Wisdom Shared

It is nice to be remembered and needed.  That seemed to be the theme for today, especially the evening, but that would be jumping ahead.  The morning was spent with catching up on some more paperwork but visiting with several people in between.  Then I had the opportunity to catch up with a family in Minnesota who I helped sell a house to 19 years ago.  They remembered me from that first time and wanted my advice on reselling that home.  They are sharp people who had most of the plan figured out already but wanted some reassurance that they were on the right track.  Another example for me that everyone in this area has the ability to think, reason and act on a situation for themselves, they just needed another opinion to confirm.  A NW Iowa Realtors meeting in Orange City for the evening exchanging a few stories with others from the four county area.  Then the best part of the day with a lesson included.  We stopped at my wife's aunt and uncle in Orange City.  Both are in their 90's and doing well.  They celebrated their 70th wedding anniversary recently with their family.  She told us about where they first met and what her first thoughts were about him.  Her uncle was telling us about how he was a radar operator in the Aleutian Islands in World War II and how he was in the only spot attacked by the Japanese and how he survived.  Then she shared some age-old wisdom in a poem that we thought would be good for our daughters.  My wife, Laurel, asked if we could video her saying the poem to share with our girls and also asked if we could include it on this blog.  She was happy to share.  It goes along with some of what we talked about in some of the community meetings, wisdom never grows old.  We are rich in wisdom with the older generations around us if we just take the time to listen, think about it, reason it out, confirm it and then act on it.  They were glad for the company even though it was a short visit.  Remembered and needed.  Yes, Ray and Myrna Van Pelt, that you will always be.