Hi All,
Today is the date my Mom was born. She would have been 76 years old if she had lived past March 30, 1996. But she died at 53 years old (a month and few days short of her birthday).
It’s a day for reflection. My Dad died January 6, 2018 and will be buried on May 22, 2018 at Noon in Des Moines, IA in the family plot. 22 years after Mom died, its funny how numbers have a way of coming together.
Here’s the website of the cemetery:
Chapel Hill Garden at Merle Hay Road
I hope they have good weather for Dad’s coming home. He’ll be with his Grandparents, Mr. and Mrs. George E Holt, his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Dean Blanchard, and his great-great Uncle Harvey - Mr. Harvey E Holt. The plots are on a hill under some shade trees if all remains the same since I last visited for Grandpa Dean’s burial, July, 1979. He had a massive coronary- the doctor said his heart exploded so no chance of reviving him. He was 69 years old when he died. He retired when he was 65 and filled in when needed at the Capitol Building Restaurant where he worked for most of his working life. He was a cook but he had chefs bringing food to his widow after he died. He was well respected in the industry.
Grandpa Dean taught us all how important it was to have a job and to work hard. He wanted his grand kids to succeed. He was very proud of me for graduating High School, he had to drop out to support his Mom when he was in 9th grade. He wanted me to go to college so I went to UW Stout. He paid for my class ring, my letter jacket and wanted to go to the graduation but wasn’t able to - he died the summer before I graduated. Grandma Effie went to my High School graduation and her cousins Arlo and Cecil McGonigle.
I completed the degree in Industrial Technology with a concentration in Technical Writing in 1984 and Dad and Grandma came to the ceremony with my friend Susan - a year behind me we met through my first friend at college.
It took a few years out of college working at temporary jobs since when I found my first job with a pathway to professional standing in July, 1987. It was an evening law clerk job - mostly data entry but it was full time with benefits. Within the first week of my job, July 23, 1987 my friend Susan’s brother died in the 100 years flood in Minneapolis MN. He drowned in 9 mile creek which usually ran at with a trickle of water turned which turned into a into a torrent that night with all the rain.
I stayed with the legal publishing job moving up through the ranks from evening to days to finally a professional job back then called Database Coordinator. I learned the skills to manage data and deadlines and saw NAFTA come into being and allowed my job to be outsourced to China.
I found a job working with data again at a health care system. My knowledge of data warehousing was helpful in developing a instrument reprocessing tracking system. I started that job in February, 2001 and soon moved up to a professional postition with opportunities to learn how large software works within a module system that allowed for detailed customizations. I’m still learning this huge data management system that allows smaller applications to integrate seamlessly to the end user.
So now I look back on 34 years in the workplace and I’m glad Grandpa taught me to work hard - he taught Dad that too. Dad was always working at the transmitter in Ostrander and before that he worked as a police dispatcher in Cedar Falls, IA - where I spent the first 6 years of my life. The rest has been spent in Minnesota with a 4 year stay in Wisconsin to complete my University degree.
So life goes full circle now with my brothers and I all that is left to carry on the Blanchard name for our generation. I know we all do our best to be productive and a credit to our family.
This scripture brings me comfort and I pray Dad was delivered to God by an Eagle to heaven.
Isaiah 40
“31But those who trust in the LORD will find new strength.
They will soar high on wings like eagles.
They will run and not grow weary.
They will walk and not faint.+”
Excerpt From
NLT Study Bible
Tyndale House Publishers
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/nlt-study-bible/id493917720?mt=11
This material may be protected by copyright.
