The soldier

On this Veteran’s Day, I am remembering my cousin Henry C. Dahl of McKenzie County, North Dakota, who died November 11, 1944, in the service of our country. His death, 71 years ago today, occurred exactly one week prior to what would have been his twenty-ninth birthday.

Henry C. Dahl was born November 18, 1915, in McKenzie County, North Dakota, to Christ and Nellie (Forthun) Dahl. Henry's mother Nellie died when he was only two years old, and his widowed father was left alone to care for two young children.

Like countless other young American men, Henry enlisted to serve his country in World War II. He was a Staff Sargent in the 135th Infantry Regiment, 34th infantry division. He saw battle in North Africa and Europe.

 In a letter dated 1 December 1944, Lt. Col. Charles Greyer, 135th Infantry Commanding, wrote to Christ Dahl: "On November 11, 1944, your son was killed by an enemy mortar shell fragments while he was traveling by truck in Northern Italy near the front lines." Henry was awarded the Purple Heart, and is buried in Florence American Cemetery in Italy.   

Thank you to all the veterans, to their families who sacrifice so much, and to those, like Henry, that paid the ultimate price.

She's a lady

 

This is my maternal grandmother, Golda Victoria Slagle Forthun, in her Homestead shack in McKenzie County, North Dakota, circa 1911-1913. Born in Missouri in 1889, Goldie moved to western North Dakota in 1910 to help her older sister Nettie with newborn twins.  Goldie decided to stay, and filed a Homestead Claim as a single 21 year old woman.  She lived in a 12x14 shack, and grew flax and wheat on her 320 acres.  She proved up her claims and received the title to her land at age 25 on June 20, 1914, three months after her marriage to another homesteader.

I love that she has her china nicely displayed, and that she has hung window treatments to decorate and civilize her little home on that isolated prairie. Some of those pieces of china have survived and have been passed down to family members. 

Only about forty percent of those that filed Homestead Claims succeeded, and I am enormously proud that my grandmother was one of them!

The lost boy

Lavern Enget was the son of Obert Lavern “Bud” Enget and Sophie O. Enget. The Enget family lived on a farm near Powers Lake, Burke County, North Dakota, in the northwestern part of the state. Our family farm was in a neighboring community, about fifteen miles away.

On the evening of October 17, 1954, four year old Lavern went into the fields near his home to meet his father, and disappeared. It was dusk.  His father never saw him, and Lavern did not return home. Neighbors gathered to help look for him.  The effort to locate the young boy expanded.  He was clad in only a T-shirt and overalls when he left his house, which would offer little protection from the cold North Dakota nights. More than three thousand North Dakotans, my father among them, came together to aid in the biggest hunt in North Dakota's history. They joined hands and walked in mile-long human chains across the prairie. Airplanes, helicopters and bloodhounds (including one sent by the Canadian Mounties) were called in to help.  

My father took this photograph of one of the helicopters used in the search on October 18, 1954.  The story made national news, including coverage in Life Magazine. The search covered one hundred square miles, but no trace of Lavern was found. The hunt for the boy was eventually called off due to bad weather. 

One year later, in October 1955, a second search was organized by local newsman Daniel Halligan of Williston, North Dakota, to help ease doubts by the parents that their son may have been abducted. The search was conducted in an area close to the farm. The sloughs in the area were drained, something that had not been done the previous year, as the authorities felt the little boy would not have been able to get through the waist high weeds and grass surrounding the waters’ edges. 

LaVern's body was found in ten inches of water in the middle of one of the sloughs, about a mile from his home, on October 30, 1955. He is buried in Bethel Cemetery, near his parents and other family members.

