Dr. Sinness at Sea

It was a beautiful ship; it made regular journeys between New York and Europe. Based in Genoa, she was of Italian descent and was named the Andrea Doria. At the end of a long journey, on July 25, 1956 most of the passengers were in bed. In the morning they would pull into the New York Harbor, disembark, and many would begin their new life in America. However, shortly after 11:00 p.m. the Andrea Doria was struck in a vulnerable spot by the MV Stockholm ocean liner. Chaos erupted, lives were lost, the ship began to sink. Another ship, the Ile de France, had left New York that morning. On that ship was one of my relatives, Dr. Lester Sinness, his wife and teen-aged son, Skip. Lester (who was my first cousin once-removed) was a senior Vice President for DuPont and was on his way to Europe. Their first night at sea, Lester realized the ship had stopped. He went on deck and discovered that the Ile de France was taking on many of the survivors of the Andrea Doria. There is some fascinating family history connected with this event. You can read Lester's account of his experiences at www.andreadoria.org/recollections/sinness. Years ago I had seen this letter my cousin wrote, but never looked into the full story. This past week, in a hotel room in Dallas, while flipping through the TV channels I came across a documentary about the Andrea Doria tragedy and remembered the article I had read many years before. Many years later Lester came back to Devils Lake, where, about six year ago, he died. His only child, Skip, lives in Colorado. A few years ago I met Skip. I wish at that time I had thought to ask him about his experience aboard the Ile de France when they saw the Andrea Doria sinking at sea. Pretty cool stuff to know about....

Thomas - #7 out of 10

Tommy, we called him. He is my sibling closest in age. Whereas, all the others were much older, or much younger, Tommy was probably more like a "normal" sibling than the others. In other words, he didn't spoil me. And I didn't idolize him. Tom (as he is now called) was just barely three when I was born. My earliest memory of him is on a hot summer day on the farm. I don't remember what precipitated this action, but I saw him sitting on the ground by (I think) the bunkhouse. I recall picking up a hammer and hitting him on the head with it. I have no idea why I did that, but I'm sure he deserved it (smile). I also remember resenting that he got to sit in the car, by the door, before I could. Seems like I was in the middle forever. We would play games for hours; Monopoly, Sorry, Pounce, and others. But there were also times when he did not want me around. He would take off and run so fast that I could not keep up. I don't know where he went, but I had to finally turn back and find something else to do. Other things I recall doing together - shelling peas, snapping beans, weeding the garden, shucking corn, braiding twine, playing ante-aye-over and kick the tin can. There were hours of roller skating in the basement, cops 'n robbers, tinkering in the machine shed, playing in the trees, building tree houses and tree airplanes. Tom also trapped gophers in the summer. He would cut the tail off each gopher he caught and killed and Dad would give him a nickel for each one. One day he brought in a tail from a weasel. Dad said he would get "two bits" for that tail. I was really upset. I thought "two bits" was two dollars. When a gal gets twenty-five cents a week for allowance, two dollars is LOTS of money. After he got his driver's license, I rode with him to basketball games and "canteens" in Churchs Ferry. I remember his interest in UFO's, the law, and in architecture. I remember his first prom. I think his date was named Sandy. I overheard a conversation he had with mom about buying a corsage. I went out and picked a few wild flowers and dandilions and told mom that he could use them as a corsage (I was serious about it, too!). They didn't like my idea. Yes, most of my childhood memories include my brother, Tom. He is four years old in the picture. January 7 he is 61. Happy birthday, Thomas!

Surprise Around the Corner

This week I am in the Dallas area orienting my new employee to her new job, and together we are getting ready to start our new program on Feb. 1. My new employee has a new office in a brand new dialysis center; in fact they are having their first patient tomorrow. As you can imagine, this new facility is in a new area of town. It is surrounded by open fields and a few office buildings. At lunch time yesterday I asked her if she had any suggestions on where we could find something to eat. Coming in, the only thing I saw was a Jack In The Box. Well, we got in the car, drove about a mile, and suddenly we were in the neatest place! There was a couple blocks of trendy little shops and cool little eating places. We decided on Thai. I do not understand Thai food, so I asked the waiter for a recommendation. I have no idea what I ate, but it was really, really good. I mean, it was delicious. On the way out the door, we noticed that right across the street was a little Italian place. So today I had a superb soup and salad. Again, I'm not sure what all was in the salad, but it was very good. Tonight I ran across the parking lot for soup and salad at Panera's. Usually, I'm very happy with the food at Panera's. But tonight I was a little under-whelmed. It's hard to compete with superb. By the way, I'm changing my hotel for next week. I'm moving closer to the new facility ... and the surprises around the corner.

