It's been awhile since I've made a post, because we've been just a little busy around here. Greg's Uncle Ray Fritsch died in Galesburg, Illinois, on June 6. Uncle Ray was one of our favorites... he visited often until just a few years ago, and being the coach and friend to kids that he was, we reveled in his stories, his jokes, tricks, antics, and general good nature. He and Aunt Lova (who is a sister to Greg's mother), were RVers, so we had an added "connection," and they were avid supporters of Workamper News through the years. They owned a membership at Cloud Nine Resort in Missouri, where Uncle Ray loved to spend hour upon hour fishing.Greg drove his mother to Illinois on Sunday, June 11, for the memorial service that was held on June 12. True to Uncle Ray's giving nature, he donated his body to science studies at the University of Iowa. Greg said that the memorial and the visitation preceding were packed with former students and friends of Uncle Ray's, and story after story regaled about his 33-year coaching stint at the same junior high school in Galesburg. Even if you didn't know Uncle Ray, you might enjoy reading this story that ran in the local paper in Galesburg about him... http://www.register-mail.com/stories/061006/EDU_BA2B53TK.GID.shtml
While "up North," Greg and his mother also visited his mother's other sister, Erma, who is in a nursing facility in Cedar Rapids. He relayed story after story about the girls' childhood, all the uncle's experiences in the war, and what's new and what's not in Galesburg and Cedar Rapids. They returned home on Wednesday, June 14.
I was unable to make the trip because my Mam-ma Polly had another mini-stroke on the 7th, which resulted in several days of trips to the ER, the general physician, and even a neurologist for a nerve conduction test. His diagnosis was... stroke. I just wasn't comfortable traveling a day away with her so precarious. Miraculously, she seems fully recovered this week, and is back to her "old self." This makes 3 really significant mini-strokes I can pinpoint since Christmas, which is not unusual for someone "93½" -- as she likes to point out -- but I do see them happening more frequently, which can't be good.
Otherwise, things are good here. Sales on eBay have actually been better lately, although I don't have anything listed right now. We had cool temperatures for a few days early last week, and good rain today, so the summer is not THAT bad -- YET!
Greg and I watched an Alfred Hitchcock movie tonight -- Frenzy -- if you haven't seen it, rent it. I gave Greg a set of 14 of Hitchcock's best movies on DVD for his birthday, and this was one of them. It was made in 1972, and is quite risqué for that era -- mild by today's standards, maybe, but pretty racy for 1972! See for yourself!
