The Beginning and the END! God

God is word
Word is thought
Thought is action
Action is love
Love is Emotion
Emotion is within
Within is soul
Soul is all
All is word
Word is God

Edie J. Holdgrafter

Copyright @2001 Edie Holdgrafer

The Hauntings of your Mind

Oh, the goals we seek, and never find.
Like the dreams we dream, asleep and blind.
We must open our eyes just to look.
Let's look for adventures in a book.
Then it's easier there to achieve our goal;
educating our brain to another's role.
Now on television, we hope to see,
real life, truth or not, of what we will be.
A grand illusion, it all proves to be.
In the end, after all is done, you will see;
nothing really mattered but the daily grind,
and it got you through all the years just fine.

Edie J. Holdgrafer

Copyright @2001 Edie Holdgrafer

A Man Named Jim by Edie Holdgrafer

A MAN NAMED JIM

James Henry Holdgrafer was born in Webster City , Iowa on June 24, 1933. He was the second born child of John Anton Holdgrafer and Grace Irene Miner . 3 girls and 3 boys. Margaret, was the oldest. Jim was next, followed by Florence, Dorothy, Butch and Denny. He learned so much as a young man doing all kinds of odd jobs, driving tractors, trucks and even helped to build his parents home. Back in Iowa, there is weather problems of tornado’s, so all houses have big full size basements. Theirs was 2 bedroom and laundry room in the basement and all the other living rooms plus 2 bedrooms and bathroom were upstairs. During weather warnings, they would go down into the basement till it was clear again. It was a good life and Jim endured and loved every bit of it.

He had a zest for work and play. He raced in some of the first stock cars to come upon America’s sports to love, and farmed and did so many things around the farm, that anybody knew he could do anything that came along. He went into the U.S Air Force in l953 until l960. He also got married sometime in these years. He had 4 sons and 1 daughter and being in the service put a real strain on his marriage. That is why he chose to leave the service at 7 years instead of carrying on with it to career status. He still continued to do as much as he could to keep his family above board in life and they lived in Victorville and Apple Valley California with horses and a good country life. Jim always was more comfortable in cowboy boots, levi’s , cowboy shirts and even a straw cowboy hat. Riding and trimming horses was his real love. He even worked for Roy Rogers’ riding stable at the Apple Valley Inn. He took people out on horseback rides in the desert. He dearly loved it. He split from his wife after 17 years and she had remarried.

He went back to Iowa and was working back there, when Johnny, one of his sons went back there to work with his dad. Jim brought him back out to California, in his truck and ended up breaking his knee by stepping down off a horse wrong. It kept him flat and some good people took pity upon him and helped him. He lost his truck over not having a job to send payments, but he paid those nice people back by being a bartender and cook for the man who owned the apartments and the bar he ended up working in, even though he was on crutches. THE LONG HORN BAR. That is where one day I walked in after my cashier shift at the 76 Truck stop about 9:30a.m. where I had my kids already gone to school and I stopped for a cup of coffee, and a breakfast coffee-cake before heading home to the empty house and trying to go to sleep. Jim was wiping down the bar and his boss and the boss’ wife were at the pool tables and said to Jim: “Hey Jim, come play with us some pool, and asked me if I would be Jim’s pool partner,” I answered, that “I was not a very good pool player”, and His boss said “that is ok. Maybe that way, I can win him!” Jim and I hit it off together right away, and we were together for 26 years. I mean to say 26 unforgettable, wonderful years. I immediately took him to a doctor and they operated and fixed his knee.

He was the kindest, most easy to get along with person I had ever met and I felt like the luckiest person in the world, with him in my life. He never had a bad word to say about anyone. Any problem could be talked out and solved. He was always the smiley one. He loved to talk. And talk we did for 26 years. His family fell right into the groove with my 6 boys and we breezed back and forth living in different places, with the kids marrying and doing their own thing as they turned of age. We were all together in a motel in Riverside. Jim and I managed and almost bought, except I became ill and had to quit work for a while.. We went back to Iowa and stayed a couple years in which I worked at the truck stop and the boys all worked there too, either in the kitchen as cook and dishwasher, or out on the gas islands. I don’t quite remember why, but then, back to Riverside to rent a farm -house in Riverside. All the boys’ slept in a bunkhouse, outside the main house that was a small 2bedroom house. It had room for rabbits, chickens, horses, a mule, and we had it all. Even a guinea hen to warn us of strangers, and a delightful Australian shepherd named Lady. Life was great. We would drive around and Jim would offer to do any odd jobs including trimming horses etc. The kids would work with Jim, go buy groceries, cigarettes, and a little beer and cokes and we would happily go home and either watch t.v. or chat outside on the shady patio in the summertime. We named it “THE LAZY H RANCH” and the boys’ painted the truck red and white and we put Jim and Edie on the doors and Lazy H Ranch and phone number on it and we got a lot of attention wherever we went. All surrounding that ranch was a church on one opposite corner and houses all around. Some property owners put a bid on that 3 acres and we were asked to move for them to sell it. They tore it up and put in a lot of apartments. I imagine people missed us when we moved for people would stop in front of our house to watch the activities, like Lady slapping a bowling ball along a path, picking it us with her front teeth and carrying it back to the beginning and doing the slapping along the path over and over again. People also stopped to see the horses and talk to us when we were out riding the horses. Jim and I were out one day on 2 of the horses and I was not a very good horse rider and the horse named Cinders took off across a highway with me and luckily there was no traffic to hit us. I rode the other horse, named Jamie home and as I got dumped off that horse and Jim laughed, stepped off of Cinders and let it follow the other one that was galloping away ahead of us. He walked with me and we went several blocks before we found where the horses had found a couple of young men and they were having a ball riding them around on a vacant lot. We recaptured the hooves and took them home. After that I got a huge old horse and never fell off of him even though he would start up hill and gallop along till he reached the top. We named him Colonel. He was so big I fit perfectly in his saddle. We also had a miniature horse named Trinket . Jim was taking a lady named Sharon to horse shows and she had several miniature horses. One night at the auction I was walking around by myself and happened to go by the stable they were having an auction. I thought it was a nice sellable pony I raised my hand to buy for $35.00. Boy did I get razzed forever on that one. It turned out to be a mule. I would come home from work at midnight and that donkey would start in with its’ braying and I had to hurry indoors and grab something out of the refrigerator and run it out to give to her to shut her up. Course she made noise 3 or 4 times , so I got so I carried stuff in the car, and I could reach down , run out and give it to her before she would build up to bray for the first time. A cinch. Ha ha. I don’t want to talk about what happened to this poor animal, but --- the family knows!! Jim and I worked together in several jobs over the years. Bartending, cooking, managing apartments buildings and anything where we could be partners together. Life was sweet and even though it was hard, Jim always had his smiles and sweet disposition and loved life every day of his life.

