RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS-THE JOYS OF BEING PART OF A FAMILY

 

callie-fishing

THE JOYS OF BEING PART OF A FAMILY
As the saying goes; Life is short, live it to the fullest. Sometimes a life experience sneaks up on you and you are surprised by the emotions that you experience. My granddaughter, Callie, and grandson Broc were fishing off the dock during vacation. The water was very clear and you could see small pan fish circling their fishing lines. We were watching with anticipation, hoping the fish would take the bait. Then boom! Callie’s face was priceless; she had a fish!

She reeled the small sun fish in and soon it was flopping on the dock. Callie squealed with excitement. Her smile and giggle is something I will always remember. What fun she was having! Then it was Broc’s turn. He had the same result and same smile. Their mother, Jen, was sitting on the dock soaking it all in, just like I was. My son Jeremy was assisting his kids with the fishing poles and bait.

That scene of catching fish was played out a few more times on the dock of Lake Darling just outside of Alexandria that night. The excitement and joy on all of their faces brought tears to my eyes. I was caught by surprise by my emotions. I tried to hide my tears of joy.

My son Jeremy and his wife Jen, along with Broc and Callie have had a very difficult year. Jen was diagnosed with stage three breast cancer last summer. Jen had surgeries and radiation treatments throughout the year. I’m happy to report that Jen is cancer free today. They have been through so much, so it was nice to have them with us at Arrowwood Resort for a short family vacation.

Watching the expressions on Broc’s and Callie’s faces, along with Jen’s and Jeremy’s is something that I will always remember. The smiles were huge; the laughter was non-stop. Something so simple as catching small fish off the dock brought so much joy to all of us. Live life to the fullest; enjoy every moment. That is what they taught me that night on the dock.

There were sixteen of us in the townhouse at Arrowwood Resort in Alexandria, which is a very nice place. It had been a few years since we had all been together. Spending time with all four of our children and their spouses, along with our grandchildren was the best. I needed some family time. I have thought of that moment on the dock with Callie and Broc often this past week. It really is the simple things in life, like spending quality time with each family member.

I really enjoyed watching grandma play Farkle or Uno with all the grandchildren around the big table, and observing Brianna and Seth spending so much time with their nieces and nephews at the lake or pools at the resort. My daughter-in-law Kristine, and grandson Zane, who loves to bake and cook, brought some amazing desserts and dishes. My boys love to grill and did a lot of it. Watching my daughters-in-law, Katie, Kristine and Jen love on their children. I spent the early mornings, sipping coffee on the patio and thanking God for my family.

Family is everything. I don’t want to paint a picture of a perfect family; we have our issues like most families have. This family vacation was special for me. I realized I have an important role as a grandpa. I feel so much love from my grandkids, and they enjoy spending time with grandpa. I don’t want to disappoint them. I try and be the best grandpa I can be by spending quality time with each of them. Life is short, live it to the fullest.

Posted: July 29, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -FAMILY REUNIONS

 

cousins

FAMILY REUNIONS

Do you like family reunions? I do. I attended a small family reunion last weekend at my brothers in Worthington. It seemed like all my extended family reads my blogs each week. I was shocked and appreciated the nice comments about my blogging. My cousins were wondering if I was going to write about them in my blog this week. The answer is yes!

It seems like family reunions don’t happen as often as they did in the 50’s or 60’s, which is really sad. When I was a young child, it seemed like my parents were always going to family reunions on the weekends. Big gatherings in city parks, picnic tables were full of food all day. I remember playing baseball, or kickball with all my cousins, uncles and aunts. Even grandpa and grandma played with us. Many pictures were taken. It was always fun.

In fact, when Neal Armstrong stepped off the lunar module on the moon on July 20th 1969 we were at a family reunion in New Richland Minnesota. My dad and I left the reunion to go sit in the car in the parking lot to listen to the first man to walk on the moon on the radio. I was twelve years old. It was my mom’s side of the family, the yearly Crumb reunion.

I like getting together with family members I don’t get to see often. I spent a lot of time with my cousins as kids growing up. We were always together. We really had so much fun running in the yard, wrestling, fighting, teasing each other, eating, and someone was always crying because they got hurt. I never cried.

When my brother Greg and I got together with our cousins, Mike and Mark, who are brothers, all we did was tag team wrestle, we would literally beat the crap out of each other. There was always blood spilled. Looking back on that, it is amazing nobody really got hurt bad. It was so much fun, great memories with them.

Then life happens and you get older and go your own ways and don’t see them often. Sometimes years go by without seeing or visiting with them. So when we do a planned get together, I get excited to spend time with them for a few days. Which we did at my brother Greg’s in Worthington. Many stories are told of the old days, lots of laughs all day long.

