When we moved to Kanawha in 1977, after David finished his studies at Iowa State University and got his Masters degree, I applied and got a job working at the local newspaper. My first bosses were the Johnsons, owners at that time of the newspaper. I had my own IBM Selectric typewriter, so I did most of the typing at home, putting the news in columns that could then be pasted up onto the sheets of layout paper to be printed on newsprint at the printers.
I did this kind of work every week until after Alitza was born, and after I decided I wanted to return to college to get my teaching certificate. As I posted earlier, I lived in Ames in married student housing for the months when I was in class, and came home the rest of the time to live in Kanawha. I took Alitza with me some of the time, and other times when I had tests and needed to study, she stayed at the home of my babysitters in Kanawha, and David took care of her during the evenings and weekends when he wasn't working.
After I got my degree in Art Education, and my teaching certificate, I returned home to work and live until David retired in 2014. As mentioned previously, I did some substitute teaching, but never was able to find a position in the area to teach art. I grew tired of substitute teaching, and was also working at the newspaper office part-time (it was only operating with open hours on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesday mornings until my boss took the layout sheets to the printer to have that week's issue of the Kanawha Reporter printed and bundled to be mailed and delivered.)
We made good friends with the people who also worked at the newspaper, and after it was sold, first to Ed and Barb Dorsey, and then to Rodger and Beth Tveiten, I continued working there. When Rodger bought the newspaper, he moved it to an apartment on Main Street, and we operated from that spot for several years. Later, he bought a building across from the new telephone company building. In fact, the building he bought had formerly been the telephone company office. That place was where I spent half of my weeks from that time until I retired in about 2006. (I retired at the age of 66 years.)
We did a lot of socializing with the people I worked with, and the photo below is an example of that. This was taken December 20, 1980, at the home of Louise and Bob Smith. Louise was a typist at the newspaper.
On the left, David is seated in one of Louise's pretty off-white swivel rockers. Louise loved red, and her carpeting was red, as can be seen in this photo. And, there I am, in my red outfit (from my sister Merry), coordinating quite nicely with the decor!
This is a photo of my boss, Rodger Tveiten, at the same Christmas party. (Louise had a habit of writing on her photos...a real no-no if you want them for 'posterity!') This must have been shortly after the Tveitens bought the paper, and just a couple of years after Alitza was born.
This photo was taken at an anniversary party we gave for Bill and Twila Schroeder. A corner of the anniversary cake can be seen in the lower right corner. I don't recall which anniversary we were celebrating, but it was a nice party, as we were dressed up in our nice stuff, and the good dishes and crystal is on the table! In the photo, Beth Tveiten is on the left in the turquoise dress, Rodger is in the center, and I am on the right, once again wearing a nice dress Merry gave to me. Back then, I was only about 145 lbs. and I could wear many of her clothes!
Louise's husband, Robert, had died in 1984, and by the time of this party in 1986, she was dating again. Louise was 71 years old on this birthday. In this photo, in the back row, are Twila and Bill Schroeder, Homer Hitchcock (Louise's current date at that time), and David. In front are Beth Tveiten, Louise with her birthday cake, and me. Often when we had a party, Rodger would bring movie tickets that he received from area theaters as payment for running their ads, and we would all go to a movie. It was a fun time, and they were fun people.
I was becoming a close friend to Louise, and was usually a 'sounding board' for her personal life issues. Louise had just one child, a son, and he lived in Rochester, MN, so after Robert's death, she sort of 'adopted' me, and we were close friends. I ended up being her power of attorney in 2000, and remained in that capacity until 2012, well after she entered the nursing home at the age of 91 years.
In this rather blurry photo, I am again wearing one of the outfits given to me by my sister Merry (thank God for Merry!). We were at Louise's house for Christmas in 1987, and I am helping in the kitchen.
This photo was taken the same year, 1987, and is definitely not at Twila's house. That is Louise's off-white velour loveseat, and her print on the wall behind David and I. But, it's possible that we had cocktails at Louise's and then went to Twila's for the dinner. (Or, Louise's notation on the back of the previous photo could be incorrect!) Anyway, there is David with his beer, me with my 'peachie' and Alitza is seated on the floor just next to me. (Louise loved to make 'peachies!')
Louise's son Ron, and his former college roommate and fellow Vietnam vet, Wayne Hoelscher, decided Louise needed to meet Wayne's widowed father, Marcus. So, they arranged a date, and the two began to see each other. On June 27, 1992, Louise and Marcus were married, and Louise asked some of her friends to serve as 'bridesmaids.' In this photo, Twila, Lucille Swan, and I are eating a bit of lunch before the start of the wedding. As you can see, I still am in my red jeans, but I do have my top on for the wedding. (We made our outfits!)
In this shot, Louise and Marcus are dressed and waiting at the stairway just before they got ready for their wedding.
And, here they are, at the restaurant, enjoying a toast to their future, and wearing their wedding clothes!
