Plattsmouth, NE.

   Eleanor moved with Janet and David to Plattsmouth, Nebraska in 1952, she was accompanied on her trip from Minnesota by her Aunt Margaret, and her sister Florence. As they drove to Nebraska, everyone had warned them of the difficulty they would have crossing Highway 20 on their way to Omaha. When they arrived at the junction of Hwy 20 and Hwy 73/75, there was no traffic in either direction. The memory is very vivid for her, as every time we have driven to my sister Barbara's house and cross Hwy 20, she always recalls the sense of dread that she had on the initial trip to Omaha. When they arrived at Offutt A.F.B. they drove right on the base to find Fred, he had found a hotel for them to stay in while they looked for a home to rent. Upon leaving the base, the guards at the gate were amazed that they could get on the base when their car had no security sticker or visitor permit. Evidently they had just driven on the base without stopping for authorization, turned out it was easier to get on the base than off it.
   They did take a day for some sightseeing and went to Lincoln to look at the state capital building--the picture of the family in front of the Nebraska capital was taken by Florence. The family found an upstairs apartment in Plattsmouth which was about 15 miles from the Air Force Base. Eleanor always seems to have been happiest while working, because she found a position at the Masonic Hospital in Plattsmouth as a weekend nurse. She remembers that one night a woman brought her father to the hospital and had a suitcase of money to with her to pay the expenses. She called the Hospital director and recalls that he came up right away.  She was offered a position as the chief nurse at the hospital, but decided against taking the position.
   Fred and Eleanor joined the Lutheran Church in Plattsmouth and Fred took confirmation lessons from pastor Meisinger. The  Meisinger's became on of their best friends in Plattsmouth along with the the Wilson's, and the Hanson's.  Fred road to work with other airmen from the base, so she had a car at home. Shortly before her daughter Barbara was born, the family moved into a large three story home on Oakmont Drive. The house had a huge lawn and garden, some chicken coops, a cement pond, and bee hives.Fred had a large garden and helped with the bees, they would also buy chickens to raise in the spring. The house was cold in the winter and had an old boiler with heat radiators. Eleanor wondered how many times the family members burned their rears on the radiator after a bath in the winter. The house also had a large sun room on the south side of the house which was very comfortable on sunny winter days.
   More will be written on the family in Plattsmouth, but this is a good place to stop.

Lots going on.

We have been busy the last part of the week, and next week should also have lots of activity for Eleanor. She had her hair done on Wednesday, a pedicure on Thursday, a whirlpool bath today. Next week we have a vision clinic appointment on Tuesday, and the lift chair delivery early next week. It will take some time to figure out how to use the chair and also what piece of furniture we will be getting rid of. Tomorrow is Easter, and we will be having dinner at 1:30 p.m. with  Eleanor, Joanne, David, Dan, Rob, Jill, Liz, and the grandkids; that should be twelve of us if my math hasn't failed me. Easter Egg hunt at 12:30, Joanne has loaded all the eggs and we will have to put them out before the participants arrive. Happy Easter! Christ has risen, Indeed!

Furniture.

   I have been spending a lot of time with mom the past three days and noticed today that she really doesn't have any furniture that I can remember as a child. My wife's mother and her Aunt Marge, both had furniture that she can remember growing up, it belonged to the family and was always in the houses where they lived. My mother in law had a golden dog that a women she had cleaned house for in the 1930's had given to her. I remember my grandson Sam used to carry that dog around our basement; after gluing it together about twenty times, we had to put it in the garbage--so much for family keepsakes.
   The only furniture I can remember always being there was my parent's bedroom set. I asked mom about it. She said they had purchased it when they were stationed at Offutt A.F.B, in the 1950's. It was the first furniture that they owned. Being a military family, we didn't have much furniture. I can remember moving to Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Okinawa, with only a suitcase. We did have two beds that folded up and were passed from child to child, but mostly we had little or no furniture while I was growing up.
   Mom and dad's bedroom furniture was here when she moved from Mississippi, but when she moved to a smaller apartment about a year ago, I took it to the Indian Reservation in Walthill, Ne. My sisters can perhaps remember furniture from the post Okinawa days, but when we returned in 1968, I was 19 and leaving for college.

