MOM’S MEMOIRS – IRENE LOUISE (NEE KUCKKAN) MUELLER
(Continued)
Mom’s Autobiography – Chapter 70 – In Book, Page 168
Thanksgiving – 2007, Families in Wichita, Kansas and Orlando, Florida, Matt Mueller’s 19th Birthday, Tim Makes Magazine Racks for Jenny and Julia, Christmas – 2007, Memoir Gifts, Snow, Snow, and More Snow, Weilands in Watertown on January 2, 2008, More “Pebbles From The ROC”, Celebrating Tom Pasch’s 26th Birthday. Mom’s Daily Times “Love At First Sight Endures After 55 Years”
THANKSGIVING – NOVEMBER 22, 2007
Oh, how very thankful all of us should be – that God has blessed us so richly through all the years. We gathered together to ask the Lord’s blessing first at St. Mark’s where we heard another inspirational and comforting sermon. We then all went to Sue and Tim’s home for the Thanksgiving dinner. The centerpiece which Sue made was so creative, and the turkey dinner with all the trimmings delicious.
BELOVED FAMILIES IN WICHITA, KANSAS, AND ORLANDO, FLORIDA
We are not able to be with our granddaughter, Cary, her husband, Grant (Anderson), their four children, Ben, Aiden, Mason, and Theron, who live in Wichita, Kansas, because of distance. Also, for the same reason we are not able to see our son, Dick, his wife, Wanda, Kelly, Ismael (Caban) Christina, Alya, JONATHAN JOSEPH CABAN, BORN NOVEMBER 28, 2007, and Christopher, who live in Orlando, Florida. How we wish we could just hop on a plane and fly to Wichita and Orlando to see all of them!
They are all so precious to us. They are all in our prayers.
DECEMBER 1, 2007 – MATT’S 19TH BIRTHDAY
We celebrated Matt’s birthday at the Ponderosa on Church Street in Watertown. Sue, Tim, Jenny, Kevin, Joshua, Jonah, Conner, Timmy, Chris, Julie, Matt, Joanne and Jerry Brandt, and we were there. Then we went to Sue and Tim’s home, and Holly Weiss, Matt’s girlfriend, joined us. Matt opened many wonderful gifts, one of which was made with love by Dick, his grandfather – a squirrel feeder. The squirrel goes into a glass jar to eat sunflower seed. It is fun to watch them. There are pictures of little Conner sitting in a high chair, watching everything that is going on.
TIM MAKES MAGAZINE RACKS FOR JENNY AND JULIE
Tim had the idea to make magazine racks for Christmas for his daughters, so he came over to our home to use Dick’s huge radial arm saw which Dave and Carole Roberts (members of his in Crystal Lake, Illinois) had given him. It’s truly amazing to see what both Dick and Tim can do with wood. They are talented!
JESUS LOVES YOU – ST. JOHN’S LUTHERAN – ST. LUKE’S LUTHERAN – ST. MARK’S LUTHERAN – TRINITY LUTHERAN – CELEBRATE CHRISTMAS WITH US
Above is what was written on a sign overlooking central Main Street in Watertown. It warms our hearts to see that we “are not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ”.
CHRISTMAS – 2007
Of course, all of us attended all of the wonderful services at St. Mark’s and St. John’s churches celebrating the birth of Jesus. Afterwards, we again gathered at Sue and Tim’s home for a delicious, sensational meal and opening of gifts. We were not forgotten, even though our children had given us the magnificent gift on December 31, 2006, of a cruise to the Caribbean January 28, 2008 – February 2, 2008. Dick got a brightly colored Chicago Bears birdhouse, and I got two very informational, colorful, and interesting bird books. They are called THE BIRD SONGS – ANTHOLOGY – 200 BIRDS FROM NORTH AMERICA AND BEYOND by Les Belensky. They are amazing books. By pressing buttons, we can hear audio of every bird call. The grandchildren know that we love birds. The Poston children loved their gifts, among which was a Darth Vader mask for Joshua. Jenny and Julie were ecstatic about the wonderful magazine racks which their father, Tim, had made for them, and Timmy, Chris, and Matt were also ecstatic with the great gun racks their father, Tim, had made for them. Dick had made colorful spinning yo-yos which everyone had fun trying to make work. We gave Tim a Pheasant Collector Knife which we had bought in LaValle, Wisconsin, and we gave Sue a “Scarlett’s Green Dress” plate from the Gone With The Wind series. Both of them received a book containing DAD’S MEMOIRS and MOM’S MEMOIRS which Dick and I had put together for each one of our children, spouses, and their families.
DECEMBER 31, 2007 – SNOW, SNOW, AND MORE SNOW
Look at all that snow! Our mailbox is nearly covered with snow!
JANUARY 2, 2008
Sue, Jim, Jimmy, Karen, Brian, Becky, Gabe, and Laura came to celebrate Christmas with us. We were so happy to see them. They, too, had fun opening their gifts, and so did we. Sue, Jim, and families also received a book containing DAD’S MEMOIRS and MOM’S MEMOIRS. All of us then went to Sue and Tim’s home so we could be with them and their family. Games were played, and everyone loved playing with Jenny and Kevin’s Joshua, Jonah, and little baby, Conner, now over six months old.
