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Family Stories -- written by me
A potpourri of stories about various family members or events
Most recent on top; [yyyy-mm-dd] is date published; {abc; xyz} indicates topic assignments for the story. If you wish to view these stories organized by topics, visit here.
- Sayings From Grandpa
- This consists of a (growing) list of sayings that Grandpa Jesse used to tell others. [2026-02-21] {grandparents}
- My State Fair Experiences
- This has two main foci: my grandfather taking me to the MN State Fair in about 1963, and a visit about 40 years later to the IA State Fair when I took Christina. [2026-02-20] {Al, children, grandparents, 1960s, 2000s}
- Life in Our Trailer Home
- The main focus is on the trailer that we lived in while at my grandfather's farmyard. This also hints at why we built a house in 1963. [2026-02-19] {Al, home, Parents+Siblings, 1960s}
- Can I have some sugar too?
- What would you say if your three-year-old asked you if he could have sugar on his cereal, as you had put on yours? [2026-02-04] {Al, health, 1980s}
- An "Easier" Way of Taking Physics
- In my first fall at college, I was given two choices of how I could try to learn physics. I chose the "easier" way, I thought. [2026-02-04] {Al, education, 1970s}
- The Price of Avoiding an Elevator
- I wanted to visit a friend on the second floor of a building. I also wanted to take the stairs to do so. You know, free exercise, and save energy by not running the elevator. What could go wrong? [2026-02-04] {Al, health, environment}
- Hanging Pasta
- An event today made me remember driving past a Barilla pasta plant in Ames, Iowa. [2026-01-28] {Al's family, 2000s}
- Name Continuity
- This describes how various people with my family tree "passed down" one or more of their names as another relative used the name when a child was born. [2026-01-28] {Family history}
- First Call Answered
- This describes my first time answering a telephone. [2026-01-26] {Al; 1960s, technology}
- Binary Birthday Blast
- This describes a recent birthday celebration using candles whose position gave a binary representation of my age. Thanks Tim T. [2026-01-24] {Al; 2020s}
- So Many Flat Tires!
- Al recalls his experiences in learning how to patch a flat bike tube [2026-01-22] {Al; biking; 1960s}
- Getting Milk
- Karen recalls using a container to retrieve milk from the barn [2026-01-09] {Karen; JEH farm; 1940s}
- A Fender Bender in South Bend
- Can you guess what this is about? [2025-09-01] {Al's family; 1980s}
- Memories from grades 1-12
- The title suggests what this is about. [2025-08-30] {Al; education; 1960s; 1970s}
- Blow up the Calculator!
- How to get your calculator to blow up! How does one do this, and what does this even mean? [2025-08-25] {Al; education; 1970s}
- What does a dying person look like?
- Marcia and I had a surprise when she initiated starting home hospice care. [2025-08-08] {Marcia; health; 2010s}
- From dock to dock
- During Aug. 6-7, I took out one dock and put in another. [2025-08-08] {cabin; 2020s}
- The Beginning of the End
- This describes Marcia's last meeting with her oncologist. [2025-08-05] {Marcia; health; 2010s}
- Marcia and her cannabis experiment
- After using morphine to deal with cancer pain, Marcia explored using cannabis. This describes this process and the results. [2025-08-04] {Marcia; health; 2010s}
- Marcia's last major Trip
- This describes Marcia's last major trip that covered all of January 2019 and also about 4 days on both sides of January. [2025-08-03] {trip; Marcia; health; 2010s}
- Bearly not intersecting
- An event at the cabin when kids were young [2025-07-17] {children; cabin; 1980s}
- Riding a bus for 8 years
- This describes my school bus years [2025-06-26] {Al; education; 1960s; 1970s}
- Homes where I lived
- This gives a brief description of the homes where I have lived (for at least 3 months) [2025-06-25] {Al; home}
- Our Wedding Day
- A description of our wedding day [2025-06-03] {Al; Marcia; 1970s}
- Around the Next Curve
- A wild goose chase? [2022-06-17] {Al; cabin; 1960s; biking; cousins; siblings}
- Sesquicentennial of the Hibbard-Westurn Arrival
- This longer post documents the arrival of the Hibbards and Westurns from NY to MN in 1871. Where were they? Why there? Why did they come? [2021-06-17] {family history; 1870s}
- How NOT to clean a cast iron pan
- A third-grader's experience with a cast iron pan [2021-06-09] {Al; camping; 1960s}
- Do you weigh us before and afterwards?
