Christmas at the Robeck's!

 I am not sure how our parents ever did it. Just trying to get gifts for my wife and 3 kids is always a challenge, but, for our gang, it was the "Olympics of Shopping"! At one time, they needed to get presents for a dozen kids, ranging in age from preschool all the way to high school-aged kids.

 They did have a plan. We would each get something of our own, usually an article of clothing, that was needed anyway. Then, in groupings by age, we would get a shared item. The older group, about 5 of us, would get some kind of multiple-player game. The middle group would get a construction type toy, like Tinker Toys or Lincoln Logs. The youngest bunch got some dolls or stuffed animals of some kind. There were always some puzzles thrown in that everyone would share.

My twin brother Mike, me, Mom and Dad.

The best part, for me anyway, was the center of the table, where our gifts had been laid out. It had several mixing bowls, each filled with delectable delights. One was various hard candies, my favorite being the ribbons and any filled ones. One bowl was filled with nuts of all sorts, still in the shell, waiting for the nutcracker.  Sometimes one bowl was peanuts, and another only English walnuts. The challenge was cracking them down the middle, leaving two perfect little cups. These treats were not locked up in the pantry, but, available to us all day! Unbelievable!

We usually had a lot of cookies and bars during Christmas. As we got older, we all helped with the baking, so much so, that I can still make oatmeal raisin and chocolate chip cookies by heart.  The Christmas cookies were different though, and needed more supervision by Mom to get them right.  We were occasionally treated to lefse', since my Mom's side of the family was Norwegian. If you get a chance, you should try some, it is delicious. Just writing about this is making me hungry!

 Some of us played in band and sang in choir, so there was usually a couple programs to go to prior to Christmas. I am not sure how Mom and Dad ever kept track of who had to be where and when!
In Fourth grade I was picked to act in the Christmas play. I played one of 3 kids that traveled all around the world with Santa, to see how other countries celebrated Christmas. All I did was sit in the sleigh, with my winter coat on, sweating under the spot lights. I don't recall having to speak once.  What fun.
 
  I am sure your family did many of the same things, maybe just not on the same scale. I hope that you and yours will make some great memories this year!

The Roving Robecks

            It is interesting how you have to stand back after a passage of time to see some patterns in your life, and even your family’s. This is a cross-generational pattern that I have noticed. Our family likes to rove around a bit. Sometimes short distances, sometimes long.

            My great-grandfather on the Robeck side had a steam threshing machine. He and some of the brothers, sons and nephews would leave in August to start threshing in southern Minnesota and would follow the crops north as they were ready for harvest, sometimes not returning home until Thanksgiving. They would sleep in barns and sheds at the farms where they were working. This also meant the women of the family would run the entire farm operation by themselves for several months. The threshers roamed all around the state.

             Some of my brothers and sisters did some roving of their own when they were younger. 

When my sister Maria was in kindergarten, she and our neighbor decided not to ride the bus home. They decided it was a nice day to walk home. Thing is, we lived about 5 miles out of town. When Mom noticed the bus go by and no Maria, she called to see if she had went next door, as she did sometimes. She found out that our neighbor hadn’t come home either, so now two Moms are worried. The school checked, “no, they are not here, they left a while ago, on the bus, they thought”. Well, Mom got in the car and headed into town, finding them about half way home by now. After a little scare, all was well and the teachers made sure the young ladies actually got on the bus after that.

My youngest brother also made a little local trip of his own. He decided he wanted to go fishing. He decided that our Aunt’s house on the Mississippi River would be a great spot. That trip was a little longer, more like 12 miles. It turned out OK, but, another case of a roving Robeck.

In my life, I get around a bit myself, in the Navy, I saw a lot of the world and was stationed in 4 different states. After I got out, I have lived in 4 different states, worked on the road as a field engineer for awhile, went on a mission trip to Russia, and a visit with my wife to Ireland and Northern Ireland.

