HOME IN IMOGENE

This photo was taken of myself, my sister Carolyn and our Dad. I was between 2 and 3 years old and Carolyn was between 1 and 2.
The picture was taken in Imogene Iowa. Everything that was there on that property is gone. The house burned and I returned several years ago and walked the property and found nothing. No landmarks and it was then I decided the place would exist only in my memory. Next to me was the pump we used as our water source. In the background is a building we called the barn, used mostly to raise chickens. To the right of Carolyn is a place we called the cave where vegetables and canned goods were stored in the winter and where we would go in case of a severe thunderstorm. This photo brings back a lot of memoriew to me.

OUR FIRST GRANDCHILD

Our first Grandchild was born on April 11 1978. A little girl named Josephine Rose. My wife Mary and our Daughter Lisa were present for the birth.She was a perfect little girl and she brought joy to our hearts and satisfaction that we had the most precious Grandchild, and we were so proud.
She has grown up and moved away and we don’t get to see her as much as we used to but the memories of her as a baby and little girl are with us always.
I have a lot of memories which, perhaps I can put into words later but suffice it to say, she will always be our little Josie.

GRANDMA STUELKE

Grandma Stuelke was happiest maintaining her home and garden. She was what I would call a typical Grandma. She loved having people at her table and seemed to never run out of food. I recall one time when I was there she had strawberry shortcake for dessert. A large crock was filled with strawberries and when that was finished she magically produced another bowl,.
She cleaned the fish and game that the men brought home. I expected the same from my wife when I got married but soon found out that Grandma was one of a kind in cleaning fish and game. When I was in the service stationed on Guam she sent me a pheasant she had canned in a tin can. What a feast I had
Grandma would start gathering flowers from the yard and her garden prior to Memorial Day. She would wrap them in wet cloth and put them in the icebox on the porch and put them on the family graves on Decoratiion Day;.
Grandma loved her grandchildren and would make us our favorite dish or dessert. My favorite was currant pie. I wish I had a piece now.
I really miss my Grandma. I have fond memories of her I will always cherish.

MY DAD'S FAVORITE PASTIME

My Dad was most happy when he was fishing or hunting. He especially enjoyed going fishing or hunting with people from his home town of Nashua, Iowa.
The top picture shows him after hunting geese with John Emmons and Billy Cook. Bill Cook was a jockey who rode at race tracks all over the country. I always heard that Johnny Emmons flew a light plane under the railroad bridge in Nashua.
The picture on the lower right shows my Dad holding a fish and Hod Strike, his brother in law cleanilng fish back of 2911 Oakoand Road in Cedar Rapids.
The picture on bottom left shows my Dad with a fellow I don’t recognize, holding up a stringer of northern pike..
My Dad could skin a squirrel faster than anyone I ever have seen do it. When I was in high school we always had fish or game in abundance.
My Dad was always ready to go fishing or hunting.

SURPRISE! SURPRISE! WE HAVE TWINS

On September 18 1961 I was watching the Jack Paar show which came on TV at 1030 PM. My wife, who was very pregnant came out of the bedroom and informed me we had better head for the hospital. I asked her why and she informed me that the water had broken. Back in my deep memories I had heard that when the water broke it would be a short time until we had a baby boy or girl.
We took off for St. Lukes hospital and, once we arrived, they put Mary in a wheel chair and took us to the maternity ward. I was very nervous and apprehensive and kept asking questions and probably getting in the way of the nurses etc. doing their duty. They sent me downstairs to check Mary into the hospital and get me out of their hair.
They asked me the usual questions about our address and other pertinent questions which I had no trouble answering. Then the lady asked me my wife’s maiden name and my mind was so full of all kinds of things that I could not, for the life of me remember her maiden name.
They then sent me back to the maternity floor and to a small room where husbands waited for the birth. I was a smoker at the time and smoked cigarettes one aftert another. Going through my mind were all kinds of things. What would the baby look like? What color hair would it have? Would it have all the parts it was supposed to have? Would the baby ever come? We were four weeks early so no Xray had been taken prior to the birth.
Shortly after midnight the nurse came in with our little boy who had been born at 12:25 AM. He weighed 5 pounds 4 ½ ounces. All I could see was his face. It was beautiful.
I breathed a sigh of relief and sat back in the chair while the nurse started to leave. As she opened the door she exclaimed, THERE’S ANOTHER ONE RIGHT BEHIND HIM.
This opened a whole new can of worms in my mind, which was full to overflowing. Would this be a boy or girl? Would this be a long wait. I had no time to wait as the nurse returned and reported we had a girl born at 12:31 AM. She weighed 5 pounds 1 ½ ounces. The nurse said she couldn’t bring the girl in as she was turning blue and they had put her in an incubator.
What do I do now? Do I dare call anyone in the middle of the night? I thought I would call my Dad. I told him we had twins but that he couldn’t come up the hospital as only the husband was allowed on the floor. He answered me with, typical of him, The hell I can’t, and It was a short time until I heard him bellowing up the hall.
We named our precious babies John Charles Stuelke and Lisa Elllen Stuelke. They finally let me in the room and we got to see both babies. They were perfect.
I returned home and thought , now I must find another bed, another high chair, anoither stroller etc. etc.
We went to the hospital to bring the twins home and the Doctor decided they couldn’t come home until they gained back to their birth weight Finally, they regained the weight and we were able to hring them home.
We have watched them grow up and, graduate from college, get married and have children of their own.. Thank God for our twins.

OUR TWO IN THE MILITARY

We have two grandchildren who are serving in the armed forces.
Megan is in the Air Force and is a Chaplain’s assistant stationed at Arlington National Cemetery.Prior to this she was stationed on Okinawa.
Sean took his boot camp in the Marines at San Diego, then was stationed in Pensacola, Florida and is, at present, finishing up his training as an Aircraft Communications/Navigation/Electrical/Weapon Systems Technician.
We are very proud of our military grandchildren.

I remember hearing her in Phoenix as the Doctor performed the ultra sound.

I remember going the Phoenis and taking her on her first stroller ride.


I remember her calling us and telling us her pet fish had died.

I remember taking her to Villisca to visit family when she was five years old and, going to the cemetaryshe noticed a grave stone with the name WEBER and asking whether or not it was her WEBER.
On this same trip, to pass the time, we made up a game we called POLICEMAN---POLICEMAN which we played all the way there and back.

I remember walking the trail with her and finding an appropriate stick to anihilate the tall weeds.

I remember going to Montreal and going to a maple sugaring=of with she and I sitting in the back of the station wagon and that it was so foggy we couldn’t see.


I remember her being a little girl who made me very proud to be her Grandpa.

Now comes a new chapter in our lives.

She and Joe informed us last evening that she was pregnant.

What a wonderful day it will be when the baby arrives.

I will be proud when this child arrives and I will be very proud to be the child’s Great Grandpa.