He had a saying.
IF IT HURT TO DO IT -----DON,T DO IT--THAT WAS HIS MOTTO
LIFE ISN’T HOW MUCH SCHOOLIN YOU HAD-- LIFE WAS HOW YOU LIVED YOUR LIFE FROM DAY TO DAY
AND NOT HURT OTHERS BUT TO HELP OTHERS AS WELL AS YOURSELVES!!!!!!

Yes. I think people in that area missed us a lot and most likely wish the old ranch, was still there, instead of the apartments that are now there. I know I will never forget the wonderful memories of life on the Lazy H Ranch. Then we moved to a piece of property with a lot for horses in Fontana, Calif. We put up a big white fence and improved that property as well. We still carried the name of Lazy H Ranch then, but the boys were very unhappy living there, being assaulted every time they walked down the street to the main street in that town. Bad people lived there, but out of living there, the twins found their niche in truck driving for Mendoza Trucking. it was not long till we left our sheep and some of our possessions to sell with a friend and left to Iowa once again. Jim had gone a couple weeks before us to secure a place , so I drove and hauled what we could and had one terrible trip with a blowout of a tire along the way. In some far out place along the way out in the middle of nowhere, all we had was flashlights and could not find the jack to jack up the wheel. We had the tire on the back of the truck but Ben had packed the jack forward and we had to get on the c.b. radio and ask for help.We just put a spotlight on the wheel and were spooked with all kinds of scorpions coming at us and we were lucky that a nice man stopped and helped us and we continued a terrible trip where the steering on the truck was to the breaking point, though I did not know how bad until we got there and Jim checked it out. It was only holding by a thread. But we made it. Ye Ha, as Jim said. Boy, we were so crowded and drove non stop for about 36 hours to get there, we almost kissed the ground on our knees. This trip back to Iowa landed us in the outskirts of Stratford, Iowa and Jim and the boys went to work for a factory of farm equipment named Ruben Lundberg Co. They all learned much there again. Driving , repair, painting you name it they learned it. As Jim would say, “A little bit of experience helps to go a long way.” The kids started hitting 17 18, and going there own ways and one by one they left for the service along the way of our trek back and forth everywhere.


We ended up living so many different places, Jim and I working in Las Vegas, Nevada. Jim worked the Pioneer Club, the one with the cowboy waving up on top the roof. I worked as a shill in a gambling hall across the street. He greeted and handed out tickets to the people and was a shining personable HOST and having a drawing every hour to give out prizes. He loved working in western costumes, which he wore anyway but really felt at home there in the gambling casino. He loved drinking and we just loved living there. Times were great. We moved on up to Sacramento in l982 and did apartment managing there for several years, going to Kansas City , to manage a complex our property management was going to buy. They paid our way back there and we were stranded because they did not buy it. Jim and I were stuck and ended up working the complex for that existing owner until he lost it in bankruptcy and we continued to empty it for the new owners. As soon as it was emptied of all tenants, we were let go with a nice bonus that brought us back again to Sacramento.

Before long in 1985 my daughters came back into my life after me not seeing them for 40 years and Jim wanted me to know my daughter, so we went up to Anchorage, Alaska and Jim was a Night Watchman with a badge and gun. I worked in the Captain Cook Hotel, which was a huge one stop layover for movie stars and ultra rich who were traveling oversees. The Hotel had everything. It was like to a shopping mall these days. Clothing stores, dry cleaners, restaurant, cocktail with other entertainment. Everything the people staying over could want to while away the time before their trip elsewhere. Jim would come sometimes at my lunch time and we would squeeze lunch in together. He also had a good time talking and meeting people and Tracey would go with him once in a while to the bar and introduce him around. We left Alaska to go once again to Sacramento. Then once again we left and went up to Reno. It did not last long and back once more to Oroville. This time to buy a trailer and live in an acreage that Ben owned. He lived with Debbie and she had three very nice children Jim liked so much. Jim broke his heel, shoving it up into his ankle. He had surgery but was disabled and started getting disability, but it took 3 different bunch of paperwork over three years for him to be approved for social security disability. In that time, we moved the trailer down to Sacramento to a nice trailer park and we loved our playing cards across the little table in the front
part of the trailer and we had taken the top bunk in back to make a shelf to put the big television. We really enjoyed living there and we met some nice friends there that Jim really enjoyed. He would smoke and drink with this one man named Hank and I would go to bingo and all around. Jim was in 7th heaven wherever he was comfortable and he was cooped up and comfortable with me in that little 17 ft. Trailer. Before long I hit 62 and retired and our income together gave us a real good ability to do lots of things together and we really enjoyed each other to the utmost.

Jim had lots of friends, having run into Bob Hermes one day in the truck, each stopping along side each other while Jim motioned to him to stop and asked him if he knew where he could get some chicken shit and Bob said Is rabbit shit ok? Follow me, I do have rabbits. They were buddies for many years. He also kept up seeing his friend Hank until Hank died from his drinking a couple years later. The fun Jim had was just talking about old times and right now, with me doing this writing, I wish I would have written down all the wonderful things that were talked about.

