December 1996 FOOD FOR THOUGHT Unlike the goodies inside, the treasures on the outside of my refrigerator don’t grow old or out of date and have to be discarded. Instead they remind me of what is important after all. Some of those enduring sentiments I’ve copied here for your interest. If to some extent we are what we eat, we also are what we think about day after day. And . . . dear family and friends, day after day you are present in my thoughts and in my prayers. I’ve been pretty much of a homebody this year - A couple of trips: to Chicago with Merry for grandson Kevin’s graduation from North-Central college and to Oshkosh to visit my older brother, Allison and Mary. Merry and I also helped Paula celebrate her high school graduation and 18th birthday in Menomonie. It was good to have a visit from brother Bob last summer, too. I’ll stay in River Falls this year and celebrate with Bruce, Darlene and Jeremy. I’ve enrolled in our church’s Disciple 11 Bible study - an intensive 36 week course, which keeps me reading and appreciating the good book more extensively than I would otherwise. Merry and Doug are both happily and busily occupied in their favorite occupations - teaching and social service respectively. Bruce and Darlene are cozy and comfortable in larger quarters, a 3 bedroom house across the street from the high school, much to Jeremy’s delight. I see them often as we share meals frequently. In spite of disturbing news from various places on the globe, I’m encouraged by the promising trend toward elimination of nuclear weapons on a worldwide scale. I’ll end with this excerpt from a speech by Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower - just as timely now as in 1952: “Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies in the final sense, a theft from those who are hungry and not fed, those who are cold and not clothed . . .” Wishing for all of you health and God’s blessings in the year ahead. With love, Betty
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