Letter to a Friend

I have been wanting to post something new for a few days and the other day Jan found a letter that I had written to her instead of a card for Mothers Day. To tell the truth I probably forgot or was too cheap to spring for a card for her. God knows she deserves more cards and flowers, and gifts than I get around to giving her. Anyhow, I thought that I would put the text of the note that I gave her instead of a card in a new blog. This is from Mother's Day in 1981. At the time we had a 1 year old boy, a 3 year old girl, and a 6 year old girl, so Jan was pretty busy I am thinking. It starts.
              Dear Jan
  When I put the girls to bed tonight and kissed them, I thought how sweet they are- most of the time- and how empty life would be without them. I guess that's what Mother's Day is all about, giving a return gift to someone who has given you so much, three beautiful, intelligent, healthy children, and a warm comforting home. As I have said before, I can't wait to get home to find out what the tribe has been up to, or to see the line up at the back door. This really makes my day. This year I got you a rose bush. I hope that it grows as well as the last one, but I was too cheap to spring for a card, so I wrote this, I hope it will do.
                                         Love Pete
I've written lots of love notes to Jan over the years and I don't plan on stopping any time soon. The early morning of the 23rd she woke me up and we talked about how things went 33 years previously when Eli, our youngest was born. Both of the girls were sick and had thrown up in bed and Jan was getting them cleaned up, when she told me that some thing else was happening as well. My Mom rushed over to watch the girls while we ran to the hospital. Eli arrived a few hours later. This was in the days before ultra sound, so it always came as a surprise when the child made their appearance to this world. I had the privilege of first holding both Eli and Gen when they were born and walking around the delivery room and talking to them, something that I will never forget. Rachel's birth was a little different so I didn't get to hold her until later. So now Jan and I just bustle around the house  and keep in touch by phone and on line too with the kids that are no longer kids, but the same age as we were when we had a family like them.
     Anyhow, on another subject. Jan, Aaron, Eli, and I were up to Comfrey Sunday morning to a benefit lunch fund raiser. They are raising funds to put up a monument for the four Air Force personnel that perished when their B-47 bomber crashed just north of Comfrey in February, 1963. I had come home on leave from tech school and my Dad had met the bus in Albert Lea, when he told me about the crash. I can remember that it was at least 20 below zero that day. The two that got out of the plane as it went down froze to death before they hit the ground and two more rode the plane into the ground. Until recently I had believed that the aircraft was out of Little Rock AFB, but research recently told me they were from Lincoln AFB, Nebraska. Stay in touch and leave a comment if you wish, and even if you don't wish.
p.s.  I was going to add some pictures, but now it won't let me down load pictures from our files, so I guess this will be without illustrations