MILDRED JUANITA McLAUGHLIN "MIDGE" POWER

by Ed Power

MILDRED JUANITA McLAUGHLIN "MIDGE" POWER was the second (and last) child of RALPH ARCHIBALD McLAUGHLIN and LETA LENORA SCOLES McLAUGHLIN. She was born on 02 NOV 1931, in a farmhouse near the small town of WATSON, MISSOURI. She lived 4 days short of 91 years and passed away on 28 OCT 2022 at Mt. View, CA. she was 'laid to rest' in her HUSBAND'S plot [Section 2B Site 4798] in GOLDEN GATE NATIONAL CEMETERY at SAN BRUNO, CA. Her only sister, DOROTHY, was about 4 years older than her. They were not only sisters but very 'close' friends as well.

MILDRED McLAUGHLIN married EDWARD REUBEN POWER on 10 FEB 1952 in BILOXI, MISS. and was MOTHER of: GAIL ANN SMITH/BOCK, KENNETH EDWARD of TURNER, OR., and RONALD ALLEN of INDIANAPOLIS, IN. She was GRANDMOTHER of: RYAN THOMAS SMITH, MATTHEW EDWARD POWER, CASSIE JEAN MOODY, AUSTIN JAMES, SGT. MITCHELL MONTGOMERY - 101'st Airborne, COLTON GRAHAM POWER, and KENDRA VALENTINE SHANLEY. GREAT GRANDMOTHER of: ZANDER POWER. Her GREAT GRANDDAUGHTER: HARPER SHANLEY was born in 2023, after MILDRED passed away.

In about 1972, MILDRED needed a Birth Certificate when she attempted to get a U.S. Passport, but we learned that the County Court House, in WATSON, MO. had burnt down so all their records were lost. WATSON, MISSOURI was no longer shown on 1998 AAA road maps, but IT had been in the N/W corner of the state, near ROCK PORT, MO. and RIVERTON, IOWA. Her parents were still alive, so they had to apply to the State of MISSOURI to issue an 'Affidavit of Birth' in place of her Birth Certificate.

While living in MO., MIDGE'S Father, RALPH worked on various farms, but during "The Great Depression" and "Dust Bowl", it became impossible to find ANY kind of work, especially Farm Work! So, when MILDRED was about 6 years old, her Mother's large family, with 5 brothers & two sisters, (& the RALPH McLAUGHLIN’S) decided to pack their few belongings into their 1920's cars & trucks and to move to CALIFORNIA. 'Sunny CALIFORNIA' had the reputation of having year­ around farm work!

I never heard ANY stories of their adventures, nor which route their convoy took on that long, lonely highway trip FROM NORTHERN MISSOURI. They ended their LONG trip at the small, farm town of PATTERSON, CA. Most of the SCOLES family settled there and made PATTERSON, CA their hometown.

MIDGE loved to tell how she once asked her oldest Uncle, HAROLD SCOLES. "Why did they decide to stop in PATTERSON?" His answer was: "I don't remember, but it was probably where we ran out of gas, and the money to buy ANY more gas!"
For many years the lobby of 'MARIE CALENDER' Restaurant in CUPERTINO, CA. had a large painting, in the lobby, of a Depression era family standing by their old 1920's vehicles. MIDGE quickly realized that the images of the three children and five adults very closely resembled: HER, DOROTHY, a COUSIN, her PARENTS, AUNT, and UNCLES.

That store underwent a remodeling so some of the fixtures were offered for sale. MIDGE and DOROTHY bought that painting. (for an un-disclosed price) I NEVER asked her how much she paid for it!! [It was the One time that I might have been able to complain about her "splurging" or wasting money.] I have always been proud of how well she managed our pitiful finances! The painting still hangs on our dining room wall. She loved to point out who each character resembles.

She started school in PATTERSON, but when she was in the Second or Third Grade, she injured her back on a playground slide. She had to wear a 'full-body' cast for nearly a year. Whenever she was reminded of that cast, she would tell of how very uncomfortable it was. That injury did not cause her to 'get-behind' in school so she graduated HAYWARD UNION HIGH SCHOOL in the Class of 1949. [She liked to tell that the famous 'pro' 49ers football Coach, BILL WALSH was in her high school class.]

She also told of when MIDGE was in about the fourth grade, she saw a 'cute' boy that she really 'loved', he was in the next grade. However she was too shy to even speak to DICKY DON DOOLEY. So her first 'boyfriend' never knew how much she liked him!!

