As Josephine, now 96, told us about her trip down the Grand Canyon on the back of a mule, her eyes dance. It took a whole day to go down. She and her group stayed the night, resting themselves and the mules, and then got an early start back out of the canyon the next morning.

“I also was a Harvey Girl,” she said. “The nuns always came to my table. They didn’t have any money for tips, but I liked them. They were fun. I think some of the girls were just there for the tips, but I liked my job, too.”

The strength and pioneer spirit is so obvious in Norma Laaser, 78. “I was just a stay-at-home mom,” she said. She cooked, sewed, gardened, did a lot of canning and cooking. The kids were involved.

“We had fun making candy. That was a special time. There was not much money. We had to save where we could, lots of mending and patching.”

Norma, your daughter wants me to tell about the very special poodle skirt you made for her when they were all the rage. You made hers so that the poodle was detachable. That was a very special skirt for her.

They were all still laughing over Marilyn’s visit from her 3-year-old great-great-grandson, wearing a cowboy outfit. He had told them about the baby pig he was holding in his lap when it had bit him. He announced, “Grandma, I have an attitude.”

“We all enjoyed him,” Marilyn said. “He was so serious.”

If you don’t happen to have someone in a nursing home right now, stop by and make a new friend. Nursing homes are full of such treasures.

Love you all and God bless each of you. Aunt Norie, P.O. Box 265, Tonganoxie, 66086.