Casey asked us to come live with him, for he thought our living in that little trailer was too restrictive for us and he was unhappy with the ones he lived with and kept getting disappointed and thought that way he could help be there for us both. We moved in together and things worked out great. Jim had some quality years to follow but started getting more breathless toward 1993, so we moved from one apartment that had upstairs bedrooms to climb stairs to get to, that started affecting Jim, by his having to stop and get his breath every couple steps. We moved into a nice 3 bedroom house with a den. We could enjoy watching television, which Jim absolutely loved, and we’d sit right in the kitchen and watch t.v. all the time, never sitting in the living room. He could still drive and he’d go visit his friends Bob and Hank. He loved life as long as he had his beer and cigarettes.

Me too! We lived next door to my dear friend Anne, who was Jim’s daughter Berneta’s mother in law. Anne took care of Berneta’s son Bobby on a permanent basis. One day I had trouble with my heart and I had clogged arteries in my legs and was in a wheel chair. He wheeled me over next door and he went back home again. It was 1995. I was there with Anne and he did not come back like he was supposed to and finally Anne wheeled me home and we found Jim laying unconscious on the floor. He had hit his head and it was bloody. The first thing I looked for was if he was breathing as I called 911 and got the ambulance there to rush him off to the hospital. I did that from just a few months before when he was drunk and fell and hit his head in the hall and was not breathing and Casey, having been a paramedic previously in his working world, resuscitated him and got him breathing again, though Jim was in the hospital for a while. This time he was breathing when he was put into the ambulance, but before they reached the hospital, he stopped breathing and they resuscitated him and put him on life support. He had done some terrible damage on both sides of his brain, and they did surgery to repair it as best they could. But he was on life support, and they pronounced him dead but before they would take him off life support, some smart technician or nurse noticed he responded to water dropped on him and they quickly got him breathing again. We were all much relieved because they had done last rites on him and a pastor was with us at the moment they came saying he was breathing again and was not dead. Believe it or not, with his caved in head, he went on another 6 years to give his hearty smile and good personality too. During this time I had a 5 way Bypass surgery to my heart and we nursed each other to get well again. I sure was glad Bea and Casey were there to help with this. What a trauma, but Jim was just fine and he slowed down his drinking and things went well and Jim gave his all right up to the last with his lungs shutting down. He was happy with his family and life and never complained about anything but the pain he was suffering on a constant basis all his life. He had an electric wheel chair for the last few years of his life and still then he loved traveling around in it. In the final months he was put on Hospice, where people came to the house to check on him, but at the final time of real trauma he was taken to the hospital. In the hospital he was allowed to be put on an I V and be put gracefully in a sleeping condition, in order to be relaxed enough to let death take him. He died peacefully, out of pain.


I sleep right beside his picture, where I talk to him and tell him how much he meant to me all of our days together and wished it would still be going on. I tell him. I love you Jim, and I miss you so much. I will be joining you soon as God is willing. You have been a real blessing in my life and all who have known you.
Your loving wife Edie and family; you helped grow
and learn from you.
Jimmy, Johnny, Bea, Ben, Matt, Tim, Glenn, Les, Wes, Bart, Casey
Enjoy all your many friends and family who have gone
before you.
And save room for us all by your side.

COWBOY JIM
GONE NOW, THIS SWEET MAN; FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN ABOVE.
LEAVING LOVED ONES HERE, WITH SWEET MEMORIES OF LOVE.
YOUR TEACHINGS AND LOVE FOR ALL OF US, WILL STAY DOWN DEEP INSIDE
IN OUR HEARTS, OUR DEEP LOVE FOR YOU; WILL FOREVER, THERE ABIDE.
WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HAPPY SMILES UPON YOUR SWEET FACE
ALL THE THINGS YOU DID; WE WERE AMAZED AT HOW WELL YOU KEPT THE PACE
YOU DID SOME REALLY WONDEROUS THINGS, THAT NOT EVERYONE GETS TO DO;
LIKE WORKING FOR ROY ROGERS AND TRIMMING AND RIDING HORSES TOO.
THERE WAS NOTHING YOU COULD NOT HAVE DONE, IF IT CAME YOUR WAY.
WE WILL ALWAYS KEEP YOU SPECIAL IN OUR HEARTS EVERY SINGLE DAY.
REST IN PEACE, NOW. GOOD MAN, FOR YOU HAVE EARNED YOUR PLACE TO BE.
WHERE YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT AND SEE EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO SEE.
LOVE FOR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART
REST IN PEACE, MY SWEETHEART
YOUR LOVING WIFE OF 26 YEARS
RIDE EM, COWBOY, HOPE IT’S ON SPARKY! 27 YEARS
I WILL KEEP COUNTING TOO, UNTIL I, TOO; JOIN YOU EDIE



THERE’S A VERY GOOD MAN, NAMED JIM
THE ONLY THING HE CAN’T DO; IS SWIM.
HE HELPED TO BUILD HIS PARENT’S HOME.
WITH A HARD JOB TO DO, HE’D NEVER ROAM.
HE SERVED HIS COUNTRY IN THE AIR FORCE,
FOR ALL HIS HARD WORK, HE SHOWS NO REMORSE.
HE WORKED FOR ROY ROGERS ---HE’S SO PROUD OF THAT
WHEN SURROUNDED BY COMPANY, HE LOVES TO CHAT.
HE TALKS OF THE OLD DAYS, GONE LONG AGO
IF ASKED FOR A FAVOR, HE IS READY TO GO
FOR ALL HIS GOOD DEEDS, ALL HE WANTS IS A THANKS
HIS FAMILY HOLDS HIM IN THE HIGHEST OF RANKS.
SURVIVING TWICE THE FALLS ON HIS HEAD
THE PATH OF LIFE, IS THE PATH HE WILL TREAD
WITH THE GOAL TO LIVING, HE REALLY THRIVES
HE IS DEFINITELY CALLED THE
CAT WITH NINE LIVES.
TEN LIVES
ELEVEN LIVES
TWELVE LIVES
AND NOW THIRTEEN LIVES
LOVE YOU NINE TIMES FOREVER, AND STILL COUNTING
YOUR LOVING WIFE; EDIE, AND FAMILY 3/4/97














