Tag Archives: Memory Monday

Baseball Links Generations Together

April 25, 2016 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Wendy and I headed to Principal Park in Des Moines yesterday afternoon to attend our first Iowa Cubs game of the season. It was great to sit in the sun, get sunburn, eat a hot dog, and quaff a few cold ones despite our boys of summer getting trounced by Oklahoma City.

One of the many reasons I enjoy baseball is the history and traditions of the game. Given my love of history and my tendency to be nostalgic to a fault, it makes sense that I would love a game that has roughly been played the same way for almost 200 years. It’s a game that binds generations together.

My first trips to Sec Taylor stadium (now known as Sec Taylor Field at Principal Park) were in the early 1970s. About once a summer my grandpa Spec would drive me to Sec Taylor (with a requisite drive by of the Iowa State Capitol building) for an afternoon game. In those days the home team was known as the Iowa Oaks, the AAA farm team of the Oakland Athletics. Grandpa would get us bleacher seats in the shade of the open grandstand roof, behind home plate. We watched some of the great players of Oakland’s World Series winning “mustache gang” as they made their way up to the bigs.

Today, when I sit and enjoy the Iowa Cubs in a much nicer park I am reminded of my grandfather. I never fail to have memories of bringing Taylor and Madison to games when they were young. They still humor dad with an occasional trip to the park even though neither of them really cares about the game. I relive memories of bringing our young friends Nathan and Aaron. And, God willing, I dream of the day I get to bring my own grandchildren to a game at the same park, just as Grandpa Spec brought me.

Baseball links generations together.

Memory Monday

The Big Christmas

December 21, 2015 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

I grew up in a middle class family in Des Moines with my parents and three siblings. It was a great childhood, and my folks provided for our every need. At the same time, there were not a lot of extras in life.

As the youngest of the four, I was used to hand-me-downs. I got my big sib’s clothes, toys, books, and games. As much as I’d like to whine about this in retrospect, I don’t remember feeling cheated as a kid. This was simply the reality. I knew no different. Times were tough and you do the best you can with what you have.

There was a period of years in my childhood in which my parents decided that each Christmas they would do a little something extra for one of the kids. As the youngest, the fact that one of us got a little more than the others was not something I noticed. I must have been so enamored by my G.I. Joe with kung fu grip that I didn’t notice the extra presents in Jody’s pile.

Then it happened to be my year to get a little extra. I distinctly remember being shocked and amazed that everyone had unwrapped all their gifts but there were still more gifts for me! That was the year I got a train set and this, to me, was a genuine Christmas miracle. You see, we had this dog eared copy of the Sears Wish Book catalog that sat on the edge of the bath tub for bathroom reading. There were toys in the catalog that I knew from experience Santa might bring me. Then there were toys that I’d come to realize, in the economy of the North Pole, my good deeds could never afford. Train sets were definitely on the latter list.

Years later I still have fond memories of that special Christmas when there were a few extra presents under the tree for me. Besides the train set, I have no recollection what the gifts were. I’ve come to realize that the greatest gift that year was my parents making me feel loved in a special way. I unwrap that gift every year when my memories take me back to The Big Christmas.

Memory Monday, Top Five Tuesday

Top Five Tuesday: Five Things I Miss About My Toddlers

September 29, 2015 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Speaking of the toddler stage…I know that pre-school kiddos are a handful. As a father who is about 20 years beyond those years there are things that I truly miss about parenting between when the girls were out of diapers and walking to when they were off to school. And, since I missed my “Memory Monday” post yesterday, let’s do a two-fer today. For the Top Five Tuesday and Memory Monday mash-up, here are the top five things I miss about parenting my two little toddlers:

Bedtime stories.
Cuddling (especially when they fell asleep in my arms).
The screams of “Daddy!” and the sound of four feet running to greet me when I came through the door.
The most hilarious things that came out of their mouths.
Wrestling and rumbling on the floor, tickling, and the giggles, giggles, giggles.

Memory Monday

The Nose Guard

September 21, 2015 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

As I was sorting a bunch of old family photographs, Taylor grabbed this one. She stared at it for a long moment before asking me what on earth was on her Grandpa Dean’s nose. Ha!

This photo was taken in the early to mid-1970s on the boundary waters between Minnesota and Canada. It’s where our family vacationed every year at a place called Camp Idlewood. Dad spent his two weeks of vacation fishing as much as he possibly could (notice my mother’s “How long are we going to be out here?” posture – not to mention her courageous attempt to mix stripes and polka-dots) and that meant his pasty white CPA’s skin was exposed to the sun’s rays for a lot longer than usual. A painfully sunburned nose was usually result.

I’m not sure who discovered the wonder cure. It was a plastic triangle that clipped onto the bridge of dad’s sunglasses and covered his nose, protecting it from the sun. My dad and both my grandfathers got one and wore them all day while they were out fishing. If you look closely you can even see the chic little red jewel that adorned the middle of it.

