Cornhusker Blog Lite

Life Lesson + Optimism + Historian + Hostess Goodies + Dietician + Raising Kids + Fruit Pies + Swimming Lesson

My Uncle Harold died two weekends ago. He was the youngest of 3 siblings on my mom's side of the family. My mom & Uncle Jack--whom I never met--preceded him in death. He & my Aunt Mabel have been living in Sierra Vista, AZ, for some time now. Previously they spent their winters in AZ & their summers in a house on Little Island Lake near Park Rapids, MN. That's why the family has decided to have the funeral in Dorsett, site of their summer church, this coming FRI 5/25. It's close to Park Rapids. They were faithful in their church attendance, & I know that Harold sang in the church choir. I also know that he attending an LCMS convention. As a circuit delegate.

Harold was a little bit of a "character," so today's entry will include a few anecdotes.

• Life Lessons . . . My family joined his family for a week at the Lynn Haven Resort on Little Island Lake for four summers when we were growing up. I learned important life lessons from him while fishing at that lake. For example, I learned that if I saw a big bass swim by & into a thick bed of lily pads, I should NOT through my Rapala into the middle of those lily pads when there was really no realistic way to retrieve the fish & lure & if I actually hooked it. Yes, I did, &, yes, I got a lecture.
• Role Model . . . I think he enjoyed seeing his kids & nieces & nephews catching fish as much as he did catching his own fish. He also exuded optimism. I saw his plethora of tackle boxes in his basement once, packed w/a plethora of fishing lures. It seems that every time he was in a bait & tackle shop, if the proprietor would recommend a lure, he would buy it. Many of those lures had never been taken out of their original packages.
• Family Historian . . . I learned a lot of Handel family history from him. I learned that the land on which the Minnesota Zoo in Apple Valley, MN, resides had once been owned by Handel predecessors, prior to their move to CA. The past few years, when we were staying at David & Carmen's at Little Island Lake & Harold & Mabel were also spending time at the Lake, he would reminisce about growing up in Lodi, CA, which also meant more anecdotes about family history, including stories about my granma & mom.
• Healthy Diet . . . He drove a Hostess truck for many years, & so when we would get together in the summer, he had a plethora of Hostess goodies to distribute. Cupcakes, Twinkies--one summer he had double-stuffed Twinkies that had accidentally gone through the cream-filling line twice. My siblings & I couldn't get enough of them. Our cousins could barely look at them without getting nauseous. [I do not blame him for my Type II Diabetes.]
• Speaking of cousins, we were at his house in the cities once, & my cousin Mike, who was a little tyke at the time, kept coming into the house to ask what time it was. [I think my brother Mark & other cousin Craig were playing in the backyard.] Whenever Mike came in to ask what time it was, Uncle Harold would reply with a time that had no relation whatsoever to the actual time. Mike would always go back outside, satisfied, & Harold would explain, "How does Mike know what time it really is?"
• Which reminds me of another time we were at this same house . . .  It was the summer before Hostess Fruit Pies were introduced. Employees were encouraged to take home as many boxes of fruit pies as they wanted in order to "test market" them. The downside? The boxes were unmarked & the wrappers were unmarked, so you had to open a box, open a wrapper, & bite into a pie in order to discover what pie you were about to eat. Harold & my cousins had been feasting on pies for so long that if they went through this cumbersome process & encountered a pie whose contents was unpalatable to them, they merely wrapped it up, threw it away, & tried another one. It was mind-boggling to my siblings & me. [I even seem to remember that pineapple was not their favorite, while cherry was not mine. Everybody hoped to unwrap a chocolate pie.]
• We were at his house in Eden Prairie(?) one time. He had a small swimming pool attached to the house. It was overcast & bitterly cold. Our cousins & my siblings & I were in our swim suits, sitting on the side of the pool, shivering & trying to avoid hypothermia. He was throwing coins into the pool, trying to encourage us to dive into the Arctic water & retrieve the coins. When that didn't work, he dove in, clothes & all. When Aunt Mabel came out to see what all the fuss was about, he was in the process of throwing his wallet, along with all the cash, onto the deck next to the swimming pool.

I hope we get to share some Harold stories when we get together for his funeral this coming Friday.