Eileen and Larry Somers

(Told by Louise; typed by Jeanne) In Duluth, we were stopped at a light and we all yelled, "Chinese Fire Drill!" The doors flew open. We got out, ran around the car, dad yelling at us to get back in the car. We were laughing like hyenas. We got back in, the light changed, and we drove off. It was hilarious. Mom and the kids were all laughing, but dad was pi**ed and afraid we'd get in trouble. He didn't understand. (This was when Ann lived in Duluth; either late 70s or early 80s.) (Added by Jeanne:) Part of the fun of being with mom was that unpredictability. She could be very law-abiding and correct . . . or completely lawless and crazy! (Louise:) She loved to get her money's worth. At the movie theater, she would plot out the end and start times of movies. She would pay for the first one, then casually walk into the second one for free. She was a juvenile delinquent at heart. I think she even got Sister Josette to sneak into a movie!

As I've gotten more of my parents' papers to sort through and recycle or shred, I sometimes think about having some "time capsule" moments. This piece of paper in my dad's writing is one of them. It says "I would like to learn an effective method of studying that will enable me to retain knowledge and help me to compete with other students in the years to come. I would like to learn efficient reading, note taking, also how to better concentrate upon the things that I do." This was when he was taking classes at Normandale Community College after he retired. It was before his hands started getting so shaky. It was before he lost his vision to macular degeneration. It also brings to mind his stories of school in Canada. He only "went through the eighth grade" but told us that he had learned all the curriculum through the tenth grade because of the one-room school house model. He loved to tell stories about going to night classes at "...

This was a story I (Jeanne) heard only recently! My newest daughter-in-law has seven aunts and two uncles on her mother's side. I knew that her aunt Anna Mae Vagle was a worship leader at St. Joan of Arc Church (I remember her from the 1970s when I attended SJA with my parents), but I did not realize that Aunt Mary also went there. I saw Mary at a bridal shower for Mari and she told me about how she always called our dad "Chauncey" when she saw him at St. Joan of Arc Church. It was because of the movie Being There (blurb below from Hennepin County Library website) and the main character. "Chance is a secluded gardener who has spent all his life in the Washington D.C. house of an old man. When the man dies, Chance is put out on the street with no knowledge of the world except what he has learned from television. After a run-in with a limousine, he ends up a guest of Eve and her husband Ben. Ben is an influential, but sickly businessman. Now called Chauncey Gard...

"Collating and correcting school papers around the dining room table" - Since Eileen was a third grade teacher and actively involved in the local DFL, we were often put to work to help her with her many projects. We stuffed envelopes, assembled things (like lawn signs), and helped to correct the many spelling tests, math tests, workbooks, etc. Whatever she needed us to help with, we did. Everyone chipped in to get the job done! "Reading books to us as we snuggled on the sofa" - Jeanne doesn't really remember mom reading books . . . I think this must have been more for the three older kids. Dad read to Jeanne quite a bit. But we all grew up with a love of books! "Cuddling in the rocking/swinging chairs when sick" - Again, this is a Louise memory. I remember mom making a "bed" on the sofa with sheets and babying me. That's why I liked it when I got sick - she gave me special attention! I know Louise enjoyed swinging in the hammoc...

Louise wanted me to write about this, but didn't provide her memories or perspective. Here's mine: We (Tom, Ann, Louise, Jeanne, and Eileen) would play a chasing game around the kitchen, living room, dining room circle (and around the dining room table as an extra loop). We would holler, laugh, and run. Someone (of us kids) would grab one or both of mom's slippers (generic image provided, since her actual slippers are long gone) and toss it / them into the freezer. After some more running around, hollering, and laughing, one of the kids would get the slipper(s) out and put them on the floor. "Here they are, mom! I found your slippers!" When she put her feet into freezing cold slippers, the hollering and shouting ramped up even more. We had so much fun playing this game!

Last weekend (4.6.18), I slept over at Louise's house. We had gone to Iowa for a play on Friday night and had our MN Quilters meeting on Saturday morning. As I was having some morning coffee and trying to be quiet so she could sleep in, her bladder woke her up. She and I chatted as she opened window shades to let the morning sunshine fill the house. As she stood at the kitchen sink, looking out over the backyard and the maple tree, she commented on how she could picture our mom standing there, looking out. I can't find the words to describe the emotion in the room. Louise's memory of our mother brought that image and love into the kitchen with us. It was so lovely! Louise has always been a "sunshine" girl. She and our mom shared a sunshine-y relationship. The song, "You are my sunshine" has always made me think of the two of them together. - Jeanne

