Sixteen Rolfsruds and friends celebrated Easter Saturday at Mothers in Alexandria as usual this year, but with one exception: Mother wasn't there. After weeks of planning, ordering food, copying readings and preparing music for the big event, Mother went outside on a blustery April night, slipped and fell. She was hospitalized, and, after a series of adjustments, is doing well at Douglas County Hospital. No broken bones.
Dinner went on anyway, sort of the way Mom had planned it. Ham and scalloped potatoes, green beans, cole slaw, buns, vegetable tray, fruit tray, three pies and a birthday cake. There were take-away bags for anyone who want one. After dinner, we divided into small groups and visited her in the hospital. She was in fine spirits and appreciated the attention and the success of her dinner party in absentia.
The big news of the day was the formal presentation of Breck Rolfsrud's beau, Mitch, and their new dog, Zero. Zero was found in a rescue shelter. Breck found Mitch in an MSU classroom. Both were well-behaved and made fine first impressions on the assembled family unit. Steve's assertion that he is the one responsible for teaching Zero to sit was hotly disputed. A photograph was taken of the pair and the Steve Rolfsrud family was reminded to check the family blog to see the results.
Unfortunately, the Steve Rolfsruds are somewhat technologically challenged and have a difficult time pulling the family blog out of cyberspace. www.rolfsruds.blogspot.com IS hard to spell, hard to memorize and really confusing. Fortunately, Mitch is a bright IT specialist at the University in Mankato and has promised to create shortcuts to simplify the procedures. In the photo of Breck, please note the distinctive Hamline University sweatshirt. She'll be attending law school there, as you know, and has yet to select a specialty.
There's still plenty of time for that, says Jenn Rolfsrud, who is presently taking law at Hamline herself. She did not wear her law school sweatshirt today, however.In other news:
We celebrated Nancy's birthday. Mom supplied a Happy Birthday Nancy cake that said we all love Nancy, we sang Happy Birthday Nancy and talked about Nancy a lot. We asked the children to tell stories about Nancy. Briggs came up with "Mom's Worst Nightmare." What is that, Briggs? we asked. "It is what is going on right now," laughed the daughter of the modest Norwegian.
We celebrated the Briggs and Bill Siitari (geeze that's a tough name to spell, but I guess I am going to have to learn it.) six month anniversary. The wedding album came out and Virgil guided a tour through it. (see photo)It was announced that Adam has lost 40 pounds, Stan has lost 30 pounds, and Steve has lost 20 pounds. Virg had lost his umbrella, but Stan found it in his golf bag and returned it to him.
Solveig made her annual Easter Saturday phone call from Sunol and was brought up to date on Mother's condition and anything else she was interested in talking about on her dime.
After searching throughout the house, Stephen discovered that there is, indeed, no plumber's friend anywhere. Virg had no idea either. Breck refused to go next door and ask Mrs. Bauer if we could borrow one. But it was imperative that we find one, so Kathleen was dispatched to see the Helpful Hardware Man. She returned with a plunger and a story about the woman in line in front of her who, by pure coincidence, was purchasing the deluxe model, but could see no humor in the situation. Thanks to a few vigorous plunges by helpful but innocent Kathleen, Mom's Motel Six Kids has been restored to full operational status.
We would have sung all the hymns Mother had picked out and done all the readings, but we didn't have anyone to play the piano so we concentrated on the fellowship part of the day.Alex Rolfsrud did not attend. He is a certified geek on the Geek Squad and had to work at Best Buy today. We promise to deliver a photograph of our family geek, complete with skinny black tie, as soon as possible.
Meanwhile, in Fort Collins, Colorado, Grandma and Grandpa Letnes were posing for a photo with their grandchildren, featuring their latest addition, Anja. Linda and Ron are selling their home in Ft. Collins to move to Blaine, Minnesota, so today was their last Easter celebration in their Colorado home.Adam and Kim, who drove the longest distance, decided there was no point in staying over to go to Easter services with Mom tomorrow since Mom was in the hospital so they opted to drive home tonight and should be there just about now.
Because the IRS won't forgive an 87-year old woman, bruised and flat on her back in the local hospital, during his visit, mother's tax accountant brought documents and papers for her signatures.
Now ain't that just the spittin' image of the Minnesota Twins' Justin Morneau, top left? The photo next to it is "Hands Rolfsrud" trying to separate a pack of paper plates. Note damage already sustained by the delicate Rolfsrud dinnerware.
