Letter from GrandPa Matthews: Thanksgiving 1935

In one of the many boxes Bruce brought back from his uncle's house we found old letters. One set came from his grandmother's step-grandfather, Gdpa Matthews, Isabella Griswold's 3rd husband. He must have been a very religious man.

I scanned all these letters and hope to transcribe them all soon but it is so tedious a work and it's not like there are not other things to do every day.
This letter was sent in November 1935.



"Thanksgiving. 1308 Summit St, Marshalltown, Ia. Nov 28, 1935
May God's choicest blessings rest upon you this day. Me thinks I would like to draw a word picture of what this day means to me. It takes me back in life to the time when my family fathered around the family table on each succeeding thanksgiving. Many years have passed since then. Is my life now a blank, far from it. If any of my unseen friends are thinking of me this day, and I trust some are. They perhaps picture me sitting here alone , my only company being my radio and my dog. All wrong. There is perhaps none among my friends who are happier than I. 42 years ago this past summer I built this house. A house can be created in a few months, but only time creates a home. No I am not alone. The memory of my loving wife long since gone on, are still with me, so is the childish prattle of my children who long since have made homes of their own. I do not live here from necessity, but from choice. Each of my children have urged me to spend my declining years with them. They have lovely homes but they are not my HOME. Here each scratch and mar brings memories of the past. The growing up of children, the departure of those near and dear to me. All this put together spells HOME. Then there are two others always present with me. God and my elder brother Jesus Christ. They are ever with me at all hours of day or night, they are ever present to console and comfort, what a blessing that is to those who really love God.
This morning as I looked out of the window I saw we were facing a blizzard. It was both snowing and blowing. My house was warm, so was my heart. As I looked upon that snow so clean and white, my prayer to Allmighty God was may my heart and life be ever as white as that snow.
Evening. The old song no place like home is only too true. I have just returned from a lovely home, and a bounteous repast. this is one of the days my sons family insist on me being present at their table. They have a much finer house than mine, and beautiful furniture, nothing lacking in what a home should be. Yet with all their fine things, it doesn't measure up to mine. My furniture like the owner is good but old fashioned. I love the things bought years ago. Do you know I wouldn't exchange what I now have for the loveliest set of overstuffed furniture in town.
The complaints of some seems sacrilegious to me, None are going hungry in this depressed land of ours unless they are too lazy to work for the price their work is worth. Where I differ from many is They live to eat, while I eat to live. This morning for breakfast I ate some toast and a cup of coffee. Nothing more. That has been my breakfast for many months, and will be for months to come. This is not from necessity but from choice. Th me my health outweighs my desire for food which my stomach will no longer stand.
Many times I have been asked what do you find to amuse yourself. Do you know I really pity people who ask such questions as that. There is a clog loose somewhere in their make-up, something fails to click properly. Time never drags on my hands, instead it is lack of time that troubles me. No happiness is greater to me than just a nice sociable visit with some of my shut-in friends by the letter route. I ask nothing greater in life than that I may continue to brighten the lives of others for years to come. When I become useless to others I want to be called to my long home. These lines represent the life and wishes of one who is on the declining slope of life. One thing I am thankful for is my steady nerves. Anyone who can sign their name as steadily as this is signed at age of 78 yrs has much to be thankful for. May God be ever with each of you who receive a copy of this my Thanksgiving thoughts.
W H Matthews

William Matthews was born in January 1857 in Marshalltown, Iowa. He married Cora Hartwell's mother, Isabella Griswold on 28 January 1890. He corresponded with Cora's daughter Grace Whelchel Safford with whom he seems to have had much affinity. He died during WWII as witnessed in Stanley Safford's war letters.

Merry Christmas - Joyeux Noel !!!

Click on the pictures to be able to see the letter right.

Run-Away Slaves...

I can't believe it's November already!
Where has the year gone by?
It's been a while since I have been on here... Not that I didn't have anything to share... not by far... We are just too busy!!!
Our latest outing was educational, as we took Michael and his pal Mitchell to Conner's Prairie to participate in "Follow the North Star" event. They offer this activity twice a year in May and November.
I didn't participate but happily volunteered Bruce to accompany the boys as they needed adult supervision and a Mom tag-along didn't sound quite right for these two teens.
A waiver had to be signed before participation was allowed and I must say it had our imaginations soaring... Would there be dogs, would they do anything realistically to have happened to caught run-away slaves?
OOOPs.. I didn't tell you what this activity was about but maybe you have guessed from what I just said. The purpose of this program is to sensitize the participants to being helped to run away on the Underground Railroad.
It was supposed to last 90 minutes but even though their session started at 6:45pm they didn't return until almost 9pm.
Groups of 20 people are taken through the experience every 15 minutes.
No cell phones or cameras allowed, no running, no gum either...
The bottom line was to cooperate and Bruce was not about to play his part. Mitchell got them into trouble by saying they were run-aways and that cost them all three to have to lay down flat on the ground face down... But the boys played along much more easily.
After their orientation, they were taken to be sold at Liberty Corner or somewhere on the grounds, then they were moved around the grounds, meeting different types of people who helped or not. Before leaving they went through a sort of debriefing where they were explained how out of the 20 people in their group, maybe 3 would have made it to freedom.
Some would have been killed, others, injured, some others retaken and who knows what fate would have awaited them then!?
The three of them will surely remember the experience a long time that's for sure.
While I was waiting the guide who got the tour started shared some thoughts about a book she read about a woman who had a baby with her when she escaped on the real Underground Railroad and how the baby started crying and because she could not let the baby cause the group to be caught, she had to smother the little one... Can you just imagine!? "Beloved" is the name of the book but I can't recall who wrote it.
I saw a wonderful movie recently that falls into the subject of this post: "Amazing Grace" - the story of how the slave trade was dismantled in England. A wonderful true story...
Since there were no cameras allowed, I can't share any pictures with you, at least not pictures taken November 5th. But we have been to Conner's Prairie several times this year as we decide to purchase a membership. We went to Country Fair and plan to go again for the Civil War Days in May. I feel like I'm rambling tonight... maybe because it's been so long and thoughts are jumbled up in my head. Maybe this will peak your curiosity and if you live in Indiana, you will want to know more... This would make an excellent Young Men/Young Women activity. In fact there was a group of old Mennonites who went with a later group. They looked the part that's for sure... How lucky they all were that the weather was nice, and that it had been for several days... I can't imagine the boys (and Bruce especially!) putting their nose on the wet ground...
But let's face it, reality would not likely have been stopped by the weather... snow maybe... maybe not... Memorable evening though...

