It Runs in the Family

Camp Shamineau, Motley, MN.

There are some things that just 'get in your blood'. You could say that Camp Shamineau has done that in my family! This year two of Ms Katie's grandsons were there, moving from being a camper to camp staff; Zachary for the second summer and Noah, the first timer. Years past is was brother Glenn who made the trip back and forth to camp for several summers and before that it was me, spending summers and and a winter working at camp. All these years Ms Katie and Al were also involved, attending functions, praying and every time Dave, the director, would call and want lunch, Al took the checkbook. Camp 'gets in your blood' and Shamineau runs in the family.

I had a great day with Glenn, picking Zach up from a retreat, stopping to get the laundry done and teasing him the whole time. Yes, Zach, the machines needs many quarters and camp clothes are camp clothes and don't need to be separated! Then it was finding the elusive roll of needed duct tape in a small town on a Sunday when the hardware store is closed and holding the roll ransom so I could get the picture by the camp sign! And we can't forget finding the needed fast food fuel to sustain him for an hour or so until dinner and finally dropping him off at Shamineau for another week of counseling elementary boys.

It was wonderful for me to be able to walk around the camp looking at things I hadn't seen for years! The cabin that I lived in has been vastly improved!! The beach is still awesome. Walking in the dining hall filled with many old memories; the chapel, the amphitheater, the horses, the kids, the woods... Seeing the buildings that weren't there before, meeting the current staff, hearing and watching the camp week get started.

Ms Katie and I are really proud of the boys and grateful that camp funs in the family! Miss Rachael, when you get old enough!

Abram

Ms Katie and Abram are twins.

The story says that Ms Katie and Abram were born in a hospital in Niverville, close to the farm and the summer kitchen where the rest of the family lived. Abram was born first - a seven pound boy. Ms Katie was a tiny surprise at just over two pounds. The doctor said she wouldn't live. Oma took her home and cared for her as best she could. Ms Katie slept in a bread pan close to the oven door to stay warm. Drops of milk kept her nourished until she could nurse.

The doctor was wrong, Ms Katie is alive and well; Abram died shortly after birth. His grave on the farm was marked with a small, white picket fence.

I wonder what Abram would be like...
Would he have the glint of trouble in his eyes like Uncle Jack?
Would he have Mary's sense of humor?
John's quick laugh?
Harry's heart of kindness and compassion?
Or Ms Katie's artsy creativity?
I wonder...

Abram Penner
born and died
August 4, 1927

It is not easy...

...being an immigrant.

Ms Katie's parents, my Oma and Opa, were immigrants from Russia to Canada in the early 1920's, aound the time of the Russian civil war. I grew up hearing the stories of persecution, violence, traveling by night, family members disappearing, illness and finally freedom. Early in our journey, Ms Katie's niece handed us a bag of papers that her mom, Ms Katie's sister, had given her.

Treasures!! There are passports, immigration cards, letters and naturalization papers all with names, dates and birthplaces that I have never heard or seen before and much of it in Russian. There are many questions loudly rattling around in my brain - why did you leave when you did, how did you prepare, how many miles did you walk, how long did it take, who or how many were lost on the way and who are still in Russia...

As Ms Katie and I drove through Manitoba we saw the name signs of familiar towns and the stories of old family history began again.

Oma's brother immigrated first, several years earlier. He settled on a farm in Manitoba and raised chickens. Lots of chickens. Thousands of chickens! When Oma and Opa arrived in Canada, they and Ms Katie's five older siblings lived in the summer kitchen. A summer kitchen is a small, one room out building designed to be a kitchen and nothing else. So, here is a family of seven, with two more on the way, struggling, destitute, dependent on the grace of others, deciphering a new language and culture, grateful to be alive and working toward becoming independent once again. It takes years. It is not easy to be an immigrant.

I remember as a child playing on this farm with Ms Katie's cousins children; running, scaring chickens, eating fresh eggs and homemade sausage, listening to stories - some in English, some not and never knowing until now that this is the farm where Ms Katie and her twin brother, Abram, were born!

Catching up

It has been a long time since the last post.

Ms Katie and I have been busy. We spent the last weeks reconnecting with family and friends including several days in Winnipeg visiting family and friends. While it is all very good it is also very difficult.

Ms Katie has many friends in MN. She was able to see many of then at a luncheon - I have to say the lunch of senior women was loud, loud and more loud!! There was lots of conversation and laughter between women who don't get to see each other very often! It is so good to hear it all!! It is difficult because there are those who were missing because of illness and others who are already gone.

I'm reconnecting too...
Linda from gradeschool,
Dawn from junior high,
Colleen, Beth, Judy, Shelly from high school. We have shared stories from the past years - many, many of the good ones and the ones that break hearts. We have also shared the dreams and schemes for the future!!

The time in Winnipeg included meeting the next generation of family members!! More second and third cousins! All wonderfully cute and rambunctious!! And it included hospital time with family who are ill. Prayers for a cousin who faces a long and difficult recovery.

Time keeps passing...
...and more stories are being written.

Levi's Story

Every farmer has a story...

Levi, the farmer inherited the farm from his father.
Levi, the farmer sadly dropped out of school to work the farm.
Levi, the farmer brought his wife to live on the farm.
Levi, the farmer has four daughters; none of them farm; none of them want Levi to give up the farm.
Levi, the farmer says 'once a farmer, always a farmer.'
Levi, the farmer followed a dream and earned his GED after he retired.
Levi, the farmer can still identify the make and model of a tractor by its sound.
Levi, the farmer says the flooding this year is the worst he's ever seen.
Levi, the farmer is a gentle giant of a man.
Levi, the farmer, still lives in the house where he was born 93 years ago.
Levi, the farmer is ill.

Prayers for you, Ms Katie's friend.

Salty & Sweet

On the road again...

Ms Katie and I are traveling again! No, I am not tired of being in the car, looking at scenery or driving!

Rural North Dakota is really beautiful...
...rolling hills
...tall green corn
...bright yellow fields filled with the flowers that produce the seeds for Canola oil
...stands of trees that shelter farm homes
...rivers that are still too full; fields that still have too much standing water
...sharing the road with farm equipment; from corn sprayers to riding lawn mowers
...ND rest areas are wireless!
...car count at rush hour (5:00-5:30) 10!!
...and it doesn't take long to go from blue sky and fluffy white clouds to winds, dark, ominous thunder storms.

So what's salty & sweet?? Our new favorite car snack - anything crunchy and salty followed by the dark chocolate and cool, sweet mint of a peppermint patty!

Rachael-ese!

Rachael-ese is doing life with Ms Katie's five year old grandaughter, my neice!! Ms Katie and I had the treat of caring for her while her mom and dad escaped for a few days.

There were hours of cartwheels, round offs and that special little run and hop that gymnasts do!

There were hours of games and doing puzzles that are bigger than she!!

There were hours of listening to the Go Fish Guys and playing with Cifford the big, red dog!!

It really is a treat to be auntie and play with this constantly moving, non-stop talking, squirmy, wonderful, bright, beautiful, peanut-sized family member!!

Rachael-ese!!

(Whew! 5 year olds take a lot of energy!!)