During WW-2 the McLAUGHLIN’s moved to the SF Bay AREA. RALPH found work as a Farm Machine and Truck Mechanic with a Farm Machinery Company in IRVINGTON, CA. He would also do welding where­ ever needed to make the repairs. He soon earned the nickname of "SPARKY". While working there, RALPH saw a way to construct a simple, hydraulic powered, front loader shovel for a light FARMALL tractor. His design was simple enough so that it could be easy to adapt it to other Tractor Makes like: CASE, FORD, or JOHN DEERE.

RALPH became friends with LEONARD NORSTRUM, another employee where they worked. They decided to become partners and to open their own Truck & Tractor Shop, where they could continue to do their repair work and RALPH could also build and sell his LOADERS. They rented a good sized, metal building behind a Lumber Yard on JACKSON St, west of the town limits of HAYWARD. They put up a hand painted sign of: HAYWARD TRUCK & TRACTOR REPAIR and were 'in business'.

RALPH did not know all the requirements and cost to protect his device with a Patent, so it was not too long before the TRACTOR MAKERS were selling their own front loader attachments that LOOKED a LOT LIKE his. He got a little income for only a few years from that invention. Neither one of the Partners were 'good with figures' or any 'paperwork'. They allowed their farmer-friends to 'pay whatever they could, & when they had it'. They hired a part­ time Accountant who kept them in business for a number of years.

Both DOROTHY & MIDGE registered into the HAYWARD UNION SCHOOL DISTRICT and completed High School there. LETA'S health continued to decline, due to her serious 'allergies' and asthma, so they built up large Medical Bills. They moved to a number of different rented homes in various towns. At times MIDGE would tell how they, for a short time, even lived in a re-modeled chicken coop, where she got Chicken Pox. Even with the moves, RALPH continued to drive the girls to-and-from their schools in HAYWARD.

By 1947, when I first meet them: RALPH, LETA, DOROTHY, and MILDRED, were members of FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH of HAYWARD, CA. At that time, the largest group within that church, seemed to be the High School age "young people". Several people said that they could always tell if MILDRED was at a meeting of Young People, by the loud laughing and cutting-up of a group of girls! She loved to tease and laugh with friends. However, she was sensitive to a few subjects that would really upset her if she was teased about them.

The Pastor of l't Baptist: Rev. HERBERT FARRAR JR. decided that the name of MILDRED was too stuffy and NOT for someone as spunky as her, so he began calling her: "MIDGE". She liked that name, so for the rest of her life she insisted upon being called: 'MIDGE'!!

MIDGE and I started "going-together" after I held her hand while we were running in the same direction during a game of 'Kick The Can' at a Friday night 'Game Night' for the High School kids of HAYWARD Baptist Church. I don't remember EVER having ASKED MIDGE if she would marry me, but we DID talk about a number of things that we wanted after we were married! i.e.: Where to live?, How many kids?, Which kind of Church?, and lots more 'stuff'. Most of the answers, to our questions, depended upon what kind of work, I might find and where it was!! I DID NOT ever ask her DAD for her hand in marriage! Her parents did invite me to Sunday dinner a number of times and I thought THAT would be a good time, and place, to discuss it. HOWEVER... every time that we were about to sit down to eat, some relative, or a long lost friend arrived, so of course they HAD to be invited to join us!! That JUST did not seem to be the time, nor place to talk of our possible marriage. I KNEW that the subject, in front of OUTSIDERS, would embarrass MIDGE 'to death'!!

At that time, the Great State of CALIFORNIA required that couples who wanted to get married had to take blood tests for VD. The male also had to be AT Least 21 Years old, OR for his Parents to sign a Waiver that stated that they would supply the FULL support for the young couple IF, for ANY reason, the guy was unable to support them. My PARENTS saw that we were probably 'getting TOO serious', so they made it perfectly clear that there was NO WAY that they could take on such a big responsibility. We were ordered to 'keep it casual' until I was over 21 yrs. old and able to provide OUR full support. That meant that I just had to find a way to learn a 'trade' and or to find something that paid a really good salary!!