The land-owner

My grandfather, Nicolai August Andreasen Tangsrød, who chose to be known as Nicolai Tangsrud in the United States. He is holding his eldest son, Carl Norbert, in this picture. Nick was born in Borre, Norway, on March 21st, 1885, and arrived at Ellis Island at age twenty, with $20 in his pocket. He came west to Williams County, North Dakota, and filed for a Homestead claim and American citizenship on the first day that he was eligible, his twenty-first birthday. He earned both. His life in western North Dakota was brutally hard, and I often wonder if he regretted his choices. He died at age fifty-five, with two minor children still at home, and never was fully able to enjoy the fruits of his labor. I think he would be pleased to know his land (now in Divide County, North Dakota) remains in the family, and that he lives on through his twelve grandchildren.

The man with the (probably not yellow) hat

I inherited my grandmother Golda Slagle Forthun's photographs. Goldie, as she was known, was born in Ravenwood, Nodaway County, Missouri, to Elizabeth Lockhart and William Slagle on March 20, 1889. Goldie's parents were natives of Lee County, Virginia, and migrated to northwestern Missouri in the aftermath of the Civil War. Both Elizabeth and William had siblings and extended family members who also moved to northwestern Missouri, to Nodaway and Gentry counties. Fellow neighbors and friends from Lee County, Virginia, joined them there as well.  I have yet to determine who went first, but there was a large network of family and friends surrounding my grandmother's family.

My grandmother chose to leave this community at age twenty-one, when she left Missouri for western North Dakota in 1910. Her sister, Nettie Slagle Sowards, had given birth to twins, and needed help. Eventually, Goldie moved out on her own, when she filed a Homestead Act claim in McKenzie County, North Dakota. She ultimately proved up her claim, and married a fellow homesteader, Julius Forthun.

When Goldie left Missouri, she took with her a beautiful photo album filled with studio portraits. Sadly, none of the photographs were labeled. I imagine that all of the subjects were close friends and family, so she felt no need to mark them. Although I have been able to determine the names of some of the individuals, there are many that are still mysteries. 

This is one of them. I imagine that this young man was one of Goldie's friends from Nodaway County, or perhaps one of her many, many cousins. Some of the surnames of the extended family in Missouri are Lockhart, Slagle, Lawson, O'Bannon, McNeely, and Babb. The young man was likely born in the 1880's, and given the heavy coat and hat, he probably lived somewhere that had cold winters.  The photo album came with Goldie to North Dakota, to the best of my knowledge, so the photograph was probably taken prior to 1910. And that is the extent of my educated guesses.

The chicken ranch

My maternal great-grandmother, Ingrid Oline Burkum Forthun, in 1925. Lena was the daughter of Norwegian immigrants (her father fought in the Civil War). Born in Wisconsin, Lena married a Norwegian immigrant in the Dakota Territory, bore six children, and homesteaded as a widow in western North Dakota. She was visiting her daughter's chicken ranch in Arkansas at the time of this photograph.

The tailor

Hans Kristian Christoffersen

Hans Kristian Christoffersen was born September 3, 1844, in Andebu, Vestfold, Norway. Vestfold is a county in southern Norway, south of Oslo, and is one of the best agricultural areas of Norway.  Hans Kristian was the eldest of four sons born to Christoffer Hansen and Karen Sophie Christoffersdotter.  Norway had a patronymic naming system until 1923, whereby children took their father’s first name as their last, adding “sen” for son or “dotter” for daughter.

Hans Kristian became a “skrædder” (tailor) by the time he was twenty-one years of age. A tailor made custom clothing for men and women.  In Norway, as well as much of Europe, one’s occupation was a measurement of one’s social status.  Many trades, including tailors, were controlled by guilds.  The guilds regulated the training and practice of tailors, which included an apprenticeship.

The textile industry in Norway started in the 1840’s, around the time of Hans Kristian’s birth, when textile mills were established in the larger cities. An economic crisis along with a population increase shaped Norway in the 1840’s and 1850’s. Norwegians began to emigrate to the United States, and the rural population began to migrate to larger towns and cities. After 1860, the wave of emigration grew larger. The rapid increase in population in Norway meant that times were hard for many, and the appeal of cheap land and opportunity drove people to leave their country for the United States. These events shaped Hans Kristian’s world.

