Not everyone has the key to a Chevy mounted in a frame. In fact, I think I just might be the only person who would have such a thing, especially because the truck it belongs to doesn't even belong to me. But, I do have such a key. How it came into my possession is a story and a half.
My granddaughter Rachel and her family, including Jan, her mother in law, came to the cabin over the 4th of July weekend in 2007. As the weekend drew to a close, everyone was getting their things packed up and ready for the drive home. Rachel was packing for her kids and Kris, her husband was moving bags and suitcases around. Jan decided to move her truck a bit closer to the cabin to facilitate the packing process.
After a short while, I noticed Rachel, Kris and Jan standing around Jan's truck, peering into the windows and looking hopeless. I came outside to investigate and they shared with me that Jan had inadvertently left her keys in the ignition of the truck, and then locked the doors out of habit and shut the door with the keys hanging in the ignition, and the truck turned off.
We began considering the options. It was nearly 6pm on the last day of a holiday weekend. Our options were severely limited. Locksmiths were closed for the holidays. The nearest car dealership that could fabricate a new key for the car was over 10 miles away, and they were also closed for the holiday weekend. We were running out of time and ideas, short of smashing the car window. Jan had to get back to the Twin Cities for work the next day. No one wanted to break the window.
Kris stood staring at the ground, looking for anything that might trigger the conception of the perfect solution to this dire situation. All of a sudden, his eyes drifted over a spot on the sand and immediately snapped back to where they'd been a second before.
"What's this?" As he pointed to a bright speck on the ground, he was already moving toward it.
On the ground immediately next to the rear left tire of the truck was an unscuffed and completely new-looking car key for a Chevrolet. He picked it up. It was unadorned with key chain or other decoration.
Everyone swore they'd never seen it before, and we'd been standing around looking this way and that for over thirty minutes, trying to find a way into the truck. Jan did not recognize it, it wasn't hers. No one else present drove a Chevy. There wasn't any way for the key to be on the ground, but there it was, now in Kris's hand.
I told him to try it in the door. After all, if it didn't work, we wouldn't be any worse off than we already were. Kris stuck the key in the door lock and surprisingly, it slid right in. But, we were heartbroken to find that it wouldn't turn in the lock. More out of frustration than anything else, I told him to try it on the passenger side door. He looked at me skeptically and walked around the truck to try it, knowing that it wouldn't work. Like the driver door, the key went in, but when Kris gave it a twist, the door unlocked.
We all stood in the yard staring at each other and at the truck, and then at the key. I don't remember who talked first or what they said, but everyone knew that what just happened was beyond rational explanation. I know that the Lord works in mysterious ways, but that day, He gave us a key to a locked car, and everyone was able to return home according to plan. Jan agreed; the key was put there by a higher power.
She gave the key to me as a reminder of what we witnessed that July afternoon, and that's why I have the key to a Chevy mounted in a frame.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Photo and Another Joke
Hi People,
Did you all see my picture? Pretty nice for an old man, eh? Talking about old, there is an older doctor that lost his hearing. He placed his stethoscope on the patient’s chest and said, “I don’t hear anything. I think you’re dead.” Sound familiar?
Dr. Ray
Did you all see my picture? Pretty nice for an old man, eh? Talking about old, there is an older doctor that lost his hearing. He placed his stethoscope on the patient’s chest and said, “I don’t hear anything. I think you’re dead.” Sound familiar?
Dr. Ray
Thursday, March 19, 2009
Let Me Call You Sweetheart
One day about 2 months after we met, Dorothy told me she had plans to go visit her grandparents for a whole week. She had to go all the way to Ponca City, Oklahoma, and she was going by bus. I immediately became concerned. Traveling by bus in 1943 was similar to traveling by bus today. It was a bit more popular, but the people on the bus then were as seedy as they can be today, and the trip would have taken about 24 full hours.
Dorothy's grandmother, Nora, had to provide all the care for her bed-ridden grandfather, who had been paralyzed as the result of a beating he received at the hands of a hitchhiker. In those days, hitchhiking was a fairly common thing, but criminals often used it as a method of getting from one place to another.So even though the bus was safer than hitchhiking, or even picking up a hitchhiker, I still felt justified in my concern. I asked her for the address so I could write to her while she was gone. She gave it to me and I felt a little better about the whole affair.