- A morning in the fields outside of South Bend, IN [2021-06-04] {Al family; 1980s}
- Roadside Treat(s)
- An encounter in 1977 on my bike around Lake Superior [2021-06-01] {Al; biking; 1970s}
- Tim's Birth
- Story of Tim's birth [2021-05-28] {children; 1970s}
- Christina's Birth
- Story of Christina's birth and naming [2021-04-13] {children; 1990s}
- Hungry?
- I share some of the advantages of living near my grandpa [2021-03-25] {Al; 1960s; 1970s; Grandparents}
- Need Something To Do?
- This relates to a story that my grampa told us several times if he thought we were bored. [2021-03-25] {1970s; Grandparents}
- Babysitting from the Grandparents
- This tells the experiences that Marcia and I had in having our parents babysit for our children. [2021-03-11] {children; parents}
- Carrie’s birth
- This briefly tells the story when Carrie was born [2021-03-11 - finished on 2/22 but not officially "posted" until later - Sorry, Carrie] {children; 1980s}
- Marcia making the rounds
- This briefly tells the story of how a friendship at church turned into Marcia choosing to regularly visit the elderly. [2021-03-09] {Marcia; 1990s; 2000s}
- Thinking outside the box
- The title is the punch line [2021-02-19] {grandchildren}
- How Marcia and I Met
- It was in the chemistry (class) [2021-02-14] {1970s; Al; Marcia; Education}
- Overview of 1969 Trip East
- MI, Ontario, Quebec, VT, MA, DC, PA were all visited [2021-02-14] {1960s; trip; parents+sibs}
- How My Paternal Grandparents Met
- Was he courting tennis or Edna? [2021-02-13] {1910s; Grandparents}
- How My Maternal Grandparents Met
- If they differed in ages by 7 years, how did they meet at college? [2021-02-13] {1920s; Grandparents}
- How My Parents Met
- Connected to the ratio of women to men at SCSC in 1944? [2021-02-13] {1940s; parents}
- Hair Today, Gone Tomorrow
- My hair, yesterday, today, and tomorrow [2021-02-12] {Al}
- Why do you walk everywhere?
- My answer to the question posed by a granddaughter [2021-02-11] {2020s; Al; grandchildren}
- From Burlington to Mahnomen
- From Burlington, VT, mom was called to return to Mahnomen [2021-02-06] {1960s; parents, grandparents, trip}
- Another Prison Story From Grandpa
- Recollections about the Gray Stone College [2021-02-03] {1970s; grandparents}
- A Prison Story From Grandpa
- Moving sawdust? [2021-02-02] {grandparents}
- I know which way to go
- An experience at Expo 67 (in 1969) [2021-01-29] {1960s; Al; trip}
- Potentially a Last Photo
- A family photo before my dad heads back for service [2021-01-21] {1940s; parents; grandparents; military}
- We are Immigrants
- Immigrant status of my 8 great-grandparents [2021-01-19] {family history}
- Some of Dad's Photos
- the title says it all [2021-01-18] {parents}
- Sometimes Plan B is Better
- This explores the consequences of the decision to be in Fargo for 4 years [2021-01-16] {parents}
- Skating
- Skating is a MN winter activity [2021-01-15] {misc}
- Rolling over (the odometer)
- They all coincide: Travelall, 1969, Boston, 100K. [2021-01-14] {trip; 1960s}
- Leaving Michigan
- Explores thoughts about why we left Michigan [2021-01-09] {trip; home; 1950s}
- More about the hamster and the bear
- Comments about previous post [2020-06-13] {siblings; trip; 1960s}
- The hamster and the bear
- An event on a trip to Yellowstone in 1967 [2020-06-12] {siblings; trip; 1960s}