Hans Kristian was thirty-nine years old when he married Mina Martine Jensdatter on September 21, 1883, in Ramnes, Vestfold, Norway, a small village near Andebu, Hans Kristian’s birthplace. This was at a time when the average life expectancy in Norway was about fifty years.  Mina Martine was eighteen years younger than the groom.   The couple moved to the nearby city of Tønsberg, where Hans Kristian and his youngest brother, Anton, established a tailor shop. 

Tønsberg, generally regarded as the oldest town in Norway, was founded during the Viking Age. It is located on the western coast of the Oslofjørd.  Tønsberg is the capital of Vestfold County. In addition to being a commercial and shipping town since the Middle Ages, Tønsberg was a Hansa town. Hansa towns, part of the Hanseatic League, were a confederation of merchant guilds.  Tønsberg’s prosperity increased in the late 1800’s due to international shipping and the whaling industry, making it a good place to establish a tailor shop.

By 1885, Hans Kristian and his family lived on the first floor of a rented house in Tønsberg, and Anton and his family lived on the second floor.  Hans Kristian and Mina Martine had five children: Clara, Charlotte, Hanna, Jens Konrad, and Einar Charles.  Mina Martine was a seamstress, and likely worked along her husband and brother-in-law when she was not tending to the children.

The tailor shop thrived, and the brothers began to hire apprentices. Those apprentices were usually from nearby villages and farms, and lived with the brothers.  One of those apprentices, Nicolai August Andreasen Tangsrød, began to date Hans Kristian’s daughter, Charlotte.

Nicolai left Norway for America in 1905. After establishing himself in western North Dakota, the tailor’s apprentice sent for Charlotte, the tailor’s daughter, who arrived in America in 1907. She married Nicolai in March 1908. They became my grandparents. 

Hans Kristian Christoffersen, my great-grandfather, died on January 19, 1923, in Tønsberg at the age of seventy-eight.

The candidate

 

My father took this photo of then Vice President Richard M. Nixon and his wife Thelma Catherine “Pat” Nixon on June 20, 1960, in Williston, North Dakota, in front of the Grand Movie Theater.

Nixon was running for President against Senator John F. Kennedy, and was campaigning in North Dakota. He was also there on behalf of the Republican Senate candidate.

Two candidates were competing for the U.S. Senate Seat of William “Wild Bill” Langer in a special election set for June 28, 1960. Langer had died in office in 1959, and former Governor Norman Brunsdale was appointed by the current Governor, John Davis, to fill the seat. Governor Davis, a Republican, was now battling it out against Congressman Quentin N. Burdick, the Democrat, for the seat. North Dakota had not sent a Democrat to the Senate in many years, so national Republican leaders were working hard to continue that tradition. New York Governor Nelson M. Rockefeller, among others, also came to the state to campaign for Davis.

Burdick, a native of Munich, North Dakota, was the son of U.S. Representative Usher Burdick, a Republican who regularly voted with the Democrats. Quentin moved to Williston as a young child, where his father farmed and practiced law. He graduated from Williston High School, my alma mater, in 1926.

Burdick ultimately defeated the sitting governor for the Senate seat, and served until 1992 when he died in office as the third longest serving Senator in the nation’s history. Burdick’s senatorial election, three months prior to the Presidential election, led Kennedy strategists to believe that the West was winnable for the Democrat.

I am amazed that my father, an amateur photographer without press credentials, was able to get this close to a sitting Vice President. How times have changed.

The tombstone

The headstone for the three Sowards children: Thomas Edgar (1910-1914), Emmett William (1910-1917), and Grace Mildred (1913-1914), Riverview Cemetery, Williston, North Dakota.

I love cemeteries.  I am always moved by the simple grace and beauty of the headstones and the feeling of reverence that lingers there.

I remember going to cemeteries with my parents as a child, “visiting” family members and friends. It really did feel like visiting. I enjoyed walking around, looking at the names on the headstones, wondering about the lives of those buried there, and trying to decide which headstone was the most interesting. When I grew a little older, my sister, my childhood friends, and I would ride our bikes to Riverview, the local cemetery, and do the same routine.

