Grandma Ree's letters

Dear family and friends. The month of October brought delightfully mild weather to Grants Pass with no fires in our vicinity, so we were very lucky this year.  The trees surrounding Riviera Park where I live are mostly evergreens, with a few others here and there which are displaying their beautiful colors for us to enjoy. I hope you enjoy them too -- wherever you are. True says fall/autumn is her favorite time of year, and she was able to get in some good hiking time and be close to nature, which she thoroughly enjoys. However, she has been extra busy finishing the book she's been so involved with the past few months.  Yes, the book she has put her whole heart and soul into, using every possible waking moment and long hours into the night, is almost done. She was advised to redo her original true-life experience account by adding more characters and making it more "readable" by transforming it into a historical novel with more conversations and deep feelings between the ...

  Dear Family and Friends, Sept. / Oct. 2024 It’s Autumn - with a bit of a breeze and coolness in the air and even a little rain; but still lovely weather.  Leaves are beginning to turn beautiful colors and will soon be falling from the trees.  This is an energetic time of year. True loves being able to stroll, walk, or run about in this kind of weather. I wish I could too. Early in the month I had Norma give me a permanent because my big head of hair was getting too long and unwieldy even though she does do it up nicely for me each week. It is naturally straight as a board so usually has to have a permanent about every four months or so in order to keep it curly. It was also time for me to get a realignment of my sixty year old dentures. And in so doing, I was reminded of the cute poem my Aunt Lizzy, as we called my mother’s sister, had created about Grandma’s disobedient teeth. It has become a family ‘gem’ and is a bit lengthy, but I thought I’d like to share it with yo...

 Dear Family and Friends, The first part of August was filled with emptiness. True was still at her daughter’s place in Spokane until the 23rd of Sept. and Diane, who was hired to take True’s place, was with her daughter in Colorado for ten days, so I was technically alone for those few days. But arrangements were made for sisters of the Church Relief Society to come in and supply me with a meal each of those days. I am so thankful for each of the ones who expressed their love and concern for me in doing so. The main thing that occurred in August was the difficulty we had with our printer and computer. The printer had been acting up and then stopped completely. So Linda purchased a new one. When we called the company for instructions in setting it up for a wireless connection with the computer, the printer technician found that a virus existed in the computer that wouldn’t allow for the connection to be made. Many hours of Linda’s precious time was used up closely following the int...

 Dear Family and Friends July started off with the visit of Dan’s oldest son Korey and his kids and the incomparable jet boat ride, followed closely by the visit of my brother Clifford’s oldest daughter Sandy and her husband Steve Czeck.  They told us about and showed pictures of their recent trip to Africa with its safari and wild animals and all. Sandy has done considerable research on our family line and would like to return to Ireland to find out more. With Linda being here with us, we were able to enjoy Tile Rummy and Steve treated us to a great spaghetti dinner using his own special sauce. We enjoyed their visit and wished them well if they do ever get to go to Australia, as Steve was saying he would like to do. I remember a few months back when I wrote about this being a house of mystery because things were always disappearing or getting lost. Well this month, after searching for days high and low, I was sure that a...

  Dear Family and Friends, Since my newsletters do actually cover the latter part of one month and first part of the next, I think they should be so labeled in order to make them more discernible. Thus this month’s date above. June was actually a rather busy month because of all the birthdays, graduations, Father’s Day and other things needing cards, both among friends and family and those of the Park, where I am their “Sunshine Lady” and send out appropriate cards (along with notes and a puzzle to match each one, of course) I like it. It keeps me in touch. Last month, I ended saying that our water problem would have to wait for this month to be noted. Well, one day True came from her bathroom saying that in her bare feet she felt some moisture on the floor. The next day she actually felt water oozing up between the tiles and thought maybe it came from around the toilet. In the Park there is a list of maintenance men who have been used by residents and highly recommended, so she ca...

 Dear Family and Friends, Well, this month’s letter is a bit more full of holidays and my puzzles about them. May began with Cinco De Mayo, honoring a Mexican holiday not much celebrated here, but I enjoyed doing a puzzle for it anyway. Mother’s Day, however, is well celebrated by everyone. And its puzzle this year, along with an attached pencil, was my gift to all the sisters at church that Sunday. As for myself, I received a lovely handmade card from my talented daughter True, along with a pair of hard-to-come-by pearl clip on earrings. Linda’s body soap and card were appreciated, as was the card from Dan and Cathy from Hawaii, except that Cathy ‘spilled the beans’ by writing “I hope you like the shoes.” It seems that all three had gone together to get me (and Buddy) a new pair of shoes. From the beginning, I have been wearing an athletic shoe from True that has served me well, but now seems to be cramping my toes and hurting me as I wear it. Thus, the gift of new shoes. Without ...

Dear Family and Friends,  IT’S ABSOLUTELY A-MAY-ZING ! At least in my estimation, that the dozen orchids that line our window sills and tables, which I carefully watched go from bud to blossom in late January and early February, are still as bright and beautiful today as the day they opened. I know eventually they will begin to lose pedals, but at this rate I’m sure it won’t be for another 3 or 4 months. Yes, True’s orchids are ‘truly’ amazing! I’m convinced it’s because of the special care they receive at her hand. True feeds each one its weekly diet of 2 ice cubes, she talks to them and tells them how beautiful they are. And she says that they like being placed with others because then they can talk to each other. I have a little trouble swallowing that one, but maybe it’s true because her delicate “hard to grow” orchid plants really thrive under her watchful eye. Anyway, I certainly enjoy having them available for my watchful eye, too. Yes, True is ‘truly’ amazing! She has a ver...