WE MISS YOU JIM
A YEAR HAS GONE; COUNT THE DAYS. IMPOSSIBLE, YOU SAY?
HOW CAN IT BE POSSIBLE WITH SO MANY TEARS ALONG THE WAY?
THERE ARE ENOUGH TO FLOAT A BOAT: LIKE IN THE DAYS OF NOAH.
ONLY THE TEARS, THIS TIME, WILL NEVER STOP:
OVER YEARS MANY MORE WILL FOLLOW.
EACH TEAR SAYS, “I MISS YOU SO, AND WISH YOU STILL WERE HERE.
WE’D ALL JUST LOVE TO SIT WITH YOU: AROUND A TABLE;
JUST TO CHAT AND DRINK SOME BEER.”
SIGNED: ANYBODY AND EVERYBODY
WHO EVER KNEW YOU!

THE GOOD OLD DAYS

This is back when it all began
We all wish it still were here
Those wonderful days with family
And friends visiting and drinking beer
Oh, What Good Times We had
In those, The Good Old Days
We hoped they would last forever
We’d work very hard and then Laze
Such good memories, we all have
Of times when we were all together
We’d ride horses, feed chicks, and
Do odd jobs to make our home life better
We all remember the work and play
With friends and loved one along the way
As each one grew up and went their own way
The years did pass
FULL OF LOVE EACH AND EVERY DAY
C2002


COWBOY JIM


GONE NOW, THIS SWEET MAN; FROM EARTH TO HEAVEN ABOVE.
LEAVING LOVED ONES HERE, WITH SWEET MEMORIES OF LOVE.
YOUR TEACHINGS AND LOVE FOR US, WILL STAY DOWN DEEP INSIDE.
IN OUR HEARTS, OUR LOVE FOR YOU; WILL FOREVER, THERE ABIDE.
WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HAPPY SMILES UPON YOUR SWEET FACE
ALL THE THINGS YOU DID; WE WERE AMAZED AT HOW YOU KEPT PACE.
YOU DID SOME REALLY WONDROUS THINGS NOT EVERYONE GETS TO DO;
WORKING FOR ROY ROGERS AND TRIMMING AND RIDING HORSES TOO.
THERE WAS NOTHING YOU COULD NOT AVE DONE IF IT CAME YOUR WAY.
WE WILL ALWAYS KEEP YOU SPECIAL; IN OUR HEARTS EVERY SINGLE DAY.
REST IN PEACE, NOW. GOOD MAN,
FOR YOU HAVE EARNED YOUR PLACE TO BE.
WHERE YOU CAN DO ANYTHING YOU WANT
AND SEE EVERYTHING YOU WANT TO SEE.

LOVE FOR YOU WILL ALWAYS BE IN MY HEART
REST IN PEACE, MY SWEETHEART;

RIDE EM, COWBOY, HOPE IT’S ON SPARKY!
EDIE 5/2000

Edie and Jim

Working With The Stars

JOURNEY BACK HOME by Edie Holdgrafer June 2001

A LITTLE ANT NAMED CHRIS WAS WORKING WITH HIS FAMILY ONE DAY AND AS HE WAS GOING ABOUT HIS TRAVEL FROM THE BASE OF A TALL PINE TREE, HE STOPPED A SHORT MINUTE TO REST AND UNKNOWINGLY, HE WAS STANDING UPON A PIECE OF COTTON FROM A MULBERRY TREE. IT HAD BEEN A LONG JOURNEY FROM THE ROOT OF THE TREE TO THE TOP OF THE TREE WHERE HIS COLONY FAMILY WERE PERFORMING THEIR DAILY TASK GATHERING FOOD FOR STORAGE TO HELP THEM ALL THROUGH THE FOLLOWING DAYS AHEAD. SOMETIMES IT WOULD RAIN, AND IT WOULD DELAY ALL THEIR ACCOMPLISHMENTS, FOR THEY WOULD STAY SHELTERED AND EAT UP THE RESERVES, SO THEY WOULD HAVE TO WORK TWICE AS LONG TO MAKE UP FOR ANY SHORTAGES TO MAKE THE RESERVES LARGE ENOUGH TO CARRY THEM THROUGH THE RAINY DAYS AHEAD OF THEM. HE WORKED EXTRA HARD TO MAKE HIS FAMILY HAPPY AND HE WAS ALWAYS READY THERE FOR ANY THING THAT WAS NEEDED OF HIM TO MAKE THEM PROUD OF HIM. AS HE RESTED AND CAUGHT HIS BREATH AND WAS JUST ABOUT TO START HIS TREK ONCE MORE, ALL OF A SUDDEN HE FOUND HIMSELF HANGING ON TO THE VERY COTTON HE HAD RESTED UPON, AND SUDDENLY LOOKING ABOUT HIM SAW THINGS AROUND HIM FLYING BY, ONLY IT WAS HIM THAT WAS FLYING, FOR A BREEZE HAD PICKED UP THE PIECE OF COTTONWOOD THAT HE WAS STANDING ON AND ROSE HIM HIGH INTO THE SKY, AS CHRIS GAINED HIS GRIP, HE FELT SUDDENLY WONDERFUL, AND LOOKING OUT AS THE BREEZE CARRIED HIM UP AND DOWN AND UP AND AROUND AND WOULD SLOW GENTLY TO FLOAT ALONG AND SEE EVERYTHING FROM A DIFFERENT VIEW THAN HE HAD EVER IMAGINED; HE FOUND HIMSELF IN A WONDERFUL UNKNOWN TRIP TO SOMEWHERE THAT HE NEVER EVEN KNEW EXISTED BEFORE NOW. HE WATCHED ALL IN FRONT OF HIM AS HE PROCEEDED IN A WAVY THRILL OF A RIDE. HE SAW TREES ALL AROUND AND WHAT WAS ALL THAT WATER BELOW HIM? HE HAD HEARD HIS ELDERS TALK OF TRIPS THEY HAD MADE MENTIONING BODIES OF WATER NAMED RIVERS AND LAKES. HE KNEW THIS MUST BE ONE OF THOSE TWO. AS HE FLOATED SLOWLY DOWN TOWARDS THIS WATER, SUDDENLY A BREEZE TOOK HIM HIGH AGAIN AND AS HE CAUGHT HIS BREATH AND GAINED HIS BALANCE , A SUDDEN THUD BROUGHT SOMETHING ELSE ONTO THE COTTON. WHATEVER THIS OBJECT WAS, THERE WAS SUDDENLY THIS DISTRESS CRY THAT MADE CHRIS LOOK CLOSELY, TO SEE A CREATURE, OBVIOUSLY CAUGHT IN A VERY AWKWARD POSITION THAT HAD HIS LEGS STRAIGHT UP AND KICKING. THE CREATURE SAID TO CHRIS. “HELP ME FRIEND, PLEASE” AS CHRIS USED ONE HAND HOLDING HIMSELF SECURELY LEAVING HIS OTHER HAND FREE TO TRY TO HELP. JUST THEN THE TWO OF THEM SETTLED INTO THE TOP OF A TREE, AND AS CHRIS GAINED HIS BALANCE, HE PROCEEDED TO THE SIDE OF THIS NEW FRIEND HE KNEW HE HAD TO HELP. HE PULLED THE COTTON AWAY AND LITTLE BY LITTLE CLEARED THE BACKSIDE OF THIS CRITTER . IT TURNED OUT TO BE SOME KIND OF WING.


