Lou and Kathy on the Road: 2024 A Trip Home to Honor the Past and Make Memories to Last into the Future

After our cruise to Alaska was over I had about a week to unpack and repack for our trip to North Dakota. I allowed six days for driving time and I think we made it there in five so we had one day to rest before we needed to be at the farm for the family gathering to honor my brother, Emery.

Emery passed away last September and about a month later I started organizing all the info that my sister, Vina, had gathered before she passed away in 2012. I just felt very strongly that our Beck family history needed to be passed on in a way to make a lasting connection and impression to present and future generations. I started writing on my mom's birthday, October 13th and I finished the final chapter on my Dad's birthday January 31st. It all came together very easily. I didn't work up a rough draft. I just wrote it. Each one of Emery's boys bought a copy from the publisher. Over 500 pages spread out over forty chapters.

Somewhere in the middle of November we got the news that Lou had throat cancer again. This time it was on the other side of his throat and a different type of cancer than in 2020. I stopped working on the family history for about a month but then in the middle of December I got back to it.

We have a very good friend, Kenny, who was kind enough to make an iron cross for me to take back to North Dakota. I wanted something to mark the spot where the original homestead stood. Something that Vina would have liked, an iron cross. Even though we had talked about this for a few months Kenny wasn't able to work on it due to a shoulder injury and a wrist surgery. He surprised me with it two days before we headed to North Dakota. Lou was able to mount it where the spare tire was supposed to be. Nothing was planned out that it was going to go there. It just fit so that's where it went.

Kenny knew the Beck homestead story from what I had told him as I wrote it. He also knew about the two-heart brand that my dad registered and made a Valentine's Day gift to my mom in the early days of their marriage. So he put hearts into the iron cross. He didn't have time to paint it before we loaded it up and drove to North Dakota so David was tasked with getting it painted after we arrived in Bismarck.

Emery's four boys, Dennis, Jerome, David and Marvin as well as my half brother, Jim Ohlhauser, his wife, Shirley and their oldest daughter, Connie, who had flown to Bismarck from Spokane, WA, all met us at the farm. Emery wanted a remembrance stone placed where he was born. His four boys carried it off the pickup and laid it. We all toasted Emery's memory.

Then I had Emery's four boys, Dennis, Jerome, David and Marvin, sign the Beck Family history book and I presented it to Jim. I told him, "Thanks for all you done." He and Emery had a special bond. I don't think I realized just how strong that bond was until our mom passed away 9/7/1993. Jim and Shirley had driven 22 hours from their home near Spokane WA to attend the funeral in North Dakota. Then after the funeral, Jim drove Shirley 22 hours back to their home. Then he turned around and drove 22 hours back to the farm and stayed two weeks to help Emery get the crop off. He wasn't asked to do that. He just knew ... and he did what needed to be done. He was grieving as much as we were. That was his mother, too. I think he was really touched by getting that book. He got a little choked up.

The cross was placed by the rock that my dad had put to mark the spot where the homestead house was. My dad was born there. One of my dad's older sisters died at birth and I believe she is buried there.

A few days later we stopped at the Hazelton Cemetery to see Emery's headstone. Emery's ashes are buried there beside our mother's headstone.

We visited quite a few people while we were in North Dakota. Linton had it's 125th celebration and it was quite a large event. Thousands of people attended. I'm not kidding. I didn't even know that many people knew where Linton was!! The Linton Bakery sold out of donuts and all baked goods every day. (And we helped.)

Friends from my high school days... Jody Ohlhauser, Gloria Ohlhauser, Stacey Ohlhauser (cousins)

and Jody's son, Dylan who was making his mother laugh.

We visited Gloria and her close friend, David Bingen, before the 4th of July and just a few weeks later he suddenly passed away.

The plan had been to go back to Washington after the 4th of July was over but my hip was bothering me so much I went to a chiropractor in Bismarck. I picked the right guy. Aaron Moos. He knew what my hip needed but it was going to take about eight treatments spread over four weeks to do any good. What had planned to be a few days stay at my nephew's homes turned into an extended stay. When I started treatment I really didn't know how good it was going to turn out. It was called Shock Wave but it's the PiezoWave Therapy device. What he did saved me from surgery I'm sure. I couldn't take more than 10 steps when I started this treatment but about two weeks later by the fourth treatment, I was walking better. So much better that we started thinking we could go on to Illinois.

Jerome and Jody's daughter, Jenna, was having a baby shower July 28th so we stopped there thinking we'd attend it. Wrong. No one got to attend the baby shower on the 28th because the baby came early!Asher needed a few extra days in the hospital but he's been growing and catching up ever since.

