Gateway Generations

[Uecker_seats]

As we near the Thanksgiving season, It's time to reflect on the last year, the Good, The Bad, and The Ugly. I am a very blessed man, hard work and friends, family, neighbors have helped so much along the way. I recently got promoted at work, and hard work and faith have paid off after my near fatal crash 2 1/2 years ago! If not for my mother, I would not be typing this now. For the last 2+ years or so I have been attending a church close to my SW city home, and Pastor, his wife and most rest of the entire congregation have been just wonderful interacting with! I also have been dating a WONDERFUL lady with a heart of gold. A week before the World Series started, I volunteered to pay for the outreach supper the third Sunday of the month, something that has been absent at the church due to the lack of funding and the shrinking congregation. Pastor John and I the Saturday before took the church van to Papa Murphy's Pizza and got 13 large one topping pizzas, along with cinnastix desert and garlic bread, salad and appitizers provided by the church. Pastor has been working very hard and is dedicated to making our community a better place, and for the first time in a year and a half actually have kids going to Sunday school! You can imagine the excitement of everyone while we were baking the pizzas in Fellowship Hall, and my dear friends from across the street, Charlie and Diane brought both their grandson's over and helped with this endeavor! The oldest member of our congregation, Mrs Bess, was born February 4 1911 and will be 103 years old next year! She doesn't attend regularly, but does go to the outreach suppers and special church events. This particular one was Indian Summer in St Louis. One of the members of the church forgot to pick her up. so we were finishing up cooking the pizzas, and here she comes at the back door to the kitchen! She walked 2 blocks, across a busy 4 way street to get there, cane in hand! She has always been a walker, and aside from her vision going is still pretty sharp! Keep in mind she was 14 years old when the Cardinals beat the mighty Babe Ruth led Yankees for their first World Series Championship in 1926, and William Howard Taft was president when she was born! She was 53 when I was born, and is the last of the most precious and greatest generation that our great country has ever witnessed, my grandma and grandpa's generation, the depression WW2 generation! So here is a treasured memory I would like to share from that memorable late October fellowship supper:


http://s1280.photobucket.com/user/Uecke ... 4887603793



Me and my girls! To the left, Mrs Bess, da Ueck, and my dear GF Trish. Great memories. As the "Hot Stove League" is in full swing, I hate the fact the RedBirds traded hometown hero David Freese to the CA Angels, but life goes on! I STILL believe that the best days are ahead. We have each other, music, laughter, and love to get us through this amazing journey on this wonderful gift of life. In closing, I would like to say, especially to the casual observer over the years on numerous travel boards, that there is STILL adversity that has been geared twards me, as a result of "bad blood" and "hard feelings" from a group of very unhappy individuals, same crapola nonsense going on for years. I can tell you I very much enjoy posting, and remain positive and move forward and happy in life. Here is a non baseball quote from me *(REALLY?!) that pretty much sums up the way I feel about all of this stuff, and have been familiar with this man since age 5:

"Be who you are and say what you feel, because THOSE who mind don't matter, and THOSE WHO MATTER DON'T MIND"
Dr. Seuss


Regards,


Todd Uecker

[Uecker_seats]

Mogens, how do I now update my avater to a Billiken? LOL