Picture taking is a huge undertaking at family reunions. We all were taking pictures with our cell phones last weekend. Years ago, it was the Polaroid camera, or a Bell Howell 8-millimeter camera. My cousins Pam and Deb did a great job of organizing the family pictures at Greg’s, making sure we got each family unit. Pam did mention let’s get a picture of the young generation, they wouldn’t let me in that picture.

I also enjoy spending time with the younger generation which would be my nephews and nieces and their children. I must admit I don’t know all the names of their children, but they are sure cute kids. I’m sure my uncles and aunt said that about me when I was that age. Family reunions are fun and I hope we do more of them.

Posted: July 25, 2018
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS -A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS

 

christmas-white

A DIFFERENT CHRISTMAS

Whew! I was really worried that I would not get my white Christmas. Christmas Eve day, my yard had absolutely no snow. We need snow! It is not right to live in Minnesota and not have a white Christmas. I thought about this fact most of the day. Actually it was really bothering me; it just was wrong not to have snow on the ground. It didn’t feel right.

Then it happened. About 4:30 in the afternoon, I was taking a nap in my chair when I was awakened with a loud “Hey” from my loving wife. Startled I responded with a resounding “what?” She informed me to look out the window. To my amazement it was snowing really hard and the ground was becoming white! That put a big smile on my face and, like a little boy, I screamed with excitement. I had actually prayed in church Sunday morning for snow. God answered my prayer and I thanked him!

It was a different kind of Christmas for Roxie and me. We changed things up when it came to our family gathering at Christmas. We decided to get together on December 30th this year. That meant that Roxie and I were going to be alone for the first time on Christmas Eve and Christmas day. I was pleased with this arrangement and enjoyed a very quiet and peaceful Christmas.

We enjoyed our Christmas Eve candlelight church service at Calvary Baptist, then came home and had a nice candlelight dinner. After supper, we played a few games of Yahtzee, which she won, watched the movie It’s a Wonderful Life, and finished the evening by watching the yule log. Christmas Day was much the same; just quiet, peaceful and relaxing. After thinking about how our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day went, I realized this is exactly what I needed. Quiet and peaceful, it was really refreshing.

Now, I am really looking forward to having the kids and grand-kids at our house this weekend. I Love watching my grand-kids open their presents. Having our family all together is important. Most of them love playing board games; not me. If my grand-kids ask grandpa to play, I will drag myself to the table with a smile on my face. I love them.

When we are together as a family. Laughter, maybe some tears, and lots of love happens. Family time is important to us, I’m sure it is to you. I really enjoyed looking at all the Christmas family gatherings on Facebook. Official family photos, or fun and goofy pictures. Facebook was full of photographs this past weekend.

This Christmas was different for me, and it was all good. The best part was the Christmas Eve snowfall covering the barren ground, giving me a white Christmas.

Posted: December 26, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – BIRTH ORDER IS FASCINATING

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BIRTH ORDER IS FASCINATING

I am now 60 years old and am the oldest of five siblings. I recently read an article in a parenting magazine that was fascinating. I would like to share some of the information in my blog today. I have a lot of respect for Dr. Kevin Leman. We listened to his video’s at our Bible studies a few years ago. He is a very funny guy and very smart. I love listening to him and reading his books.

Are you the first born in your family? How about the middle child? Or the baby of the family. Might you be an only child. Dr. Leman believes the secret to sibling personality differences lies in birth order. Whether you’re a first born, middle, last born or only child, and how parents treat their child because of it.

My brothers and sisters are really different people from me. Yet we all were raised in the same house, by very loving parents. So how can we be so different? I think the same way with my own children. I often say to my wife, how can our kids be so different in personalities, and beliefs about certain things, and what’s important in life and priorities and yet they all were raised under the same roof.

First born people like me, always have the most pictures taken, and the last born child, you maybe can find one or two pictures of them. What really disturbs me about parents and parenting is how parents treat the last born child! They treat them like babies their whole life. My opinion 🙂

Here is Dr. Lemans assessment of the birth order.

Firstborn

As the leader of the pack, firstborns often tend to be:

  • Reliable
  • Conscientious
  • Structured
  • Cautious
  • Controlling
  • Achievers

Firstborns bask in their parents’ presence, which may explain why they sometimes act like mini-adults. Firstborns are diligent and want to be the best at everything they do. They excel at winning the hearts of their elders.

Middle Child

“The middle child often feels left out and a sense of, ‘Well, I’m not the oldest. I’m not the youngest. Who am I?'” says therapist Meri Wallace. This sort of hierarchical floundering leads middle children to make their mark among their peers, since parental attention is usually devoted to the beloved firstborn or baby of the family.

