Don’t believe everything you read.

Weighing on what we learned from Betty Hockett’s instruction on writing our life story, we were asked to write a memory. Here’s mine. Oh—first a head’s up:  The pictures I include at the end might be a bit disturbing.

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DON’T THINK it wasn’t funny when my dad talked about the day he was murdered. By the time he could talk again, it was funny. However, his assault was anything but!

Up in Michigan, Paul and I were handing out Halloween candy to a steady stream of costumed visitors when a call came from my brother in Florida, informing us that our 84-year-old dad had been robbed, beaten, and left for dead in a downtown Jacksonville post office. His assailant had straddled him and beat his face into a terrazzo floor. Somehow Dad managed to get himself up and out to his locked car, choose the right key on his ring, and drive himself the wrong way down a one-way street to First Baptist Church several blocks away. The men who normally greeted Carl Nill outside the church could recognize only the car, not the driver, whose collective facial features resembled a mangled basketball. Emergency transportation quickly delivered Dad to a nearby hospital, where surgeons pieced together his fully fractured face.

Meanwhile, I made fast preparations to leave my family for another unknown stretch of time. Only five months earlier I had made numerous trip to Florida to help with Mother’s care during her final illness. So a pattern for departure had been well established.

The intensive care waiting room became my home for the next two weeks. Every few hours hospital rules allowed us ten minutes in Dad’s room. For the first few days we talked mainly to the doctors and nurses, but then Dad showed signs of wanting to communicate. His tracheotomy and the wires holding his face together limited his options. So with hand motions he asked for a pad of paper and a pen. Did he have unaddressed pain? Did he need to vent anger about his situation? Did he want to tell us he was glad we were there? None of these. He wanted to ask his doctors and nurses if they know the Lord, do they go to church, would they like to hear about Jesus?

Dad recovered, though never fully. One eye healed lower than the other, causing double vision. He had to stop driving, curtailing his independence. It would have been reasonable for him to become fearful as a result of his experience. Or angry. Or self-centered. But it did not alter his spirit one iota. He talked about his “murder” matter-of-factly, accepting it in the same way he accepted the death of his wife of 50 years. His lifelong resourcefulness served him well, which simply means he found just as much mischief after that fateful Halloween night as before. And in Job-like fashion, through two major losses, Dad demonstrated his wholehearted belief and confidence in God’s goodness.

My parents on their 50th anniversary. Mother died 5 months later.

One day after surgery.

Up and about.

Back at his home, still wired shut. The button above his right eye holds the end of the wire they would eventually pull out. Eek.

Eight years later and two days before he left this earth. Giving me the V-for-VICTORY sign, a trademark throughout his life.

Somehow our listmaking continued to include “F-STV”—for old-time’s sake. Last weekend, while I was at the coast for women’s retreat, Mauri sent me a “telling” picture:

Well, what’da’ya’ know?

Actually, we had decided together, so the F-STV wasn’t a surprise. However, I did make surprised note of yet another dog bed on the cart. See it? Let’s see, this makes #6. No dog of ours will sleep on crummy old carpet. No, no.

You get the idea.

As I’ve expressed before, I like this a lot!

He isn’t posing; he really had to take care of something important before we headed out for lunch.

Have I mentioned how much fun it is having granddaughters who will play games with me? 

Marissa, Bailey, Paul, Cassidy, Addison—beloved grands!

And their still-sane parents.

White-hanky farewell #1 (holding down the fort).

White-hanky farewell #2 (dropped off at choir practice).

And a sweet hug farewell as we head for home. She white-hankied us too, but I like this better.

Bailey’s baseball practice (outdoors, you’ll notice). He’s the one with the gold bat.

Then we moved on to…

Addison’s basketball game. Her team won, with our granddaughter making half of the points. Um, the score? 6/3. Okay, so they have a little room for improvement. But a win’s a win.

After lunch we headed out again, this time to watch…

Cassidy cheer with her squad.

After all this exercise, we needed fuel. So off to Pei Wei for supper and one more 5th birthday celebration for…

Paul. And then back home again for some more sports:

Looks like we’ll top off our sporty day with a big win over NC for our Dukies. Gimme a “D”! “U”! “K”! “E”!

Actually I’m quite happy to make crafts with my dear granddaughter. In fact, we have enough history now to be able to look through the book and remember together which ones we’ve made. Here’s this visit’s craft choice:

And here’s our version:

Not exactly like the picture, but close enough.

We couldn’t not go there for lunch.

No complaints from Paul, who turned 5 on Monday.

The dinner hour came and we had the whole tribe along.

It was the happenin’ place to be! 

Joseph, the young man on the right, was a toddler when I first met him. And we’re particularly fond of his extended family. So of course we wouldn’t want to miss seeing him play the part of Mr. Bingley in our beloved Pride and Prejudice at the local high school. Young friend Zach, also a long-time acquaintance, played the role of Mr. Gardiner, the Bennet sisters’ uncle (no pic, sorry).

On Thursday another young friend, Eliana, came to the office with her mom to ask if we’d post this:

Eli plays the role of Hadassah (who becomes Queen Esther), so of course we wouldn’t want to miss that! Besides, my friend Lisa and I are working our way through Beth Moore’s Bible study on the book of Esther. So off the three of us went to the Alpenrose Dairy Opera House!

Here’s our little star:

We were quite amazed by the scope of this production: the huge cast, the costumes, and the delightfully light-hearted script. I mean, really, can you find fault with a biblically based theater production that includes a song titled “I Was Born to Be a Eunuch,” choreographed Rockettes style?

A little half-time refreshment…

…and a moment to admire the nearly full moon as it peeked through an opening in the cloudy sky.

Nearing 10:30 (!) we took our time exiting the opera house and were rewarded by this:

A star is born!

Yesterday I read Liz Wood’s blogpost about “thick, chewy granola bars,” and I knew they’d be my next adventure in eating. I adapted her recipe (attributed to Smitten Kitchen) to accommodate what I’m allowed to eat these days. This time I didn’t drive the 27-mile round trip to get organic ingredients (though we keep organic butter and eggs on hand), rationalizing my purchase at the store mere blocks from home would qualify as “eating local.”

The result is quite a bit crumblier than Liz’s, but, oh, my, are they tasty! The thick, chewy granola bars are safely stored away in individual sandwich bags in the freezer—but I’m pretty sure I won’t forget.

So if you’re up for a healthy eating adventure, here’s my altered recipe:

Thick, Chewy Granola Bars

Ingredients: 1 2/3 c rolled oats; 1/2 c honey; 1/3 c oat flour; 1/2 t salt; 1/4 t ground cinnamon; 2 to 3 c dried fruits and nuts*; 1/3 c almond butter; 1 t vanilla extract; 6 T melted organic butter; 1/4 c maple syrup; 1 T water

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line an 8.5 x 8.5 x 2.5 pan in one direction with parchment paper, allowing it to go up the opposing sides. Lightly grease the parchment paper and the exposed pan, or coat with a non-stick spray.

Stir together all the dry ingredients, including the fruit and nuts. In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, melted butter or oil, liquid sweeteners and water. Toss the wet ingredients with the dry (and almond butter) until the mixture is evenly crumbly. Spread in the prepared pan, pressing firmly.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes until they’re brown around the edges.

Cool completely in the pan on a cooling rack. Cut into squares. To store, wrap the bars individually in plastic or stack them in an air-tight container. They freeze well.

*Fruit/nut suggestions: dried cranberries, apricots, pecans, sunflower seeds, coconut, walnuts, sesame seeds, pepitas, dried apples, chocolate chips, wheat germ, dried cherries, pecans, almond slivers.