Riverview Cemetery does not have a river view, and is now located in a residential area.  At 53 acres, it is large by the standards of a small town, and offers many paths to walk or bike. Riverview had its first burial in 1887, which was that of a child.  At the time, the cemetery was located on a hill at the edge of the village of Little Muddy, which later changed its name to Williston.  The cemetery was known as “Williston Cemetery” until 1916. 

My maternal grandparents are buried there, and many family friends were laid to rest there also. Later, my aunts, uncles, and mother were interred there, and visiting the cemetery felt familiar and comforting. 

After my mother died, I began to research her family history. It grew into a passion (some might say an obsession). I inherited my parents’ photographs, and began to digitize them, which further fueled my genealogy interests.

I have always had a soft spot for those that died young. It breaks my heart a little when I walk by a child’s grave.  As I began to research my mother’s family, I realized that three of my mother’s cousins had died young. I wanted to learn more.

My mother’s mother, Goldie Slagle Forthun, moved to western North Dakota from Missouri as a young woman, to help her older sister, Nettie Slagle Sowards, who had given birth to twins, Emmett and Thomas. This move changed the trajectory of Goldie’s life, because she decided to stay in North Dakota, filed a Homestead claim for 320 acres in McKenzie County, North Dakota, and then met and married a fellow homesteader.  That is a whole separate story, with a happy ending, and lots of bitter and sweet times in between.

Nettie’s story is more tragic.  Nettie Ann Slagle and her husband, James Henry Sowards, married in Missouri in 1906, and moved to a farm south of Williston, Williams County, North Dakota, for James’s job with the railroad. Then bad luck visited the young couple:  in April 1908, lightning struck their barn, destroying it and all of its contents, including a cow and four horses. Those animals and the farm equipment were vital to getting the crops in at that time of year, and the financial consequences of that loss were enormous. Nettie gave birth to a daughter, Dorothy, just two months later, in June 1908.  The family seems to have moved off the farm and into Williston by the time twins Emmett and Thomas arrived on February 16, 1910. With three little ones under the age of two, and no one to help her, Nettie sent for her younger sister, Goldie, to help her care for the children.  Another set of twins, Grace Mildred and Morris James, was born on September 21, 1913. By then, Goldie had moved out and was homesteading on her own land more than 30 miles away.  It seems likely that Nettie was overwhelmed with two sets of twins and a rambunctious five year old, but I would like to think that she was also happy, in a house full of activity. Another sibling, John Dorsey Slagle, also moved to the area, and was homesteading near Goldie. Goldie was engaged to be married, and the wedding was set for March 18, 1914. I imagine the two sisters together, planning the wedding, helping each other, and enjoying being near family.

And then the unthinkable happened. On March 7, 1914, Thomas Edgar Sowards, age four, died. His five month old sister, Grace Mildred Sowards, died later that same day. I have been unable to determine the causes of death, but it seems to have been a sudden illness.

Another son, Loren, was born in 1916, which I hope brought some comfort to the family. But then, on March 25, 1917, Thomas’s twin, Emmett William Sowards, died at age seven. His obituary stated that Emmett had suffered from serious stomach problems for two weeks, and that surgery was performed, but he did not survive. I can imagine no loss greater than that of a child, and to lose three children in three years is unfathomable.

More sadness befell the family.  James was forced to file bankruptcy in 1918. Nettie and her husband separated, then divorced, and the family broke apart. They all left North Dakota, except for those three little ones who died. There were no family members living in Williston, and I imagine that it must have broken Nettie’s heart to leave them behind.

But fifty years later, my maternal grandparents sold their farm in neighboring McKenzie County, and moved into Williston. By then, my mother had settled there as well. My grandparents bought a plot in Riverview Cemetery, as did my parents, aunts and uncles, and our connection to Riverview Cemetery began. Or so I assumed.

