Tuesday, March 06, 2007

Family

The family. We were a strange little band of characters trudging through life sharing diseases and toothpaste, coveting one another's desserts, hiding shampoo, borrowing money, locking each other out of our rooms, inflicting pain and kissing to heal it in the same instant, loving, laughing, defending, and trying to figure out the common thread that bound us all together.
~Erma Bombeck

North Dakota

Our state tree is the telephone pole



Our state bird is the mosquito




There are two seasons
Shovel and Swat


I talked to my brother Mark and my sister Laura on the phone Sunday evening. It was wonderful to hear from them.

Mark and Laura have never been to North Dakota so I am sharing some pictures I took around the neighborhood.

At the corner



Up the street



Down the street



The city hard at work



We have some fabulous trees in our yard. This is a picture of one of them. Trees are pretty rare in the open country around here but in town we have some.



I tried to call my niece on Thursday and Friday but nobody answered. I have a strange feeling that the number I have for her isn’t right. I will get her number from my sister.
My mom mentioned on the phone Sunday that Mark had been trying to call me. The number she gave me for Mark just rang and rang and nobody ever answered. I left messages after the beep for my sister Friday, Saturday, and Sunday morning.
I went through some old email my dad had sent and found the number for Mark. I checked it with the one I thought was his number and the last two digits were reversed on the number I had been using. I left a message for him. He called me back just a few hours after I left the message when he got home. He said he had tried to call a few times but he either got a computer machine or no answer. It was not until I left my number on his message machine that he realized he never had my phone number either. The last digits in the number he had for me were reversed. He does not know who he left messages for either but he has their number…lol
He gave me Laura’s number and sure enough two digits were turned around on the number I had for her as well. I don’t know who has been getting the messages I have left for my sister over the years. I won’t be leaving them messages anymore. Do you think they will miss hearing my messages?

Laura may come for a visit this summer! I am thrilled!
Mark is going to help pay my way to El Paso after he buys a house and is ready to buy his first horse. (The last time I saw Mark was 11 or 12 years ago!)
I was so worried about when if ever I would be able to see them again. I can’t tell you how happy I am after those phone calls. I will try and call my little brother, Tim, next week. I have alwasy been in contact with Mark and Tim via email but I know we should call and chat every now and then. I now have Laura's email! Yay!

We talked and it was like no time had passed at all.
Life is Grand!

When you look at your life, the greatest happinesses are family happinesses.
~Joyce Brothers

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13 Comments:

Blogger OldLady Of The Hills said...

How lovely that you finally have the right numbers andthat you have reconnected with them! And what a lovely thing to look forward to---a visit in the Summer!

March 06, 2007 3:28 AM  
Blogger EV said...

Erma Bombeck is great - thanx for the quote and sharing those pictures and experiences, too!

March 06, 2007 7:45 AM  
Blogger Monica said...

Family is so important. The little brother I thought was a brat so many years ago...can still be a brat. But he's also been my rock when I've needed him, driving all night to Alabama to get us when my ex put me in the hospital for serving him with divorce papers; when I had my TIA and he moved all my stuff immediately the weekend I was in the hospital because the doctor said I needed 3 months of physical therapy (HA!); and so many times regarding me and my kids it's unreal.

I'm glad you get to see your brother and sister soon. El Paso, huh? :)

March 06, 2007 8:11 AM  
Blogger Ed Bremson, MFA said...

i'm happy that you're happy, and that you finally made those connections. Yay!

March 06, 2007 9:07 AM  
Blogger Rachel said...

You have lots of snow up there! I cannot imagine living in those cold snowy states!

So happy you finally got connected with family! How neat that you will get to go to El Paso to see your brother!!

March 06, 2007 9:57 AM  
Blogger Gattina said...

I went through North Dakota in 1971 ! abd u guess we also spend a night there (I am always mixing up with South Dakota) anyway I remember it was very wild and beautiful. I tried to visit my girlfriend who had married an American soldier, living in Belgium and she had moved with him back to Billings. Unfortunately we couldn't meet and afterwards I also lost her address. I wonder if she still lives in Billings.

March 06, 2007 10:30 AM  
Blogger Leann said...

so gald you were able to get in touch with your family.say who witched the numbers around?
have a great week.its snowing here again,like we need any more.we have already recivied 24 inches already in the storms we had.
God bless.

March 06, 2007 11:18 AM  
Blogger Jamie Dawn said...

Halelujah and saints be praised!!

Great news all around!!

We lived in SD for a year and a half just after we got married. SNOW, snow and more snow.
No thank you!! I'm sure ND is even colder and snowier. I'm shivering just thinking about it!!!

Enjoy your siblings to the fullest!!
Keep calling and emailing and visiting!!!!!

March 06, 2007 4:27 PM  
Blogger OldHorsetailSnake said...

You can take a trip and you're going to El Paso!! Geesh, some people have no taste. Just think, you could have gone to Pierre, instead.

Hoo boy. -o)

March 06, 2007 4:30 PM  
Blogger TJ said...

I love that quote by Erma!!
And your state tree and bird and seasons...all too funny!!
:-D

March 06, 2007 4:57 PM  
Blogger Miss Cellania said...

North Dakota? Why did I think you were in Oklahoma?

March 06, 2007 6:16 PM  
Blogger Merle said...

Hi Raggedy ~~ I am so glad that you now have the right phone numbers and that you have spoken to your sister and brother. Family is the very best
and it is sad when we live so far apart from each other. Thanks for your visits and kind words my friend.
Take care, Love, Merle.

March 08, 2007 1:35 AM  
Blogger Jamie Dawn said...

Great news! Family is THE most important thing in our lives... PERIOD.

TOO much snow in those photos.
I can't take it!!!!!!

April 04, 2007 10:40 PM  

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