My Portfolio

 Adelbert Ross Crosby, Jr. was the first child and only son of an impatient and cantankerous man whose main virtues were to teach “Bert” a lifelong love of mechanical equipment and of guns for their deer hunting expeditions. Bert openly expressed love for his mother and respect for his father.     ...

             Writing this story hopefully will help me to finally overcome the injury to my inner “creative child”.  Who would have thought that a casual comment could have caused so much pain!  This happened in 1958—my senior year at Sacred Heart Academy.  The teacher was Sister Mary Columba, a nun...

     Neldon and Diane Jensen were raised in Salem, moved away, and now they are back. Diane is the daughter of Howard and Lois Roper.  She was born in the same house she grew up in on 500 East. She had three brothers and two sisters, and she was second to...

It all started when we were faced with making room for my son and his family to visit for Thanksgiving. My husband brought out four boxes of unsorted photos and said, “This is your job.” Yikes! I knew better than to start the sorting process with company coming, but cleaning up...

My fourth great grandfather Alexander MacLean, Sr. was born in 1709 on the Isle of Mull. His mother died the night he was born. His father left Mull bringing young Alexander to County Antrim, Ireland, where his father remarried. Sometime between 1725 and 1730 young Alexander sailed from County Antrim to...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Poor Communication, Poor Coordination   The petulant side of the Footloose Forester once again emerged in a dream of days gone by.  In the vein of a storyteller, he realized that by stringing together enough examples...

My Life Story Chapter 1: Looking Back My life has been something like a card game. I did the best with the cards I was dealt. While married, I worked as an Electrician. My department manager inspired me to pursue an Engineering Degree. Knowing that college and my job would keep...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Some Things You Can Make Up   People get bored quite easily. To counter that, many a youngster with an active mind tries to attract attention with their own personality traits that shout out, “I’m different….I’m not your...

On the road…again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   Cap And Gown Are Not For Me   "What did you go out into the wilderness to see?  A reed shaken by the wind? [Luke: 7:24].  But what did you go to see?  A man dressed in fine clothing? ...

Teenagers and their grandparent’s generation have more in common than most believe, and they have mutual gifts to offer one another. Creating an intergenerational legacy is among the most rewarding and memorable projects they can share. In an online article entitled Understanding the Elderly, Dr. Beverly Block, a staff psychotherapist with...

Every picture tells a story and photo reminiscing can be therapeutic, especially when grieving the loss of a loved one. Recording these recollections can give voice to a departed loved while providing inspiration to future generations.  That was the case for Gail Sheehy, NYT Best-Selling author of Passages, written while caring...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   b2_ap3_thumbnail_are you there?  b2_ap3_thumbnail_ come in, thumbnail_!   If you have a story to tell, but you don’t seem to have an interesting way to start, try to kick start it by seeking out an appropriate picture that...

On the road …again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek     Ali Baba And The 40 Peeves   Well, doesn’t that get your goat?  You have got to be kidding!  Why do they do that?  This doesn’t make any sense!  How dare he!  There are...

On the road …again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek   On Getting Arrested   This chronicle comes so many years after the fact, that the Footloose Forester was not sure that he would ever write it into his memoirs.  At the time, and for many years afterward, he...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Who Are Graduates Of The School Of Hard Knocks?   All too often conversations about who had (has) it rough in life devolve into unstated debates wherein speakers subconsciously fish for words to express their plight. ...

Happy To See The Sunshine by Dick Pellek Happy to see the sunshine, Happy to feel the rain, Happy to touch the blossom, Happy to know of pain. Blessed to feel the sunshine, Blessed to taste the rain, Blessed to smell the blossom, Blessed to remember the pain. Entitled to know...

If you haven't met Joan Hahn, you need to.  She is known nationally and internationally.  She was born on May 9, 1933 in Kemmerer, Wyoming to Bernice Pringle and Roy Wainwright.  She has a younger brother, Arlyn,  She graduated from Kemmerer High School in 1951 and attended [Brigham Young University] BYU...

Consider this: Allianz Life® commissioned the American Legacies Study designed to be the most comprehensive examination of intergenerational wealth transfer dynamics ever undertaken. It was undertaken to better understand the emotional and financial impact of wealth transfer of an unprecedented magnitude on American families. While no one can definitively predict the...

On the road…again! Afghanistan to Zambia Chronicles of a Footloose Forester By Dick Pellek   Different Island, Different Story   Being stranded on a tropical or desert island was such a powerful bit of imagery that, even as a young child, the Footloose Forester thought about islands and about being stranded...

On the road… again!Afghanistan to ZambiaChronicles of a Footloose ForesterBy Dick Pellek  The Desperation of River Blindness   Some chronicles of the Footloose Forester are brewed during dreams.  This one escaped from a daydream.  It will be a sad story, but one that should be shared.  It is all about a...