Cousins Breakfast
A significant phenomenon in retirement was Cousins Breakfast – CB for short. Started about 30 years ago by Margaret Kroeker and Ruth Kroeker, they got the cousins together the third Saturday of every month to share their lives. I joined the cousins about 15 years ago. Ho-hum, I sometimes thought. There must be lots of […]
Wiens Reunion
My interest in family history began with a lunch with my Dad, Peter A Kroeker, my aunt, Nettie Kroeker, and my uncle, Abram A Kroeker. We were at Aunt Nettie’s place. Conversation moved from farming to the village of Hoffnungsfeld just outside Winkler, Manitoba, now extinct. It had been established by my Great Grandfather Jacob […]
Zoe
My granddaughter Zoe is 23 years old still working on extended university studies. She has accomplished significant projects. In high school and Simon Fraser University she worked in the lab with her professor who considered her a talented bright favourite. Her mother is a creative photographer. Just before Zoe’s birth she went on a photo […]
Brendan
My grandson Brendan is 23 years old already. It’s shocking to realize how quickly time has flown since he was born. It seems like just yesterday. In his two decades I have watched him graduate from elementary and high school and university. He attended Saint John’s Ravenscourt High, known to be the best boys school […]
Grandma Angel II
This story is about the puppet show that never happened.. My two youngest grandchildren call her Grandma Angel. Once, not long ago, Grandma Angel came down to Earth in a world of make-believe. A strange thing happened. Grandma Angel was about to put on a puppet show, just as she had done back when she […]
Grandma Angel I
Grandma Angel in heaven was walking away from the Throne Room down Gold Street. She was looking for her friend Gabriel, who plays the trumpet, especially when asked by God to blow his horn to make an announcement. She looked this way and that, up Glory Road and down Joy Lane, but could not find […]
My sister Mary
This afternoon I’m visiting my sister Mary. She lives in Donwood Manor in Winnipeg. She’s celebrating her 92nd birthday this month, September 24, 2021. I had another sister Helen, who died at age 99 in 2020. That was the year of the Covid 19 pandemic when gatherings were restricted, so the funeral had to be […]
Trinity TV
When I moved to Winnipeg from Nebraska to become editor of Manitoba Moods, my cousins Willard and Betty Thiessen launched the It’s A New Day show under a company they named Trinity Television Inc. Betty and Willard, Edith and Jim Wimbush, and Diane and I were charter members. Willard negotiated with CKND TV in Winnipeg […]
Rebecca
We lived in Lincoln, Nebraska, when Rebecca was born. She was the youngest of three daughters, a free spirit. In Lincoln the hospital was far to the south of the city. We lived on the north side. When it came time for Rebecca’s birth, we were well prepared, allowing enough time for the long drive […]
Lara
Lara came quickly. We were still living in Regina. We had practised driving fast to the hospital, but when the day came, it was still touch and go. We dropped Kirsten off at Stan and Jan‘s place and rushed to the hospital. They put Diane in a wheelchair and hurried to the maternity ward. Nurses […]