Tie Dye Tuesday!

Aside note:  Omg. I attended three parents' night's tonight -  K, 3 & 3 at ORE &PME.  (How academic, speaking in these acronyms.)  Pretty sure I passed parent inspection #2, and I had the opportunity to speak to B's teacher, and smiled proudly as she told me what an "academic" he is, and such a "thinker".  Mrs. Perious is impressed with the boy.

First day of Homecoming week - Marvelous Monday!!  It's dress your best day at ORE - and while the kids fought their tired tears, they got dressed in their fancy duds.

It was a rough morning - so rough that I even turned the radio up super loud and attempted a dance party to lift the spirits of the littles.  It didn't do much good, and as we waited for the bus, and B got more annoyed with each ticking second, and H's tummy started hurting - I'm pretty sure they both had tears as they climbed aboard.  However, I knew when I picked them up - all would be forgotten - and it was...

Thank goodness we got home early - apparently there were many chores to accomplish that sunday.  Shopping, and hours at school, and lawn mowing and swingset staining.  Fortunately, dinner making was not on our list -

as Ricky brought over a shepard's pie!!

What a wonderful celebration of life - the church was overflowing with family, and friends, and flowers (which cracked me up, because grandpa was not a fan of flowers.  "don't put any g-damn roses on my grave." he used to say.).  All these things made grandma very happy.  Dad delivered a beautiful eulogy, and Nicole read my post and Betsy's letter.  Songs were sung (by everyone but mom who had lost her voice) and the kids got their first ride in the back of Grandpa's little blue pick-up.

As we headed to Rose late that evening, the sky was a brilliant red.  

Love you too, Grandpa.

Some of my faves from all the pictures of yesterdays...

And today.

We are headed home today to celebrate the life of the Greatest Grandpa. Grandpa would say he was a farmer - and a damn good one.  I would say he was a teacher, and we are so incredibly fortunate to have learned from him for 94 years.

Grandpa loved the land, and an early lesson was - if you take care of the land it will take care of you. If I cut down a tree, I will always plant two more, and if that sky is red at night - I always know there are some happy sailors on the sea.  I am also ready for a long cold winter this year, because the leaves started falling in our backyard in July.

Nicole and I spent every day at Grandma and Grandpa’s house.  Grandma would bring us to school, and Grandpa would pick us up in the little blue pickup.  During these years - Grandpa taught us patience.   Only a patient man would sit in front of a TV, eating bologna sandwiches after school and watching "Dance Party USA" with two pre-teen girls -  every single day.  He taught us to read for a purpose.  Each morning, Gramps would slide  the paper across the counter  and ask Colie and me to read it to him, because he was "too busy" making lunch for Grandma or puttering in the kitchen.  We would read him articles and he would ask us questions - real adult questions.  We would have conversations about our community and what was outside the city limits.  He would honestly answer our questions, and at a very early age we began to talk politics and community action.  He would say, "You have to know your neighbors to help them."

We learned trust, and responsibility.   We biked around the neighborhood and played night-games until it was dark.  But usually, that was preceded with a "don't go out with a wet head!" or "Nicole, put on some socks under those shoes."

And of course, there were the basic life skills of putting butter on top of the peanut butter sandwich, so it didn't stick to your teeth, and if your quonset is on fire, it is completely logical to pass the fire trucks on the way to the farm – with your shoeless granddaughter sitting in the front seat, just because she wanted to go, too.

Most importantly, we learned love.  He loved us undeniably and unquestionably - so much that I am pretty sure I was his favorite.

However, I'm also pretty sure that everyone he loved felt the same, Grandma, my parents, my sister and cousins – we were all convinced that we were his favorite.  Now, that's a teacher.

So, thanks, Grandpa.  Thanks for the lessons - I was listening and I promise to continue to teach them to Bennett and Harper.  Now, go play some cards with Bob.

xo

Welcome home, Grandpa.  Welcome home.

Cliff Bennett, 94, of Warren, MN, passed away on Tuesday, September 8, 2015, in the Good Samaritan Center, Warren.

Clifford Wayne was born on August 7, 1921, in Plummer, MN, to Frank and Sadie Harper Bennett. He was raised in the Plummer area before moving to a farm, east of Warren when he was twelve. He worked on the family farm all through his youth and joined the CCC in the early 40's for several years and worked on conservation projects outside Duluth. After his return home, Cliff was united in marriage to Marilyn Erickson, on October 8, 1949, in Alma Lutheran Church, and made his home back on the family farm.

Cliff loved working the land and worked the same fields for most of his life. He worked hard to keep the family's land together, and was a caretaker for his parents in their final years. He was a great conservationist and lived up to one of his favorite sayings, “You take care of the land and the land will take care of you.” He raised beef and milk cattle and thousands of turkeys at a time. In 1970, Cliff switched to just growing grains. In 1975, Cliff and Marilyn moved into Warren, where Cliff made the commute to the farm every day until 1986 when he “retired” to become a full-time grandpa.

Cliff's greatest joy was to be with his family and he saw his local grandchildren almost daily, picking them up from school in his little blue pick-up. Cliff was active in his church and was a lifetime Freemason, attending meetings for 50 plus years at the Warren and Stephen lodges.

In addition to his wife of nearly 66 years, Marilyn, Cliff is survived by his daughter and son-in-law, Jane and Doug Safar; four grandchildren, Nicole Safar, Gina and Andy Prose, Alyssa Whiting, and Brandon Whiting; great-grandchildren, Bennett, Harper, and Cayden; brother-in-law, George Erickson; sisters-in-law, Doris Erickson, Betty Voytilla, and Marianne Sager; and several nieces and nephews.

He was preceded in death by his daughter, Betty Boyd; infant grandson, Michael; his parents; brothers, Vern, Kenny, and Frank; and sister, Emma Erickson.