This one isn't a "real" memory, but a story my mom told me (Jeanne) several times when I was little. The entire family took a trip to Florida when I was about two years old. They left me with my Aunt Margaret Pahl (technically, my mom's first cousin's wife). According to my memory of the story, I was just fine during the vacation while my family was gone. When they got back, however, my full-on abandonment fears kicked in. My mom told me that I clung to her and screamed "bloody murder" if she left the room. She told me she couldn't even go to the bathroom without setting me off! This apparently lasted a few weeks after their return from the trip. I don't remember that, but I remember how Nick used to cry when I dropped him off for daycare at Sally Schultz's house. He was fine once I was gone. Alex comforted him and distracted him. But I was a wreck, peeling my son off my leg and closing the door to go to work. 💗

Eileen always had us set up the manger scene at Christmas time with all the figures except baby Jesus. He was usually on her dresser in the bedroom, awaiting Christmas morning. When we were kids, she would allow us to put in a piece of straw each time we did a chore, or something kind, or generally had a positive attitude. I remember loving to "get" to put straw in the creche and kept busy with different jobs around the house to earn the privilege. On Christmas morning, we would make a procession throughout the house. I got to be in front since I was the youngest. (In later years, it was one of the grandchildren in front.) We sang "Silent Night" and held candles as we walked to get the baby Jesus and bring him to the manger. During Lent, she would cut a branch from the lilac bushes and "plant" it in dirt in a vase that Louise still has - green and antique-looking. She would hang purple colored empty eggs from the branches. They had the symbols of the c...

Sometimes, I just wish for one more hug. Or a laugh. Or an "I love you" from her. My mom had her faults and failings just like everyone else on the planet. But her love was strong and true. I miss her always loving me and accepting me just as I am. She would listen and empathize. She was cheerful and encouraging. She was passionately in love with life. She overflowed with joy. The nice thing is that I can love my children like that. Completely. Always. It's also incredibly wonderful that I was blessed with a mom who loved me. Not everyone can say that. I'm also really glad that I am married to someone who loves me deeply. But I can still miss my mom sometimes.

From Louise: In Corpus Crispy (aka Corpus Christi), I was with Eileen and Larry. It was a cloudy day and we had taken chairs down to the pier in their swimsuits with reading material looking for sun anyway. When I saw a TV news van pulling up, I said, "Oh no! This can't be good." It was the afternoon weather report. They wanted to get a shot of the curve of the coastline, showing the weather. They featured us! Frozen Minnesotans."Where are you from?" and all that. When they were done with the spot, we asked about a good place to eat cheap seafood. A local place. So we ate at the place they recommended. When we were checking out, the waitress asked how we heard about them. And we said, "Well the news guy on channel whatever it was . . . " And she said, "Oh! That was you! I saw that!" So we were famous.

Eileen was a very thrifty gal. She bought CareFree sugarless gum and would willingly share it. A half piece at a time. Seriously! Since gum loses its flavor relatively quickly, she thought it was wasteful to take an entire piece, no matter how long you would chew it. So she would tear the piece in half and hand it out as though it were a special treat. Even Jenifer remembers this about her!  When her grandson Morgan was preschool age, he pronounced the word "Num." Grandma Eileen said, "Gum. G - g - g - g - gum. With a hard G. You say it." And Morgan said, "G - g - g - g - num!" It was hilarious! He wasn't doing it to be a stinker; he just had trouble with the word. But she kept trying! When Jeanne was five-ish years old, Eileen said "No" at the grocery store to buying her a pack of gum for herself. Jeanne took one and put all five sticks in her mouth while on the car ride home. Since she was dumb, the wrappers were all there in the bac...

The quality isn't great, but I put together videos for each of my parents after they died. Eileen Frances (Pahl) Somers - www.youtube.com/watch?v=X0N37s043TI (16:19) Lawrence Arthur Somers - www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QqJHVpMSkE (10:41)

It has been two years since my dad died. (Today is 1.22.2018. He died on 1.21.2016.) In getting rid of scraps of paper in my life (de-cluttering; I'm not yet ready for Swedish Death Cleaning!), I found an old receipt with some notes on it. "broken hand" "Dr. Dumont" "St. Joseph nuns" "Campbellton" Google brought me here: St. Joseph Hospital - http://www.rhsj.org/en/former-apostolic-sites_382_-21.php Religieuses Hospitalieres de Saint-Joseph I can't find information on Dr. Dumont (not that I tried that hard . . . ) but here's what I remember of that conversation with my dad over two years ago (I don't have the best memory!). He was talking about bequests after my mom died. He wanted to send money to places that were meaningful to him - the convent where his sister, Sister Beatrice, served, for example. He also mentioned Dr. Dumont, who had fixed his "broken hand" when he was a kid. He said they couldn'...