Football Season

I have not had much time to post much lately and I finally decided to try using our Digital video camera... Let's see what the results are.
Michael is #45. He did a decent job on defense according to Bruce, and in the 4th quarter he had 3 big plays to move the ball towards their goal. He even would have scored a touch down had he not fumbled the ball.
Now, don't ask me what this all means... I'm just repeating what I heard...
Some people say Mike's pretty good... I think he still has room to grow...
I can only upload a partial video so I picked those 3 big plays Bruce talked about. I'll post 20 minutes (out of 22 recorded) on Facebook.

Wedding Bells!

This morning around noon the phone rang.
Bethany was at the other end of the line: "I'm a Brindle!"
She sounded so excited, so happy!
James and Bethany eloped today.
They took with them only those responsible for their first date, and Richard, to witness their committing their lives to each other, and alos take some pictures.
I can't wait to see them!
Hectic is the least way I could describe these past weeks.
I feel like we have been on a roller coaster, not knowing from one day to the other whether the wedding would take place as planned or if they would elope.
My mother was flying in from Florida. Luckily I she's landing in Louisville so Melanie can go get her and she can meet her newest great-grand-daughter. This is a treat none of our kids have had very many times in their lifetime.
So this week-end, we are all making our way to Kentucky to have an impromptu family reunion of sorts.
Mel only expected James and Bethany on the 19th as they made their way to North Carolina where they're honeymooning. Instead they will be going tomorrow and spend a couple of days there.
Jon was to go there today to do some yard work for Melanie but had unexpected delays and won't leave until tomorrow.
Richard will follow James and Bethany but has to work this week-end, so he will be heading home before we all do.
Unsure what Bruce will do still as Muriel needs someone here too.
Regardless, Mel's getting ready for an invasion... (=

Bethany is truly a wonderful young woman, genuine in her actions, true in her word. She and James have known each other for about 18 months and it's plain to see that they bring out the best in each other.
They both have grown by leaps and bounds as they find their own footing in life.

Before he first met Bethany, James was quickly becoming a hermit as he concentrated on his studies - producing wonderful academic achievements. He never saw it coming! Bethany stole his heart.

We are all so eager to have her join our family!

This evening we learned that they had called family members to introduce Bethany. We hope to have a family get-together so all here can meet her in person and learn to love her as much as we do.

It is cool to watch the bonding with our other kids too. It is so good to see!
Bethany truly is a new daughter to us, a new sister to our children.
We love her very much already and look forward to having this new Brindle in the family: Welcome home, Bethany!

May July 16 mark the beginning of a lifetime of happy memories, peace, joy and all the good things God has in store for His children.
May each anniversary find your love stronger than the year before!

Me and my shadow...

No doubt about it... Lucy is MY dog.
Wherever I am, she is.
Jon says she's spoiled.
She probably is.
She was sickly when she was days old and thanks to her being sick we were able to ensure that none of the other pups got sick too and she was treated and got better fast but I always had a soft spot for her.
Jon called her Yoda at church because of the funny almost purring noise she made - not unlike the one her dad (Max) makes still.
Anyway, maybe because of that, but more likely because whenever she was 'humanless' in the house, she discovered all sorts of things she could destroy.
So we began to take along pretty much everywhere we went and she developed a real taste for the car
She used to dart for the door once i picked up my keys and most often managed to get out before I did. She always came back when called and never strayed too far from me.
Lucy was destined for my mother, as a companion for her older dog. But her being sick made the future too uncertain to risk her leaving behind a little animal we had grown so fond of. SO we kept her and Lucy became my shadow.
She perks up her head. Her ears straighten out and she looks at me as though asking "Do I get to go too? pretty please..."
9 times out of 10 I melt and off together we go.
She must stay in the car at times and I have left the windows down a bit, enough for her to stick her nose out and she barks and barks and barks until she sees me and then all is well.
You would think she'd have figured out I was coming back by now.
BUT no... Today though she really did something funny...
Bruce and I were at the bank and Lucy was in my car, her hear sticking out of the window barking her lungs off. I could see her from inside the bank. We didn't have to be there long. Just a matter of signing two pieces of paper and we would be out again. Then it happened.
A horn sounded that would not stop.
We looked out side.
Lucy was no longer hanging out the window she was pushing on the horn with her full body weight. She seemed totally unaffected by the loud noise she had produced and was continuing to produce.
I ran back outside to get her off the horn!
and put her on the leash and took her in with me.
They gave her a treat...
You think she figured out how to get me back now???
mmm... Time to leave her home...

the circus is coming to town!

It was not until my mother-in-law mentioned that our niece would go to the parade then make her way to the wedding that I realized it was time already for the circus.

When the kids were little we would make our way to Main street and Benton and would find a place to sit among the crowd of people there for the same reason we were.
For some years now, people have put cords around their lawns so their families could at least enjoy the benefits of being on the parade's path. Many people come early knowing that there won't be room for long.

This year is special as it marks the 50th anniversary of the amateur circus.

People come to Peru from all over and the young performers, all amateurs, have been preparing for several months.
Last year there was some questions as to whether they would be able to perform indoors as the furniture store adjacent to the circus building caught on fire and was completely destroyed.

It would have been a shame as the building is now air conditioned, to the great relief of the artists as well as the spectators.
Indiana summers are hot and humid and I don't imagine that practicing and performing in this heat is not the most pleasant. Yet it was not so long ago that the performances were still held without modern comforts.

The Peru Circus City Festival always coincided with our boys' Baseball All-Star tourneys so we would rarely have time to do much more than go to the midway and enjoy the rides, eat a tiger ear (called elephant ear anywhere else in the states), walk about and then walk on home.
Bruce's favorite ride was the bullet. I preferred watching from the ground as he took each one of the kids with him. They loved as much as he did!

What is really special about the Peru Circus is that the young performers often return to train the next generation of artists.
I recognized a few names from the list found online.
Some of their acts are very professional for amateurs!
In the past they have had some kids travel to Monte Carlo (Monaco) to compete with other countries and placed high.

Yes, it is a pretty exciting time of year for many. I can't help but compare it to a butterfly emerging from its cocoon after long preparations.

Circus weeks ends on a Saturday, with a huge parade, one of the largest in the state if not the largest and includes old calliopes and antique circus cars, elephants and many things you would expect from an old fashion circus parade.
YouTube had videos that you will want to see.
They were also published on a private site you might like to check out.