AS THE CRITTER SHOOK ITSELF FREE AND COULD HELP ITSELF STAND UP STRAIGHT, SAYING; “ I THANK YOU MUCH MY FRIEND.” AS CHRIS LOOKED AT THIS GENTLE FACE THANKING HIM, HE SMILED AND REALIZED , THIS WAS A NICE FRIEND AS THE FRIEND SAT HIMSELF DOWN BESIDE CHRIS AND SECURED HIMSELF, LIKE CHRIS. THE CREATURE LOOKED AT CHRIS AND INTRODUCED HIMSELF. “MY NAME IS FLASH, MY GOOD MAN AND I AM A DRAGON FLY. WHAT HAPPENED HERE MY MAN?, I WAS FLYING ALONG AND MINDING MY BUSINESS AND SOMETHING GRABBED ME. WAS IT YOU?” “MY, MY, NO!” SAID CHRIS “I WAS TAKING A BREATH FROM MY WORK FOR A MOMENT AND THIS COTTON THING CAUGHT ME TOO AND I HAVE BEEN SEEING THINGS I HAVE NEVER BEFORE SEEN!” AS FLASH LOOKED ABOUT AND FINALLY REALIZED WHAT HAD HAPPENED HERE, HE LOOKED AT CHRIS AND SAID “OH, MY; I SEE YOU DO NOT HAVE WINGS TO FLY, LIKE ME. WHAT KIND OF DRAGON ARE YOU?” CHRIS LAUGHED WITH RELIEF AND SAID TO FLASH; “OH NO, I AM AN ANT AND MY NAME IS CHRIS, AND I HAVE NEVER BEEN UP SO HIGH EVER BEFORE!” THERE THEY SAT TALKING AND BRINGING EACH OTHER UP TO DATE ON EACH OTHERS LIVING CONDITIONS, AND THEY SHOOK HANDS AND BOTH AGREED THEY WERE INDEED HAPPY TO HAVE A NEW FRIEND IN EACH OTHER. SUDDENLY ANOTHER GUST OF WIND PICKED THEM UP ONCE AGAIN AND THEY GRABBED HOLD AND BOTH DID NOT SEEM TO BE SO AFRAID NOW. THEY WERE GENTLY FLOATING TOWARDS THE GROUND. JUST BEFORE THEY TOUCHED THE GROUND ANOTHER CREATURE GOT CAUGHT IN THE COTTON AND THEY ALL LANDED WITH A BIG SUDDEN BUMP. IT WASN’T TOO BAD, THROUGH , AND THEY WERE GIGGLING AS THEY GOT UP AND WENT OVER TO THIS NEW CREATURE, AND SET IT UP RIGHT AND FREE OF ANY TANGLES OF COTTON. IT WAS FRIGHTENED, BUT HEARING THE LAUGHTER, LOOKED AT BOTH THE CRITTERS THAT HAD HELPED HER UP AND SHE TOO, STARTED LAUGHING ALONG WITH CHRIS AND FLASH. FLASH INTRODUCED HIMSELF AND POINTED TO CHRIS AND INTRODUCED HIM. THE CREATURE SAID; “I AM A LADYBUG AND MY NAME IS LILA. I AM SO HAPPY TO MEET YOU.” IMMEDIATELY; CHRIS STOPPED GIGGLING AND SAID, “ WE ARE VERY GLAD TO MEET YOU TOO! THIS IS A REAL GOOD ADVENTURE I AM HAVING AND I AM ENJOYING IT, BUT FRANKLY, I AM WORRIED TOO, FOR I AM AFRAID I WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FIND MY WAY TO MY HOME AGAIN!” “OH, MY MAN, DON’T WORRY ABOUT THAT,’ SAID FLASH, “ I WILL HELP YOU FIND YOUR HOME AGAIN.” AND JUST THEN LILA TOO, SAID, “OH YES! I CAN SEE THAT YOU CAN NOT FLY, BUT YOUR FRIEND HERE AND I CAN, AND I TOO, WILL HELP IN ANY WAY ” WITH THAT ASSURANCE, THEY ALL STARTED THEIR LAUGHTER ONCE AGAIN WITH GREAT BIG SMILES ON EACH OF THEIR FACES.


