in the vicinity.  “I’m always working or on call,” he said of his profession.  Foster was born in Lewistown, Montana and raised north of Belgrade, where he graduated from high school in 1972.  He attended Montana State University at Bozeman, and graduated from San Francisco College of Mortuary Science in 1978.  He and his wife moved to Beach, North Dakota in 1990 to become the town’s mortician.  His wife, Wynona, has driven a school bus there for 25 years and worked as a cook at Home On The Range for 15 years.  “She loves the contact with kids,” John said.  He explained that he went to college for a degree in fish and wildlife.  He was raised on a ranch and loved outdoor life, but was drawn to wanting to help people, to help them from feeling sad, he said.  After 30 years, John is weary from the grieving.  “You are always waiting for the phone to ring at 2 or 3 in the morning, and you now someone is hurting tonight.  Maybe I can help.  And when it is someone you know, that’s wearing, not so much fun,” he said.  John has been the county coroner for 30 years as well.  He is now dealing with the second and third generations of local folks who need his services.  John & Wynona have made a name for themselves as Mr. & Mrs. Santa Claus in the area.  “I didn’t need the padding,” he said laughing.  “It was fun to go around to people’s homes.  I even memorized “The Night Before Christmas” poem.  We made house calls to Wibaux, Trotters, Golva, all over the Goldenwest Electric Cooperative country.”  As John says…”It has been a privilege to serve the people of Beach.  The community has provided a wonderful life for us.  I hope I’ve been able to help along the way.”  Here’s to John & Wynona Foster and their “service above self.”

Speaking of mortuary science, I found out from my mom, Chris (her given name is Tempa), that my grandfather, Charles Edward Testerman, was not only a teacher in Zena, Oklahoma (a little crossroads town in the northeastern corner of Oklahoma—what used to be called “Indian Territory—the area of the country to where the five civilized tribes were moved during the forced removal/displacement from their ancestral homes by the Federal Government that occurred in the 1830s), but he also served as Zena’s part-time undertaker.  Zena had a hearse (they called it the “community hearse”) and Grandpa Charlie would be called upon to go and collect the body and take it to the mortuary in Grove (the largest town closest to Zena).  Well, as the story goes, one day Grandpa Charlie was transporting a body and all of a sudden he looked in his rear view mirror and the deceased’s body had involuntarily risen at the waist and Grandpa saw the deceased’s head in the rear view mirror staring right at him!  That’s pretty creepy, don’t you think???  Needless to say, Grandpa almost had an accident!  I’d never heard this story before (or maybe I couldn’t remember).  This just goes to show that you learn something new every day!

Don’t you think it’s remarkable that some people feel called to serve as morticians?  It takes a special person to make that career commitment.  Spokane is lucky in that we have had excellent and deeply caring people serve as morticians here…among them Myron Krumm, Chuck Hennessey, Don Ball and Larry Domrese.  They are as fine a people as fine can be.  I learned yesterday that Larry’s wife (Don Ball’s daughter) has taken a turn for the worse with Alzheimer’s Disease.  Larry has been serving as her caregiver for many years, as she had early onset of Alzheimer’s Disease.  They are such dear people.  Prayers are lifted up for Larry, his wife and their family.  Here’s to you, Larry!

Here’s the culinary tip(s) for the day:

Check out Caruso’s (across the street from another of my favorite restaurants—The Longhorn Barbeque) in the Spokane Valley and try their “Godfather” sandwich.  Lots of great veggies and a stack of roast beef on a toasted sourdough bun…mmmm….good!  Are you looking for a great hamburger in the Spokane area?  Then check out Vintage Vines in the Spokane Valley for their “Burger & A Brew” Wednesday special for $13.  The meat is juicy & mouth-watering and the toasted brioche bun it is served on is just perfect.  It rivals the other great burger in town that is served at Twig’s Bistro.

Here’s the funny Medical Dictionary term for the day:

Post Operative:  A letter carrier

Here are some thoughts for the day:

“One of the ends for which sex was created was to symbolize to us the hidden things of God.  One of the functions of human marriage is to express the nature of the union between Christ and the Church.”

—C.S. Lewis, “God in the Dock,” as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom:  Meditations on Faith, Life, Love, and Literature”

“We do not stop playing because we grow old; we grow old because we stop playing.”

—On the wall of Caruso’s Restaurant in the Spokane Valley (corner of N. Argonne Rd. & E. Montgomery Drive)

“When Satan tempts me to despair, and tells me of my guilt within,

upward I look and see Him there, who made an end to all my sin.

Because the sinless Savior died, my sinful soul is counted free,

for God the Just is satisfied

to look on Him and pardon me, to look on Him and pardon me.”

—Charlie Bancroft & Vikki Cook, “Before The Throne Of God Above” (1997)

Here’s to a great Tuesday & lots of love always!

Press on,

Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)