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More Pictures from Sunday

Pictures from the Day of Aunt Barb's Funeral

The Sunday of Aunt Barb's funeral was rainy, windy, grey and cold in Waterloo. Although our mapquest directions were wrong, we could tell where we were supposed to be: cars up and down the street as we found Mull's Funeral Home.

Inside, the rooms of the older home, now funeral home, were packed with people. Aunt Barb's casket was beautiful, with displays of flowers carefully laid on top of it. A Nora Roberts book was there, to be put in with her, and four stained glass angels (her girls) also would be placed inside, so that her girls would be with her forever.

Aunt Barb herself looked very much like the Aunt Barb that I remembered from years ago.

The Hawkes, the Lochners, the Kinsellas, the Maneys, and other cousins and friends and neighbors were there in force.

The service was short, with the minister leading us all in prayers and reading the 23rd Psalm and a passage from John 14. The minister then reminded us all of favorite stories from Barb's life. She encouraged us to share our memories of Aunt Barb; it is this that keeps her alive.

Jim Kinsella spoke about how Aunt Barb was like a mother to him. Yes, she yelled at him (like a mother), but she also gave him a small item to take with him to college so that he would always remember her. He ended by giving back the whale and placing it in her coffin so that he could know where to find her when the time was right. By the time Jim sat down, all eyes were misty, if not running over.

After the service, we all drove to the Sportsman Club where a fantastic dinner appeared out of nowhere. It was great to get a chance to eat and talk with so many of our cousins, and of course, wonderful to see Uncle Harold, Kathy, Annie, Mary and Judy.

THANK YOU, Chuck Lochner for these pictures. If anyone has more, please email them to me.

Do click on the word 'comments' at the end of this post to be taken to a separate page where you can write down what you remember about Aunt Barb, or more of what Sunday was like for you. When the comments page comes up, write your comment with your name and then, probably the easiest is to click on 'anonymous' and then, click on 'post'.

Aunt Barb Taylor

Always helping, always laughing with a joke, a great cook, with great hugs.

I remember all of the holidays spent at their home. While we were busy playing in the play house out back or down by the creek in the woods, Aunt Barb was making the feast that we were about to eat.

After stepping over numerous little cats to get to their doorway, Aunt Barb always greeted me a huge hug.

I will miss you so much!

A Tale of Two Log Cabins

Diana writes: "I came across this picture that folks might find interesting.

Standing in front the the 'log cabin' that my brother Jim Taylor and his friend Bob Bragen were building for fun is me (on the left) Arnon, Maria, Grandma Taylor and the little kid in front not paying attention is Carol Ann. The cabin was in the woods across the street from the house in Warners and up a hill. It was a hike - I don't think the cabin got any taller than it was - and I know they never put on a roof. I'm not sure if they ran out of steam, lost interest, couldn't figure out how to do a roof or got too interested in other things - but it sure kept them busy for a long time. This picture was hanging in the hallway of the Taylor house in MN and when I saw it I couldn't remember when I had stood in front of this and when it was taken - until my mom pointed out that the person I was looking at was HER and not me and that I was the kid with the hair and the funny pants! Just goes to show you how much like our parents some of us are."

The other log cabin was built at Otty Lake by Tom Kinsella. Boasting a marble floor filled with marble rocks swiped from the nearby marble mine, and a door and roof, it had at one point a cot and several of us spent overnights in it. In this picture are Jim, Chris, builder Tom, and our faithful dog, Corky.

The Clothes Chute at 2846 By Tom Kinsella

--Editor's Note: Anyone else have favorite rooms/spots in their homes, current or past?

Christine and I got talking about clothes chutes the other day. She didn’t have one in her house while growing up. I told her I remember visiting friends’ houses where their clothes chutes ended at the basement ceiling. They just placed baskets on the floor to catch the falling clothes. I used to think those chutes very strange (although they were probably a smart innovation (cheaper and effective).

Talk of chutes got me thinking about the clothes chute at 2846. It certainly was a focal point of fun. Tim remembers hiding in it and eating his “stolen” frozen pies. What a hiding spot for such nefarious nibbling. If Mom ever did come down stairs while he was in there he was trapped, and it was very likely, if she did come down, that she was thinking about the laundry. Did you ever get caught, Tim?

I remember playing hide and seek and hiding in the clothes chute in the basement. It was a pretty easy hiding spot to find, though. I remember improving it by hiding under lots of dirty laundry still in the chute (must have been quite small). I also think I remember trying to shinny up the chute from the basement. If I did try this, I never got too far.

On the second floor the chute was also lots of fun. There was a small space in the ceiling of the chute that allowed you to get your hand above the chute. Pat, Beth, and I made a ghost detector once: a toilet paper roll with saran wrap held on each end with rubber bands; if you looked through the roll (which had magic writing on it I think), and also through Winky’s ears, and also through a key hole (all at the same time), you could see ghosts. Not sure that we ever managed to get the proper items lined up for a ghost viewing, but I remember that we kept the ghost detector hidden in the space above the ceiling of the clothes chute. It might still be there.
I also remember being told to stand in the kitchen with the clothes chute door open and to watch. Dan or Tim would be upstairs throwing stuff down, and I’d watch it come down. I also remember being the one doing the throwing for younger kids. Finally, I remember how much fun it was to slam the clothes chute doors. Mom wanted them closed, but not slammed. Well, she sometimes got the first, but seldom the last.

Thanksgiving 2007 at Diana Taylor McCarty's

Here is a picture of this Thanks-giving at my house. Seated in Front is Maria Taylor, from the left my Son Michael and his wife Jennifer - My oldest son, Jonathan's girlfriend Ashley then Jonathan and seated next to my mom is my daugher Kristen.

Hope the holiday season find you all healthy and happy. Holidays are always so bittersweet as we remember with fondness those that are not with us in person but only in spirit.

P.S. As you can see I did respond to Judy's question ( about what is a tiebar) - darn her for reminding her of our ages!