From an email written by her on January 13, 2001:
"Mom and I went back for the big
reunion of Wayzata High School and we were invited out to visit them on the farm. Uncle Joe
gave me directions as follows on a Friday (we were going to visit them on the following Monday):
"'There is construction on the road out to Wilmar and you will take a right at
the end of the big orange construction barrels on that road and then take
that road and you will see our white house on the top of the hill.'
"These
would have been great instructions except for the following problems: 1) the
construction barrels were moved about 10 miles down the road between Friday
and Monday due to completion of the work; 2) I am from the West, live in Utah
and my idea of a 'hill' and Uncle Joe's are two very different things (the
'hill' appeared to me to be no more than a rise in the road - about 20 feet
higher than the house down the road); and 3) ALL the houses on the road were
white.
"As a result of these 'differences'
Momma and I were on the back roads
wandering around and after about 45 minutes we finally stopped at a
restaurant/bar that was kitty corner from a church (the only two buildings on
this road other than houses), Momma called and Uncle Joe said, 'I know right
where you are at, I'll be right there.' Within 5 minutes he came barrelling
down the road in his big truck and then told us to follow him. He then took
off like a bat out of hell down a side dirt road (we were driving a rental
car that was not a four wheel drive nor an off road vehicle) so we traveled
more slowly following the dirt cloud.
"We had a great visit with Marie bringing us
'up to date' on their children and grandchildren, while Uncle Joe kept bringing up an old girlfriend that
Momma knew and he was doing it just to get a rise out of Aunt Marie, which he
did. I'll never forget his smile when she said, 'You're pissing me off, Joe.
You're pissing me off.' He also told us that his brother was on a
restricted diet - no butter, fried food, or salt - to which Joe said, 'When I
can't have my steak and onions (the onions were prepared in a frying pan with
butter) you can just put me in the ground because life won't be worth living
any more.' . . .
"It was a great trip and I will always remember them smiling,
being welcoming, and 'picking on each other' in a loving way."