Viola's Impact

Viola's great-granddaughter, Nicole Steffan, wrote a paper three years ago for an English class. The paper had to be about someone who has had the biggest impact on her life. Here is what she wrote:

"An individual who has impacted me throughout my life is my great grandma, Viola Sinness. At ninety years old, she is very independent and still as sharp as a whip. She still has her sense of humor! She was a tough farm girl, born into a large family, living thru the depression, and having 10 kids of her own. Money was very tight, and she told me "they were as poor as church mice"......While dating great grandpa at age 16, she would tease her mom and say"Around the corner and under the tree is where my sweetheart made love to me. He kissed me once, he kissed me twice - it wasn't the thing to do, but ooh it was so nice!" Her mom would say "Viola behave yourself!".....
.....She is very fragile and it scares my sister and I sometimes when we go to visit because we can't hug her very tight, for fear of breaking her bones.........
She is 4 generations ahead of me (72 yrs) and has experienced a full life, while I'm just beginning to experience mine. She has taught me to live my life to the fullest and not waste any of it away. Her lifestyles, wants and needs are so different compared to mine. It's amazing the things a person can learn by talking to her for an hour. I can be myself because she loves me for who I am and doesn't judge or criticize me. I can talk to her about anything and sometimes our conversations are of nothing at all. She will talk disapprovingly about the morals and values of today. Yet we respect each other.
I've come to realize that my heritage is very important to me. This is my family history that I can hear first hand from someone who has experienced it. I have to appreciate each and every day that I have her in my life. She taught me that family is only tied together by those who contribute to it. I believe that once she is gone, she is still going to continue to influence me throughout my life!" :)

Boxes

Boxes. They are all over the place. They have very rigid, unyielding sides and most of them are too small. We probably all have them. We try to put people into these boxes. They rarely, if ever, fit. And when they don't fit into our boxes, we open our drawer to pull out a bunch of labels. We slap these labels across the foreheads of the people who don't go into the boxes. Some of the labels are very specific, although the meaning behind them may be misleading. Labels like "woman", "man", "blonde", "kid", "vegan". But most labels are very non-specific and only the person placing the label really understands what it means. These are labels like "idiot", "loser", "mean-spirited", "stingy", "liberal", "dumb", and a lot more that aren't fit to put into this blog. But think about it. Do we really want everyone else to be just like ourselves? Isn't that ..... the makings of a cult? Why, then, do we spend so much time with our boxes and labels?

The Year of Health

Every new year I attempt to focus on one defined area for my self improvement. Mind you, these are not just "resolutions". These are well thought-out goals into which I put a lot of planning. 2010 is going to be my year of health. For the last couple of months I've been trying to identify all the barriers I will be facing, then coming up with a strategy that is do-able. I know my biggest triggers to failure will be related to my travel. So here are some of my strategies: (1) start checking a bag so I can bring healthy food as well as clothes and shoes conducive to activity; (2) carry healthy foods in my carry-on bag; (3) take the stairs in the hotels rather than the elevator whenever possible; (4) chew more gum; (5) drink more water and less lattes; (6) brush and floss my teeth early in the evening so I don't eat late; (7) plan for one piece of chocolate each evening after dinner. When I am home I plan to walk on the treadmill at least three times a week. I have no specific goal for weight loss, only hoping there will be some improvement in that area. What I DO want is to get moving again, eat better, increase my endurance and decrease belly fat. The older I get the more I realize how important it is to stay healthy. What I do today determines my future health and well-being. If I live as long as my mom has lived, I have at least 35 years left. I want those years to be unhindered by poor health. Wish me luck!

Mom-isms

Throughout the years of my life I've heard my mom quote many different little ditty's, short poems, long poems, and more. My niece, Susan, has been capturing these every time she comes back to North Dakota to visit. Tonight Susan agreed to send what she has so we can share them with the rest of the family through this blog. If anyone else remembers some of these sayings, please email them to me so we can have as complete a collection as possible. For starters, here's one that I remember:

I remember as a small, small tot,
When ma took me out of my warm, warm cot,
And set me on the cold, cold pot,
And told me to wee wee whether I could or not.

This is going to be fun!