We graduated from high school in 1948 & 1949. Good jobs were hard to find, since the experienced Vets, who were returning to civilian life, from WW-2 were filling ALL of the good openings for workers, as well as the apprentice slots. They were also saturating the colleges by using their "G-I Bill of Rights". I did try a few short term canvassing jobs, then worked two seasons ("Campaigns") as an Assistant Sugar Boiler at The HOLLY SUGAR mill in ALVARADO, CA. [ That 'best job' in that mill paid only $1.97/hr.]

It seemed like the only place for a high school graduate [with only mediocre grades] to get the training for a good civilian job would be the military that was now saturating the work force with all those experienced workers. Five of us 'buddies' from Church tried to enlist in the U.S. NAVY, expecting to become diesel mechanics, but the Recruiter insisted that both of us TWINS must take the 'Eddy Test' for electronics aptitude, or he could NOT allow us to enlist. I wanted NO PART of that 'sissy' stuff so I refused. My BROTHER: RANDALL DID take the test and passed, enlisted, and he was trained to be a High Speed Morris Code Radio Operator and spent most of his 4 years on the Island of GUAM.

In Feb. 1950, I enlisted in the U.S. AIR FORCE, expecting to be trained as an Airplane Engine Mechanic, but instead, after 'Basic' [and aptitude test] in TEXAS, was sent to BILOXI, MISS. for a 42 week school for Radar Mechanic on airborne radar on heavy bombers! I did give MIDGE a tiny engagement ring during my Christmas Leave in 1950.

While I was in Radar School, MILDRED went up to PORTLAND, OR. and enrolled in MULTNOMA SCHOOL of THE BIBLE. That college then occupied a number of older houses in the same block in PORTLAND. She made a number of new girlfriends among the other students. However, her MOTHER had several very bad sick spells, so her FATHER had to ask her to come home and help take care of her. MILDRED'S college days lasted just over one semester.

MILDRED, faithfully wrote me a letter about every 2-3 days. We traded ideas on when, how, & where we could get married. We decided that in 1951 I could take some additional 'Leave' in series with the expected "Christmas Leave" and get married just before my 21't birthday on the 28th• Exuberant MILDRED began preparing for a nice, little WEDDING IN OUR HOME CHURCH. She said that her FATHER would probably be SO proud to 'walk her down the aisle'. She worked part time at J F MAY PRINTERS so she could buy her own beautiful wedding gown. Her Sister: DOROTHY would make her own Matron of Honor dress. The girls picked the colors for the gowns and DOROTHY made her fuchsia gown.

Our plans were shattered by two major events! l) The KOREAN WAR started, so the U.S. Air Force STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND stopped allowing ALL routine leaves. 2) A major storm occurred over the NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN and sank the freighter: "FLYING ENTERPRISE". That storm was SO intense that it stopped ALL airplane flights over the NORTH ATLANTIC OCEAN. Our B-29 Bomber Wing was in the process of flying back to the 48 STATES, from a 3 month deployment to the UK. So just before Christmas 1952, I spent most of my 'Christmas Leave Time' trapped at RAF STATION LAKENHEATH for over 2 weeks! Her MOTHER saw news that a B-29 plane was missing over the ATLANTIC and because they had not heard from me for over a week, assumed that I must have been on it. She never mentioned that to MIDGE. I got home to HAYWARD on CHRISTMAS morning and had to be back at MARCH AFB by my birthday on the 28th. There was NO time to get the requirements to get married in CALIF.! We also learned that most of us Radar Men were being sent back to BILOXI, MISS for advanced training.

MIDGE, DOROTHY and I went into the re-plan mode. We would try to have our wedding in February 1952. She would pack her Wedding gown, &  DOROTHY'S gown, and come to BILOXI, where I was in school, and we would get married there. MIDGE would have to find her a new 'Maid of Honor', (someone who could fit into DOROTHY'S gown).

My school went from 6 pm 'till mid-night, six days a week, so I had limited time to learn the Local requirements for marriages. MISSISSIPPI did NOT require blood tests. Both parties had to 'appear' at the County Court House [in GULF PORT] and pay the $3 fee for their license. First Baptist Church in BILOXI DID allow non members to be married in their church - IF the male was in the military. The wedding must be on Sunday Afternoon, while no other event was planned. There was NO fee, by the church, for use of their facility, and the ushers & organist were volunteers, but the Minister WOULD need to meet with the couple for 'counseling' and would expect an "honorarium".