Tim then took us to the ROC building (in my day part of the Globe Mill) on Water Street, Watertown, Wisconsin, so more playing of games like pool, ping pong, computer games, etc. could be done. Everyone had a lot of fun together. But then it was time for the Weilands and Klucks to go back home again. It was sad to see them go, but it was a blessing to be with them. “God be with them ‘til we meet again.”
FROM JANUARY 2008 ST. MARK’S EVANGELICAL LUTHERAN CHURCH “MESSENGER”
Pebbles From The ROC – Recently a family felt compelled to write the following letter about our Watertown Recreation and Outreach Center (THE ROC) for Youth. We felt it needed to be shared with all of you as it speaks volumes. Please note that the boy referred to as John, along with his family, is completely unchurched.
Dear Pastor Mueller and ROC Board,
These are some of the reasons our son John says he likes about going to the ROC. 1) John likes to hear God’s Word. 2) John likes to pray. 3) John enjoys playing the games. 4) John enjoys being with other kids. 5) John loves God and being at a place that promotes God. 6) John likes the pizza. 7) Pastor Mueller is very nice to John, and John likes P.T. (Pastor Mueller), too. 8) John says he is happy at the ROC.
As John’s parents we are delighted that John enjoys the ROC. We feel it is a safe and rewarding environment for John, and it is nice he can come with his brother. Pastor Mueller has shown nothing but wonderful and caring traits for all of our children. John has been held back in school and elsewhere because of his autism and other disabilities such as his kidney disease and asthma and his young heart surgery. John rarely fits in anywhere, as he has a hard time maintaining most anything, especially friendships. John is a wonderful, loving child who is accepted by few. He has been bullied, threatened, and such. John is also very gullible and easily misled by others. Since at the Jr. High, he has been told if he beats up kids, he can be in a gang and he thinks that is normal and good because he is so literal. We want to only see John happy and able to be part of somewhere safe and where he feels a part of something good. It is so good to see John happy and we feel the ROC surroundings help him in so many ways. Thank you.”
JANUARY 3, 2008 – CELEBRATING TOM’S BIRTHDAY
We all gathered at Sue and Tim’s home to celebrate Tom’s 26th birthday. There was a beautiful, delicious, special, homemade Elmo cake which said, “Happy Birthday, Tom”. Again, we all had a great time together. Conner, now six months old, looked on with “bug eyes” (Dick says).
JANUARY 16, 2008 – WATERTOWN DAILY TIMES ARTICLE – “LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT ENDURES AFTER 55 YEARS”
The Watertown Daily Times asked for articles and pictures of weddings and anniversaries for its Bridal Section. This is what I wrote:
“It was love at first sight for Richard William Mueller and Irene Louise Kuckkan. He saw her walking up the sidewalk leading to Northwestern Preparatory School from his dorm window. She later saw him sitting in a dorm window playing with a hand puppet, and watching him cross from one classroom to another. “Dick” was 15 and Irene was 14.
This year the couple will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary.
Dick came to Young People’s Society at St. Mark’s and would walk Irene “Cookie” home many times. There were long walks to Riverside Park. Students at Northwestern Prep and College were not allowed to be engaged until they graduated from college. Dick gave Irene an engagement ring at the Schwabenhof Restaurant in Milwaukee. Students were not allowed to be married at the seminary in Thiensville. So Irene and Dick waited.
After four years of prep school, four years of college, and two years of seminary, Dick and some of his classmates, who also waited with their fiancées, went to Professor Lawrenz one year before they graduated and bravely asked permission to be married. And they got it.
To maintain a strong marriage, Irene said, “It takes a common faith based on the teachings of the Bible and such an enduring love for each other that one is willing to die for the other. Worship and pray together. Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry. Kiss and make up”.
Dick loves Irene’s dedication to him, his work, and their family. Irene admires Dick’s zeal for his work, and his caring, unselfish, smiling, and friendly attitude toward her, their family, and others.
A retired pastor, Dick says: “When you meet Irene, five minutes later you will know our whole life’s history”. Irene loves it when Dick surprises her with “little somethings”.
Cookie is the daughter of Henry and Frances Kuckkan, and Dick is the son of the Rev. Richard William Mueller, Sr. and Helen Mueller. Wedding vows were said June 7, 1953, at St. Mark’s Evangelical Lutheran Church, Watertown, Wisconsin. Performing the ceremony were the Rev. Gerhard Redlin and Dick’s father.
Attending the couple were Janet Lee (Kuckkan) DeVries of Riverside, California, flower girl, Helen (Mueller) Kellberg, and the late Deloris (Luedtke) Hoenecke, Robert Hoenecke, and Richard Yecke.
Cookie and Dick have six children: Deborah Wilson of Colgate, Wisconsin, Richard Mueller of Orlando, Florida, the Rev. Timothy Mueller of Watertown, Wisconsin, Susan Weiland of Merrill, Wisconsin, Stephanie Heitsch of Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Steven Mueller of West Bend. There are 20 grandchildren and 19 great grandchildren.”
I submitted two pictures – our wedding picture, and a picture which had been taken on our 50th anniversary celebration at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church, Medford, Wisconsin.