LOOKING NOW; ALL AROUND THEM; THEY SAW THAT THEY HAD ALL SETTLED DOWN SAFELY ON THE GROUND AND THEY ALL DECIDED THEY WOULD COUNT TO THREE SLOWLY AND ON THE COUNT OF THREE, ALL STEP OFF THE COTTON AT THE SAME TIME. ONE – TWO--- THREE------- AND THEY ALL STEPPED FREE OF THE COTTON. THEY ALL AGAIN GIGGLED. THEY ALL FELT LIKE THIS WAS AN ADVENTURE FOR SURE AFTER ALL, THEY HAD NEW FRIENDS AND GOOD ONES AT THAT!


FLASH WAS THE TALLEST OF THE THREE BUT THEY ALL DECIDED THAT LILA WAS GOING TO LEAD THE WAY. SHE HAD TRAVELED ALL AROUND HERE, AND CHRIS HAD DESCRIBED THE TREE. SHE HAD A GOOD IDEA OF WHERE IT WAS, SO SHE TOOK OFF FLYING AND SOON RETURNED AND POINTED OUT THE DIRECTION IN WHICH THEY WOULD START OUT. SHE DECIDED, THAT EACH TIME THEY RESTED IN THEIR TREK; THAT AFTER A LITTLE WHILE SHE WOULD GO UP AND FLY AROUND TO SEE WHAT, IF ANY OBSTACLES THEY MIGHT COME UPON, AND MAYBE THAT WAY, THEY COULD AVOID ANY MISHAPS. THEY ALL AGREED THAT IT WAS ONE GREAT WAY TO STAY TOGETHER AND GET MORE ACQUAINTED WITH EACH OTHER AND ONE THING WAS VERY CLEAR; THEY ALL ENJOYED EACH OTHERS COMPANY VERY MUCH.


CHRIS TOLD THEM ABOUT HIS WORK WITH THE WHOLE COLONY AND HOW DEDICATED THEY ALL WERE TO SECURE A SAFE HAVEN FOR THE WHOLE COLONY TO SURVIVE THE WINTER WITH ENOUGH STOCK TO SEE THEM SAFE AND COMFORTABLE, AND LIVE AND ENJOY LIFE TO THE FULLEST. BUT ENOUGH OF HIM; HE WANTED TO KNOW ALL ABOUT FLASH AND LILA AND WHAT THEIR LIVES WERE LIKE BEING ABLE TO FLY WITH SUCH BEAUTIFUL WINGS. OH YES, MY GOOD MAN, I AM ABLE TO FLY, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT IT WILL BE LIKE TO NOT BE ABLE TO FLY AND WALK EVERY WHERE I HAVE TO GO; BUT NOW WITH MY KNOWING YOU AND YOUR NEED TO FIND YOUR FAMILY HOME ONCE MORE, GIVES ME AN OPPORTUNITY TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THAT WAY OF LIFE SO I THINK I AM TERRIBLY LUCKY TO HAVE MET YOU TOO, LILA; DEAR LADY. I FEEL SO HONORED TO MEET YOU TOO AND I ‘M ALSO, WANTING TO KNOW YOUR LIFE STORY TOO. BUT FIRST I WILL SAY THAT FLYING HAS BEEN A DUTY FOR MY FAMILY FROM THE BEGINNING. I FLY OFF IN A DIFFERENT DIRECTION THAN MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS DO, AND WE ALL COLLECT POLLEN, AND DIFFERENT PIECES OF FOODS, SUCH AS AN APPLE THAT HAS FALLEN OUT OF THE TREE, I BREAK OFF SMALL PORTIONS AND CARRY IT BACK TO MY FAMILY.IT IS THE SAME WITH MY BROTHERS AND SISTERS. SOMETIMES WE DO FLY TOGETHER AND ENJOY THE COMPANY BUT MOST OF THE TIME WE ARE TOO BUSY GATHERING MORSELS AND BUILDING MATERIALS FOR OUR HOME AND SO WE ENJOY THE QUIET TIMES, LIKE NIGHT AND BAD WEATHER, TO STAY TOGETHER AND CATCH UP ON OUR INDIVIDUAL STORIES WE HAVE TO TALK ABOUT. WAIT TILL I TELL THEM ABOUT THIS JOURNEY. THEY WILL ALL BE LISTENING WITH ANTICIPATION. WHAT ABOUT YOU LILA? WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU FLY AROUND? SHE HAD A BIG SMILE AND THE FIRST WORDS WERE. WOW! THAT IS THE SAME THING I DO WITH MY FAMILY. WE ALL EAT POLLEN, HONEY, SOME GRASSES AND CATCH LITTLE WEEDS. I AM SURPRISED THAT WE ALL DO MUCH THE SAME. I LOVE FLYING AND COLLECTING THINGS FOR MY FAMILY TOO. THEY ALL STARTED LAUGHING ONCE AGAIN AND STARTED THEIR TREK IN THE DIRECTION POINTED OUT BY LILA. THEY WALKED ALONG HAPPILY; TALKING OF MEMORIES AND HAPPENINGS IN THEIR LIVES AND REALLY ENJOYED IT.