I learned that the A/F. also required the couple to be 'counseled' by an AF CHAPLIN BEFORE they were married. The "allotment" [ dependant pay] for the couple might be denied, if they failed to do it. I asked my 'Good Buddy' JOHN BRAUN if he would be my "Best Man". He did make some jokes about he already WAS the 'Best', etc, then said that he would be honored to do it.

Finding a place for us to live turned out to be THE BIG problem!! BILOXI is on a narrow peninsula that had almost all of the open space built on. The families of workers at the big KEESLER Air Base kept rental properties full.[There were NO apartment buildings in BILOXI!!] So it was necessary to often go 10-20 miles, along the Coast, to GULF PORT, or OCEAN SPRINGS, etc to find a reasonably priced rental house!! W/O a car that was out of the question. I finally located a fairly clean, very small, white shack, near the east edge of town [away from the Base]. It had only two small rooms with a added-on, small bathroom to the rear. It was just 2 blocks from a local bus stop. Rent for it was $50 per month and NO deposit was asked for. I quickly rented it for a couple of months. Then I realized that we would have NO WAY to get from the Church to "our house". So I remembered that a TECH/SGT in our class: ELIJAH PETTY had a 4 door Mercury car and I asked him if he would be willing to drive our "get-away" car. He at first refused, but then said: "Oh Well, guess I might as well do it,  'ain't never dun that before". He DID want a few bucks for gas!

In a demonstration of her Faith, Blind Trust, Tenacity, and Courage, that Spunky young woman took her two, packed suitcases holding her wedding gown and her SISTER'S hand made gown, plus ONLY a fried chicken lunch, that her MOTHER insisted upon sending, & she left for MISSISSIPPI on a 'one-way ticket'. She had enough cash for meals for possibly 3 days, and the vague promise of marriage by her boyfriend. She had never before ridden in a train, but boarded Southern Pacific's "DAYLIGHT" to L.A., then the "SUNSET LIMITED" to NEW ORLEANS and the "L&N" TRAIN to BILOXI.

She got to BILOXI on a Thursday around 8 or 9 in the eveninand because I was in evening class until her way, alone to the WHITE HOUSE HOTEL way to let me know that she was there. Hotel room cost me all of $4.00 a night! midnight she had to find at the beach. She had no The elegantly furnished

When I asked her if she had any of that fried chicken left. She quietly said: "No, I shared it with a young BLACK WOMAN in ARIZONA. "Neither did MIDGE have any cash left, since she also shared it with her to buy food until mid-TEXAS! She admitted that she was worried about whether I had pre-paid for her hotel room since she was "broke". One of her strongest traits was one of Giving to others.

She always insisted that our tithe came first, then our own expenses. That was fine with me. For a number of years, she also quietly provided partial support, to three, consecutive, little girls in INDONESIA [until each one got to be 17 yrs old.]

We had breakfast on the hotel veranda that overlooked the beach and the calm GULF of MEXICO. Then I took her, over to see our "Honeymoon Cottage" before we got on a local bus and enjoyed the scenic ride to GULF PORT to get that Marriage License requirement taken care of. The license cost a big $3 !

When we got back to BILOXI, we went to a Florist, so she could select a minimum order of 'Wedding flowers', also a photographer's shop to order a FEW 'shots' of the wedding. Then went to pt BAPTIST CHURCH where we were welcomed by the "Church Hostess": "MISS PICK"[Pickering]. She and MIDGE went into a fast moving discussion of the planned wedding and at one point, "MISS PICK" clapped her hands and exclaimed: "Oh, what a blessing! There is a group of young Ladies down stairs who are decorating for their Valentines day Social! I'M certain that one of them will fit your dress and will also be happy to serve as your Matron of Honor." They briskly walked off and left me to tag along. She was in the good hands of those 'Church Ladies'. I ran out of time and had to rush off to the Base & my night-school class.

I didn't witness the selection of her Matron of Honor, but she was: JANEY SPENCER an AF Wife from ENID, OK. who fit that dress. She was the part-time Secretary of The PASTOR: DR. HODGES. We have maintained contact with her and JOHN BRAUN all of these years. Next stop was to the Base Chaplin's office for His 'counseling'.

I don't remember the specifics, when or how, but we went to the PIGGLEY WIGGLY grocery store and bought a few groceries, and pans for the 'cottage'. She spent most of the next few days 'straightening-up' that shack! She scrubbed the floors, trimmed off the ragged ends of the pull-down blinds, etc.