As I researched the family, I discovered that Thomas, Emmett and Grace had all died in Williston. And that meant that they were likely buried in Williston. I searched everywhere, scoured records, requested their death records, and contacted distant relatives, but their burial location seemed to be lost to time.  So, in 2013, my sister and I went to Williston to visit my mother’s grave, but with another ulterior motive. It seemed more likely than not that the three children were buried in what is now Riverview Cemetery.  We were determined to find them after all these years. After a fruitless effort to discover the graves on our own, we enlisted the help of the cemetery caretaker. After consulting the cemetery map and other documents, we confirmed that the children were buried there, but the exact location of their graves was unclear due to conflicting information. We narrowed down the probable site, and began to walk with a purpose. It was an older area of the cemetery, probably the original area, and there were many unmarked graves, as well as headstones that were damaged and deteriorated. We were about to give up hope, when we saw this small white marker. And we realized that there were not three graves, but one.  And this was it.

The epitaph reads: “No pains, no griefs, no anxious fears, can reach our loved ones sleeping here.”

The teacher

Nellie Marie Forthun Dahl, circa 1906
 

This is my great-aunt, Nellie Marie Forthun Dahl. She was the older sister of my maternal grandfather, Julius Matthew Forthun.

Nellie was born in Traill County, Dakota Territory (later North Dakota), in 1886. Her father, a Norwegian immigrant, died when she was 13 years old. At a time when less than 10% of men were high school graduates, Nellie graduated from Mayville State Teachers College (North Dakota) in 1906 and became a teacher. While teaching, she also filed a Homestead Claim in McKenzie County, North Dakota, as a single woman. She married a fellow homesteader, Christ Dahl, a Norwegian immigrant, in 1910. Nellie gave birth to a stillborn baby girl in May 1918, and died less than two months later at age 32, likely as a result of heart problems complicated by childbirth. She left behind a six year old daughter, Olive, and a two year old son, Henry. Henry was killed in action in Italy during World War II. Olive married and had a son, who generously gave me this photograph of his grandmother (circa 1906 while she was in college) before he died, and helped me gain a greater understanding of Nellie’s life. Nellie and her husband are buried in Garden Valley Cemetery, Watford City, McKenzie County, North Dakota.

The little church on the prairie

Our Savior's Lutheran Church, McGregor, Divide County, North Dakota
 

Our Savior’s Lutheran Church, McGregor, North Dakota. My paternal grandparents helped found this church in 1909. It was the centerpiece of many happy family events - baptisms, confirmations, and weddings – and those necessary sad ones. My grandparents, an aunt, two uncles, and many extended family members are buried in its adjacent cemetery. 

Prairie churches are a fixture of the rural landscape of North Dakota. Their simple, plain and quiet exteriors reflect the nature of those that worshiped there. 

My grandparents, Norwegian immigrants, and their neighbors and fellow immigrants built this church. In most rural communities, it was the first building that went up, and often remains as the last standing after the community has died out. In this case, the church was part of the ELCA (Evangelical Lutheran Churches of America) denomination, which was connected to the Church of Norway. In Norway, the church was not separated from the state, and all of a person’s milestones were registered with the state through the church. In order to marry in the church, one must have been baptized and confirmed, so those events were important to the community as well as the family.

The prairie church was more than just a religious building, though. It was often the center of communal life, where isolated families came together for social functions.

Our Savior's is now a shell of its former self and no longer functions as a church. But this is how I choose to remember it.

Half the story

 

This is my great-grandfather, Andreas Anderson, his wife Maren Nilsdatter, and their sons Carl Andreason and Nicolai Andreason; their youngest son Arthur was not yet born. Nicolai was my paternal grandfather. The picture was taken circa 1888. 

Andreas and Maren were both born in Borre, Vestfold, Norway, in the southern part of the country. It is the smallest of Norway’s counties, and the most densely populated. The couple married in 1878, and started their family. At the time, Norway was the poorest country in Europe, and farmers eked out a living on small farms. Their first son, Nicolai August, was born the year after their marriage, but died at age four, shortly after the birth of their second son, Carl Ludvig. Their third son, Nicolai August, was named after his deceased older brother, which was a common practice. In fact, Andreas had an older (deceased) brother named Nicolai August, for whom his sons were named. The youngest son, Arthur Monrad, and a stillborn twin sister were born in 1890. 

