Tributes

MISSING MOM
Time sure changes things like mullets and cameras, karaoke songs and faces and places we've seen. The best way to discover music and how to read a book, the form of coffee we drink and how children should be schooled. The fit of your jeans, the way we talk and the nicknames we say. Strangers turn into family and memories fade of once-upon-a-time friends, things like cars and eyebrows, shoes and mailing addresses too. What defines Friday night and the way to wear your hair. It changes kitchen appliances and paint on the walls, how to make a living and get from here to there. Babies become men and girls turn into mothers. Gray hair to your head and wrinkles to your face, it develops lists of accomplishments, lessons learned and even moments you wish you could erase. It can blow a mind and change a heart, sometimes together. Sometimes far apart. You know the feeling if you've felt it too. A day, a decade or years and years and years, time sure changes things but not how we miss you.

90TH BIRTHDAY
In between the birth of Johnny Cash and Loretta Lynn, when the yearly income was averaging $1650 and a gallon of gas rang up to 18 cents, Papa was born.
Today he is NINETY. When he’s not refinishing a floor or bringing a tractor back to life, you might catch him at morning coffee with his pals. And you always know when Friday night is closing in because, wrestling. Picking lettuce for maximum growth, making blueberry pancakes best, and right-sizing a scoop of chocolate + vanilla ice cream are some of his specialties. If you’ve ever wondered how to replace a garbage disposal, rewire a basement light, put a fountain in a pond, or fix a sump pump, Papa is your guy. Never used a weed whacker, lawn mower, or snow blower? No problem. He will teach you the right way to turn it on and maintain it, what to do if it breaks, and exactly how to put it away so it’s ready to be used the next time you need it. He’s not shy about sharing the best finds at Kwik Trip or that La Croix is cheapest at Menards. But then again, you can always save big money at Menards! (Except on car batteries. For those, Fleet Farm.) He will pour a glass of wine, share his egg foo young, and offer you his office chair in the garage if he thinks you could use a little pick-me-up. Papa plays the accordion. Something I’ll never forget … the way his cell phone rings. And that driving 74 mph is the only way to go up north. He’s shown me you’re never too old to jump off the dock, find treasures at a garage sale, or sweat in a sauna. Always doing something, his pace will convince you that he is nowhere near his age. But sit with him a while, and it’s hard to deny 90 years of wisdom. From the land he’s farmed to the ships he’s sailed, Papa’s toolkit stretches far beyond most. There’s nothing he can’t do and we are the luckiest to have him showing us the ropes. Happy, happy 90th birthday to my Papa Bill! I think you are incredible.

A LOVE NOTE
Passion’s fun but so is peace. It feels surreal if you get both. He’s taught me much about patience. And football. He dances and the kids love him. He’s open to activities like yoga and CrossFit and parenthood. Scary things like skiing and sorrow feel better around him. He’s shown me rice and cereal are food groups. And how to make pasta. He’s studied a language for a trip I wanna take while entertaining ways to make my farm dreams come true. He reads books and goes hunting, sometimes. He’s a gamer and totally LOVES dogs - which is not why I fell in love with him just thought you should know. His existence and our story make me believe in God more than anything before. I know all prayers don’t come true but I’m sure thankful he did. I highly recommend riding off into the sunset with a Stallion. Specifically an Italian one.

CELEBRATING A SISTER
She can bake with the best of ‘em and you always know what time of year it is at her house because, holiday décor. Last week she saved the life of a beta fish named goldie. If you're sick or sad or have one of “those” stomach aches, she will mix the proper essential oils to get you on your way. She makes elderberry syrup. Occasionally she sends early morning selfies to discuss wrinkles and under-eye circles. She is the only reason I’ve ever run more than 10 miles at once. She’s not afraid to comment on the truth that those pants do not go with that crop top and she wears a certain face when she thinks I’ve had too much wine. She will spend too much money at Target while also discussing the philosophies of Dave Ramsey. She’d make me dinner every night of the week if I’d let her. She rode her bike all around town (with two kids in tow) so I could use her car. For a week. She encourages yoga. And church. And morning smoothies. She has a bedroom in her house for me and I live two miles away from her. Every single day and every single night her door is open (locked, but “open”). She is a mother that reminds me of my own. She is little (tiny actually). She is fierce. She is my sis and good God she's a good one.

DOTING ON DAD
He will cast 7 lines when there’s two of you in the boat and let you reel in whatever bobber goes down first. He knows what I mean when I say “catch a deer.” He has loved me through vegetarianism and more than one conversation a parent never wants to have. He taught me how to mix cement, shoot a basketball and a gun. Whether I was deciding to leave home at 18, follow a boy to a new state or leave my good, safe job to start my own business, he believes that I’ll be able to navigate my way ok, even if it is back to where I started. He knows life is change and growth is optional and the only opinion that really matters is God’s. Sometimes December makes me sad because I focus too much on who is missing and what I don’t have but it is also the best time to remember how we got here and who has our back no matter what always and forever. You top my list of things I’m thankful for, Dad.

BRAVO TO A BROTHER
Last January he decided to take up running. By June he raced his first marathon. In the summertime before he was even old enough to drive, he was putting in 60-hour work weeks. Whether it’s understanding the statistics of poker, climbing the corporate ladder or learning how to flip and fly on a skateboard, he will learn how to do it. And then do it better than you. His first attempt at restoring furniture, my Mom’s kitchen table was refinished into a work of art. He dresses well enough to be mistaken for Macklemore and covers himself in camo to trick deer and bear and whatever else is hunted in the woods that he’s part of the landscape. He never lets me pay what I actually owe for my cell phone bill. This year he moved across the country to provide four-seasons and family to his wife and due-so-soon son. There is no one I laugh harder with. He loves podcasts that make him think and early morning grocery runs to get last minute breakfast before anyone is awake. He plays Alabama and Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and old-school Kanye to stir up the good stuff. #memories. When the girls need just one “great-posed-fun-candid” photo, he will take another. In the middle of the night when I am awake and thinking and can't sleep, I know he is too. He is your best bet for raking leaves, chopping wood or edging sidewalks. He will fix your car and pour you a beer if you had a bad day. I cry every time I remember that he’s almost a Dad. He is humble. And so smart. He gives everything he’s got, always. He is my baby brother, my favorite brother, and today he is 30 years old.