Aren't they amazing?
Remember these are not professionals... these are kids.
Some of these acrobats are 12-13 years old!
Of course they weren't thrown into trapeze right away There is a progression in what the kids are allowed to get involved in and it is very competitive. There are cuts and nobody is guaranteed a spot from year to year.
And some may even discover that's what they want to do with their life.

My father was fond of the circus and when we were little he took my sister and me to the Jean Richard Big Top. Vague memories of sitting on wooden benches and of clowns, juggling and dog performing tricks, buckets of confetti thrown into the crowd, balloons...
I sent him the special issue of the Peru tribune dedicated to the Peru Amateur circus and he seemed genuinely interested.

And as summers bring raspberries for a short while, before we know it the Circus has come and gone. At least in Peru, as they also take their show on the road.

I think I'll try and get a t-shirt this year. Brianne was not born in Peru but maybe this could go into her birth year 'time capsule'...
What do you think Mel?

Family Traditions

I have fond memories of going to the "talus" in Flemalle with Marraine when I was a little girl. We often took long walks to the Fort, sad reminder of WWI and WWII.
I was always intrigued and impressed by the rusted up bars of the reinforced cement walls.

But although our walk to the 'talus' would inevitably take us by the fort, my most cherished memories are of picking wild raspberries before starting back down the hill.

Shortly after I arrived in Indiana, my father-in-law showed me and my future sisters-in-law where to go pick huge wild black raspberries. Later, he and I went back many times and I became so familiar with his favorite spots that I even ventured on my own while he was at work.
Unlike the bushes on my Belgian 'talus' these were not as easy to access. We had to put on long pants, a shirt with long sleeves and wear a baseball cap of sorts to protect us from the briars but most especially from the ticks and the different poisonous vines I didn't know. He showed me what poison ivy looked like and gave me strict insructions to wash my arms, hands and face thoroughly after coming out of the woods so as not to become affected by these vines.
The mosquitoes were always more of a problem for me than the poison ivy in those days and I discovered that only Deep Woods Off would keep them away.

I loved picking the ones that were in clumps of 5 or 6 and would position my bicket underneath them and simply let them fall into it. That spoiled me quickly though.

A funny anecdote is attached to the berries. The year Melanie was born I again went back to the woods to pick berries and when I came back I noticed a raspberry juice spot all over her chest so I began rubbing it off, only it would not come off...
Melanie had not had that on here earlier or I would have known right away it was a birth mark! it was the color of berry juice, in the shape of a paw.

Another anecdote tied to picking raspberries is the story of then 2y old Richard going back in the woods by himself to catch up with me and getting himself lost along with his 4y old brother and 6y old sister!
I always took my crew with me. Richard was my best berry picker, but it was hot, as it usually is in Indiana in July. The kids were thirsty and so I took them back to their grandma's who lived close by. I saw them across the street, watched them go into the house and I made my way back into the woods with our German shepherd, Kei.
It was not until I returned a couple of hours later that I discovered that after getting himself a drink, Richard picked up his little bucket and also made his way back into the woods!!!
Grandma had seen Richard go outside and never thinking he would take off as he did, she sent James and Melanie after him!!!
The field I was in was nothing but tall weeds.
I thought I heard some children calling for "Richard, Mom, Kei!"
It occurred to me that if it were my kids - and I wasn't even sure I had heard right - I would definitely lose them in the weeds so I said a quick prayer asking God to send them home (Gdma's) safely.
Somehow they managed to find each other and then made their way out of the woods and back to Gdma's. I still believe this was an answer to my prayer.

As they grew up, they no longer accompanied me but I continued picking raspberries every year and enjoyed the benefits of having quite a few quarts in my freezer and jelly on the pantry shelves.

Then one day I stopped going... more or less like my father-in-law had done.
It was too hot... the idea of wearing the extra clothing layer just didn't entice me a bit and our dog, who always came along died and I didn't feel safe alone in the woods.

Today however I took my soon-to-be-daughter-in-law Bethany on the paths my father-in-law took me 30 years ago. The briars were thicker than ever and the poison ivy was still everywhere... We didn't stay long but we did get about 1 quart of berries.
They are just now coming on, so just a tad late.
Maybe this will talk me into going back again... we shall see.
It looks I have a new dog I can take with me: Lucy.
She had a ball in the woods! She could not get enough of all the new smells and when a rabbit crossed her path, she darted after it like an arrow! It was fun to see. AND she came back when I called her. It was almost as good as having Kei with me. He was attack-trained, Lucy isn't but she failed to recognize Bethany at one point and was growling and barking at her like there is no tomorrow.
I wish I could bring Max too. He would have fun too but he is too much of a free-spirit and would likely only come to me if he felt like it.

James thinks its hilarious!

I'm addicted! Yes, I am and I am wasting precious time that could be much better spent doing Indexing online or working on Belgian Laces, pulling Belgians off the census, finishing the Mount Hope abstract, pulling REAL weeds.
Instead, for the past few days, I have been almost hypnotized by this game and I find it fascinating because I don't usually play games...
One thing that is really cool about it though is that we can actually work with family members who live far away and I absolutely LOVE it.
Sounds really corny I know!
But it's nice to find yourself in your field, or your children's fields yacking about what just happened
You are going to say "Pick up the phone!!!"
I hate phones!
Even more cell phones because I lose mine all the time.
This way, as long as they don't mind my typos, as my fingers run on the keyboard in the wrong order... I love this...
And it's not just family, it's friends too.
I have a friend in Marion with whom I only occasionally speak and I got to work on his farm with his family... Yes, I'm silly...
It's ok...
I'm a LONG way off Steve who's at level 32 with almost 2 million coins, or even his sister Samantha who is closing in on a million. But I'm having fun and that's all that matters, right?
James thinks it's hilarious. I don't blame him. Who would ever have thought his mother would get hooked on a computer game!? Not me!
So there you have it! I LOVE FARMTOWN! ah! ah! ah!... laugh all you want...
And if you want to find me, just come visit my little farm...
I'm getting ready to make things all even so the crops aren't the greatest but that's ok...(=

A few more pictures to supplement the previous entry

Some of these are pretty funny...







Some of pretty tender...



under the watchful eye of Nana - who howls when Brianne cries...

First steps into Grandmotherhood

I've never been one to pick up another woman's baby.

I have loved every one of my children, and have good maternal instincts.
My claws come out when anyone injures my children and the mild mannered person that I am, soon becomes a ferocious tiger whose den the culprit better stay out of.

