The surprises and turns of life

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"The news just gets funnier with time," that was the headline that caught my eye as I was perusing some issues from 10 years ago this summer.

The story below it looks to be a column I wrote for this very space back in August 1998. And, judging by the topic, I would say that I had just returned from a little one of our annual family vacation times at Clear Lake.

A lot has changed in the last decade of my life, but I still enjoy spending an August day cruising the antique stores of Clear Lake or sunning myself while lounging all afternoon on the beach. And, I am glad to say, I don't think that will ever change.

On that 1998 trip to the lake, I must have picked up a few of the old magazines and newspapers that my husband would say now clutters up our attic. But trash and/or treasure - as we all know - is all in the eye of the beholder.

One of the treasures I latched on to that day was a June 8, 1944, edition of the old Des Moines Tribune. It was, and is, a real treasure filled with stories of the D-Day invasion just as it was unfolding. History books have the advantage of hindsight to tell a story, but newspapers give a better account for what the people of the time were experiencing as a particular event was happening. Reading about D-Day from a writer who parachuted in with the troops, typewriter strapped to his back, and imagining how important that news was to the readers of 1944 was humbling.

On a much lighter note, the same paper featured an ad that offered a $2.98 special on all-wool men's swim trunks from Sears Roebuck. If only I could find a pair of those for the guy who demanded I throw away his swim trunks because they were the only ones we could find in the store at the time, but were too stupid looking to be seen in anywhere people might actually know him. I have to say, for a guy who really doesn't judge a book by his cover, he really hated those swim trunks. But still, I'm thinking wool swim trunks would not be anyone's idea of comfort. (And, no, I did not throw them away - yet.)

But I guess the news that was most amusing to me from that old column came from a 1937 issue of Wallaces Farmer. I may not even have it anymore, as it appears that I had picked it up for a certain bride-to-be of the time, Mrs. Gilbert, we'll call her.

She was due to be married before the end of the millennium and, I am happy to report, has been happily settled down ever since. Although, the old column reminded me that, for some reason or another, I kept getting thrown out of the wedding. As I wrote at the time, it had happened twice already at the time and the wedding was still months away. Never fear, I was the maid of honor that day. Still, it's too bad that when I had the chance I never threatened her the same way. (Aren't sisters fun!)

As I looked at all those old issues, I realized that my old friends Gilbert and Stoagie used to make more frequent appearances in this column. However, as with all celebrities, they grew tired of the limelight and perhaps are grateful for a little less attention as the years go by. Still, my husband and I joined Gilbert, Stoagie, and a whole crew of other Kamrarites out for dinner recently, so never fear that old friendships are not being maintained.

Now, getting back to the Wallaces Farmer and their advice for brides. Here's what that publication had to say back in 1937:

"Just because a girl has become the wife of a farmer, there is somehow the expectation that she will raise chickens, and tend to a garden, in addition to her housekeeping."

I was doubting, in the column a decade ago, that the future Mrs. Gilbert would be much of a chicken-keeper. But, given my current situation, I am going to have to hunt down that old publication and find out more. Trust me, some things have not changed since 1937.

Funny how things work out, isn't it.

Amazing the surprises life shows us.

Now here I am, regularly keeping readers updated on our little flock of girls, the laying hens.

There is a sweet thing about life in that it sometimes tends to come full circle in ways that surprise us.

Ten years ago, I couldn't have imagined how life would change in the years that then lay ahead of me.

It's good when life works out that way. Here's wishing many happy surprises along the way.