“Greater Love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.” John 15:13

When I read the scripture above, I thought, “yet men and women in the military are willing to die not just for friends and their family, but all the people of their nation.” Doesn’t that make you feel grateful? The next thought was that I remember my precious mother, Ida Maria, often recalled how her beloved little brother, Henry, wrote to her from Montana, where he went to work during the depression, “Ida, I am going to the Army to fight in the war for you and your children.” The sad part of his story is that his paratrooper plane was shot down in New Guinea, where he died. After natives found the crash site in the jungle, his remains were buried in a Nebraska Military Cemetery. Those are sad memories for our family, as well as for many families around the world.

Now, let’s talk about pleasant memories. The excitement around high school basketball has continued in several communities around the state of Colorado. For Eads, both our boys and girls teams won a place to play in the district playoffs. Our girls traveled to Kiowa and stayed overnight somewhere in the chance that they won over Hugo-Genoa to play the next morning. Meanwhile, the Eads boys team traveled up to Peetz to play the Hugo-Genoa team for a chance to play in the state tournament. Both teams have good potential for winning in future years when you see their younger students play basketball.

We fans in Weisbrod are so hopeful that we can watch the games on our large screen television. We have admiration for the coaches, Trey Eder, Justin McCloud, Weston Meardon, and Kyle Morlan. The programs haven’t listed the managers, unfortunately, nor the cheerleaders. I did recognize senior Brianna Lawrence-Wilson and freshman Hailee Trosper, who did a commendable job of cheering for the Eads Eagles.

Sunday afternoon, were happy to have Pastor Mark Imel come to Weisbrod to brings us a message from his sermon before he went over to Prairie Pines to visit with the residents there.

Wednesday morning, both sides of Maine Street were lined with vehicles belonging to mostly Eads senior citizens, who were attending their monthly dinner and business meeting led by officers, Sylvia Weeks, Dana Brown, and Joyce Berry. Ladies had made five kinds of soups that we enjoyed with sandwiches, sides, and a large tempting array of delicious desserts. The sandwich I keep remembering are the ones Gail Voss made of ground buffalo that she had roasted. It was from the buffalo meat that her son, Brett Rusher, had sent home with his daughter, Cally. Some ladies also made turkey salad sandwiches and dainty egg salad sandwiches. We appreciated all the ladies who made the different soups. That included potato, broccoli cheese, tortilla, beef chili, and Tuscany soups. We remind you to mark your calendar for March 6 for the brunch at 10:00 a.m., and the noon dinner March 20. Card players meet at 6:00 p.m. Tuesdays.

After Areta Blooding-Laird escorted me to Prairie Pines Assisted Living Community, I had such a good time visiting with friends and residents. It was great to see Lavelle Kelly, who moved home to Eads from Texas. Verna Ebright was sitting by the fireplace. Pat Benner Roper showed us her lovely room and collections of teddy bears and lovely antique furniture. Her room looked like a photo in Better Homes and Garden magazine. I felt guilty. It is difficult to move from 13 rooms into one space, but I am happy and satisfied in my new home. I saw Mary Marble, who is doing well at age 99 years. It was so good to see Bob Almsbaugh, who was sitting at a table especially set up for him to do his wood tooling art projects. We saw a new lady from Lamar moving in. We didn’t have time to visit Don and Esther McCoin, who we are fond of, but it was their nap time, too. I was pleased to see staff worker Tristen Sheridan, and to get a greeting from former Sheriff Casey Sheridan. Staffer Brandi Thompson served us chocolate cookies right out of the oven. It is a hospitable place to be.

Wednesday afternoon, we had such an enjoyable time with visits from our adopted grandchildren from the Eads third grade class. We watched them color butterflies for a hanging mobile, put puzzles together, visit with us, and enjoy sacks of popcorn. Their teacher is Charlene Gifford, who arranged this program many years ago. In fact, I heard Registered Nurse Alyssa Eder tell Mrs. Gifford some memories about her adopted grandparents, which I estimate was about 16-20 years ago. Alyssa’s grandparent ladies were June Wilcox and Ida Weber, who were very dear to me also. The children are well behaved and such a joy to observe.

Be well, and enjoy the warm days we have been having.