Bruce took to grandfatherhood like a fish to water.
I had to grow into it, let things settle for a few days.

I understood in my head the concept of being a grandmother but the bottom line remained... I have never been one to pick up another woman's baby and Breanne was someone else's baby. I didn't shrink from picking her up either of course because she is sweet and feels good to hold.


It was not until I was looking at the pictures of Melanie holding her in her arms that it hit me... "My baby has a baby of her own" and that baby, because it is her baby, is my baby too... What a weird feeling...
Maybe a little like what fathers feel after 9 months of pregnancy.

Joe's answer to my question "How do you feel?' when we went to the hospital the day Brianne was born was "Surreal"
Yes, I understand that. Better than ever.

Melanie was sure she would be fine on her own and believing that Joe would be with her all week, we knew she would be in good hands but then she said Joe was going back to work Friday and I began to worry...
About my babies: mother and daughter...


Still she was sure they'd be fine and I thought it was important she felt her way into motherhood just like I was feeling my way into grandmotherhood.
I left the door opened and made sure she knew to call if she changed her mind.
She did.

So I left Peru Friday morning... my cell phone was dead because the week before I had left my cord at the hospital and taken Melanie's instead... mmm... should I see something into that?
Anyway... I knew my way sort of... I got the directions off Mapquest but the came up with 2 different locations so I got nervous and had to stop at the store to pick up a new car charger.
Once that was done, I could be on my way and call Mel when I got closer to getting lost. I actually did much better than I had anticipated.
I have visual memory of things and so milestones are my way of finding my way to places I've been. Not always good because, let's face it, they can tear down buildings and build new ones!

So, I'm here and Melanie is doing fine. And Brianne is doing fine too.
They are getting used to each other and learning to be mother and daughter and I get to learn how to be a grandmother.

Experience... sure I have some with my own kids.
Does that mean Mel will have the same ones? no. She will have her very own.
Like we said... Melanie is the best Mom Brianne could ever have and Brianne is the best child Melanie could ever have. The same goes for Joe of course and it is comforting to see how he dotes over the little one.

The dogs are hilarious...
Sammy does not seem to care one way or another.
Triton on the other hand behaves like a mother-hen.
If Brianne starts to fuss he starts running in every direction until he finds someone to go get her. Reminded us of Nana in Peter Pan...

I am stepping back and helping with silly things like housework, because that's what Melanie needs right now while she is recuperating from her c-section.
But it was fun playing with Brianne while her mom was taking a long soothing shower this morning.
They had a LONG night and so now mother and daughter are asleep.

A lady from church brought dinner yesterday but they will hold on to it.
Grandma (me, still weird...)can cook for them right now.

It is wonderful to be able to feel the warmth, love and happiness these young people feel right now. They have been married almost 7 years and they went through some pretty difficult times due to unforeseen circumstances. They had hoped for a child for a long time and dealt with much opposition because people assumed Melanie was putting her career ahead of having a family. If only people knew... The pain felt through all this was very deep but it seems that this deep pain has been replaced with as deep a joy.

Parenthood is more than feeling deep joy though and so along with these fulfilling feelings they are also finding out how to cope with not so pleasant moments as the three of them are learning to adjust to each other.







What an adventure they are embarking on!
What amazing things await them!
It's going to fun watching it all unfold!
and
It's the beginning of a new adventure for us too...
Thank You, Joe and Mel!
For giving us the opportunity to discover grandparenthood!
May you one day receive the same blessing!

Speechless...

The much awaited event happened this morning... at 8:22am
The doctor suspected Breanne (or is it Brianne, Mel?) would be a big baby and they were not wrong... She weighed 10 lbs 15 oz!
There she is not even 12 hours old and she has already outgrown most of her clothes... definitely the ones the hospital put her in!
The hat they put on her head kept on popping right off her head any time she moved and that made her cry...
When the nurse came in at one point she changed her completely and it must have been more comfortable for her as the undershirt they had on her kept riding back up under her little arms... little arms... nothing little about this baby in spite of what Michael thinks!...
and she is BEAUTIFUL!

The nurse asked Melanie not to feed her and so Joe put his finger in her mouth and that pacified her. By afternoon she had already lost 5oz.
She is very alert for a newborn. That does not surprise me as all my kids were big babies and very alert from day one. I hope she is as good for her parents that her mom was for me.
Congratulations Joe and Mel! and Breanne, too... You picked well... (=

I can't let go...

May has been a magical month for me...
It was such a treat attending the QEC online and I'm lingering... listening to the recordings I have made and also to the videos on the Queen Elisabeth Competition site. I was amazed too that quite a few excerpts are already on YouTube...
Ahhhh... a whole year to wait until the piano competition...
So now that I am totally in love with these violinists, I want to know more about them and this is how I discovered their pages on facebook which led to more and more information and new sites.
I have been happy as can be for Ray Chen and Lorenzo Gatto and so sad for Noah Bendix-Balgley.
I want to shout from the roof tops "He went to IU-Bloomington!" but who would care anyway?
It was so great to find a post-competition intervie on Hugo Depry's blog "Violinist.com" http://www.violinist.com/blog/hugodepril/20095/10169/
Ok... time to move on... it's not like I have nothing to take care of...
But of what beautiful music they made!!!

A Mother’s Story

Peru Jun 21, 19--

… Recapping previous weeks…

I am still gaining weight but moderately. At the end of my pregnancy I weigh 164 pounds, which is 24 more than 9 months ago. I sleep poorly because my back bothers me.

May 31^st: Bruce drove me to Huntington for a baseball tourney that lasted until 10pm. Because I sat in a chair all day, I had a bad night.

June 1: Sunday, Muriel's birthday. My stomach is so tense that I have trouble walking and am terribly uncomfortable. In the evening, after Muriel's birthday party, the contractions become regular and painful and Bruce takes me to the hospital. I'm admitted and I spend the night there. Bruce stays with me and so misses work. False hope! I am released the next morning.

Furious with myself and disappointed I promise myself not to return until my waters have broken. However

June 3^rd: I start having a bloody show and the contractions come every 15 minutes and are painful. Yet I manage to finish my letter to Myriam and then go lay down at 1pm.

June 4^th: same thing as yesterday. In the morning I did tell Dick that within 24-48 hours he will have another grandchild. At lunch time I was still there but at 12:10pm an extremely strong contraction takes my breath away and I ask Muriel to take me to the hospital. The contractions are 5 minutes apart and hurt so much that I have trouble breathing and am unable to stand up.

