Janet's Blog

Grandma and Grandpa Vawser have been married for fifty-seven years.  That's a long time, by anyone's standards.  Bill and I have been married for more than thirty-six years, also quite a long time.  The years have passed by quickly.  It seems like just a short while ago that we recited wedding vows much like these:  "I take you to be my lawfully wedded wife/husband, to have and to hold from this day forward, for better or for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish; from this day forward until death do us part." We were young and idealistic when we were first married, younger than you are now.   As we recited those vows, we didn't really expect to have hard times that might shake our marriage.  But everyone faces hard times throughout their lives, as you know too well.  Life isn't always easy.  Circumstances change, and people change, too.  For a marriage to survive, you must both enter int...

"He is risen!"  "He is risen, indeed!"  What a marvelous way to greet this morning, traditionally called "Easter" in the United States.  It makes sense to me that many American Christians are choosing to call the day "Resurrection Day" rather than "Easter."  After all, the word "Easter" is derived from the name of an ancient goddess of  fertility, or of spring, called Eostre in German.  She was also known as Ishtar in Assyria, Astarte in Greece, Ashtoreth in Israel, and Ostara in Norway.  You'll notice that all of those names sound much like our English word, Easter .  Only in English is this Christian day of celebration called "Easter."  In most other languages, the name of the day is based on the Hebrew word for Passover, Pesach . Even our American custom of dying and hiding Easter eggs is rooted in the ancient pagan tradition of celebrating the arrival of spring and the accompanying new life.  Apparent...

It's almost Easter.  Like Christmas, Easter in the U.S. is often commercialized.  It's all about candy and Easter egg hunts, new clothes and family gatherings.  Kids are talking about this year's popular Easter movie, about a bunny that poops Easter eggs.  As usual, people who rarely set foot in church often attend on Easter morning.  After all, attending church is a large part of the Easter tradition.  There is something about the Easter celebration that pulls people back to church, and back to God again. When I was a girl, I always had a new dress and shoes, and sometimes a hat, to wear for Easter.  I wore the same dress nearly every Sunday after that, all summer long.  I remember two dresses in particular.  The first was creamy white, with large yellow roses all over it.  I loved the silky fabric and the full, twirly skirt.  Dresses like that were only worn for church and special occasions, so wearing it all day was reserved ju...

It's that time of year again--track season--and the pole vault still reigns as the top event for certain members of our family.  I remember Meagan's first day of track in seventh grade, when she came home and announced, out of the blue, that she'd always wanted to pole vault.  It was the first year that pole vault was a sanctioned event for Nebraska girls.  Meagan's junior high coach told us later that all of the junior high track coaches flipped a coin to see who would have to coach girls' pole vault.  He lost.  Or maybe he ultimately won because he could say, eventually, that he had been the first to coach a future national champion. Meagan was not a natural vaulter, but she was determined to get it right.  She worked hard.  Bill worked right alongside of her, always striving to provide whatever support she needed.  Together, they researched proper techniques and nutrition.  They went to camps and elite meets and the Olympic Training Cent...

It seems to me that we lived at the Oxnard Hotel for a long time, but it was really only 3 1/2 years.  I've called this post "Perils and Pitfalls," because the dangers and annoyances are what I'm most likely to remember from this time in my life.  During the early 1960's, my sister was born, Norfolk endured a major flood and many tornado warnings, an arsonist tormented the community, we endured a plague of black beetles, and Dan and I suffered through several childhood diseases that are now quite rare.  Laura was born on February 4th, when I was almost seven.  She was the only one of us kids to be born after her due date.  A few days before she finally arrived, Dad had gotten tickets for our family to attend the Ice Capades in Norfolk, just a few blocks from the hotel.  Mom was having contractions, so Dad took Dan and me to the ice show.  Every few minutes, Dad would leave us sitting in the stands and go to the pay phone to call home and make sure Mo...

We moved from the farm to Norfolk in December, when I was four.  Mom and Dad bought a small, three bedroom ranch-style house with an unfinished basement and an old garage on the alley.  I had a room of my own with hardwood floors and big corner windows.   We had a dial telephone--no more party lines-- and a real bathroom with both a tub and a shower.  I was fascinated with the pull-down stairs that led to the attic. I remember when Dad first showed me the brand-new gas stove he bought to surprise Mom.  (The old combination gas/wood cookstove had to stay at the farm.)  We hadn't lived there long before friends and relatives surprised us with a housewarming party. Mom and Dad bought an old hotel business, that came complete with a manager.  Dad got a job with Nash Finch, unloading groceries in the warehouse.  One day, he brought us a huge yellow snail that had come in from South America with the bananas.  He didn't work at Nash Finch for...