April 29, 2022
This is prom season. For many years now the thing to do is to have a lock-in at the school with games and food all night long. The parents work in shifts to help out. This has proven to be one of the best ways to make sure your children get home safe and sound. Last year my granddaughter Christen had a great time with her pal Will. I like Will. I got to know him when 20 Upsala students and 12 adults went to Europe on an art tour in 2019.
Sixty two years ago, I was getting ready for my Junior Prom. It was also an “all-nighter”, but it included a fast trip to the doctor in Royalton in a 52 Chevy. I had been messing with “No-Doze” and that combined with the Slo Gin caused some sort of attack.
My buddy Bob put the pedal to the metal. I remember my date, Marcia, screaming: “Slow down Bobby, do you want to kill us all?” as we whisked through the narrow Royalton bridge. Doc Watson administered some sort of medicine and sent us on our way. In those days the local doctor had a shingle hanging outside of his house. I am not sure if he even charged us for the service.
When we dropped Marcia and my sister Kathie off at Marcia’s farm house, we “borrowed” some of her Dad’s smoked white fish off of the kitchen table and my buddy Bob and I had breakfast watching the sun come up in the Burtrum Hills.
Five years later I married that farm girl and we had a grand time raising two beautiful children. Those two beautiful children went on to give us five beautiful grandchildren. Two of which will be graduating from high school this spring. Anna Osberg will graduate from Wadena-Deer Creek and Christen Fouquette will graduate from Upsala High School. They both are planning on going on to college. Anna will attend NDSU and Christen will go attend the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. In Christen’s case she will be going from a class of 33 to a class of nearly 6,000. My high school class in 1961 also had 33 students.
“Dearly beloved, we are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.” Prince from the 1984 song “Let’s Go Crazy”