THEY HAD WALKED QUITE A WAYS AND DECIDED TO SIT A SPELL AND MAYBE FIND SOMETHING TO EAT FOR THEY WERE ALL STARTING TO GET HUNGRY.
JUST AS THEY WERE SETTLING DOWN A VOICE CALLED OUT “HEY FLASH, WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN LATELY?” FLASH LOOKED UP TO SEE HIS FRIEND JACK, THE BEE. FLASH TOLD HIM THEY WERE ABOUT TO LOOK FOR SOME THING TO EAT, AND JACK SAID, “THERE IS EXTRA HONEY JUST OVER THIS WAY, NOT FAR;” AS HE POINTED TO THE EAST. “YOU ALL ARE WELCOME TO COME AND SIT A SPELL THERE WITH ME AND MY FAMILY.” FLASH INTRODUCED HIM ALL AROUND AND BROUGHT HIM UP TO DATE ON ALL THE TRAUMA THEY HAD BEEN THROUGH AND HOW FUNNY SOME OF IT HAD BEEN, AND THEY ALL FOUR STARTED LAUGHING ONCE AGAIN. THEY PICKED THEMSELVES UP AND STARTED OFF IN THE DIRECTION JACK HAD STARTED OUT IN. LILA AND FLASH WALKED WITH CHRIS TO MAKE SURE HE FOUND THE RIGHT PATH. WHEN THEY ARRIVED AT THE BEE COLONY, THEY WERE GREETED BY THE HUGE SWARM AS IF THEY WERE LIFE LONG FRIENDS AND ALL SAT AROUND, ATE HONEY AND LAUGHED AND TOLD STORIES TO EACH OTHER ABOUT ALL THE THINGS THAT HAPPEN TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF THEM AND HAD SUCH A WONDERFUL TIME. BEFORE LONG THEY HAD TO THANK THEM ALL AND TAKE OFF ON THEIR TREK AGAIN. LILA HAD FLOWN ABOUT AND KNEW THE DIRECTION THEY COULD TAKE AND AFTER TALKING WITH JACK, WHICH ALSO KNEW THE AREA VERY WELL, HE HAD CONFIRMED IT AS SAFE. SO THEY ALL STARTED OUT AND THANKED THE BEE COLONY AND JACK FOR HIS WONDERFUL FOOD AND ALL SAID THEY HOPED TO MEET AGAIN SOON.


THEY WALKED AGAIN AND MADE A GAME OF SKIPPING, HOPPING AND LAUGHING AS THEY WENT ALONG THEIR WAY AND AFTER A LITTLE WHILE THEY STARTED SMELLING SWEET, WONDERFUL ODORS OF FLOWERS OR PLANTS. VERY SHORTLY THEY ARRIVED AT A WONDERFUL VIEW OF PURPLE VIOLETS AND WILD POPPIES AND DECIDED TO SIT AGAIN FOR A SHORT RESPITE. AS THEY DID SO, A BEAUTIFUL BUTTERFLY CAME NEAR AND LANDED ON A FLOWER AND CHRIS POINTED AND SAID “OH LOOK AT THAT BEAUTIFUL CREATURE!” AND ALL OF A SUDDEN THE BUTTERFLY WAS SO STARTLED THAT IT SCREAMED OUT AND ANOTHER BUTTERFLY CAME TO ITS SIDE AS IT LANDED ON THE GROUND AND ASK IT IF IT WERE ALRIGHT? FLASH, CHRIS AND LILA ALSO RUSHED TO IT’S SIDE TO APOLOGIZE FOR SCARING IT THAT WAY. THE BUTTERFLIES LOOKED AT THE THREE OF THEM AND IMMEDIATELY SETTLED DOWN, REALIZING THEY WERE NOT IN ANY DANGER HERE. FLASH INTRODUCED THE THREE TO THE BUTTERFLIES, AND THE MALE BUTTERFLY INTRODUCED HIMSELF AS CALVIN AND HIS LADY BUTTERFLY WAS NAMED BUBBLES. AS THEY ALL SETTLED DOWN AND TOLD OF THEIR JOURNEY TO GET CHRIS BACK HOME, THE BUTTERFLIES ALSO FELT THEY WERE LUCKY TO HAVE MET THESE NICE ONES AND LEARN OF THE DIFFERENT BUT THE SAME THINGS IN ALL OF THEIR LIVES. THEY ALL ATE MUCH THE SAME FOODS AND TOLD OF THE GATHERINGS FOR ALL THEIR FAMILIES AND REALLY ENJOYED ALL THE STORIES THAT ONCE MORE WERE BEING REVEALED WITH THE FRIGHTS AND THE LAUGHTER AND THE JOURNEY THAT WAS BEFORE THEM TO HELP CHRIS. HE WAS THE ONLY ONE AMONG THEM; THAT DID NOT HAVE WINGS TO FLY. THEY WELCOMED ALL THEY COULD HEAR ABOUT THIS CUTE AND NICE CREATURE. THEY ALL HAD A SMILE ON THEIR FACES. THEY WERE HAVING THE TIME OF THEIR LIVES AND LOOKING FORWARD TO WHAT THEY COULD ALL DO TO HELP IN ANY WAY THEY COULD.
AS EVENING WAS APPROACHING THE BUTTERFLIES PROMISED TO COME BACK TO HELP THEM ON THEIR JOURNEY IN THE MORNING AND THEY WERE FLYING HOME TO DO THEIR DUTIES AND INFORM THEIR FAMILY TO EXPECT THEIR ABSENCE FOR AWHILE. THEY SAID GOODBYE AND FLEW OFF. LILA, CHRIS AND FLASH SETTLED INTO A BIG BUSH FOR THE NIGHT AND ALL STAYED CLOSE TO PROTECT EACH OTHER. THEY HEARD CRICKETS AND SETTLINGS OF OTHER CREATURES, BUT THEY FELT SAFE ALL TOGETHER AND SOON ALL WENT OFF TO SLEEP.


