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An open letter to Class of 2024

Dear high school senior: It’s been a busy year, hasn’t it? Senior photos, mailing out invitations, prom, trying to think of something witty to say when someone asks about your plans for the future. About all that’s left is a long, hot ceremony in a robe your grandmother wouldn’t be caught dead in and a reception with those fancy little sandwiches your anxious mother is so crazy about. Hang in there. Even if you want to shout “free at last!” as you are handed your diploma, exercise self-control and smile proudly as you try to exit the stage without falling down the ...

The blessings of a good mother

Mother’s Day 2024 is my siblings and my sixth observance of the special day without a mother. Our mother passed away in November 2018. The six Huisman kids were blessed with a wonderful mother. On a recent Friday my three brothers and I got together for lunch and spent three hours reminiscing and telling stories. Our parents came up frequently during that conversation. When discussing our teen years, for instance, all four of us recalled coming home in the wee hours. In the layout of our parental home, the bathroom was on the first floor, adjacent to our parents’ bedroom. So ...

We don’t smoke and we don’t chew

“We don’t smoke … we don’t chew … and we don’t go with girls who do.” I hadn’t heard that old ditty for many years but when I heard it again recently it reminded me of how things have changed over the years. The last two decades of the 20th century were no lucky strike for the tobacco industry. After decades of being the trademark of sophistication, smoking fell to a new low in popularity and has continued falling. How long has it been since someone offered you a cigarette? After my father quit the habit “cold turkey” in 1959, smoking was a taboo in our home. ...

Herb Granville, of The Men’s Shop

A week or so ago I was having a conversation with a friend and the subject turned to Little League baseball during our youth. I remember our team sponsor was a men’s clothing store up in Minneapolis (this, of course, was quite a few years ago). Although we weren’t much good at pitching, ...

Making our lives a whole lot better

I remember the first nurse I ever met. She slapped my little butt when I was born. Then she took one look at me and slapped my mother. That story is obviously so much baloney, but I’ve enjoyed telling it for the past 50 some years. Actually, I like nurses and have great respect for the nursing profession. I read recently that National Nurses’ Week is the first full week of May. Many of the appointments in my Google calendar these days begin with “Dr.” so I’m seeing more nurses now than ever. My first real recollection of a nurse is of Mrs. Norris, the office nurse for ...

Standing guard in Our Neighborhood

There are times when life just has to be put in perspective. Yes, today is windy … but the sun is shining and 54 degrees is not so bad for April in Iowa. The front page of the Daily Freeman for August 8, 1963, has a main story about 20 to 30 men robbing a train in England and getting away ...