Journal entry by Joanne Negstad — Sep 6, 2018
No, it's not that I have so many gifts, but that so many have been given to me! Blessed to be born into a wonderful family who would have thought that my time in the Marines would have given me life-long friends? E and I bonded on the bus on the way from boot camp in Dec. 1959. Many people have military friends from whom they eventually drift apart. Perhaps this would have been true of E and me but.......
We had stayed in touch with occasional visits back and forth, Christmas letters and the like, but then there was huge a change. 18 years after my discharge I moved to Davenport, IA., about 25 miles from E's farm. From 1980 to 1988 we were neighbors. This meant we had time together; Joanne and E's wife, M.J., quickly became close friends and confidants. Their three children and our two were appoximately the same age, and with that proximity to them as they grew up, I feel I have a real relationships with them.
Staying with them on the farm reminds me of what a gift it was to our relationship, and to my life, that circumstances brought us into that poximity. I am so gifted. It might have happened that Joanne and M.J., were not compatible but instead they totally enjoyed each other. Of course that made every encounter between us doubly meaningful. E and I have been friends for 59 years, how sweet is that?
E is recupperating from shoulder replacement surgery. This is not optimum for a farmer approaching harvest. It is not possible for him to climb into his tractors because, being huge, new, and modern, they have ladders. To keep the batteries charged and the systems functional it is important that they be started from time to time. Even with my antique tractors I start them at least once a year. Today E had me start his tractors...it was like giving a kid free candy in a candy shop. My largest tractor has 60 horse power...E's largest? 390 horse power. I'm always happy to help! 😀
Blessings,
We had stayed in touch with occasional visits back and forth, Christmas letters and the like, but then there was huge a change. 18 years after my discharge I moved to Davenport, IA., about 25 miles from E's farm. From 1980 to 1988 we were neighbors. This meant we had time together; Joanne and E's wife, M.J., quickly became close friends and confidants. Their three children and our two were appoximately the same age, and with that proximity to them as they grew up, I feel I have a real relationships with them.
Staying with them on the farm reminds me of what a gift it was to our relationship, and to my life, that circumstances brought us into that poximity. I am so gifted. It might have happened that Joanne and M.J., were not compatible but instead they totally enjoyed each other. Of course that made every encounter between us doubly meaningful. E and I have been friends for 59 years, how sweet is that?
E is recupperating from shoulder replacement surgery. This is not optimum for a farmer approaching harvest. It is not possible for him to climb into his tractors because, being huge, new, and modern, they have ladders. To keep the batteries charged and the systems functional it is important that they be started from time to time. Even with my antique tractors I start them at least once a year. Today E had me start his tractors...it was like giving a kid free candy in a candy shop. My largest tractor has 60 horse power...E's largest? 390 horse power. I'm always happy to help! 😀
Blessings,
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