AS CALVIN AND BUBBLES WERE FLYING TOWARD THEIR HOME, THEY TALKED AND CALVIN SAID, “I WONDER IF THIS LAKE BENEATH THEM WILL BE IN DIRECT ROOT OF WHERE THEY ALL PLAN TO TRAVEL. YOU KNOW, THAT ONE NAMED CHRIS HAS NO WINGS AND NONE OF US ARE BIG ENOUGH OR STRONG ENOUGH TO CARRY HIM.” THEY WERE ALMOST HOME WHEN THEY SAW ONE OF THEIR FRIENDS DOWN UPON THE WATER THAT WAS HIS HOME. HIS NAME WAS DARBY. “HEY DARBY!” THEY HOLLERED DOWN TO HIM;” HAVE YOU GOT A MINUTE, FOR US?” AS THEY CAME NEAR, HE RESPONDED TO THEM, SAYING “YES, I SURE DO!” CALVIN SPOTTED ANOTHER FRIEND NEAR BY THE SHORE, AS HE WAS SETTLING DOWN ON THE BANK TO AWAIT DARBY. IT WAS THEIR FRIEND, FROGGY; WHO ONCE VISITED THEM AT THEIR HOME AND CAME AS OFTEN AS POSSIBLE TO KEEP IN TOUCH. “WELL, HELLO THERE FROGGY, HOW ARE YOU DOING?” AND GOT A GENTLE SMILE FROM HIM AS HE JUMPED OFF THE LILLY PAD INTO THE WATER AND SWAM OVER TO TALK WITH THEM ON THE SHORE. THERE THEY AWAITED DARBY TO JOIN THEM. WHEN DARBY ARRIVED THEY TOLD HIM ABOUT THEIR MEETING WITH CHRIS, FLASH, AND LILA AND DARBY LISTENED WITH ENTHUSIASM AS THEY EXPLAINED THE HAPPENINGS OF CHRIS’ FLIGHT ON THE COTTONWOOD AND THE EXCITEMENT THEY ALL WENT THROUGH AND ENDED UP WHERE THEY WERE ALL GIGGLING AND ENJOYING THE THOUGHT OF BEING OF HELP TO SOMEONE, AS CALVIN WAS ASKING IF DARBY WOULD BE AVAILABLE TO TAKE CHRIS ACROSS THE LAKE. “OF COURSE!” SAID DARBY; “IT WILL BE AN HONOR TO BE OF HELP TO ONE WHO HAS NO FLIGHT OR FLOATING ABILITIES.” THERE THEY ALL SETTLED DOWN; AS NIGHT WAS FINALLY UPON THEM. THE FOUR OF THEM WERE TOGETHER IN SOME BRUSH AROUND THE BOTTOM OF A BIG PINE TREE. THEY TALKED AND LAUGHED AND HAD A GOOD TIME, UNTIL THEY FELL ASLEEP. EARLY THE NEXT MORNING, CALVIN AND BUBBLES TOOK FLIGHT TO RETURN TO THEIR HOME AND PREPARE THEIR FAMILY FOR THEIR ABSENCE AND TELL THEM ABOUT THEIR TASK. CHRIS AWOKE FIRST AND STAYED QUIET MUNCHING ON HIS BREAKFAST HONEY UNTIL THE OTHERS AWOKE FOR THE DAYS TRAVEL TOGETHER. AS THEY WAITED FOR CALVIN AND BUBBLES TO RETURN, THEY HAPPILY CHATTED TOGETHER AND REALLY ENJOYED THEIR NEW FRIENDSHIPS. IT WAS NOT TOO MUCH OF A WAIT WHEN CALVIN AND BUBBLES BOTH WERE IN SIGHT AND LANDING NEXT TOO THEM ON A BUSH. FROGGY ASKED IF ANY OF THEM WANTED TO HOP UPON HIS BACK, BUT THEY ALL AGREED IT WAS AN ADVENTURE TO WALK ALONGSIDE CHRIS AND LOOKED AT IT AS A REAL ADVENTURE. THEY WALKED AND TALKED AND SLOWED DOWN THEIR PACE AS THEY NEEDED TO FOR CHRIS TO KEEP UP WITH THEM. THEY RESTED ALONG THE WAY AS THE TWO BUTTERFLIES GUIDED THEM WITH THEIR FLIGHT FROM BUSH TO BUSH, AS THEY COULDN’T WALK ALONG THE GROUND LIKE THE FOUR OF THEM. WHEN THEY REACHED THE SIDE OF THE LAKE THEY ALL RESTED AND GOT AQUAINTED WITH DARBY, THE DUCK. THEY ALL ENJOYED SO MUCH TO HEAR OF EACH ONES WAY OF LIFE AND MARVELED THAT THEY WERE ALL MUCH THE SAME OBJECTIVES IN LIFE. TO WORK, TO GATHER FOOD, AND PROTECT THEIR FAMILIES AND ENJOY EACH OTHER’S COMPANY. DARBY SETTLED INTO THE WATER NEXT TO THE SHORE, AND ONE BY ONE THEY HELPED CHRIS AND THEN THEMSELVES ONTO DARBY’S BACKSIDE. THEY THEN, HAD ANOTHER ADVENTURE AS DARBY STARTED FLOATING AND SWIMMING LIKE A BOAT TO THEM; AND THEY REALLY HAD A GOOD TIME ON THEIR TREK TO THE OTHER SIDE OF THE LAKE. THEY KNEW THIS WAS ONE JOURNEY AND AN ADVENTURE THEY WOULD NEVER FORGET.


FOR THE REST OF THE JOURNEY TO THE TREE WHERE CHRIS LIVED, THEY ALL STAYED TOGETHER AND KNEW THAT FOR THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, THEY HAD MADE AN UNFORGETTABLE JOURNEY AND MADE SOME UNFORGETTABLE FRIENDS AND KNEW THERE WERE STILL AHEAD OF THEM, MANY MORE FRIENDS TO MEET ALONG THAT ROAD CALLED LIFE.

THE END

EDIE FRAHM as a young girl

Edie at 6 years old

Edie and Brother Raymond

The earliest photo found is this one from the 1930's with Edie Frahm holding her little doll and supporting her brother Raymond who was born a "blue baby" as I remember---please correct me if this is wrong.

Edie as a teenager

about 15 years old

Edie at 16 years

Edie's High School Class 1947-48