Two Noras: October 25, 1914 and October 25, 2021

Nora Bauer: Sunday, October 25, 1914

Was very nice out today altho a little chilly. Madeline, Helen, and I were out walking this afternoon. Played cards this evening. 

Nora Spitznogle: Monday, October 25, 2021

Worked at Second Helpings today. Attended celebration of life for friend. Drove to Farm to help Annie pack, she's heading home tomorrow.  

It sounds like Grandma Nora had a lovely day. You may remember Madeline and Helen as classmates of Nora's. 

I took the Formica table from the attic to work. It fits perfectly in office. It will be the perfect place to have one-on-one meetings and to sign letters and such. 

I'm not sure how I met Mary, but I really got to know her as a regular customer at CATH coffeehouse. Not only is Mary always cheerful - and not many folks are before they've had their morning coffee - she always is genuinely interested in how you are.

My very favorite thing about Mary - and there are a whole pickup truck full - was her love and dedication to her partner. For the last 20 years whenever I asked how Beth was, Mary replied with a smile, "beautiful." Beth died last month after a long-long battle with MS. The celebration of her wonderful life was this evening. It was lovely to share Beth stories and see friends. To read more about Mary - and Beth, click here. 

I went to the Farm to hang out with Annie and help her pack. One of the fun things about poking in the nooks and crannies of the house is finding bits of money that Dad stashed away. It's mostly been rolls of half dollars and 1976 quarters. I found a twenty in a vase and a few dollars here and there. Last summer Dad was shaken - he said that someone had stolen $200 from the pie safe. He always kept cash there to pay the cleaning woman and such. I helped him look and didn't find it and quite frankly, thought he was mistaken. 

We'd been through the pie safe drawers several times looking for important papers. I was taking a last pass to finally empty the drawers and opened an envelope from the Tilley hat company that I've looked at at least a dozen times in the last few months - I thought it just held a replacement bale for his favorite hat. I pulled the string out and $200 slipped out also. Dad much have stuck it in the wrong envelope. I hate that he thought that someone stole from him and I hate that I doubted him. 

I was doing the same thing with the a drawer in the buffet in the living room and found these envelopes. 

They held about twenty years of his winnings from the Boone County Fair. He loved entering the fair and often won a sweepstakes ribbon - which some years paid as much as $5 and other years $2. I divvied up the money four ways, using the little brown envelopes...the first time I've cried during this project. 

I helped Annie pack - I sure will miss her...