My Dad

My Dad, brother Rusty, me and my brother Greg.

My Dad

Whenever I talk about my dad........I always say my dad. Sometimes I say Grandpa Clawson and sometimes Dad but mostly I say my dad. My Dad was Wonderful!!!! He was loved by all who knew him. He accepted people for who they were and never judged. His life was not any easy one but I know he was happy. He was surrounded by family and friends that loved him. I could not have asked for a better dad!! I am so thankful that he knew this when he was alive. I have no regrets. We were very close and he knew how much I loved him and he also knew how much his death was going to effect me. Sitting around my kitchen table we had many opportunities to talk and talk we did. He shared his thoughts about his life with me. He told me to "remember the good times" but it is so hard to remember the good times without being sad. He died in 1998 as I have probably said before and it is still very hard on me at times. The last 2 months have been especially hard and I am not sure why. Maybe May being Mother's Day (my mom died in 1968) and June being Father's Day has trigger it. I just have moments when I miss my dad so very much. Father's Day is Sunday and if your dad, daddy, father is alive.......don't forget to tell him how much he means to you. If you are not on the best of terms with you dad, you may want to take this Father's Day to become closer.....because once they are gone it's too late.

Why Not?

I want to respond to the continued whining by so many that we cannot raise taxes during this difficult time. I say why not? As a school teacher my taxes have been raised a number of times in the past year. We just do not call them taxes. The state furloughed me last year; that cost me $350.00. I will not get my step-raise, which we receive for each year of experience, $70.00/month. I will not receive the pay promised for improving my students learning each year, a minimum of $750.00. Now the legislature is talking about another furlough this year, another $350.00 at least. Therefore, in the last year my “taxes” have increased at least $2,150.00 or $180.00 a month. To those that say that I should be happy I have a job I am but I have worked long and hard for this job. I have earned it; it was not given to me as a gift. On the other hand raising the property taxes $0.05 would cost about $7.00/month on a $200,000 house. I wish somebody would explain the math to me.

This was written by a friend of mine, John Reseigne, who is a teacher at my school. What do you think? All comments are welcome...pro or con.

OREO COWS

My daughter, grandson, husband and I rode around and discovered these cows. Aren't they cute? My daughter thought they look just like an Oreo cookie! Anyone know their real name?

Notes Taken In 1990

I took the following notes while talking to my dad one day. He died in 1998. I am sure most of this will not even be of interest to anyone other than my family.

The house my dad lived in while growing up in Nebraska had two bedrooms upstairs. The girls shared a room and the boys shared a room. One bedroom downstairs was for their parents.
My Grandma ( his mom) use to heat some type of irons and put at the bottom of the beds to keep them warm.
The bucket that they used to go to the bathroom in was frozen many winter mornings.
My dad went to school from first to eight grade in a one room school house. He got glasses when he was in the fifth grade. He got very sick in the 11th grade with Scarlet Fever. He was out so long and got so far behind that he never went back. He finished his high school education after I was born and in grade school.
The teachers sometimes live with my dads family.
After the 8th grade he had to go away for high school, in Curtis, Nebraska.
Grandma (his mom) use to read stories or play the piano at night. She played the Black Hawk Waltz. I use to call this the wiping song because she seemed to wipe her fingers over the keys. It wasn't until years later that I even knew the name of the song.
In 1948, Grandpa and Grandma ( my dad's parents), my dad, my Aunt Alta, Uncle Delbert and Uncle Charles moved for Nebraska to LA, California. My dad was 22 and his youngest brother Charles was 7 years old. My dad and Uncle Delbert drove together. My dads oldest sister Gen and her first husband Harry already live in CA. His older brother Albert was in college in Lincoln, Nebraska. His younger sister Sylvia was in college in Kearney, Nebraska. His younger sister Zella was married and lived in Lincoln, Nebraska.

My dad worked at a gas station and my mom worked at a movie theater near by, when they were very young. My mom would sit on a bench at the bus stop and my dad would see her sitting there. One day he asked her if he could drive her home. That was the beginning.

My dad tried to in list in the Navy but was drafted in the Marines.
The first 6 months of my life he was in the service.

Our house in CA cost $10,000. $250 down and $67.50 a month

I have more notes like this packed in boxes. It's fun for me to go back and read them from time to time. I wish I had asked more questions when my parents and grandparents were living and that I had written more down. If your parents and or grandparents are still living be sure to ask and write down any questions you have. I wonder how many people do this.