Three years gone: 11/15/1952 – 12/19/2017
Three years gone, and yes, I miss him. I also am finding my way forward alone. I have fond memories and deep gratitude And now Oscar cares for me – what a good dog!
Category: Since Ken’s Death: Judith Stories
Moving More Things to New Homes
Ken did yoga. I don’t. I hate yoga. I do the following: tai chi, lap swimming, classical stretch essentrics. I don’t need Ken’s yoga gear like his mat, nor the cover I sewed for him. I don’t need the small flax seed filled eye pillows and velveteen cases I sewed for Ken There was a small woven mat or bureau scarf and a bolster. I called around, and a friend who does do yoga said …
This Date in History
This photo was taken September 19, 1993 at our wedding. Saturday marks 27 years. It also marks 33 months since Ken’s death on 12/19/17. My life is filled with fond memories and gratitude
A Huge, Big Day
Today we went to an attorney’s office. The attorney had drawn up a trust. The land here is now in that trust and protected from being sold out from under me to pay for a nursing home or medical bills. Instead it will go to this man, Loyal Hunter. Who is he? Well, he came here and lived with us and learned from us almost a decade ago (photo from that time). He left to …
Identity Crisis: Prompted by Photos, I Discover, Remember, and Imagine
In sorting through old photos, I have been discovering who I was before I met Ken, who I was before I moved to Turtle Lake, who I was before most of the people who know me now as Mrs Keppers or the Widow Keppers had ever met me. I liked to dress up. I loved to tell stories and “hold court” as a current younger friend calls it And I loved to flirt. And dance. …
Small Maintenance Tasks Now Fall to Me
A fan stopped working. It was frozen; it needed cleaning and oiling. It’s something Ken used to do each spring and I forgot about it. Until the fan didn’t work. So, I took off the plastic screens and cleaned them Then it was take off the fan blade and clean it. Put down newspaper, clean the frame and wipe dust off the motor Get some oil in that joint And on the other side Replace …
You Gotta Have Heart…
Today I finished sorting through old VHS and cassette tapes. It took emotional strength to handle and make decisions about things Ken and I watched and listened to together. Music tends to create a backdrop to my life – songs I listened to in high school, college, while dating Ken, while dancing with Ken. While doing this task I kept humming that song from Damn Yankees – You’ve Gotta Have Heart. “You’ve gotta have heartAll …
June is Busting
I love flowers. My friends said they knew my relationship with Ken was serious because I moved perennial flowers to Turtle Lake. One of the first to open was this short Siberian iris that opened a couple days ago Today this yellow iris opened Although fewer in number than some years, the wild daisies are starting to bloom This fragrant tree is about to bloom. A friend told me it is a hawthorn. And it …
Has It Really Been Two Years?
This third Sunday in May two years ago I led Ken’s memorial service. It was a beautiful day, and many people came As I recall the day I remember the feelings – first, there is the gratitude at all the people who helped me I felt amazed at how many people came to share the service from so many parts of our lives People of all ages, families, people with walkers and wheelchairs. They all …
Maple Season 2020
This season is one of transition. Loyal came and tapped trees here, hauled sap and boiled sap on Ken’s evaporator. I helped him finish and bottle the maple syrup Loyal found some filters that work better than any Ken and I had used. But after he had cleaned and hung them to dry, I had a feeling the KKK had done laundry in my kitchen. Contact Loyal if you want to buy syrup