After the wedding, a party was put on by the wedding couple, and was held at the local restaurant. In this photo are Lois Schroeder (friend of Louise, and sister-in-law to Twila and Bill Schroeder), Rodger Tveiten (my boss) and me.
And, here are David and I, waiting to be served at the dinner party after Louise and Marcus' wedding.
Louise and Marcus sold their homes eventually, and moved to a senior living complex in Rochester, MN, to be near Louise's son and grandchildren. Marcus' son lived not far away in Minneapolis, so the move was convenient for both of them.
David, Alitza and I visited Marcus and Louise at RealLife in Rochester when she was caring for her son, Ron, who had become seriously ill. Here is a photo of the two of them...Marcus and Louise.
Louise's son Ron died at the age of 50 years in 1999. After that sad event, Louise and Marcus moved back to Kanawha, and rented a nice apartment in a new complex that had been built.
In this silly photo, I am dressed like a witch, with 2" fake black nails, a wig and some plastic spiders on my face. I am standing outside of Louise and Marcus' apartment with Marcus, and enjoying the many kids that came 'trick-or-treating' in their neighborhood. At our house on the research farm, we had very few trick-or-treaters, and I didn't get all dressed up for nothing! (I must admit I had to have help to get over to their apartment, even though it was only on the other end of town...just a few blocks! My nails were soooo long that I couldn't open the car door without one of them popping off, so David had to drive me to their apartment!)
In 2001, Louise's granddaughter Heather got remarried, and I went with Louise and Marcus to Heather's wedding in Rochester.
This photo was taken at Heather's wedding in July of 2001, and you can see Louise, with Marcus behind, and me sitting at a table at the reception.
In spring of 2002, Marcus had a fatal heart attack. Louise was once again alone, and I became her sometime companion. I took her shopping weekly to Mason City, and we always ate lunch, usually at Applebee's, and had a pretty good time. Louise was a very fun lady!
Louise often had someone from town drive her to Rochester for doctor appointments and to visit Heather and Michael, her two grandchildren who lived there. She had various drivers, usually retired men from the community who wanted to do something useful with their time, and offered this service. Eventually, she hired Bill Dahl to drive for her, and they became close friends. Bill was a widower and lived in an apartment on the same side of town as Louise's apartment. They spent many hours playing cards, and singing while Louise played the organ (she had been organist for the Kanawha United Methodist Church for many years, and was exemplary as a musician.)
Here are Louise and Bill, seated on her pretty dark green velour couch, accompanied by all of Louise's stuffed bears! They were happy together.
In November of 2005, Louise and Bill were married at the Methodist church.
This is a photo of them at their wedding. Once again, Louise had her favorite color worked into the scheme of things... red!
Here she 'plants a big one' on David, who doesn't seem to mind!
I don't really remember the reason for this gathering of our group, but it was on November 16, 2005, and Rodger Tveiten was making good use of his camera!
Here are David and I, at that dinner.
In this shot, left to right, Carol, Louise and Beth Tveiten, enjoying eating out.
Now...we're starting to get a little silly...
Louise got sick and after an extended illness and hospitalization, she entered the Kanawha Community Home on June 16, 2006, where she lived out the rest of her life. Bill moved to an apartment across from the nursing home, and visited her every day until her death January 10, 2013. She had picked a loyal man, as Bill's first wife Ruth spent 11 years at the nursing home, and he visited her every day as well. Bill had become a regular fixture at the Kanawha Community Home, and he did many good deeds, until he also passed away, a few years after the death of Louise. Below is the last photo I have of Louise, after she had been at the nursing home for several years. She had become a 'shadow' of the fun-loving woman who had been my friend, but I continued to visit her and remained her power of attorney until her death. David and I cleaned out her apartment when Bill decided he didn't need such a large apartment. Bill moved to a smaller apartment, taking some of their furniture to use there. His new, smaller apartment was right across the street from the nursing home, and he spent a lot of time there.
This was Louise on her 95th birthday, seated at one of the tables in the nursing home, enjoying a piece of her birthday cake (I had ordered and picked up the cake for this party). Louise was almost 98 years old at her death.
Everything seems to happen with some purpose. After Louise's death on January 10, 2013, David retired, and we moved to our acreage in central Iowa. (David's retirement took place November 6, 2014.) I was happy to be able to help Louise during the latter part of her life, and she was a good friend.
Since we have moved, Rodger sold the newspaper and is now retired. Twila Schroeder died suddenly at the age of 85 years, and her husband Bill died a few years after that.
Life is never the same. People come and people go. Some leave memories that last forever, and some are less memorable. Change is a constant, and often getting used to that can be a struggle, especially as one gets older.
So, now that we are in a different house, a different part of the state, and our lives are quite a bit different, too. But, every day has its beauties and its challenges. Life goes on, and we are both well enough to enjoy it.
Keep visiting my blog, and I'll post photos and stories about our trips and our lives, and sometimes a good recipe or some other piece worth reading.
See you later...
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