Muriel had to ask for the EMTs to bring a wheelchair to get me from the truck into the hospital. I could not walk.

They wheel me to the Maternity Ward where a nurse examined me and they deciced to keep me. The nurse wanted to know how close the contractions are to each other but has to wait 20 minutes as everything stopped again. As soon as she leaves the room they come back! Of course!

I started to walk and they were back every 5 minutes. No change until June 5^th at 11am. I remained dilated at 4cm all night. Then

June 5^th: at 11am the contractions become intolerable. I am fighting them because I am unable to relax. They have to give me a shot to help me relax. It helps until 3pm. I was hooked up to a monitor that marked my contractions and the baby's heartbeat as well as the baby's movements. What thunder!

Muriel was there, holding my hand to help me. Bruce was there too and it made me feel good. He kept asking if I could forgive him for causing me to be in so much pain. I said yes but we would not be having any more babies for a while…

I was so miserable!

I had been the first of 3 women to arrive at the hospital and the other 2 already had their babies and I was still laying there… in agony.

At 3:30pm the doctor came in to check on me and said it would be another 2 hours. I was at 8cm! I thought I was going to lose my mind.

At 3:45pm I was crazy. The doctor had broken my waters with a long hook and I felt an intense need to push. I was trying to relax but nothing would do. The nurse told me to breathe deeply but the more I breathed the more I felt like pushing.

At 4pm: 9cm. Bruce calls the nurse back

At 4:15pm, the nurse hurries me into the delivery room. The baby's head had crowned. They could see the baby's hair. They call the doctor who hurries. Bruce gets gowned. They get me on the delivery table and tell me to push if I feel like it – which I do happily! –

As soon as they are ready: 2 pushes and here comes Baby! A beautiful big baby! A little girl: 9 pounds 7 ounces 21 inches!

It is incredible! Labor pains are so awful to bear! I thought many times that I would never get there and yet… it is unbelievable how you forget such intense pain as soon as you hear your child's voice!

What a wonder! A child! Well worth the trouble!

When you hold that little one in your arms! I felt so close to Bruce! It was Love that created this little girl.

Melanie Eileen was born at 4:33pm June 5^th, 19--.

She dropped to 8 pounds 12 ounces in the first 3 days but 15 days after birth she weighed 9lbs 13oz. I wish I had had my journal with me sooner. It has been in the attic and Bruce forgot to go get it. However, I can say that she puckers her lower lip like I do when she wants to cry and when she wakes up, she opens one eye at a time.

She has long brown hair that are begin to get lighter and grey blue eyes. She is so cute. She only cries when she's hungry. She must have a stomach ache today because she's crying a lot, poor little one! Bruce is there for every feeding.

June 12: in the evening, Dick et Muriel take us to Indianapolis to pick up Marraine at the airport, who brings us lots of presents.

June 13: baby shower at Ruth Plothow's. Marraine gave me $100 to open a bank account for Melanie and also money to buy her a bed when we are on our own.

June 15: Melanie gave us her first laugh. We were going to bed and were looking at her tenderly and she burst into laughter. What a joy!

Like Mother, Like Daughter

It looks like Melanie will be spared the pains of child labor. Lucky her!
At first I had a real problem with hearing that the doctors were contemplating a c-section to deliver Brianne. After all, Melanie weighed 9 pounds and 7 ounces when she was born. Her grandfather thought she was such a big baby coming out of such a petite woman that I was, that he nicknamed her Baby Huey.
My sister gave birth to children on both continents and the doctors here seemed so alarmed so soon that I figured the same thing was happening with Mel. Adding to the fact that so few doctors want to deliver babies these days because of suit-happy people who have made the risk of something going wrong more than doctors want to deal with.
The doctor who delivered Melanie was Chinese. He delivered all of my kids except Michael. He used to say: “Baby comes when baby ready” and overall my pregnancies were very easy. Delivering was uneventful too really except for the size of these babes.
All hovered around 9lbs and more except for Jon who was a ¼ oz short of 8lbs and I have decided this was due to the fact that throughout that pregnancy I had been so weight conscious… Before he could be weighed, Jon voided on the nurse… Not a pretty sight…
Anyway, after discussing Melanie’s situation with a couple of people I decided I was probably wrong in thinking she should avoid the c-section if she could and I was reconciled with the prospect. Besides, how lucky could she get?! Having a baby and not feeling pain?! Wow! That should be a treat…
Then earlier this week she called to announce that the last ultrasound showed Brianne at 10.5lbs already and with room to grow more. She was obviously surprised at my change of mind but seemed pleased. After all, everyone’s experience is different and nobody should assume theirs is the only ‘right’ one.
Actually Melanie was calling to ask if I had seen the picture she sent. I went directly into my email box and discovered the file. I am horrible at understanding the images found in ultrasound pictures. This one was amazing.

A perfect little face, with her hand under her chin… I melted completely… Who cares how she gets here? Just get her here!
They scheduled the c-section for June 7th unless Melanie goes into labor before that.
She won’t be in newborn diapers very long… (=
Mel, if you would scan me a picture of you baby, I would be very grateful... I can't find anything since we have rearranged furniture!
In exchange i will translate for you what I wrote about your birth... back so many years ago!

Busy Days Ahead

One step at a time, we are getting closer and closer to big events for our family this year.
Melanie is due in just a few days and getting anxious about the birth, especially since the doctors seem to think Brianne McKinsey (I hope I spelled it right) is going to be a big baby, like her mommy was for me... maybe even bigger.
Right on the tail of this long awaited event, will be James and Bethany's wedding.
They were finally able to get their engagement pictures taken today and we will be able to get them in the newspaper.
I don't have much practice at writing announcements but will be doing this shortly.
The pictures were beautiful but some stood out and from those we picked one that shows how at ease they are with each other and how well they fit together.
There is a warmth about it that makes us smile contentedly.
We have great hope for their future! We love you two!

Cats and Dogs

Max is a funny dog... Jonathan brought him home when he was not even 6 weeks old. he was a ball of fur that fit in the crook of Bruce's arms. All black, except for white around the neck and around his nose, and the tip of his tail... The collar eventually lost most of its whiteness and left only a white spot.