Sadly, Maren died at age 42, leaving behind her three young sons and grieving husband. The cause of death is lost to history; one family story held that she died in childbirth, whereas another is that she died of cancer. Andreas’s “spinster” sister, Anne Marie, stepped in to help Andreas raise the boys. The three surviving sons (Carl, Nicolai, and Arthur) all immigrated to the United States as young men. 

Norway had a patronymic naming system until 1923, where a child took the father’s last name, adding “son” or “sen” for males and “dottir” for females. So, a family consisting of husband, wife, and their children would have multiple “last” or surnames. Often an individual would take a third name, which would distinguish that person from someone with a similar name. The third name could be a characteristic, such as hair color or occupation, or geographic, related to the “gard” or farm on which the person lived. The family of Andreas, Maren, and their sons eventually took the last name “Tangsrud” as their permanent surname, after their farm Tangsrød. 

I have had this photo framed in my house for the last 20 years. I cherished it, as it was the only photograph I had of my grandfather with his parents and siblings. Turns out I had only half the story….

 

 

This is the full story. A distant cousin discovered this picture among her grandmother’s possessions, with the Tangsrud family to the left. She shared it with another family member, who shared it with me. And then we began to connect the dots. The family to the right is Andreas Anderson’s elder brother, Daniel Anderson, his wife Martine Andersdottir (who was the aunt of Maren, my great-grandmother, seated next to her); intermarriage among families was quite common), and their sons Nikolai August (and we Norwegians like to repeat names a lot), Oskar Ludvig, and Conrad Adolph. That family took the last name Danielson as their permanent surname, after their father. Nikolai stayed in Norway, Oskar died at sea as a young man, and Conrad immigrated to Minnesota. 

Someone in my family probably cut out the Tangsrud family, possibly to fit inside a frame, or because they were unaware of the relationship between the two families. The smaller photo – my “half” of the story – was reproduced and passed down on my side of the family, without the awareness of the full story.

The Homesteaders: Nameless in North Dakota

The homesteaders. At least that is what I call them. I don’t know their names, but I can guess a little of their stories.

When I inherited my parents’ photographs, I took on the task of scanning and cataloguing them. Through research and my knowledge of family history, I have been able to identify many of the unlabeled photographs. Unfortunately, there are many that continue to elude me. I will likely never know the full story behind this photo, or the identities of the men and women. But to me, this photo represents more than just these nameless individuals. It is also a small glimpse into the life of settlers of the northern plains in the early 20th century.

The photographer was named Anderson. The name of the town under the photographer's mark is very faint, but it appears to be "Larimore".  The town of Larimore (located in Grand Forks County, in the eastern part of the state) was organized in 1881, prior to statehood. It was created when the railroad was built in that part of Dakota Territory. Like most of North Dakota, Larimore was settled by homesteaders, men and women who filed claim to 160 acres under the Homestead Act of 1862. In North Dakota, there were two Homestead “booms”, the Great Boom (1871-late 1880’s, which was prior to statehood), and the Second Boom (1898-1915), with the economically depressed 1890’s sandwiched in between.

This photograph was found among my paternal grandparents’ possessions, leading me to believe that these couples were fellow Norwegian immigrants, probably from the Vestfold region, where my grandparents were born and raised. The subjects appear to be three couples of roughly the same age, with a little boy standing off to the side. Based on their clothing and the timeframe of settlement by homesteaders in Grand Forks County, I estimate that the photo was taken circa 1905-1910. The small wooden building behind them is a typical Homestead shack of that time period, a simple building that allowed the homesteaders to meet the residency requirement and that provided (minimal) shelter from the elements. The lack of vegetation makes me think that the home was newly constructed, and that someone had just began a new life on this land.

