Happy Birthday Dorothy.  91 Today!!!  I am taken back to 11 years ago when we were all together to celebrate #80.  I still have the image of mom looking out into her backyard on Ontario Street and watching all of her grandchildren and great grandchildren talking, laughing and playing and running around the yard.  That made her birthday so very special.  Presents or other material items where nice to her however seeing her family together was most important and the best of all presents.  She enjoyed the fact that so many took time from their lives to travel to be there just for her.  That made her feel like a Princess.  Although we all knew she was not a Princess, she was and is our Queen. 

 

We sing Happy Birthday to you still today mom and know that candles were lit today for your birthday however not on a cake, instead in front of the Bless Virgin in church.

 

Happy Birthday mom and thank you for all of the memories and all of your love.

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Today is one year and it is almost to the minute that the angels came to take mom home to her Lord and Savior.  In mom's finally weeks and days she endured more trauma than anyone should have to on this earth, especially in what some call a civilized society.  Life never was really fair to her however she always endured and made the best of what it threw at her.  From very humble beginnings, to a good family being born to her, to a devastating divorce, to her finally years of suffering and restriction of living a normal life, Dorothy always tried to put a happy spin on things.  She had her moments, just as we all do, however she always, yes always, thought of the other person.  She had her opinions and very seldom voiced them.  Life always seemed about someone else for her.  She was always more concerned about what something meant or how something effected or if something did harm to everyone else and not her.  It did not take a lot to make her happy. Seeing her family, talking with her brother, a piece of toast, a bowl of ice cream.  She so enjoyed the simplest things in life and never forgot that at one time she literally had nothing.  I do not believe she ever dreamed of having millions, enough to get by and maybe a little left to go visit her family was enough; she did not need Cadillac's or big luxury vehicles, a solid means of transportation was sufficient; She did not need fancy socialite champagne dining experiences, although she could fit in perfectly at any, a good fried chicken or pot roast dinner, or golden mush for breakfast was perfectly fitting with Dorothy.  She loved life and despised the evil that was and is lurking in the world, she never doubted her love for her Lord and respected the church as much and more than probably anything else in her life.  She never lost faith in believing that there is something better after time on this earth  although there was numerous times that people and her church seemed to abandoned her.  Dorothy always let the Lord workout situations and people in her life and she kept her faith in Mary the mother of Jesus who gave her inspiration that is not available here on earth.  She always seemed truly touched or taken in with the consecration in Holy Mass.  This was a most meaningful event in her life and when attending Mass became inaccessible,  she fretted about not being able to experience the Lord through communion.  It took a lot of convincing that although Mass is the open expression of the Lord's celebration, it is really and mainly a personal event that can take place where ever one is and does not have to happen in a church, a Cathedral or any building at all, as long as it happens in her heart and mind.  I believe from witnessing Dorothy's final weeks and days, she truly understood that the Lord was right next to her all along and she talked with him probably constantly. 

Today is one year and there has not been one day gone by that I have not at least once thought   "oh I need to call mom to tell her about..." or thought "Wow mom would enjoy this..." or "wouldn't mom appreciate this..." or just thought how much I missed her smile, her bright eyes, her little voice in the morning saying "Good Morning..."  I now truly understand what my children have known and been missing for the last 21 years.  You truly cannot understand until you loose what you can never have, hold, hear or see again what your mother truly means.  I understand the loss of my wife; that was undeniably difficult and presented a feeling of total isolation in my life.  However when you have the love of someone and the respect and the understanding of that person for over 60 years,  and they leave this world, there is a void that can never be filled.  I am more fortunate than many to have the love of a very fine woman at my side and a strong family that appreciates what they have and what they have derived from their grandmother.  These make it easier to cover that gap that exist without mom.  I pray my children forgive me for not fully understanding this gap that existed in their lives however, I do not believe that anyone can fully appreciate that emptiness until they experience that feeling personally themselves.  Then you do know what a void there is in a persons life without good ole mom. 

To you, my good ole mom, I wish you rest and the happiness you so deserve,  please give our love and thoughts to all you are with now.  Miss you mom, love you mom...

Dorothy and Brother Larry.

Dorothy with Rick and his family.

One Year Anniversary--We miss you mom...

Dorothy and Zoi--Christmas 2005

Dorothy and her brother Larry...

