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About Cottage Grove sentinel. (Cottage Grove, Or.) 1909-current | View Entire Issue (Dec. 19, 2018)
COTTAGE GROVE SENTINEL • DECEMBER 19, 2018 • Betty Kaiser’s Chatter Box: Pet tips ‘N’ tales Christmases past: Memories and lessons learned of Mexico. Early pictures of her show a barefoot girl in a dirty dress in the blowing desert sand. Later, things picked up rather dramatical- ly for her family and I now Betty Kaiser have her beautiful French china doll. Mom and dad met and he older I get, the married in Missouri and more refl ective I moved to California near become during the her parents during the Christmas season. At this Great Depression. Grandpa stage of my life, the joyful established a business and ghosts of Christmas past by the grace of God they all bring me great joy and fi ll survived and went on to buy me with gratitude. Th e heart of the season— houses and live the Ameri- the birth of Jesus — has not can dream. Chuck’s family immi- changed. But everything else has. Especially gift giving. I grated from Wisconsin to Calif., during WWII. In miss the old days of fulfi ll- ing childhood dreams with Long Beach, his dad welded the Victory Ships. It was a big and small surprises. dangerous job but it both Today we buy gift cards. helped the war eff ort and Come along with me on a trip down memory lane and put food on the table for his family. Later, his job at Sears see if you can relate. My family’s early history bought Christmas gift s for (both sides) was one of pov- his three sons. One year when Chuck erty. An orange in the toe of was about 8 or 9 Santa a stocking was a big deal. It brought him his favorite gift also became a tradition. My parents were born at ever — a Gilbert Erector Set. the turn of the 20th century. He spent hours building cars and even a motorized My dad’s family of seven roller coaster. It foretold was dirt poor in Missouri. his future as a craft sman I don’t remember him ever extraordinaire. talking about receiving a In my family, I remem- gift . He and his siblings were ber what seemed like lavish barefoot and wore dirty hand-me down clothes. His Christmases. Oranges and apples were in stockings. mother died of tuberculo- Under the tree were new sis when he was in the 6th grade and he quit school to clothes and a toy. I still have my Madame Alexander go to work to put food on bride doll. My favorite was a the table. Mother was an only child Schwinn bicycle. Th e same one that I and her dad originally was would later fall off while a roughneck in the oil fi elds racing the boy down the T COTTAGE GROVE BUDGET AND AUDIT COMMITTEE OPENINGS The City is seeking applicaƟ ons for two posiƟ ons on the CoƩ age Grove Budget CommiƩ ee and one posiƟ on on the Audit CommiƩ ee. They are all for three (3) year terms. Budget CommiƩ ee terms expire December 31, 2021, and the Audit CommiƩ ee term expires July 2021. The deadline to submit an applicaƟ on is 5:00 p.m., January 16, 2019. For more informaƟ on and to download an applicaƟ on go to www.coƩ agegrove.org or call 541- 942-3346 X113. 6 street. It put me in the hospital with a compound fracture of my left arm. Our kids were blessed with toys. Th eir dad man- aged stores for Toy World! A childhood dream world. Th ey always knew what the latest and greatest toys were. Chuck would put them on lay-away to be brought home and wrapped at midnight aft er the store closed on Christmas Eve. Kathy, our oldest, was an avid doll collector and had her own dad-built playhouse in the backyard. Her favorite? “My bike,” she said. “In the pre-car, parents drive the kids to a million activities days … bikes were our freedom, our connec- tion with our friends, the beach, shopping and more!” Son Jeff was all about speed and music: skate- boards, model cars, model airplanes and trumpets. Grandson Matthew says, “My absolute favorite gift was a used MacBook when I was in middle school. Th is gift allowed me to have something to create music on; illustrate and sketch out ideas; learn about things through sources like You- Tube. It was an incredible gift that allowed me to learn ev- erything from music mixing to video editing and graphic design. It is something that will forever stick out in my mind and I am super grate- ful for.” Ashley, our granddaugh- ter-in-law remembers her family’s on-going puzzle tradition. Every Christmas morn- ing there’s a new puzzle for everyone to enjoy. She says it keeps them connect- ed and doing something together with very little eff ort. Finally, John, our young- est son, passes on a lesson learned: “When I was 13, I wanted a 12-string guitar more than anything in the world. Knowing that no one would buy me a brand new 12 string guitar for Christ- mas — too expensive, too extravagant — I put a janky, used, “trampoline action” 12 string guitar on layaway at Heck Music in Ventura. “When my mom heard about it, she drove me to Heck Music, demanded they give my money back, and lectured me all the way home saying, ‘Never buy yourself something before Christmas!’ I was humil- iated, and angry. I knew darned well I wasn’t getting a 12-string guitar for Christ- mas. “On Christmas day, my grandparents arrived. Grandpa tossed me the car keys and said, ‘Well, you better get the presents out of the trunk.’ I opened the trunk, and sitting right on top was a guitar case! “I had to wait until all the other presents were opened before I opened that guitar case. Inside was a brand new, beautiful Yamaha FG312 12 string guitar. I played that guitar for decades, until it was (sadly) stolen from my offi ce about 10 years ago. Best gift ever! “Th e moral of the story is: Never buy yourself some- thing before Christmas... because you never know what you might get!” Merry Christmas, ev- eryone! And may all your memories be ones of joy. Contact Betty Kaiser’s Chatterbox at 942-1317 or email bchatty@bettykaiser. com MERRY CHRISTMAS from our family to yours -day weather forecast THURSDAY FRIDAY 56° | 37° 46° | 36° Rain Mostly Cloudy SATURDAY SUNDAY 47° | 4o° 47° | 41° Rain Rain MONDAY TUESDAY 46° | 37° 46° | 35° S HERRY Y OSS 541-729-9797 GRI, B ROKER , Multi-Million $ Producer Rain 1 in 4 employees are ill prepared for emergency. PayneWest can develop your business’ emergency plan. Call today (541) 942-0555. PayneWest.com/Cottage-Grove T AWNY L OWREY 541-554-2044 Rain GRI, Principal Broker, Multi-Million $ Producer 914 9th (Hwy.99) • Cottage Grove, OR 541-942-4040 R YAN Y OSS 541-337-6607 B ROKER Speak your peace. Write a Letter to the Editor. cmay@cgsentinel.com 5A By Mary Ellen “Angel Scribe” ‘Holden’ on to a Christmas miracle H ere is my favorite miracle wrapped beautifully in Holiday Spirit. Christmas Eve 48 years ago my husband, Howard, and I prepared for an unusual — possibly depressing — Christmas holiday be- cause my stepfather, Jim, had terminal cancer. But, never in a million Christmases did we expect to end up immersed in a miracle! At the time, we had to take the ferry from Vancou- ver Island to reach the mainland where my parents lived. We packed up Christmas gift s and our “traveling trouble-adors” Channel and Camelot, Shaded Silver Persian cats whose fl uff y, white winter coats resembled the cuff s on Santa’s red jacket. As we pulled up to my childhood home, its Christmas lights spar- kliness transfi xed me, transporting me back in time. I entered the house into the kitchen where Jim’s well-stocked “pharma- cy” stood as the ammunition in his war against pain and illness. A heaviness hung in the air as if the Spirit of Christmas had yet to make an appearance, or had refused to board the ferry with us, purr-furring instead to remain behind on the Island with all of our friends and neighbors. We decided to make an early night of it and all went to bed. I was the fi rst to awaken on Christmas morning. Everyone else in the household was still peacefully asleep so even though it was only 7 a.m., I decided to call my best friend, Rita, back on Vancouver Island; aft er all, her giggling children would have awakened her hours ago. “Hello,” she answered in a weak, crackly voice. “Rita, are you all right?” I asked. “Who is this?” came the reply from a total stranger. Oh-Oh! Apparently, the busy holiday phone lines had crossed resulting in awakening an elderly woman. I apologized for waking her, but she said, “Not to worry. It is nice to have some- one to talk to, as I don’t have anything to do today, nor anyone to talk to.” No one is a stranger to me, so we began chatting. Rita’s number is a long distance, so I was curious as to where this woman lived. “Burnaby,” she said. About 10 miles away. I know that when many phones are in use wires get crossed. But, how could this be? Introducing her- self, she said that her name was Faith and that she was an 80-year-old widow Mary Ellen and Myster E. wish you and she did not have a wonderful holiday and a New children. She contin- Year fi lled with Joy and Health. ued that she had no reason to get up, as she had no one to share Christmas with. She was glad I phoned, calling it “A bit of a Christmas gift .” Faith and I talked for an hour. My mother awakened in the meantime so I asked her if Faith could share Christmas dinner with us and she said, “Yes.” Faith hung up the phone. Hours later she caught the fi rst of many buses. Little did the last bus driver know that he would really be delivering a Christmas miracle. Excitedly anticipating the arrival of our mystery guest, our home’s atmosphere was transformed from “doom and gloom” into joy. In the skiff of snow I met Faith at the bus stop. As a child, I frequently rescued stray animals, but this new rescue was an adventure, resulting in a wonderful visit, sharing a delicious meal and lots of laugh- ter! Aft er dinner, Faith and I donned our coats in preparation to drive her home but we were sidetracked by a miracle so ex- traordinary that we are still in awe of it aft er all of these years! Faith and my mother were saying their last good-byes when my mother asked, “What is your last name?” Faith replied, “Holden.” “No!” my mother responded, “Th at’s our last name.” We all experienced the shock of our lives when Faith, repeat- ed, “My last name is Holden. H-o-l-d-e-n.” What are the odds? Th e same last name spelled the same way! How had we been divinely put together with someone with the same family name? What a miraculous, Divine, coincidence! Obliviously, the universe was saying, “Family is not by birth alone, but also by Divine appointment. We are all one!” Still in shock, (and our coats), we sat down on the living room couch beside the ticking grandfather clock, unprepared for even more as-yet-to-be-revealed surprises as Faith shared the story of her life. Her husband was from England, as was my stepfather, Jim, with both families migrating to the same city in Canada. Both of their husbands were the second of four children, with the same combina- tion of brothers and sisters in the same birth order, and all of the sib- lings remaining childless aft er marriage. Faith and my mother had attended the same high school. An amazing list of coincidences, as if the two women were reading from identical books of life, reiterat- ing one similar experience aft er another. How was it possible to dial a long distance number on Christmas morning, but end up con- necting with a “local” person who needed us as much as we needed her? Unbelievably mysterious — God obviously works overtime on Christmas. It is a Christmas and a miracle we will never forget! And the clincher: Faith revealed that her phone number is unlisted! So, even if we had wanted to locate her, we could not have, adding eve- ning more mystery to this Christmas Morning Miracle! May your holidays be magical, fi lled with miracles, family and friends. And if the holidays look dull create some magic and memories for others. Did you ever receive a pet for Christmas? Tell us the story at an- gelscribe@msn.com.