The Homestead Act of 1862 was signed by President Lincoln in an effort to settle the West and to allow individuals to own and operate farms. The Act drew Easterners westward, but it also attracted immigrants. And in the Dakotas, many of those settlers were Norwegians. The requirements were fairly simple: be the head of a household, at least 21 years of age, have the ability to pay a filing fee, build a home, make improvements, and farm the land for five years. The reality was a lot harder. Less than 40% of those that filed claims “proved up” their claim and gained title to it. It is a great source of pride to me that all four of my grandparents succeeded. Their hard work, grit, and determination paid off, and I am the better because of that.

The bride

Flossie Mae Slagle was my maternal grandmother's first cousin. They were born five months apart in Nodaway County, Missouri, in 1889. Their parents migrated west from Virginia to Missouri following the Civil War.

This photograph, taken in October 1908, was Flossie’s engagement picture. She married Lewis Elmer Barnes in November 1908, and their son Doyle was born 10 months later. Flossie contracted streptococcal pneumonia and died at age 21, leaving behind her husband and 15 month old son. She is buried in Monroe Cemetery, Ravenwood, Nodaway County, Missouri.

The Swedes

 



These men are Swedish immigrants that settled in Divide County, North Dakota, in the early 1900’s. One of the men, Karl, married a Norwegian immigrant, my cousin Aagot. These men worked, worshiped and socialized with my Tangsrud grandparents, and helped make a difficult life on the North Dakota prairies more bearable. And they had awesome coats.

The homesteaders: chicken and chores

My maternal grandparents, Julius Forthun and Goldie Slagle, on their wedding day. They were married on March 18, 1914, in Williston, North Dakota. They met as neighbors and fellow homesteaders in McKenzie County, North Dakota. Julius, the son and grandson of Norwegian immigrants, was born in the Dakota Territory prior to statehood. He wooed Goldie with his good looks, charming personality… and by helping her with her chores on her 320 acre farm. Goldie was born in Missouri to parents who moved westward from Virginia following the Civil War. She had the gift of Southern cooking, and won Julius’s heart (and stomach) with her fried chicken, golden corn bread, and baking powder biscuits. The wedding was a small, quiet affair, held at the home of Goldie’s sister, who lost two young children just two weeks prior to the wedding. Despite the inauspicious start, their marriage was a happy one, and it produced five children, the youngest of which was my mother. Their marriage spanned two World Wars, the Great Depression, and six decades. It ended when they were parted by Goldie’s death in 1970.

The land and the man

My father, 1956, northwestern North Dakota. He was born there, raised there, & has lived his entire life there. He farmed it, hunted it, fished it, hiked it, studied it, photographed it, & loved it. The land shaped the man & the man shaped me.

25 things I have learned in (almost) 50 years

I am celebrating the twilight of my 40’s! I turned 49 this year. As I approach the half-century mark, I have been reflecting on my life and what I have learned.

As a birthday gift to me, I share some of my truths:

1. Growing older is a privilege denied to many. I am grateful, truly grateful, for one more year.
2. Trust my gut.
3. Often what I don’t want to do is the very thing I need to do most.
4. “No” is a complete sentence. It does not have to be explained or justified.
5. Promptness shows respect.
6. Shoes make the outfit (my mother was totally right on this one!).
7. We all have a story to tell.
8. There is no substitute for real butter.
9. The Golden Rule is the greatest moral truth.
10. The hymn “Amazing Grace” always makes me cry. Every single time.
11. Losing a parent is hard. Watching that parent suffer before dying is even harder.
12. Worry solves nothing.
13. Sometimes not getting what I want is a blessing in disguise.
14. Take the high road.
15. Becoming a mother is the best thing I ever did, except for marrying my husband.
16. I love good wine.
17. Everyone could use a prayer.
18. Comparison is the thief of joy.
19. Yoga is awesome – good for the mind, body and soul.
20. Change will not kill me.
21. I always have time for the things I put first.
22. I will never get to read all the books I want to read.
23. A bed that is made feels great to get into at night.
24. Please and thank you really are magic words.
25. Middle age is 15 years older than I am.