“Even with his body ravaged by shrapnel, Erwin Thompson managed to drag one of his men back to safety. He didn’t know it, but th man was about to return the favor. “Thompson, now 92 and living in Jersey County, remembers a time during World War II when he was put in charge of a…
My father loves womankind, and he is kindness itself to women. At 92 his current hobby is shepherding a family of adopted daughters through their tearful life moments…in extremely practical and tangible ways at times…in poetic ways at other times as in the poem we share with you today. This adopted daughter is my father’s…
In 1936, when my father was 21, he wrote a song for Sherman Bowen’s younger sister, Lucille, that came to be titled “The Girl in the Little Blue Hat.” Lucille was sixteen when he composed the song, but had been perhaps eight-years-old when my father started dancing square dances with her at Ben Hill’s dances…
If you like blog carnivals, you’ll love visiting Isabella Mori’s “Change Therapy” site where she’s serving the appetizers for a progressive dinnerparty-style Soup to Nuts blog carnival. One of my blog postings on my father’s longevity and youthful outlook secrets is one of the appetizer dishes she is serving up. I think you’ll find this…
My father Erwin A. Thompson, grandson of E. A. Riehl, writes fondly of Lee Maupin, his boyhood neighbor…and how Pop changed the course of Lee’s life…with a big boost from my Great Aunt Mim. Lee is gone now. And the farm is completely changed. Pop and I still visit Kay Maupin up in Otterville. Kay…
I knew him personally. In my growing up years he was a legend. He lived on Clifton Hill, so designated because it was a pretty formidable hill on the road from the main highway to the little settlement of Clifton Terrace. He was a veteran of the 1898 Spanish-American war. In his younger years he…
Evergreen Heights, the place pioneered by E.A. Riehl, my father’s grandfather As a family, over generations, we developed some of our own Christmas traditions. PROVIDING CHRISTMAS TREES FOR THE COMMUNITY My Grandfather Riehl was a pioneer in this part of the country in raising evergreen trees for Christmas trees. We took orders, in those days,…
This year has been a period of re-adjustment to living without the faithful partner of almost sixty-four years. Many things have helped.
When my brother, Gary Thompson, was 13 years old, he took a step into manhood. My father, Erwin A. Thompson, remembers the event like this. —JGR Gary always liked the out of doors. Fishing, hunting, and trapping were things that he enjoyed and liked to spend his time at. We used to trap rabbits in…
Both my father and I are Holiday Drop-outs, lying low for the most part until after New Year’s Day when the world turns back to sanity. Our holiday spirit is a quiet one…dedicated to continuing to do the things we usually do…and keeping it all on a small, human scale. Last night was one of…