Blog Bio Mom Scheidies is gone but we still enjoy getting together as a family

Daughter Cassie & hubby Kurt with Jiggs & Bert

Since my in-laws, my husband’s parents Jiggs & Bert passed on, family gatherings haven’t been the same. For years, we followed his Mom’s pattern of a Scheidies weekend gathering the weekend after Thanksgiving in the fall and a gathering the last weekend in April.

In the fall, we celebrated Thanksgiving with a Saturday night potluck at the Scheidies farm and brunch the next morning in Minden with Keith’s folks. We also celebrated Christmas—with gifts for the children, birthdays, and any special event around that time period. In the spring we celebrated Easter, birthdays, and graduations.

Covid forced us to get together via Zoom for a couple of gatherings. While I was thankful for the technology and I was glad to visit with family, Zoom isn’t the same as face-to-face conversations, smiles, and those all-important hugs.

We have gotten together, but too often in the last couple of years, it has been for a memorial service or special acknowledgments, etc. Finally, we held a Scheidies gathering, this time in June 2022, that mirrored the ones Mom Scheidies initiated.

On Saturday night we met at the Scheidies’ farm now owned by Keith’s younger brother and sister-in-law Randy and Nancy who are raising their two grandkids.

Uncles went outside to keep an eye on the little ones. They also gave the kids rides on the 3-wheeler and even on a burro (Someone took a picture of our 5-year-old granddaughter, Ellery, on a burro. She has the biggest smile.)

The kids also got to swim in the above-ground pool on the side porch. Inside, we talked, laughed, remembered, and hugged. We also took time to see who wanted what from two tubs of items from the folks that had not been divided up.

Of course, we had potluck with lots of good food. Only a few stayed for the traditional late-night card game at the farm. The rest of us returned to our homes or hotel rooms for the night.

When the folks lived, we met at their home in Minden where we made eggs and bacon and supplied other breakfast/brunch items. We ate, and hung out until it was time to disperse to our homes—West to Colorado, East to Lincoln, Omaha, and Florida, for Randy and Nancy a short drive North of Minden to their farm and, for us 20 minutes to Kearney. The folk’s home in Minden has been sold. This year we rented the Mitzi Center at Yanney Park in Kearney for our brunch. The park offers so much for the family—including climbing the tower.

We ate, laughed, remembered, and took pictures. We’d gotten together as Mom always wanted for her family. This time without being brought together by death and tragedy. Now the big debate—when should we hold our next get-together? Looks like we’re returning to the last weekend in April. I can’t wait.

© 2022 Carolyn R Scheidies

Published in the Kearney Hub as “Mom gone: we still get together” 7/28/2022

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Blog Bio Unusual but Fun Bridal Shower

Recently I attended a bridal shower. It was very different from others I’ve attended over the years. Our college friends, the Farlins, entered missionary service after college. Their children grew up in Indonesia and the Philippines. All four children returned to Kearney when it was time for college. Shannon, the oldest, was the only one who followed her parents into missionary work. She became a teacher teaching first in the Philippines and then back to Indonesia.

The school has teachers and students from all over the world. Who knew she’d meet a guy not from some far-flung place, but one from right next door in Iowa. They returned home to get married. The shower came first. It was held in the church her next youngest sister, Rachel, and my husband and I attend.

While Shannon and her intended came home, many of her friends live overseas or in other locations. Her youngest sister is now stationed in Hawaii with her military husband. No way she was getting home for the shower. That’s where technology came to the rescue.

While there was good attendance from the area, others tuned in with Zoom. It was set up so those online could see and participate with those attending in person. It was fun talking to those who lived so far away and yet feel they were as present as those of us who attended in person.

The shower went off with only a few hitches of muted mikes. We were all together sharing a special day with the bride-to-be. It was fun and memorable for the bride-to-be that she could include family and friends from around the world.

Unusual, but oh so special. It is cool that no place is too out of reach. Let’s make a difference by sharing God’s love around the world.

© 2022 Carolyn R Scheidies

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Blog Attitude and blessings during a pandemic

The immense challenges of 2020 were unexpected. No one predicted the year we’ve left behind—with relief. We’ve dealt with any number of unexpected events and tragedies during my lifetime including 911 and flues that sent many home from school and jobs to recover, to the hospitals, and to the mortuaries.

Still, nothing prepared us for not only the Covid-19 pandemic but also the response to it that had never before been part of dealing with a contagion, flu or other deadly diseases. This time we insisted those who were still healthy be as restricted as those who showed signs of illness.

This disease targets the elderly and those with underlying health conditions, yet we insist on treating children in the same way we treat adults—cutting them off from human contact in public and at school.

Without their consent or vote, we locked up the elderly in centers where family members could not check on them to make sure our parents or loved ones were not being abused in any way. They were cut off from family and from hugs and attention at the very time they most needed it.

We insisted on masks and self-distancing until it almost became a habit and someone giving a hug looked at almost with horror. Restrictions on gatherings have caused untold difficulties from the destruction of livelihoods to the inability to worship all together and encouraging interpersonal relationships so vital to the health and the well-being of human beings.

Many died. Many from Covid, some from the increase in loneliness, suicide, drugs and alcohol usage, and mental health issues--some of which stemmed from the lack of contact. We can look back and see nothing but tragedy or we can look back and also see the positives of the year, positives that can carry us forward with hope.

This pandemic happened at a time practically the whole world is interconnected. We have social media with friends around the world with whom we can “talk.” We have video chats and Zoom, which means we can still be part of a worship service, a business meeting or gather as a family from places all over the country to laugh and catch up with each other’s lives.

Many parents have discovered the value of homeschooling and have turned to this more intimate mode of education for their children. Schools have gone to online education, which while certainly not as personal as classroom learning still helps ensure children are not left behind.

Staying home for some individuals and families has been a blessing, with more family time, along with more quiet time to think and just be. Businesses have discovered many employees work as effectively at home as at work. Some businesses will even continue this arrangement with some employees after the pandemic is over.

We are a resourceful people, and we can be amazingly creative in handling whatever comes up. We must also remember we are a free people and be cautious of the intrusion of government into our lives.

The best way to beat this situation is to look for the good and positive. Count the blessings and give thanks. The best way to deal with what’s happening isn’t with complaints, anger, and frowns, (though we can push back on unscientific masking and shots) but with hope and a positive, upbeat attitude that God is good and tomorrow really is another day.

© 2021 Carolyn R Scheidies
Published in Kearney Hub 2/1/2021
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