He tried to snuggle up to Oreo but she was in a bad mood.
She was not his mother, what was that thing doing trying to invade her territory?!
Eventually they became friends. A bit like mother and son even.
Then Jon brought home yet another dog: Zoey..
His cousin had bought her at the local pound but could no longer care for her and ... Jon ... you already know the rest...
Zoey was a year younger than Max, spirited, playful. It was fun to watch the two of them play. Now, Oreo was not eager to have an intruder but she again eventually acclimated herself to the new addition... like a mother when her son brings home a wife...
And so they lived happily for 6 months, until Zoey came into heat and things became VERY interesting.
Max had taken to jumping the fence whenever there was a dog in heat in the neighborhood and we were very disconcerted to have to keep him chained up. But it was nothing compared to the whining mess he became when his true love Zoey was in that situation. No need to jump the fence now... there she was, right here, but we were keeping them apart and it was killing him.
When our vigilance let up, Max saw his opportunity and he became a father... of 8 cute little ones... We kept Lucy but no more dogs will be born again in our household. But the Zoey and Lucy must still have something that gives out the scent of going into heat as now and then Max goes crazy around both of them.

We still tie him up because he still jumps the fence and runs away. He was sitting on my porch the other day because he had slipped his collar and after his run, he was ready to come home.
Last night when I let him out I could not find the chain... Somehow it had broken.
I could not leave him out unchained but I also didn't feel like staying out... I wondered if I could simply attach what was left of the chain to his collar and see if he'd think he was tied up. He did... I am not going to take the chance of him finding out he's not and so we will be getting a new one this morning. He waits for us to put his chain on... Does it make him feel important, or safe? I don't know but there is definitely something going on...
Lucy is another funny one, like her dad...

She is definitely an indoor dog... She figured out a way to get them out and then run back in quickly. She loves car rides and howls when I leave her behind... Lucy loves Grandma's house best. There she runs free and no other dogs to bother her...
Do you know many people who have such an arrangement: the daughter, the parents and the mother-in-law...
And this is not mentioning the cats!
They are not Jon's fault though. They are James' responsibility: he brought us a pair of tiny kittens.
We had never really had much luck with cats. We kept them about a year and then they would just die.
Bruce killed the one he loved most by accident: a beautiful gray one a neighbor had given us. Sheba climbed on him every morning and rubbed her nose on his neck as she walked back and forth across his shoulders. She was not an indoor cat and so one morning as Bruce turned on his truck, he tore the belt... the cat had spent the night under the hood of the truck where it was warm... That was a blow to all of us...
Bruce, trying to replace the cat, brought us home, the most miserably dirty cat we have ever had. Luckily this one ran off.
Then we were adopted on Christmas Eve by this tiny little guy, who needed a home as he was found on our door steps - so the kids told us anyway - this cat had been through some serious trauma and was scared to death of being outside... he died a year or so later after getting sick. Jon was heartbroken over it as he had become his constant companion, sleeping on his back or shoulders or...

We were finally rid of cats when James brought the little ones: a beautiful orange cat and his sister a brindle - yes - who suckled our fingers or any part of our arms she could get a hold of. The male was a tough kitty... you could see in his eyes that he was an explorer but he was also very gentle and Bruce took a great liking to him and loved the way the kitten would lick his face.
When he was about 6 months, he took off and never came home.
He's still around but free.
At first his sister looked for him. It's as though she was us asking us to go outside with her and we would literally go for a walk with her - no leash.
She too eventually grew up and had a first litter of which remained two females: a grey velvety cat with a white collar and white paws. Bruce named her "grey friar".
Her sister "Didi" - named such because she runs just like the cartoon Didi - was completely white except for a grey spot on top of her head, which in time faded completely.
Momma cat 'Little Girl' managed to get out once more when she came into heat a second time and this brought about the birth of 7 white kittens... only one was completely white (we only kept him), the others like Didi. They were born two weeks after Zoey gave birth to her 8 pups!

Do you know why we won't have any more cats or dogs born here?!
But we got to witness amazing things...
Didi loved her momma's milk so much that she managed to nurse with the second litter!!! But that's not the funniest thing she ever did...
Little Girl didn't want to nurse her any more, so she snuggled with Zoey!!!
Zoey raised her head, looked at the cat and them lowered it again and let the cat nurse on her... We tried to take pictures but they didn't turn out...

When we take the dogs for a walk the cats follow and they linger with us.

Add to that a bird - who has since flown the coop - who ruled the roost pecking at the cats who backed off!
Of course our kids, who brought these animals home to us, now also have pets of their own and their personalities do not work well with our animals so it gets hairy whenever they bring their pets with them for a visit...
This makes life interesting...

Learning new things

The violin is not my favorite instrument but these past few weeks of listening to the Queen Elisabeth Competition have changed that drastically.
By the way a Belgian made it to the Finals next week: Lorenzo Gatto, 22.

And so did the American violinist Noah Bendix-Balgley, 24.
My favorite is Nikita Borisoglebsky, 23 of Russia, however.
We will see what they do next week. They are all 12 very good, that's for sure!

At first I was disappointed to only be able to listen to the Musiq'3RTBF broadcast but when Belgacom opened the video broadcast I found myself switching back to Musi'3 as the pauses went on for ever.

Musiq'3 broadcasted interviews in between performances and one such interview really caught my interest. Matthieu Devuyst is a Belgian violin maker. He reminded me of "Antonietta", story written by John Hersey, about Antonio Stradivarius and the violin he is inspired to built when he sees his eventual second wife. The more I heard him talk the more I thought of Harry Potter's wand. It's as though the violin and the bow, too, choose the violinist to give them a soul.

I learned that not all Stradivarius have the same sound quality. The good ones are great but the bad ones are bad...

Matthieu Devuyst attends concerts and competitions regularly because he said it helps him know what the violinists need. His work has already been noticed by jurors at major violin competitions who are amazed that a 2008 violin can produce the sound that only old ones can. Yes, he is turning heads and who knows? maybe in 500 years, they will be talking about the Belgian Stradivarius, Matthieu Devuyst...

Thanks to these podcasts I have learned a lot about violin and bow making. It seems there is a bit of a crisis because the wood used to make bows has become practically non-existent and it will be 50 years before the Brazilian trees will be ready to use.

I about died when I heard the price for a good bow: 4,000 euros!!! and that's not counting the violin... And they are going to increase in price due to the scarcity of the wood. Making bows is as much a craft as making violins.

They explained that most soloists prefer using the old violins but these are either in museums, under glass - from which they would like to remove them as they were not meant to be looked at but rather be heard - or are so expensive, they can only be loaned out until the musician can find a newer one. Another argument is that these old violins have been tweaked so much that little is left of the original instrument and so those advocate leaving them in museums or using them only for period pieces.
They say the music created after their time is impossible to play on instruments that were not 'improved' upon. I don't know wnough to have an opinion but it sure makes sense either way.
Violins are made to make music not lay quietly in a case, but do they lose something and are they no longer true Strads or Gaglianos or, or, or... Good point...
But does that really matter?

