98 in 11 (My Aunt Eve)

Aunt Eve.

1913 was not a year historians talk about often as only a few “major” news events occurred.

• Woodrow Wilson succeeded William Howard Taft as the 28th President of the United States.
• President Wilson would later trigger the explosion of the Gamboa Dike, ending construction on the Panama Canal.
• The modern zipper is invented.

Morgan Evea with her Great, Great Aunt Eve in 2007, Eve's 95th birthday.

But it was on this date, June 8, in 1913, Evea Krueger was born.

Later, she would marry Lawrence and move to Fairbank. She already was a beautician. She would continue that career until she was well into her 90s. Most of that time, she was a widow as Lawrence died more than 40 years ago.

Eve Stainbrook took care of many women of northeast Iowa inside her beauty salon just off Main Street in Fairbank. We recently had to sell the shop, move her from the farm and into assisted care. (That sentence is full of family stories to be told by mother and Aunt Lynda who did the lion’s share of work in clearing Eve’s house for sale).

Eve with some of her nieces and nephews following Edith's funeral. September 7, 2010.

Her remaining sister, Edith, died in August of 2010. Eve’s other siblings, Thomas Krueger, Delmar Krueger and Dorothy Krueger (Yeager) Lehmann already have passed. Dorthy is my father’s mother for those of you trying to make the connection. Eve is my Great Aunt.

Many of her friends and even customers have passed, too.

She’s a woman with more spark than a 4th of July display. Even the Energizer Bunny asks her to slow down. Eve is as independent as they come. If she had her way, she would still be cutting hair at 98. She was still trying to cut hair at 95 for Pete’s sake. She cared for our family and we care about her.

Kent taking his Aunt Eve to the truck for the ride south.

I grew up listening to my father engage in heavy conversation with two people. Dew Peters and Eve Stainbrook. My dad would never yell at his Aunt (ok, maybe that’s sugar-coated a bit).

My parents have done a lot of care for her over the years and for that, we are grateful. Eve is now in the East Town Care Center in Independence. She’s had a rough few months but recently has gained back some of that spark.

Eve, Happy Birthday. I hope we get to write “99 in 12″ next year. I’m already working on the calendar to give you at Christmas.

Day 9 – Indefinite Ending

We are now in a holding pattern.

Amy is another Iowan stuck in Europe because of the Iceland volcano. And it looks like it will stay that way for a while. Sunday was an emotional day as we all found out Amy will be staying in Holland for an indefinite amount of time. Her Monday flight is already cancelled and then it looked like a Thursday departure from Spain after a 17 hour car ride. Now that’s on hold with a slight chance of who knows when she’ll return. She’s on Uncle John’s dime, so they are paying for all of this financially and I think the rest of us are paying emotionally. Deere’s got a few other there now, so Amy’s not alone. Here traveling party is 3. They will head back to Horst and begin another week.

We have a calm week on the docket here. But, a week from today is Noah’s 4th birthday.

Levi and Noah return from church with all smiles.

Sunday was filled of fun in Jesup including a trip to American Lutheran Church. Pastor Dawn is so good at remembering the names of children. Noah has likely been in my home church 6 times over his 4 years of life. But she remembers Noah’s name without prompting each time. A gift for the congregation indeed. We got to see a few people who knew me as a kid and see how Noah is the same as his father. Both boys were well-behaved, so that was a relief.

Then we came home to the farm and packed up all the stuff we travel with. I took my time as my Aunt Lynda, cousin Laura and friend Kristin were making the trip from Jefferson. The three of them were headed to (Great) Aunt Eve’s house for a little exploring of the stuff in there. Kristin has fun looking for hidden treasures. Here’s a look at what she likes to do as chronicled on her blog.

Noah is ready to hit the ball out of the park.

Noah and I got a little one on one time to play some baseball. He likes to play and is getting better. A little running around gets his blood going and hopefully worn out quicker. Plus Levi needed to spend time inside charming everyone again.

Noah’s throwing has improved and he was cracking dad up with his ability to shake off the catcher’s signals with a nod of the head ‘no’ and ‘yes’. Then Dad recited the story of how I created Busch and Yeager Stadium in the backyard when I was a kid. Complete with the detail of the backstop I made, painted disc blades for bases and even a pitcher’s mound. That was a great field. Third base was always exciting, that’s usually where the bee hive was in the grass.

Levi and Noah sleep on the trip home.

As the three of them will explored, the boys and I hit the road. By La Porte City, Levi was out and Noah was all but asleep. Levi slept the entire 2 hour trip home. Good for him to nap that long, bad that he stayed up until almost 9 tonight. Noah’s nap also extended his day until nearly 830. It is ok, we just have fun together while awake.

And the Yeager Boys Home Alone II continues.

Day 8 – And Now, Week 2

Day 7 was to be the end of Yeager Boys Home Alone II. Amy’s 7-day trip to Holland was to end for her boss Gary. The trip had gone smooth, very smooth, the two remarked at dinner Wednesday night while in Germany. You can do that in Europe, run to another country and come back and not think twice about it.

That changed overnight Wednesday as a volcano in Iceland created the worst air travel conditions since 9-11. Virtually every flight west from Europe has been cancelled going on 3 days.

The comments this blog has received included, “really, stuck in Europe, on the company dime?” “Ah, too bad.” Or, “I can think of worse places to be stuck than in Amsterdam.” All respect to Coffeyville, Kansas, but being stuck in Amsterdam is better than being stuck in Coffeyville.

Right now, she’s scheduled to take a flight Monday from Amsterdam. I’m not holding my breath. Her travelling party will likely go back to the factory for a few days of work if Monday doesn’t work to fly home.

That doesn’t make it any easier for Amy when she wants to be home. So do the 2 others she’s travelling with and the 3 more added today, also trying to get back to Des Moines.

Levi and Noah hanging at Grandma's.

She wants to see these two.

We are fine. We’ve survived Day 3, when blood came running out of Noah’s nose (story on Day 4), to Days 1, 2, and 5 when Levi decided sleeping wasn’t for him.

We’ve taken this show’s encore on the road. I guess Whitesnake couldn’t make the weekend show, so we’re being held over.

Sunset over Shady Grove

The travelling road show is in Shady Grove for a few days. If you’re a burglar reading this, the garage code is 1234. My address is 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. Oh, and the dog only took 4 arms last year. He must be getting milder since I adopted him from Michael Vick.

Levi slept the entire way north, so he was nowhere close to going to bed. Noah was just excited to be wound up by Farmer Papa. When the finally went to sleep, the boys did well.

Noah tries on Lawrence's Army hat.

Our day was full of distractions, including a trip to Aunt Eve’s place in Fairbank. The soon to be 97-year-old left the farm in the fall of 2009 and now we’re sorting through the house. Actually, my mother is sorting, pitching, burning, finding and discovering what living in the same house since 1947 looks like. Mom and Aunt Lynda think they’ve spent at least 6 weeks working in that house. Mom has done countless other things to get Eve to doctors, specialists and now her new living arrangements in Independence.

Noah and Farmer Papa talk farming. Kent gives no bull. Yeah. Right.

Dad started planting corn Friday, so he was back in the field Saturday. So Noah got to see Farmer Papa in action.

And during the afternoon we got to watch the St. Louis Cardinals play the New York Mets. We started watching and Dad came in for a bit and left about the 5th inning. He went out to plant some corn. He came back around 8 and had planted 35 acres with his little 8-row planter. The game was still not over.

The near 7 hour contest is finally done. For the record, the flight from Amsterdam to Minneapolis is 9 hours. She would be almost home in that time.