During Sunday Worship Service in pt BAPTIST CHURCH, it was announced that, in the afternoon, there would be a wedding of: (probably gave our names) and everyone was invited to witness it. A couple, named HURST, with a teenage daughter, invited MIDGE to their home for dinner and helped her get dressed for our wedding.

One of our 'Wedding photos' shows a beautiful MIDGE walking ALONE down the long aisle. When I told her how pretty she was as she walked, but that she was NOT smiling, she replied: "I was SO scared of tripping and falling with out..." I knew that she had been thinking that she could NOT have her DADDY walking with her as escort and support, nor could he 'give her away'.

The wedding went smoothly and was SOON over. It really bothered me that while I was in class, she had to be alone, in that strange place, from sunset until around 2 AM! She would be scared by ANY strange sounds, etc. She couldn't get help from our neighbors because: The obstinate young women who lived on both sides of our shack would not even talk to her because of two stupid reasons: 1) She was the wife of a "Yankee" and: 2) I was only a student who was there on 'temporary duty'. It was SO stupid of them because: I 'Out-ranked' both of THEIR "Permanent Party' Cook & and Baker husbands, so if push-came-to-shove I could get 'base housing' BEFORE they could!

Her determination to make our marriage work was soon, unexpectantly tested. The rainy season started in earnest so several times I had to walk a few blocks in the early hours in heavy rain. I caught what I thought was a bad cold, but none of the over-the-counter remedies worked! It just seemed to get worse until one night, during a class, I started sweating, coughing, and really feeling lousy. The Instructor stopped class and walked me to the Office where they called the Base Hospital and sent me on 'Emergency Sick Call'. The Doctor checked me and quickly decided that I had 'double pneumonia'. He then, because I was in SAC, asked where I had been during the last month-or-so. Due to my travels during the proceeding month or so, they put me ALONE, in a separate, glassed-in room at the very end of the Isolation Ward, I just didn't go home that night.

We had no phone in that shack, so there was NO WAY to let my BRIDE know why I didn't come home. Even IF the neighbors had a phone, it was useless to think that those snotty women would take a message to her. She said that she soon 'knew why' because of how sick she knew I was. She had to make a number of calls to different locations, 'on-base' to find me!! She visited me every afternoon.

After I got through THAT school, the AF transferred me back to RIVERSIDE, CA, then to FORT Worth, TX, then to LIMESTONE, ME. While we were at Ft. WORTH, we decided to time our first child to be born while I was still in uniform, thus have the 'free medical'.

MIDGE was again alone all day and she got 'cabin fever' so she got a job as an Elevator Operator in the tallest building in FORT WORTH. She learned that she was pregnant when she got "morning sickness" in her elevator. She was really embarrassed when her Supervisor insisted that the job of cleaning-up her elevator was not hers, but was for a young, Black Janitor!

MIDGE loved little children almost as much as she loved our SAVIOR, JESUS CHRIST, and they responded well to her. One of the happiest times of her life was when she got to be a Sunday School Teacher for Third Grade girls. At the same time, she was also elected to the 'BOARD of DEACONESS' and served on 'The Kitchen Committee'.

About mid-week, she would start preparing her lesson (and treats). It made her very sad when she learned that she had to have a serious operation and would have to give up her S/S class until she fully recovered. She never again got the opportunity to be the 'regular teacher' of S/S children.

It was about that time when she gained the close friendships with four women who were near our ages. They were: MARY SALTER, BEVERLY COGGAN, MARY LOU ELY, and LOIS DICKSON. She DID have other friends, [list too long for here), but these were special. They all had children who were also friends with ours and husbands who had been in the military. They all seemed to have similar backgrounds, likes, & dislikes, etc.

When our two boys were little and were prone to getting CUTS and scrapes, we learned that MIDGE could NOT stand to see OTHER people's blood, without gagging and trying to throw-up! The boy's older sister: GAIL had to clean up their little cuts before their "MOMMY" could put on the BAND AIDS and "make it all better". She then told how, as a little girl, she dreamed of being a NURSE when she grew up. Her MOTHER told her to forget THAT idea, since she "didn't have the stomach for the job"!