I saw her nearly every day at the hospital, and being apart for a week felt like a lifetime, at that point. I began writing a letter to her, and I realized, I'd only known her a bit more than a month and I didn't have a lot to say. But, I did have one thing I wanted to tell her, that I thought of her as my sweetheart. So I wrote that down. I'd been wanting to say that for a while, but at the hospital it seemed a little out of place, and that was mainly where we saw each other. This was a good opportunity, and I was pretty sure she felt the same way. I closed the letter off by asking her if she thought that was OK.
My instinct was right. She returned home and our romance moved to a higher level. It seems to be true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Dorothy's grandmother, Nora, had to provide all the care for her bed-ridden grandfather, who had been paralyzed as the result of a beating he received at the hands of a hitchhiker. In those days, hitchhiking was a fairly common thing, but criminals often used it as a method of getting from one place to another.So even though the bus was safer than hitchhiking, or even picking up a hitchhiker, I still felt justified in my concern. I asked her for the address so I could write to her while she was gone. She gave it to me and I felt a little better about the whole affair.
I saw her nearly every day at the hospital, and being apart for a week felt like a lifetime, at that point. I began writing a letter to her, and I realized, I'd only known her a bit more than a month and I didn't have a lot to say. But, I did have one thing I wanted to tell her, that I thought of her as my sweetheart. So I wrote that down. I'd been wanting to say that for a while, but at the hospital it seemed a little out of place, and that was mainly where we saw each other. This was a good opportunity, and I was pretty sure she felt the same way. I closed the letter off by asking her if she thought that was OK.
My instinct was right. She returned home and our romance moved to a higher level. It seems to be true that absence makes the heart grow fonder.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Savings Plans
To all my friends where ever you are-
With all this turmoil about various funds and markets going up and down, I believe it's time for a little humor. Listen to this.
There is this guy on a bicycle going down the street in his neighborhood, when he sees a for sale sign on a 2 flat building. He turns his bike around and stops to see the owner of the building. He inquires about the price, and he is told it is $100,000.00. He answers that he will buy it, and that he will be right back with the money. He leaves, and a short time later he is back on his bicycle carrying a mattress on his back. He brings the mattress into the house, they start to count the money. The owner says "Hey, there's only $80,ooo.oo in here." The man says,"Shucks, I brought the wrong mattress."
So all of you, remember to bring the right mattress.
So long,
Dr. Ray
With all this turmoil about various funds and markets going up and down, I believe it's time for a little humor. Listen to this.
There is this guy on a bicycle going down the street in his neighborhood, when he sees a for sale sign on a 2 flat building. He turns his bike around and stops to see the owner of the building. He inquires about the price, and he is told it is $100,000.00. He answers that he will buy it, and that he will be right back with the money. He leaves, and a short time later he is back on his bicycle carrying a mattress on his back. He brings the mattress into the house, they start to count the money. The owner says "Hey, there's only $80,ooo.oo in here." The man says,"Shucks, I brought the wrong mattress."
So all of you, remember to bring the right mattress.
So long,
Dr. Ray
Monday, March 9, 2009
Welcome!
Greetings to all from a senior-senior member of humanity. My life's work was being a Family Medical Doctor in solo practice for over 30 years in the Chicago Suburban area. I have to emphasize solo practice, because that means 24/7 all year long. The only break in that schedule was some periodic rest, i.e. vacation. After I retired from my practice, my wife and I moved to Minocqua, Wisconsin. I began writing short news items that the local paper was kind enough to print. Very often, those articles were accompanied by a photo of me, so I made a lot of friends in the Minocqua area. I also sang in the local Barbershop Chorus for over 21 years. I've been interested in religion and how it affects people's lives for nearly my whole life.
My life has changed drastically in the past few months. I had never typed a single letter before deciding to write some certain things for a book, but things have become so unbelievably interesting and exciting that I decided I needed to learn something new.
Doctor Broz
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
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