Last night’s story broadcast on WPCA-FM was I’ll Cook For You. It’s one of my favorite stories, a little longer than most at almost 30 minutes, and whenever I’ve read it in public it has produced a strong emotional response. When I read it in the Milltown Library a few years ago, as I finished there was an audible “Whew!” As a writer, you want to stir something in the reader and this story does just that. You can find it online in Yet More Break Time Stories and in the paperback, The First Gathering Of The Break Time Stories. The paperback is available through Amazon.com. The story is set in Korean War era southern California, a time when there still were a few pre-war cars with running boards on the road and milkmen delivered milk and eggs to your door.
I have been working on helping Marina with Gretel The Gift, a recounting of Marina’s first Seeing Eye dog and Andy, her second, told in the dogs’ own words. It’s cute as all get-out. When it’s ready, we are not sure where to try to park it but I think there will be interest in it and many potential readers.
Son Aaron hits town in a few weeks, so we should have some good family gatherings while he’s here from Portugal. Daughter Alice has a couple of shows at McCabe’s in Santa Monica, California. She’s been there before. I think she also has shows in Ohio and Michigan sometime between now and Spring. You can check those out on her website. Meanwhile, the snow is holding off and the lake seems to be later than usual in its freeze. I have everything in, courtesy of help from Grandson Hans and son-in-law Mark. That’s a definite concession to age on my part but I truly appreciate the help. My brother, Guy, continues on life support in California two months now into his second year following a horrific car accident. My prayer is that God would do for him what’s best for him. Last week Marina hosted a birthday lunch in memory of our departed daughter, Heide. Daughters Britta and Hannah met us at The Watershed in Osceola.
Too many funerals lately. I did a large one honoring Rick Davidsavor, a treasured First Responder, Fireman, EMT, firearms instructor and who knows what else. He was honored last year by the State of Wisconsin as one of our heroes. After two hours of greeting family, the line waiting outside the Cushing Community Center was as long as the line inside the building. I’ve never presided over a Firefighter’s funeral, but with all of those volunteers lined up at attention around the perimeter of the building and the Life Link helicopter giving its salute by hovering overhead, it was most impressive. Too many other people we care about have passed on in the last several weeks. Live long enough and I suppose one experiences that.
I’ve informed our Wolf Creek congregation and the Conference that I’ll be packing it in as of the end of June, 2024. What will I do after that? Plenty! I may even have some new stories emerge, as they have in the past, between 3 a.m. and 5 a.m. From the time I was dredged from retirement to pastor Wolf Creek again, creative preoccupation has gone into weekly sermons instead of stories and there have been no new tales working in my brain. So, we shall see. I might even be able to catch up on the dusting our place needs!