Easter Sunday: 1948

   Eleanor and I were discussing plans for Easter this morning, and I asked if she wanted to go to church; I suggested we could go to the Easter Sunrise Service. At that point she told me an amazing tale.
   Fred and Eleanor were getting ready to go to Easter Sunrise services in Panama. They planned to meet their neighbors from across the street at the bus stop for the ride to the Lutheran Church. Eleanor was getting dressed and thought she smelled smoke; she asked Fred to go to the kitchen and see if anything was burning. After checking out their small apartment, Fred came to the bedroom to assure her that nothing was on fire. Soon thereafter Janet, Fred, and Eleanor were standing outside at the bus stop when Eleanor again smelled smoke. She thought it was coming from the end of the apartment complex that they lived in, so she asked Fred to go to the end of the apartments to see if everything was alright.
   Fred went to the end of the apartments, and suddenly ran up the stairs to an apartment where he could see smoke coming out a window. The apartments in Panama didn't have glass in the windows, only a screen. As Fred looked in, he could see that the bed was on fire in the apartment. The couple sleeping in bed had gone out to celebrate the night before, and somehow the mattress had caught on fire between them,. Fred broke the door in and picked up the women to take her downstairs, she began protesting loudly that she didn't have any clothing on. Fred went up the stairs to help the husband out, and as they were coming down the stairs, some of the other residents of the apartment complex came and started to put out the fire.
    At this point the couple that Fred and Eleanor were going to Church with arrived at the bus stop. The woman asked Eleanor if she shouldn't hurry upstairs and save her valuables in case the whole apartment complex went up in fire. Eleanor left Janet with their friends and began running up the stairs, once she reached the top, she suddenly stopped and realized that SHE DIDN'T HAVE ANY VALUABLES.
   Eleanor walked down the stairs. Fred joined them at the bus stop.  They caught the bus to go to the Easter Sunrise service. The whole event had lasted only a few minutes.
   It would hard for me to match the excitement of Easter Sunday, 1948

Granddaughter's visit.

   It's been a busy week as Maggie, Shelby, and Natalie came for an overnight visit in Seward. Maggie was on spring break, and we went to the children's museum on Tuesday and the YMCA swimming on Wednesday. Joanne had bought the girls new swim suits, so we had a nice fashion show. The Y was deserted at 2 p.m., so we had a private pool and lifeguard. We stopped at Eleanor's apartment to read books and play with puzzles; Eleanor has three books and three puzzles under her television, so each girl had her own project to work on.
   I made a Dr.'s appointment to today, as Eleanor has a cough that has been getting progressively worse, so she may need a chest x ray today. Barb and Keith will be here for the weekend, so hopefully she will be feeling better on Saturday.

Blogging with Eleanor.

   Yesterday, I went to Heartland to visit in the evening as I wanted to take Eleanor to the computed to view "About Eleanor". Once we had found the computer and logged in, everything went very smoothly. She really enjoyed looking at all the pictures, and we talked about them for at least 30 minutes. She read several blog entries before telling me we need to get an appointment at the vision clinic so she can get some better reading glasses. I think she plans to read the blog, We had quite a discussion as to what a blog was, and why anyone would need one. I think she actually enjoys being the subject of the blog.