Today in Atchison, Kansas, mom's brother, uncle Larry will be officially remembered for his life here on earth.  Larry rejoined the rest of his generation on Saturday, January 4, 2014 and was greeted, I am most certain, with great anticipation and rejoicing in heaven.  I know that mom made most certain to be in line with all of her family, some members I have only heard of and were gone long before I was ever brought into this world.  This generation was one of great accomplishment and determination that we all should look to for inspiration.  Larry, who is memorialized today, never looked for the easy road, worked until he was 70, and did unthinkable things to get the job done in his employment and life.   I remember hearing the story where, I believe it was Christmas Eve however I am not certain ,when the radio station had a problem and being their chief engineer, he climbed an icy tower in the snow to reattach a cable or wires to return the station to operations.  His climb naturally was a success.  Larry lived his life with that same determination and resolve, both in his career and his family.  Helen was no different with her instinct for getting the job done.  She worked many and sometimes unusual hours including holiday's in her employment with the school district and the hospital.  Her most unusual feat, I felt,  was when the family was invited to her house for a birthday celebration and we all discovered that she had built a concrete block wall on her back porch so she could sit without the neighbors always being able to see her there. She did a fine job with the blocks all lining up and the mortar lines near perfect.  Walter and I just sat there and laughed with admiration for her determination and diligence in doing such a fine job.  Mom, dear Dorothy, after living a life of a mother, staying home as so many mothers did in the 50's and 60's was forced back into the working world when dad divorced her and also me.   Mom did what any fine Winegardner would do, she went out and found employment.   After almost 25 years of being a stay at home mother/housewife, she was again gainfully employed and was as competent as any despite her lacking of skills that she would eventually need.  She study at home to learn shorthand and refreshed her typing skills from high school and became a "cannot do without" member of the engineering team at Allis-Chalmers Gleaner division in Independence.   She not only was able to get along with the old witch whose department she was joining; a lady who considered everyone a threat and that no one could please her; she and this lady actually became friends and very close workers, and someone who after her retirement mom would often visit in off hours.  Something no one at the plant ever thought could happen.  Mom survived and lived a pretty fair life until her final years.  However that is a story for another time.  Then there was the baby, Walter, who made his life harder than it needed to be, [that might be where I get it from, probably so, since I more often than not thought of him as a father] both worked like a mule and never understood what it meant to not provide for your family or shuffle it off onto someone else.  He worked numerous jobs and sometimes two or three at a time.  As a craftsman, he was always his own worst critic, with only perfection making him happy.  And his work was perfection.  He believed that a mitered wood joint was only meant to be done one way.  It should be invisible to the naked eye.  Only the grain of the wood would show that his inside and outside corners along with his junctions were not one piece of wood when joined together.  His ability to perform almost any construction project, be it working with wood, re-plumbing a kitchen or adding new lighting or outlets or wiring an entire room to painting and staining, Walter was a perfectionist at it all.  What made his abilities most attractive, to me,  was he was completely self taught.  He could see something, read a book about it if necessary, and then do it. 

I give you this little insight into Larry, Helen, Dorothy and Walter today, on the day of Larry's funeral services to emphasize just what we have lost and will hopefully regain someday in the very near future.  Their generation was not a generation looking for handouts.  They were a generation that simply said:  "Give me a chance! Let me show you what I can do."  I know these four are all together again.  Maybe even sleeping in one bed as they did as children however this time just to be close, no need to stay warm now, they will eternally be warm, and loving and will forever be in my mind.  They will forever live in the hearts of all of us that knew them.  I feel certain that Phil and David will pay beautiful tributes to their father today.  Their mother will smile with great pride as each recite their words.  Their grandmothers, Phoebe and Mable will also being showing such pride.  However it is their responsibility and that of  their cousins to educate their/our offspring and their/our grand offspring in the truly great linage we all descend from.  I hope that I can reach this objective with whatever time left that God has planned for me.  However, for today is Larry's last most special day here on earth.  So once again, I recite:  "Eternal rest grant unto him O Lord, and may his soul and the souls of all of the faithful departed, rest in peace.  Amen."  Thanks for the memories Larry, you and Barbara deserve the rest that lies ahead.  Enjoy your siblings and all of your family and friends that are with you in eternal peace. 

And yes, a private request:  Please give my love to mom...