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by Sue Orsen I featured my parents, Joe and Betty Claeys of Ghent, MN, in the Victoria Gazette as they celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary (May 1987 issue), their 50th wedding anniversary (May 1997 issue), and their 60th wedding anniversary (June 2007 issue). We also celebrated their 65th and I published a photo display from that occasion online in Sue's Album. Married on May 20th, 1947, this year marks their 70th wedding anniversary. How could I possibly not feature my parents and this phenomenal milestone in their lives and ours! To recap just a bit, in the 1920’s they were born. In the 1930’s they were neighbors. In the 1940’s they went to school together and both graduated from Minneota High, with Dad then going into the U.S. Navy. In the 1950’s they raised crops and cattle and the first five kids. In the 1960’s they had two more children but they stopped raising cattle and alfalfa and hung on for dear life as they purchased acres and acres of cropland and raised corn, soybeans, and wheat. In the 1970’s their first grandchildren began arriving. In the 1980’s they built more grain bins for their bountiful crops and large buildings to shelter their large farm equipment. In the 1990’s three of their four sons were doing most of the farming. In the 2000’s, great grandchildren continued to be born, now numbering 35. In March of 2017 they moved off the farm and out of the only home they've known together, where they had lived since 1947, and relocated to Boulder Estates, an assisted living community in nearby Marshall. It worked out for me and Allan and our daughter Jenny and family to be with them on Holy Thursday 2017. As I anticipated, and had hoped, we walked together through the family home, where everything remains as it was, and indeed I saw with different eyes and sentiments. As we "toured" the house, going from one room to the next, upstairs and down, I had flashbacks of days gone by. The bed I slept in as a little girl, with my two little sisters, is still in "our" bedroom. The boys' room next door became Mom's sewing room some years ago. A third bedroom and bath upstairs came along with a big remodel project in 1980. It included a master bedroom suite downstairs. The loft, which was constructed at the same time along with the three-car garage, brought flashbacks of Christmas gatherings with my brothers and sisters, our spouses and our children, and presents and wrapping paper all over the place, and card games afterwards. I've come to much appreciate the preparation work and cleanup that family events entailed for my parents on a regular basis. We've celebrated with Mom and Dad on Mother's Day, Father's Day, their birthdays, Thanksgivings, and other family occasions and holidays. It was another Amazing Grace in my life to be together with four generations at the home place. The Amazing Gift continued into the next day, as we spent an overnight at the AmericInn in Marshall. On Good Friday morning, we prayed the Rosary and Stations of the Cross at their new place in Marshall with Father Paul Wolfe leading the group. Another highlight occurred when Dad stepped into the Exercise Room, turned on polka music, and asked Mom to dance. As they danced, I had flashbacks spanning the decades. Only a few flashbacks are featured on the first pages of this Gazette. Others are online in Sue's Album. The numerous photo albums I have filled over the years will never be easily summarized or recaptured, but you can't say I haven't tried. The May 2014 Gazette also featured my parents, that time in their own words.
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May 2017 |
