Another week past, another friend passed

Clarinda, IA  66º but to get hot

     Yes, been almost a week since I posted--and another close friend has passed.  When we rode our trikes last Thursday, first day after we returned from Texas, we stopped in at good friends Roberta & Maury Rarick to see how he was doing.  In the last few weeks, months, this dear 86 year old man has been declining in health.  While we were there she told of the troubles she had had when trying to get him into the car the previous week to go to therapy and he had given out and slipped to the ground beside the car and she had to get a friend to help him back into the house.  When we were there Maury was quite weak and dizzy when trying to sit up.  With his heart problems, recent TIA, and unable to keep down liquids or food we assisted Roberta in calling 911 and they transported him to Clarinda Regional Health Center.  We had remained with them as they decided to check him in and try some medications, but not giving a lot of hope account of kidney failure and not in good physical condition to do any procedures.  We visited them both each day and their boys were called in -3 of them being from out of town.  On Sunday, with the family by Maury's side, he passed away in late afternoon.  One boy who had started back home and turned around when called but did not quite make it to the hospital before his father's passing.

      Maury hired me in August of 1970 when we moved to Clarinda and I started working for him at Hygrade Foods.  He was Plant Manager and I was working with the Plant Accountant.  Though I left his employment a few years later, we have remained close.  Roberta was our choir director for many years and we have attended church activities and the "Thursday night supper" for years.  Will miss Maury, but it is a relief to see him no longer suffering.  At 86 years of age, he has enjoyed a full life.

We have been preparing the trailer for leaving Wednesday morning, but will now leave at noon after the 10:30 am funeral.

 On Saturday Phyllis' cousin Stan Runyan and his wife Ann from Mississippi arrived and stayed overnight.  They were on their way to Stan's sister in Norfolk, NE.  They grow a huge garden near Hazelhurst, MS and brought some tomatoes and other vegetables to us and were taking a bunch on to Norfolk.


We got to visit Saturday afternoon and evening we went to J's Pizza for a spaghetti supper with more visiting and a tour showing them around Clarinda.

They were on their way north Sunday around 9:00 am.

I was going to show the other day the 7 watermelons we brought from the Rio Grande Valley.  Lots of transportation costs to get those watermelons!  We have shared several of them with friends and eaten watermelon at many meals here.  We will take what is left, already cut up, in the refrigerator in our trailer as we head east tomorrow.

On our way north from Texas we had seen several huge billboards for Van's Bar B Que and decided to stop at it.  It was out in the country and the building wasn't as large as their billboards had been.  They did have real good barbeque and we had a welcome break from the driving.

This was a window by our table, and near the front entrance door.  It had been shattered by a rock or something and when asked, the waitress said it had been that way "for a long time".  Someone had placed a plastic spider in the center of the spiral of the cracks and it did look like a huge spider web!

My brother Don & his wife Vicki go here Sunday evening and we had a good visit. Photos are when we ate supper Sunday evening at our house.  We ate supper last night at the Chinese Buffet.

They left this morning a little after 9 and headed towards Cape Gerardo, MO

Now, to mow the lawn, get the back seat out of the Excursion so we can put the trikes in there, get all the stuff in the trailer and everything ready to go for our two week travels.

Will post on the road as we get good Wifi.

Lynn