Thanks to those
who came before me.
Jack (John) Cooper, my father’s dad: good with horses—drove
stage coach and freight wagons, worked in sawmills on the coasts of Washington
and Oregon, talented at math and a clever card player, car salesman, plus many
other talents—truly a jack of all trades.
Mary Lucinda Hendricks, my father’s mom: grew up on farms cultivated out of the
sagebrush of Idaho
in the early 1900’s. She didn’t have a lot of opportunity for schooling but was
a quick learner and hard worker. She was
hired as a cook for wealthy families.
Her baking and pie making were legend.
Ralph Collings, my mom’s dad: carpenter, skilled mechanic,
farmer, beekeeper, sheared and raised prize winning sheep.
Nellie Elida Hunt, my mom’s mother:
School teacher,
writer, homemaker and mother. Raised all
but two or her eight children through the deepest part of the Great Depression.
Lover of gardens and literature.
Lindell Cooper, my dad:
Horseman,
mechanic, dairyman, farmer. Started
married life with a two-room house and 40 acres and retired owning two hundred
acres of prime farm land and a dairy. All four of his children went to college.
Blanche Collings, my mother: Nurse,
homemaker, gardener, writer, lover of literature and travel. Tended to the needs of all the animals on
their farm, milked cows and raised four kids.
Thanks also to
those who have put their lives on the line to defend the freedoms of the world
such as:
My Uncle Ward Collings, U.S. Navy—World War II
Uncle Ralph W. Collings, U.S. Army—World War
II served in Australia
Uncle Joe—John Josiah Cooper, U.S. Army World
War II, Philippines.
Gordon J. Black, my husband and father of our
children—and my brother, John L. Cooper, both served in the U.S. Sixth Army out of Fort Lewis, Washington
during the Vietnam War.
To all who have
come before us to pave the way, to those we love who have gone too soon and to
all those who preserve our liberties—on this Memorial Day—THANK YOU.
Who is on your list of people to honor?