We stopped to see Terry and Melanie Rosen in Minneapolis and then Lou's first cousin, Dorothy Falasky in Wisconsin. Her husband, Emil (Laddie) Falasky passed away last year. She lives in a retirement facility near her son and daughter-in-law, David and Anne Falasky.

We spent a couple of days camping with Lou's daughter, Bev Millard and her family before we drove onto Elgin, Illinois in time to see her grandson, Jaxson in Willy Wonka.

Bev is Married to Jeff Millard and they have three children. Jennifer, Patrick and Brittany.

Jennifer is married to Garrett Gray and they have three children, Soren, Jaxson and Talitha.

Patrick is married to Kimberly and they have two children, Rhett and Charlie.

(Brittany and her three boys are not in any of these photo's )

My son, Jeremy Padlo, his wife Sarah and their two children, Roman and River, met us in Elgin for a day. We had a few hours in the pool at Terry and Cherie's house before going to see Jeremy's aunt and uncle, Diane (Padlo) and John Rogal, who have three children and four grand children. Their son, Tom, is only 9 days older than my son, Jeremy.

Diane and John celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary in February.

We were there when Lou's youngest brother, Carl, celebrated his 80th birthday along with his wife, Carolee, their three children and their grandson, Brenner.

Lou's younger brother, Walt, and his wife, Jo, were also there.

We had lots of get-together's with family and friends. I might be doubling up on photo's but I wanted to be sure to include the fur babies as well. Jennifer has added Elvis to her crew and Cherie just got Ava last December.

Lou and Terry are looking over some stuff at a threshing show.

Lou's oldest daughter, Pam, came out to see us at Terry and Cherie's house. Special times.

Pam has one son, Brian, who just got married in June.

We managed to make time to see a few more friends... before we headed back to North Dakota.

Karl and Caroline Burchfield

Chuck and Sheila Straka with their daughter, Melissa, and her daughter, Megan with little Addie.

Connie McGowan with Lou, Connie's daughter, Tammy with her hubby, Dennis Krieger.

Lou and I with Joan Simpson.

We wanted to be back in North Dakota to attend my nephew's son's wedding 8/16/2024.

My sister, Carol (Beck) Wolf, has two children, Russell Wolf and Roberta (Wolf) Kottsick.

Russell is married to Lynell and their son, Matthew, married Brooke in Bismarck, North Dakota.

Roberta (Wolf) is married to Jerome Kottsick and they have three children. Dylan, Mariah and Estella.

Dylan wasn't able to meet up with us when these pictures were taken.

Mariah, behind us (in the dark blouse), is a nurse and Estella is an EMT.

That's Estella and her fiance pictured with me between them.

Roberta is my very special niece... she has a wacky sense of humor. So did my sister, Vina.

Yes, that duck flaps his wings, shakes his feet and sings a song.

(Found that out INSIDE the restaurant.)

She has added several one-of-a-kind things to my collection and I don't see her stopping.

This is my sister, Carol (Beck) Wolf.

She lives in a care center in Bismarck and had her 75th birthday in March.

I think my nephews and nieces were starting to wonder if we were ever going to go back to Washington State. Our "couple of weeks" had turned into almost three months. They all gave us the royal treatment and we have many great memories with them sharing their homes with us. I think you know their names by now...

Dennis married Jane and they have three children, Devin, Dylan and Lauren.

Jerome married Jody and they have two children, Jordan and Jenna and now a little grandson, Asher.

David married Dana and they have three children, Alyssa, Mikala and Miranda. Alyssa married Clark Twardoski in 2022 and they have a little boy, Kip David Twardoski born 6/19/2023

Marvin is married to Kerry and they have a combined family of two girls, Maari and Maya, and two boys, Meric and Breckin and a little grandson, Elijah, born 6/15/2017.

Matthew Wolf worked at the restaurant we ate at one night with Dennis and Jane. He waited on our table and snapped this photo of all of us.

Marvin and Kerry housed and fed us the 2nd half of our stay in Bismarck. We found out that Marvin is just as good a cook as David and Dennis !!

We were really happy to get a chance to say goodbye to Maya as were were leaving ND.

We decided to try to swing through Glacier National Park on our way back to Washington.

In September of 2001 Lou had hiked 52 miles over 8 days with his brother, Carl, and Lou's son, Terry, from Many Glacier up and through Ptarmigan Tunnel over to Waterton Lake in Canada.

This was a special place then and it still is very special today.

We made it back safely to our home in Longview, Washington, on September 9th.

My hip is still doing just fine.

It's January 4th as I write this. Christmas is past and 2024 has come and gone. What started out as being a blog entry about our trip home last summer has turned into a wrap up for this past year.