In general, middle children tend to possess the following characteristics:

  • People-pleasers
  • Somewhat rebellious
  • Thrives on friendships
  • Has large social circle
  • Peacemaker

Last Born

Youngest children tend to be the most free-spirited due to their parents’ increasingly laissez-faire attitude towards parenting the second (or third, or fourth, or fifth…) time around. The baby of the family tends to be:

  • Fun-loving
  • Uncomplicated
  • Manipulative
  • Outgoing
  • Attention-seeker
  • Self-centered

Only Children

Being the only child is a unique position in a family. Without any siblings to compete with, the only child monopolizes his parents’ attention and resources, not just for a short period of time like a firstborn, but forever. In effect, this makes an only child something like a “super-firstborn”: only children have the privilege (and the burden) of having all their parents’ support and expectations on their shoulders. Thus, only children tend to be:

  • Mature for their age
  • Perfectionists
  • Conscientious
  • Diligent
  • Leaders

Is this information correct in your family? How do you feel about the birth order you are in? I think it is fascinating, the birth order and how it affects you.

  • How Birth Order Affects Your Child’s Personality and Behavior By Jocelyn Voo from Parents Magazine
Posted: November 27, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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RAYMO’S RAMBLINGS – ENJOYING LIFE

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ENJOYING LIFE

Sitting at my computer Sunday evening and just thinking about how much I really enjoy life! I am blessed to have a loving family and many friends that I love. That got me thinking about the last three days and all the events that I was involved in and the many people that I crossed paths with that make my life full.

It all began on Friday as I boarded a Southwest coach bus at LQPV high school to ride down to New Ulm with the football team. The Eagles played the Greyhounds from New Ulm Cathedral for the first time in school history. I sat up front with head coach Tony Smith and coach Josh Benson. The ride down coach Smith popped in the movie The Titans. One of my favorite movies, which I have seen many times. Sitting in my comfortable seat and visiting with the coaches and watching the movie for two hours was enjoyable.

Going to New Ulm was special for me as well. I spent my first thirteen years of my life growing up in New Ulm before moving to Madison. We arrived at New Ulm Cathedral high school and as the team got ready and prepared to play football. I walked around the Catholic high school. I went to catholic schools in New Ulm growing up and so it brought back many memories walking down the hallways and looking into the classrooms, walking through the gym. It still looked like the 60’s but was a well maintained building.  

We boarded the bus again and drove the 7 or 8 blocks to the football field. It’s the same football field my dad took my brother Greg and me to watch the New Ulm Eagles play high school football in the late 60’s. I climbed the ladder to the tall press box to broadcast the game. What a football game it was. The Eagles played great and won on a field goal by Isaac Gerdes. That made for a very fun ride home, arriving back at LQPV around 12:45am. Friday was so much fun and I enjoyed every minute. Life is good!

Up early Saturday morning to do the Coaches Show on the radio. Then left for the cities around ten for my daughter’s bridal shower in Maple Grove. Two of my sons and I helped get the room ready for the shower with our wives, then left and watched the Gopher football game in their motel room in downtown Minneapolis. After the bridal shower was over we visited with family and friends for a while. Family is everything and sometimes I need to remind myself that I need to spend more time with my family. Love my grandkids to death, and enjoy every moment with all of them.

Roxie and I headed back to Madison, I dropped her off at home around 8pm and headed to Appleton for Applefest festivities Saturday evening. The fireworks display in Appleton Saturday night was the best I have ever seen. It was amazing!

Saturday was a whirlwind, but so much fun and enjoyed every minute. Life is good!

Sunday, a full day of Applefest events. I attended the showing of The Spirit of Appleton play at the 52 wing. I played Governor Elmer Benson, who was from Appleton, in the play. The Spirit of Appleton was produced into a movie for the screen. It was weird seeing myself on the big screen and my name in the credits at the end of the movie.

Later, I went down to the fairgrounds and enjoyed the car show and all the vendors. My favorite Applefest event is the parade. It was a beautiful day, and so many people along the parade route. I pull the Miss Madison float and enjoyed throwing candy to the children and some adults.

After the parade I headed back down to the fairgrounds for a pie and ice cream social and sweepstakes drawing. The Chuck Brown Building was full of people, a great turnout. The chamber served the pie and ice cream and I was the MC, along with the Miss Appleton royalty. Sweepstakes winners were announced and the cleanup began.

I was home by 6:30 to watch The Vietnam War on PBS, the first part was about local Vietnam veterans telling of their experiences in the war. I enjoyed listening to two friends of mine that were in the piece.

Sunday ended with me thinking of how much I love life! How much I enjoy living this life God has given me. I’m so thankful for my family and my friends that make this journey enjoyable. Life is good!

Posted: September 17, 2017
Under: Raymo's Ramblings
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