The pregnancy is going well. Dawn is still not feeling well, which is really unusual for her. She was never this tired or ill feeling with the other pregnancies. She keeps saying that there is no way that she can do this anymore. I need to take detailed notes to show her this just in case she gets any wild ideas a couple of years from now! Maybe I should turn this blog into a last trimester journal????
Although she is not feeling well, she still looks as stunning as she did the day we were married! She won't let me put any more pictures of her up here.....maybe I can sneak a few more in later...
Monday, November 19, 2007
What Makes a Man?
What makes a man?.....Have you ever asked yourself that question? Society in general gives us it's view of what a man should be from TV and movies. This is not what I think a man is or should be. I have discussed this with a friend of mine (Curt) often. We used to discuss this at work while we babysat a wireless system that was having issues. We were passing the time while we waited for the system to break. We thought we would try to use the time for something good, so we discussed things like this often. During our conversations we came up with several things that we thought made a man "a man".
My grandfather worked hard all of his life to take care of them. Working in a factory by day and farming on the nights and weekends. He built two houses during his life for his family. They may have not been the most beautiful mansions in the finest neighborhoods, but they were very nice modest structures. It is still a dream of mine to do this for my family one day. I was four years old when he was building his last house in 1976. I can remember going out to the farm in the evening hours so my dad could help my grandpa build his house. That house has grown slightly over the years and has been a place for many family gatherings over the years. I have talked with my grandpa many times over the years about how he built his house. He has shared some details with me about how he did it. He just told me recently that it took him two years to put the stone on the outside of the house. He told me that if I were to ever do that, make certain that you put the big stones on the bottom, because they get very heavy when you have to lift them up high! I did a quick survey of the outside of his house, there were a few big stones near the top, although I am sure he put them up there no problem and also without complaining.
He came from a time when education was not highly valued. He never completed high school. He told me about the time that I graduated from high school that he wished he would have finished high school. I don't think that made him any less of a success, or any less of a man. He could fix or build anything. I remember a story he told us about his car breaking down on the way home from work one day. His tie rod end went out on his car. He happened to break down next to an old broken wire fence. He snipped some of the wire off of the fence, wired the broken piece of the car back together and drove home where he could fix it. What would most of us done? Probably called a tow truck and sat and waited for a few hours and then paid way too much to get our car fixed. I guess today we have more money than brains!
So what makes a man? I still don't know the complete answer to this, but I do know that it includes commitment to your wife, taking care your family, and working hard. That doesn't make a goodHollywood movie, but it does leave an impression on a grandson.....
Here is his obituary courtesy of the Anderson Herald Bulletin:
Robert Bryce Bolt
HARTFORD CITY – Robert “Bob” Bryce Bolt, 82, died as a result from a tractor accident this week at his residence inBlackford County Bob was born on Oct. 8, 1925, in Lapel, the son of Oscar Cleveland Bolt and Clara (McGuire) Bolt. Bob attended Anderson High School and moved in Blackford County from Anderson Blackford County farmer and retired from Container Corp. of America in Anderson
Bob married Wilma Jean (Gulley) Bolt on Nov. 17, 1946, inMadison County Bob enjoyed farming and loved baseball. In his younger years, he was a Babe Ruth coach. Bob will be sadly missed by his sons, Dennis B. (wife, Pamela D.) Bolt of Hartford City Hartford City Bob is preceded in death by his parents; his wife; a daughter, Denise L. Bolt; brothers William Bolt, Curtis Bolt and Wayne Bolt; and sisters Betty Reeves and Doris Morgan. Funeral services will be at 2 p.m. Friday at Keplinger Funeral Home with Rev. Lloyd Hall officiating. Visitation will be from noon to 2 p.m. Friday at Keplinger Funeral Home, 509 N. High St. , Hartford Interment will follow at Anderson Memorial Park Cemetery in Anderson Pallbearers will be Randy Bonewit, Rick Bolt, Karl Volz, Robert Volz, William Volz and Brandon Bolt.