For some reason, the fad (fake jewel and all) never caught on. I can’t remember my dad wearing it for more than a summer or maybe two. BUT, if you want to look as stylin’ as my dad did back in the day then today is your lucky day, my friend, because you can still buy one on Amazon:

Warning! Amazon says that if you buy it you can't return it (shocking). — Warning! Amazon says that if you buy it you can’t return it (shocking).

Memory Monday

Two Lives; Two Memories; Two Outcomes

August 24, 2015 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Yesterday morning in worship a friend shared with us about her family’s own difficult journey of late. I have known Deb and her family for a long time. Her brother, Dan, was a high school classmate of mine. We were all in youth group together and, while a teenager, I hung out at their house on frequent occasions.

Deb shared about her younger brother, Doug, who is in the VA hospital losing his battle with brain cancer. Deb shared that Doug was exposed to some nasty gas on the battlefield while serving in Desert Storm. I have followed Doug’s story from afar as I have followed the family’s Facebook posts for the past few years and have quietly kept them in my prayers.

As Deb shared yesterday, my heart and mind were awash in my own personal memories of Doug. He was just “a little kid” in that seemingly huge age gap when you’re sixteen and have to endure the presence of a ten year old. The bulk of my memories of Doug are of him and his friend, Jon, who were constantly dressed in camouflage and playing army. Doug followed his boyhood passion and grew up to be a good soldier. Now, the lingering consequences of what he encountered and endured on the battlefield are having their undesired, terminal effect.

I find it ironic that last night Wendy and I attended visitation for another soldier; A soldier who came home from World War II and lived a blessedly long life. My memories of this gentleman across the eleven or so years that I knew him were all of a gentle man, advanced in years, continuing to faithfully serve his community.

Two lives of service. Two very different sets of memories. Two very different outcomes.

This morning I’m praying for Doug and his family as they continue to praise God together despite the difficult path they’re walking. I pray for another family who bury their father and praise God for being blessed to have him in their lives for so long. In the midst of my own memories, I find my heart asking the same questions and mulling over the same thoughts as the author of Ecclesiastes.

“However many years a man ay live, let him enjoy them all….”

featured photo: elphs_rule via Flickr

Memory Monday

Sweet Corn: An Iowa Feast

July 27, 2015 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Speaking of traditions, our friends came down from Des Moines last night to join us for Fiddler on the Roof and see Suzanna performing in the chorus. After the matinee performance we all came back to the house for a traditional Iowa summer cookout. Burgers on the grill and freshly picked Iowa sweet corn.

For those of you not from Iowa, late July and early August are a very special time of year around here. The sweet corn is finally ripe and the landscape in every community is dotted with pick-up trucks in lawns and parking lots selling beds full of freshly picked corn on the cob. I have often said that a pint of Guinness tastes different and better in Ireland than it does anywhere else in the world. So I would tell you that sweet corn on the cob tastes different and is better in Iowa than anywhere else in the world. It’s nature’s candy and it comes on its own ready-made stick.

Between my sophomore and junior years in college I interned as youth pastor of the Community Church in Kamrar, Iowa (population 110, SAL-UTE!). I lived that summer with a sweet retired couple named Stoffer and Vianna Gelder. I will never forget the late July weekend when the sweet corn was finally ripe. Vianna cooked up several big pots of sweet corn and we feasted on sweet corn on the cob. That’s all we ate for two evenings straight. Cob after cob of juicy, sweet corn dripping with fresh, melted Iowa butter and salted to perfection.

If you’ve never had it like that, just swing by in late July or early August and let us know you’re coming. We’ll buy a dozen ears of peaches n’ cream sweet corn out of the pick-up truck just off the town square. It’s the honor system, by the way. Just take a dozen ears and put your money in the box. Then we’ll boil ’em up to perfection and have a feast.

Wayfarer's Journal

Memory Monday: The Birthday Gift

April 28, 2014 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Being the youngest of four, I got used to hand-me-downs. And, when I did get something that mom and dad bought me new it was usually built with growth in mind.

My birthday is on Wednesday this week and I’ve been thinking about birthdays past. One of my birthdays as a child became one of my most memorable, and it came with both good news and bad news. The good news was that my parents bought me a shiny, brand new Schwinn Stingray five-speed bicycle complete with banana seat that was the coolest, most unexpected birthday gift I think I’ve ever gotten. The bad news is that they bought it big so that I could grow into it and so it would last me a long time. In fact, I did ride it until I was almost in high school. But my little legs struggled to reach the pedals and I grew frustrated with my siblings who all took turns riding my bike (it seemed to fit them perfectly).

I guess sometimes when we get things “to grow into” the growth is more than mere physicality. Despite my frustration with the bike being to big to begin with, I did grow into it quickly and it became one of the most cherished childhood possessions. It became a tool of childhood freedom as I explored the streets and neighborhoods around my childhood home. It became a symbol of a young boy’s machismo as I learned to pop wheelies and ride with no hands. It taught me that some things you do grow into, grow out of, but never forget.