Minnesota 1950-51

   Eleanor was at her parent's house, when a friend called to ask if she could help out at the Zumbrota hospital; there had been an accident and one of the injured patient's parents had requested special duty  a nurse to be with the them in the hospital. Eleanor agreed and wound up working the next three days in Zumbrota. At the end of the experience, the hospital director offered her a full time position. She declined, but he had even made arrangements for her to stay in the house across the street from the hospital. The owner's wife had died, and he wanted to go to live with his daughter, so she had a furnished home in Zumbrota that she could live in rent free. Eleanor's sister Florence came with her to baby sit Janet and David, and wound up working in a nurses training program at the Zumbrota Hospital. Eleanor enjoyed having her own place to live and even purchased a used car while she was in Zumbrota. It was the first she had ever owned; a tam Chevy which a friend helped her pick out.
   Fred's unit in Korea was the 13th air force which flew bombing missions into North Korea, his squadron was known as the "grim reapers", so they probably saw a lot of combat during the war. Eleanor remembers that when they would go to reunions after they retired, that several men claimed that Fred had saved their lives. One airman actually started a scholarship fund and recognized Fred as a reason why he was alive.
   When Fred returned from Korea, he called her from the airport in Washington and told her he would be arriving in St. Paul. Eleanor and Florence drove her car up to St. Paul to pick Fred up. This was the first time he had ever "owned a car" so it was a quite an experience. It was several months before Fred received his orders to Offutt Air force Base in Nebraska. Eleanor remembers that they went fishing almost every day and it was great to be a family again. They did discuss staying in Minnesota as Eleanor had a good position, and they even looked at the possibility of buying her grandparent's farm in Lake City, but they decided to move to Omaha and hopefully a more settled life.
   The first four  to five years of my parents marriage was characterized by constant relocation. California, Pennsylvania, Panama, Minnesota, California, Minnesota, and now a move to Omaha. I am sure they must have wondered how long they would be in Omaha as they prepared to relocate once again. All this moving did have a plus side as it made my mother unafraid of change. I recall that six years ago she called me and told me she had sold her home and was planning to move to Seward. She asked me to pick out an apartment at Heartland retirement living center, and that I should plan on coming to Mississippi in help her drive her car to Nebraska.
  

David, California, and back to Minnesota.

   In May 1949, Eleanor was living in Goodhue with Margaret while Fred was in California. She went into labor in the evening of May 31, and since Margaret didn't drive at night, she called Dr. Flom in Zumbrota to tell him she was in labor and ask if he would pick her up on the way to the hospital in Red Wing. When they arrived at the hospital, the nurses thought she was Mrs. Flom, as the doctor was carrying in her bags. She delivered David about three hours after arriving at the hospital, and was moved to the maternity ward where her room mate was the wife of her old boy friend. When Fred sent two dozen red roses and it was the talk of Red Wing.
   After a few months, Eleanor took Janet and David on the train to California where Fred was stationed. They purchased a small trailer to live in off base. The trailer was so small that it had no bath room or running water, the kitchen table folded up into a bed at night. They had no car, but it seemed that no one else did, so you either walked or took the bus if you were going somewhere. A lot of the military wives would visit and set up play areas for the children. The cold war was in full swing, and the airmen were training and rumors were always circulating about where people might be stationed.
    In June 1950, the Korean War began, and Fred's squadron was sent on a six week assignment to Japan. Eleanor stayed in California, but when it became apparent that the squadron was going to be stationed in Korea, she decide to sell the trailer and return to Minnesota. A Sargent offered to buy the trailer, but since he had no money, he offered to send her a check every month until the trailer was paid off. She signed an agreement with him and left for Minnesota. Fred told her she would never get one check from the Sargent, but he faithfully sent a check every month and a letter thanking Eleanor for having faith in him accompanied the last check.
   After another long train ride, Eleanor arrived in Red Wing in late October and stayed with her sister Lorraine, who was a nurse in Red Wing. The next evening she took the train to Goodhue. It was cold and snowing, and she was nervous as to how she would get to Margaret's house with her luggage and two small children. When she arrived in Goodhue, two men walked up to her, one took Janet and her luggage, and the other took David and Eleanor to a truck. Margaret had sent Babe and Clifford Hansen to pick Eleanor up and bring her to the house.