Well recently, I think I came a little closer to figuring out what makes a man a real man. There is no perfect version of a man walking this Earth today, but there are many fine examples. I realized what a great example I had my entire life up until now. With the recent passing of my grandfather, I realize that many of those things that Curt and I discussed were found in him.
Many of those things were value related. I had a chance to look back at my grandpa's life the last couple of days and it hit me that he had many of these characteristics that make the kind of man we were discussing. Number one, he loved his wife very much. She was by no means a perfect woman and he was by no means a perfect man. None of us are, but he loved his wife unconditionally. My grandmother died in 2004. They were married for 58 years. They raised 4 children and lost one at a very young age. He and my grandmother had experiences that many of us would consider overwhelming.
My grandfather worked hard all of his life to take care of them. Working in a factory by day and farming on the nights and weekends. He built two houses during his life for his family. They may have not been the most beautiful mansions in the finest neighborhoods, but they were very nice modest structures. It is still a dream of mine to do this for my family one day. I was four years old when he was building his last house in 1976. I can remember going out to the farm in the evening hours so my dad could help my grandpa build his house. That house has grown slightly over the years and has been a place for many family gatherings over the years. I have talked with my grandpa many times over the years about how he built his house. He has shared some details with me about how he did it. He just told me recently that it took him two years to put the stone on the outside of the house. He told me that if I were to ever do that, make certain that you put the big stones on the bottom, because they get very heavy when you have to lift them up high! I did a quick survey of the outside of his house, there were a few big stones near the top, although I am sure he put them up there no problem and also without complaining.
He came from a time when education was not highly valued. He never completed high school. He told me about the time that I graduated from high school that he wished he would have finished high school. I don't think that made him any less of a success, or any less of a man. He could fix or build anything. I remember a story he told us about his car breaking down on the way home from work one day. His tie rod end went out on his car. He happened to break down next to an old broken wire fence. He snipped some of the wire off of the fence, wired the broken piece of the car back together and drove home where he could fix it. What would most of us done? Probably called a tow truck and sat and waited for a few hours and then paid way too much to get our car fixed. I guess today we have more money than brains!
He loved sports and coached baseball for many years. He even coached me for a short time during my babe ruth years. The First National Bank Babe Ruth baseball team…..
As the Reverend Lloyd Hall put it yesterday, he died with his boots on....There was no better way to put it. My grandpa died in a tractor accident at 82 years old doing what he loved.....working. That funeral service yesterday was the most uplifting funeral service I had ever attended. I wish I had an audio version to play back for all of you to hear. My written words would not do it justice. There is hope in an eternal life...... I am just glad I was there to experience it.
So what makes a man? I still don't know the complete answer to this, but I do know that it includes commitment to your wife, taking care your family, and working hard. That doesn't make a good
Here is his obituary courtesy of the Anderson Herald Bulletin:
Published November 14, 2007 08:27 pm - Robert Bryce Bolt
HARTFORD CITY – Robert “Bob” Bryce Bolt, 82, died as a result from a tractor accident this week at his residence in
Bob married Wilma Jean (Gulley) Bolt on Nov. 17, 1946, in
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Saturday, November 10, 2007
Adventure Weekend....
We had an adventure today! We went exploring in Lafayette, IN area! We visited the Tippecanoe Battleground memorial and museum. It was just vandalized a few days ago, but it was all repaired today. They did a great job getting it back to normal. This is one of my favorite places and I am glad I was finally able to take Dawn and the kids there. I stop here often and eat my lunch on my travels home from up North.
We also visited Prophet's Rock and downtown West Lafayette. We all had a great time. If you want some more info about this place it can be found here and here.
Here are some pictures that I took during our visit. Click on them for the bigger version. Is that a good looking group of Colt's fans or what? Take notice of Joey's coonskin cap that he purchased at the museum....
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