The interviewer Elsa De LaCerda said that one important component in playing a violin is to be at ease with it so that the musician can concentrate on the music and not on figuring out how to make the instrument sing. That was a quality found in the Devuyst instrument also.

I have gained a greater appreciation for the violin and am thoroughly enjoying the competition. Lorenzo Gatto plays on a Jean Baptiste Vuillaume violin. A violinist who played on a Matthieu Devuyst, Dalibor Karvay, who didn't make it out of the Semi-Finals.

Keep a look-out for the name Devuyst in the future...
http://www.matthieudevuyst.com/EN/menu.html

The Little Prince

I love listening to audiobooks. Some I have bought, some I have found online through a free site where volunteer readers upload their reading.

One such book I listened to yesterday, abridged version though it was, was that of "The Little Prince".

I was 14 years old when I first had to read that book and I thought I was too mature to read such a childish book and 'what was wrong with the teacher that she would have us sophisticated young women read this silly fantasy???'

The book definitely made an impression and never left me and one day I reopened the book and finally found myself mature enough to really appreciate its content.

My favorite part in the book has always been Chapter 21 when the fox teaches the Little Prince to tame him and the responsibility that comes with it.

Just before they part ways, the fox shares a secret with the boy.

He says: "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye… It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important… Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You become responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose..."

As I was listening to the story my mind wandered back to the previous chapter and I began to associate it with someone I knew a long time ago. And I thought of his wife… his rose.

The Little Prince's rose was capricious and haughty and he felt compelled to go far far away from her because he could not stand being around her any more. When he saw all the other roses he was 'thunderstruck' and then 'overcome with sadness'.

"She would be very much annoyed," he said to himself, "if she should see that... she would cough most dreadfully, and she would pretend that she was dying, to avoid being laughed at. And I should be obliged to pretend that I was nursing her back to life, for if I did not do that, to humble myself also, she would really allow herself to die... I thought that I was rich, with a flower that was unique in all the world; and all I had was a common rose..." And he lay down in the grass and cried. (Chapter 20)

Poor Little Prince… Until he goes back to the rose garden and tells the rose what he has finally learned.

" You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world." And the roses were very much embarrassed. "You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you, the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: because it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

Maybe some day he'll understand that his rose has tamed him and their life together will be enriched by this understanding. Maybe he'll even tame her a little… (=

I found an online copy of this book in English at http://www.spiritual.com.au/articles/prince/prince_contents.htm.

A better copy in French can be found at http://www.scribd.com/doc/90275/Antoine-de-SaintExupery-Le-Petit-Prince

You can also The Little Princefind a French version of this audiobook at http://petitprince.podomatic.com/

Spring also means mowing...

The weather outside is perfect. Perfect for a baseball game! Perfect to mow the lawn too… )=
Last year our lawn mower died and we started using Grandma’s back and forth between her house and ours. That was a pain. We could have had ours fixed but I don’t drive stick shift so I was at the mercy of when someone was home to drive the truck… Not simple… Things got worse when I mowed over something and killed Grandma’s lawn mower. No use trying to mow with that one again… the hole in the oil tank was obvious… So back to square one… We need a lawn mower. Bruce decided to try something new. We had one of those really old push mowers, that don’t need gas or anything except man power… The blades needed sharpened… I’m REALLY glad about that because James said Bethany and he have one of those and he really wants another one!!!
Anyway… the electric lawn mower we bought dies too quick to get Grandma’s lawn mowed completely and the grass can’t be too high or it’s even more complicated to use it. On the plus side, I had no trouble starting that one! We plugged it in last week-end and were going to mow the lawn over the week-end BUT we let the grass get too high and it is awful! SO in my frustration with not being able to finish yesterday (2nd day) I texted Bruce that we HAD to get a new mower… a REAL one… He texted back that we’d get one this coming week-end but that’s not going to work either because the grass is already too tall to get cut without too much trouble and what if it starts raining again!? So I decided I’d look into the situation.
Truth is, Bruce picked the past 4 lawn mowers we have bought and I have had trouble starting all 4 of them. I guess I should not complain as it got me off the hook for mowing but there is nothing more aggravating to me than having to wait for someone to do something I see needs done. Much easier to do it myself… It’s not that I lack patience but patience only lasts so long…
I even contemplated a riding mower… our lawn would not need it but Grandma’s would… And it would no longer be a chore for the kids to mow her lawn… they would probably fight over who gets to next time… But I wasn’t ready to spend $1,000 or more on a mower… If Grandma wants a riding mower, she can get that herself but I don’t think she’d like to as she already bought one once and we don’t know where it is right now.
So when I walked into the store, I said : “I need something simple, no frills, that I can start myself”. The salesman showed me some of their different models and let me try them. I was in and out of there in less than 30 minutes. I told him I was driving a Cyrrus and asked if it would fit so he asked that they get it out of the box, remaining doubtful that I would take it home myself but I did! They collapsed it and put it on the back seat without too much trouble… it was a tight squeeze getting in but it made it and so I came home with a new lawn mower! If Bruce had seen my face he most likely would have laughed and said “Yep… that’s my wife… she’s stubborn as a mule… and when she gets the idea that something must get done… better step out of her way… it will get done…” (=
Even so, I was concerned with being able to get it out but I managed except for dropping part of it on my right foot. That wasn’t pleasant. They had collapsed it and I wasn’t sure I’d know how to put it back together. Bruce is working a shut-down this week, that means extra long hours and Jon was stuck with baseball practice till 8pm. I decided to be ‘brave’… I pulled out the directions and did what they said to and there was the lawn mower back together again. The bottle of oils was poured in the oil tank and I went to the gas station to fill up the gas container, filled up the lawn mower and started it without any trouble. It took 30 minutes to get the lawn mowed. I was just finishing when the kids got back from practice. Perfect… Bruce came home shortly after that and said he’d figured on spending more than I did on the mower, so I was good there too…
I still need to get the mower to Grandma’s though… Hopefully they will raise the level so it’s not as low as it is now and we will be able to cut her grass even though it is high…

It's Not Spring without a Spring Concert

Since Melanie graduated from high School, it has not been the same for us as we had become accustomed to attend the school's Spring concert every year.
The other boys never showed an interest in music other than listening to it so we got out of the habit in 11 years.
Last year Michael was approached about playing a band instrument and since Bruce played the saxophone in High School and we were looking forward to it but Mr. Urbani had too many saxophones already and wanted Michael to pick up another instrument, one Michael didn't seem to be interested in at all.
We inquired about renting one and getting Michael 'catch-up' lessons during the summer but he changed his mind and decided to join the choir.
In hindsight it was a much better choice for him. He was able to play football and since he is already taking Algebra, he has more time to study.
So... Yesterday we attended Michael’s Spring Concert. It was the first time we had had the opportunity to hear him sing with the choir. He didn't seem too enthused however and we soon learned he worried his brothers would poke fun at him for being in the choir!

