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8 First Street in Waconia. 952-442-2885 |
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MVT Excavating No job is too small. 952-446-9341 |
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The Key to advertisers in the Victoria Gazette. Located at www.VictoriaGazette.com. |
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Specialized assisted living for those with memory challenges. Victoria. 952-908-2215 |
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The Victoria GAZETTE |
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Hobbits in our Home. They are little miniature people, not unlike the Hobbits in the Land of Shire that we come upon when visiting Lord of the Rings. However, they don't smoke long pipes and blow smoke rings into the air nor do they drink large steins of brew and dance a jig on the way home. Such activities belong to Bilbo and even Pippin and Merry and Frodo Baggins. But when I watch my little grandchildren as they hang out occasionally at our house all day, I think of the Hobbits and I cannot wipe the smile off my face. I feel like I'm watching a different race of people that appeared overnight in our lives. You might remember that the Hobbits were much like real people but belonged to a different race. Their distinguishing feature, as with little grandchildren, was their short stature, smaller even than dwarves that we came to know through Walt Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarves. (Do you know there are also Seven Dwarves in Lord of the Rings?) Hobbits were nimble and deft in their movements, like little grandchildren doing cartwheels. They dressed in bright colors, and their hair was usually golden brown and often curly. Hobbits were usually friendly and happy go lucky, but sometimes shy. Mostly the Hobbits were innocent and good and loving. And so when Addie, Gunnar, Sophie, and Mia are visiting together the nooks and crannies of our home and our yard here in Victoria, it becomes like the Land of Shire. I love the Land of Shire.
Heart of the Home My mother underwent open heart surgery on Friday, October 21st, at Mayo in Rochester in order to have her aortic heart valve replaced. Doctors learned the surgery was more than timely since the valve was nearly 100% encrusted. Mom is 84 years old and doctors said she was strong and the procedure is 99% successful and performed on people who are even 90 years old. But after her angiogram on Thursday, October 20th, Mom was ready to call it all off; the sedation had made her violently sick and unable to keep anything down. But she didn't succumb. When we visited Mom on Sunday, October 23rd, we walked a hall of the hospital with her and Dad. I believe they had already gotten her out of bed and walking on Saturday! On Friday the 28th, only seven days after major surgery on a not so young person, Mom was back home at their farm in southwestern Minnesota. Amazing technology. Amazing grace. Do you want to know something else about my mother? She hadn't looked at herself in a mirror for several days. Vanity has never been her weakness. But Mom looked the same as she always does, pretty without wrinkles or a stitch of makeup. Her humor also stayed intact. About a brand new comfortable chair that sits higher at their kitchen table, she said, "I'm king of the hill here now. I can even turn circles if I want to."
Heaven is at Home It happens often that I walk into our home here in Victoria and say, either outloud or to myself, "This is heaven." It crosses my mind several times a day how fortunate I am to have a home that I love, where we raised our children, where they now visit with their children, where I continue to enjoy serving and entertaining friends, where a favorite evening is when neither Allan nor I have to leave for a work-related meeting or workshop. In this mobile society, people seldom live in one place for their entire married life and so their memories get scattered a bit from one place to another, and to think that we've now called this place home for over 40 years is incredible. My parents have lived under the same roof for nearly 65 years -- all of their married life. I'm also thankful to have a home office from which sprouts the Victoria Gazette every single month for 32 years. I don't take the little office or this little paper for granted, just as I don't take tomorrow for granted. My windows unto the outdoors here by Carver Park give remarkable views of our natural world. Much of the time -- like almost every day -- the views are breathtaking. Even now, at this very moment, with the vibrant fall sun shimmering on the many maples leaves still clinging to branches, the brilliant colors are magnificent against the clear blue sky. We are indeed having a warm and wonderful fall. We may only celebrate an official Thanksgiving in November of each year, but most of us in Gazette Land should probably be expressing thanksgiving every day. I continue to read about the famine and deaths of millions of parents and children in Somalia, and how corruption in their government keeps generous donations from reaching those in need. What's a body to do? One day at a time. That's all we really have. |
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November 2011 |
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In-Town Auto Repair 952-443-2868 |
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942-443-2078 |