She loved to be with our Grand Children on their birthdays, where she did her best to 'spoil' them! My work schedules usually kept me from traveling with her, but I made every effort to see that she could go be with them. On one of her first trips alone, she made a list/schedule for me to do [while she was not there to 'take care of me'. It included her recipe for a timed, Dinner Roast 'stew'. I already knew most of the steps, carefully followed EVERY step that she had written down Sunday but I when we got home from Church one Sunday, the smell of that 'great stew' filled the house, but when we started eating it, the grandchildren let me know that I Sure Couldn't cook like GRANDMAW. One said it had the flavor of mud! It was eatable, but they were right, it sure DIDN'T taste like hers!!

During our afternoon phone call, MIDGE was really unhappy with me for not being able to follow the simple instructions that she had carefully written down for me. She went over EACH step of how to do it and I checked off the ones that I remembered doing. Then she said: "Now, before you put it into the timed oven, you DID put the thick coat of Ketsup on the roast, didn't you?" was stunned, for there was NO SUCH instruction on her Recipe. From then on, I could tease her about remembering to tell me of her "Secret Ingredients"

In about 2004, MIDGE'S dream of being a Nurse was partially filled, when she became a Volunteer at EL CAMINO HOSPITAL'S Outpatient SURGERY CENTER. Her duties were doing a number of chores that the Nurses needed to do, like making-up 'packets' or moving patients in wheelchairs, so it freed them up to do the real nursing. It also meant that she did NOT have to see 'other people's blood'!! She was SO proud to help other people while wearing her pink top over white slacks uniform.

During the last couple of years there, she found a recipe for a very tasty Microwave Peanut Brittle Candy. She made batch-after­ batch and put it into plastic sandwich bags for Christmas gifts to everyone at the Center. People loved it and she was flattered when a few Doctors tried to trick her into giving them more than one bag.

After she had put in over 11 years, with 2,528 hours, a Nursing Supervisor decided that, at her age, of 84, she probably didn't have the strength to control a heavy patient's wheel chair on the sloped sidewalks in front of the Center, so she asked MIDGE to resign and retire.

I do not remember anything that hurt her pride more than that! She kept repeating one of her favorite sayings of: "I'm NOT OLD! NOR am I 'getting OLD' and I will NOT 'dress OLD'!!
The Hospital DID recognize her service with a very nice, silver picture frame and a framed certificate that lists her time of volunteering. A group of nurses took the time to come to our house with some nice gifts and Their Thanks for helping them so much. Some of them doubted that she was really 84 yrs old!

During her last few years, when ever the subject of long, good marriages came up, she would repeat her advice to younger wives of: "Don't ever think that you can 'make him over' to what you want!... WHAT YOU SEE, IS WHAT YOU WILL GET!!! The first time that I heard her say it, I was really caught off guard. We had been married a long time, and I REALLY thought that I had done very well in her 'training' of me!! I couldn't remember any time that I ever thought that she was trying to 'make me over'. Maybe she was SO tricky that I didn't EVEN recognize it!! [I NEVER challenged her statement!]

She had ONE practice that, after I retired, I attempted to 'make-over'. That was: She absolutely WOULD NOT take the last of anything. She would say something like: "Someone else needs it more than I do.• I tried every trick that I could think of- - to NO success!! Then, there was one thing that sorta worked: I would give in and say: "OK I'll take that last piece of: meat, (or what­ ever)", but when it was passed to me, would say: "OH NO! I didn't think it was THAT BIG! If I take it, Will you share 'part' of it with me??• It was OK for her to 'share' in that last item, but NOT be the one to take it for herself.

Over a number of years MIDGE had 5-6 "collections": Think that Refrigerator Magnets was the first one. She stopped that one, after I joked about her having SO many of them that THEY would Hold THE DOOR CLOSED so we might have to start removing a column or two in order to get the door open! She and DOROTHY Worked part-time at KATHY CAVANERO'S Celtic Shoppe in the Oaks Center, so she started collecting a variety of ceramic items, like: Fancy Cups & Saucers, LLADRO figures, small, fancy glass or Ceramic Bells, then 'TEDDY BEARS'.

I finally realized that it was ME who sometimes 'spoiled' her 'collecting' of the current items by bringing home presets of ones that I found on one of my trips! [ For a Collector, much of the thrill of 'Collecting' is in the act of "FINDING" one of those: 'special' items!]

I thank OUR GOD for leading us to each-other and for the MANY MANY blessings we were given during this much longer than usual marriage!! I could NEVER have found a more suitable, loving wife anywhere!! It all went by so quickly and I do miss MIDGEE so!

Ed Power