Family and friends in Nebraska

 
 We got to Fremont for Doug's mother's 95th birthday. She is doing wonderfully and living independently at Nye Square, a retirement center in Fremont. She has her own apartment and comes and goes as she wants. She does have macular degeneration so had to give up knitting. She has a reading machine which magnifies and puts the image on a TV screen; with some effort she can read cards and instructions but not books or newspapers. Luckily she has good peripheral vision so she can walk without bumping into things. She does her own laundry and cleaning. Cooking now consists of putting a frozen dinner in the microwave. She does not like to eat in the dining room with "all those old people who just gossip". She has some arthritis in her back and knees but "doesn't like to take pills", so she just toughs it out. She walks briskly without any aids. She comes from good solid Hungarian stock.

We have been busy seeing old friends, relatives and neighbors. It has been fun catching up. A lot of our friends live in Omaha; that city feels most like a hometown for us, as we lived there for many years. Omaha is growing and is a real nice city. If any readers have not been to Omaha, be sure to visit the Henry Doorly Zoo which is nationally recognized as one of the best zoos in the country. Also highly recommended is the Western Heritage Museum; Omaha also has the largest community playhouse in the nation. The Lauritzen Botanic Gardens is only about 6 years old but growing into someplace special. If you are an animal lover, be sure to stop and see the Nebraska Humane Society in Omaha - it is a welcoming place with wonderful programs for the animals.
We really have been treasuring time with our "old" friends -- seems that as we "mature" we value friends even more.

Our campground here at Christensen Field in Fremont is a busy place on the weekends. Soccer and softball games, horse shows and other events, always something going on. There have been barrel riding events on two different weekends, a two day Paint Horse show, and now a Pinto horse show. We met up with a friend we've known for 25 years - she is still barrel racing. The horse trailers park close by and we can watch the riders warm up their horses in the field right next to the campground.

Quote of the day: "A person doesn't become old until his regrets take the place of his dreams." Max Dupree