Write a note.

   Eleanor is a little down and could use some mail from some of her friends. She can't hear very well on the phone, so I have suggested to my children that they start sending her a card with a note instead of calling her. If anyone else reads this blog, she would appreciate hearing from you.

Mississippi Flooding.

   Eleanor was has been watching the news about the flooding on the Mississippi River, and remembered when she and Fred went to Alabama with the Red Cross. She had been trained as a volunteer and was considering going as a nurse for a shelter in Alabama. Seems that a friend of theirs called to ask if Fred could drive the Emergency Relief Vehicle, ERV, to Alabama, so they left together for the shelter. Fred was only going to help by driving the ERV down, but wound up staying for a couple of weeks helping run the shelter.She remembered people bringing in clothing to have washed and that in some cases the clothing had to be washed several times to get all the mud and smell of the flood out of the clothing. One lady lost all her clothing in the flood, so the Red cross gave her $50.00 for clothing. She purchased one dress for $50, because she had never had a nice dress before. Lots of the people at the shelter didn't have the resources to flee the flood or take care of themselves. Thank God for the Red Cross! If you are reading this, Eleanor wants you to make a contribution, or do something to help with the Red Cross efforts in Mississippi. She remembers being exhausted when she and Fred finished their deployment, but they felt that they had done a really worthwhile thing.

Confirmation Sunday

   Sunday was confirmation Sunday at the Lutheran Church in Seward. Eleanor had read the church bulletin and listened to the sermon on the tape before I visited last night. She noted that her friend Lois Gieselman's grand son had been confirmed and she noted that she hadn't seen Lois's daughters much since their mother had died. Lois and Eleanor were neighbors at Heartland when mom lived on the independent living side, they enjoyed each others company and enjoyed pizza and beer several times a month.
   Eleanor remembered her own confirmation and noted that it is a time when you renew the vow's of Baptism for yourself. Mom's baptismal sponsors were August and Matilda Bennett, her aunt and uncle. The Rev. Theodore E. Cook was the confirmation pastor; "a very rigid and strict man" recalls Eleanor. "Be thou faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life" was her confirmation Bible verse. She received a Lutheran hymnal from her sponsors.
   When Fred died in Mississippi, Eleanor used the memorial money for a stained glass window at Our Savior Lutheran Church. She selected a cross and crown design for the window, as her confirmation verse was referred to as the "cross and crown" . We recalled confirmations in Wyoming, Okinawa, and Nebraska, and I was quizzed on if I remembered my confirmation verse, I passed that test. Barb and Mary Ann?