We took both our cameras instead of taking the camcorder. These can upload easier but the quality on mine is very low and something must have happened as it would only record 15 seconds segments. Not practical when trying to record a complete song…
Luckily Bruce was able to figure his out fast and we do have complete recordings including the voices of rude people behind us who kept giggling and going through their picture album and talking at the same time. My dirty looks did nothing to stop them either so…

The band was pretty good too... Bruce even commented on the high note that went off without a glitch. And the second piece they played gave me goose bumps: “You’ll Never Walk Alone”… I wish I had recorded that too… By the last notes my eyes were watering…

“Sing Out with Praise” is the song the 7th grade choir sang at a State contest and earned them a Gold place. They were missing some boys and even though they sounded good it was not my favorite piece of the concert. I really enjoyed “Go Down Moses”. They really sounded good with that one, in spite of the lack of male voices.


In October last year, the choir president, Bethany Pettiford, died either while playing with friends or shortly thereafter. We were visiting Melanie and getting eye exams that week-end or Michael would have been at the tennis courts with her and a bunch of other kids when it happened. It left a big mark on him so I recorded the 8th grade choir singing the song they sang at the funeral. Michael attended it but didn't sing since he is in 7th grade.


I guess we can go to the Spring Concerts whether or not we have kids singing in them. It shows support for the community. We're learning...

You may also have noticed a change in the Page heading. Chez Regine, that means, here, right now, and I don't live in Liege any more even though it will always a place in my heart. Maybe I could revisit the purpose of this blog... these are my adventures as an emigrant Belgian in the USA. My story is as unique as that of the emigrants who came in the 19th century, before or after.
So, yes, I will reminisce but this is where I have made my adult life.
So "Chez Regine" is wherever I am now, not where I was years ago...

Never a Dull Moment!

Last year my niece Jill's husband Jim trapped 2 raccoons in my mother-in-law's attic.
The first one was a BIG raccoon and the other medium sized.
The guy who took charge of the raccoons disposed of them even though he said he would return them to the wild. This was upsetting enough.
This time it was a female raccoon who had just had a litter.
During the night, Muriel was woken up by a big crashing sound in the kitchen. When she investigated she found that the folding ladder leading to the attic had been pushed down, knocking down a bunch of stuff off the shelves in her pantry. She was also wondering if her water line was broken and so she called us. Bruce went to her house to check things out and turn off the water.
In the morning the service guys showed up and told her there were raccoon prints down there.
Their first thought was that it must a pretty big raccoon to have pushed down the ladder and the size of the paw prints confirmed it.
Bruce bought traps and laid them out with Jim that afternoon.
Bruce went into the attic and found the nest, right above the ladder's steps, on the right, deep into a crawl space, full of insulation. He heard the baby raccoon noises and wondered how they would get the animal out without a fight.
The traps didn't work. The mother raccoon figured out a way to get to the opened cat food can left in the cage as bait without setting off the trap. She reached inside through the bars of the cage without triggering the trap release... Smart girl she was...
But this brought another problem. if she was smart enough to do that, there was a chance she would not get caught at all and she had already done enough damage.
Bruce called the DNR and was given the number of a professional wild life trapper.
He came and set a trap to kill the poor animal.
When Bruce told me this I got so upset I cried.
He figured she would not leave her nest until night time. I tried to talk him into finding another way but he didn't know what else they could do and he said the trapper would have killed her anyway, even after catching her alive. And her babies were going to suffer the same fate.
Muriel called again to say she had heard a noise in the attic and Bruce figured the trap had worked. It had... not as well as planned but by the time they got to her she was dead.
Jonathan crawled into the small space where the nest was looking for the babies and found three.
She had moved them further in and he's not completely sure he found them all.
He put them in a cardboard box and covered them up to keep them warm and brought them home.
These babies still have their eyes closed... They wriggled when he took them out of the box to make the inside more comfortable for them. Once was even making suckling noises... poor little orphans... What were we going to do with them? We didn't know how much of what to feed them? We had bought cat milk last year but had long since gotten rid of the box... We were out of our league, besides the fact that it is illegal to keep raccoons without a proper license...
So I did a search online and found a shelter in Indianapolis. My first concern was their immediate care and then figuring out how to get the kittens to the shelter.
At first the lady was very upset because she thought we had killed the mother needlessly. We did what the DNR told us to do, which redirected her anger towards the DNR as there should have been another way to retrieve the mother and her babies so they would have all survived.
She gave us instructions on how to take care of the kittens until morning: keep them very warm in a box, in a quiet, dark place; feed them warm sugar water if we didn't have cat's milk; rub their genitals to encourage them to void, like you do with baby rabbits; not let the house pets smell them in any way and the less handling the better.
Jon brought down his lizards' red light and secured the box in a corner where no pets could get to and gave the kittens time to settle down before feeding them.
Bruce had a pet raccoon when he was growing up. I don't know if the laws were the same but they found this baby raccoon who adopted them and the family has many funny stories about Zorro.
Zorro is a legend in the Brindle household. He hated cigarettes and would wait until Dick (my father-in-law) was asleep and then pull the package out of his shirt pocket and shredded them to bits then gave Dick a ring of hickies around his neck!
They found him in the freezer one day, sitting there, eating chocolate chips out of a box Muriel had put them in... he had a cage but knew how to open it and he did manage to destroy the attic when he made his way up there and ran from one side to the other.
Zorro's story ended in a sad way too and maybe that's why some in the family had thoughts of keeping these babies.
We will meet Sue north of Indy tomorrow morning... actually in a few hours as it is already almost 2am. This center, the Four Maples Wildlife Rehab Center, located in Pittsboro, IN, specializes in rescuing raccoons. I feel good about taking them there.
We have a responsibility to ensure their survival in part because we caused them to lose their mother. I hope they will make it.
Something good can come from all this...