My daughter, Giselle,  has lived in Seattle for a short while, a little longer in Cinncinati, and travels when she can. My youngest son, Morgan,  is in the Navy, and with his new wife, Rachel, live in Charleston, SC, and are sure to see many places in the world. Riley has yet to venture very far, but, don't count him out yet.

Many of my siblings are now scattered around the country, and some also have traveled abroad for work or missions trips. Some of my nieces and nephews are also following in our footsteps, so the roving continues!

A breath of perfect air.

Having been part of a large family is a different experience, but, not all of my childhood was memorable, only because of that. There are certain memories in our life that have no association with who else was around you. They are just memories that are crystal clear in our mind as the moment that they happened. You don't just remember a part of the event, but, you remember every sound, every smell and feeling surrounding you.

This is what I am sharing today, a moment of perfection.  I got up one summer morning to a beautiful sunny day. I sat down at our kitchen table, a large table my Dad had made to seat our bunch of kids. It was crafted by laying tiles on a sheet of plywood, edging it with a chrome trim, and installing metal legs at each corner. We used it for many years, until it too became too small.

As I sat down for breakfast, usually cold cereal with milk and sugar, I became aware of being in a perfect moment. I could see the fields south of our house though the porch door. The breeze was making waves in the grain field. What a beautiful sight, the wind washing over the field.

The same breeze came through the porch door, gently crossing the kitchen and going out the back door. As it passed through the screen door, it made a sound, a heavenly sound, very hard to describe, unless you have heard it also.  The closest thing in nature is the wind in the branches of a pine forest.

At the same time, the temperature was perfect. It was not so warm as to make you sweat, but, not so cold that you couldn't wear shorts. That was our standard summer apparel, shorts, a t-shirt, and bare feet.

Whenever I need a moment of peace, I bring back my memory of that day. It was over 40 years ago, but, I have enjoy it for a lifetime. I hope you have moments of perfection in your life also. Try not to forget them.

Life's little things.

Sometimes, as so many have said, you don't realize just how good you have it, until things change or you lose them. Even though we didn't have a lot of material things growing up, we had a lot of fun and experienced things many others did not .

Our property had been part of our Grandparents farm. There were still older buildings left, that, like our house, were hand built by Grandpa and other family members. There was also a small wooded area where farm junk was laid to rest, as was customary on most farms in the area. There just weren't any landfills to take stuff to or garbage pickups. This was a treasure trove of fun for young boys and girls. Wild plums grew there, which we picked and ate to excess, usually with results that were not quite so much fun.

Old broken equipment became our wagons as we traveled the old west or a ship as we sailed the seven seas. Once, with one of our neighbors over, we decided to chuck some rotten potato hand grenades out on the highway from our hideout in the woods. Just by pure luck, we managed to plop one right on the roof of a passing car. We were shocked and scared, as they slammed on the brakes and started back towards the driveway.  We hightailed it to the opposite side of the yard and hid in the apple orchard. In a few minutes, we could see the man talking to our Dad, and Dad hollered for us to come up there. The man had been swearing up a blue streak, which didn't win him any points with my Dad. Dad asked us where we had been, of course, we said we were in the orchard just now, no, we weren't up by the road.  Dad told the guy to buzz off, that we said we weren't there. We knew Dad knew we were guilty, but, he didn't want to give the guy any satisfaction after all his swearing, so he let us off.

We did have fun in those woods, but, after a few small accidents, Dad decided that it was not the safest playground for us, and had it bulldozed. Well, we found many other places in the nearby pastures to have our adventures as we grew older and were allowed to wander farther. Never a dull moment with our large family.

Memories of Grandpa

When my folks moved back to Minnesota, they moved in with my Dad’s folks. The Grandparents bought a small 2 room house built by a woman from Albertville, from old store front windows and leftover lumber.  They moved into that house,as our family was growing fast.  Neither house had indoor plumbing, though we did have a sink in the kitchen with a drain that went out into the yard. Grandpa was always worried that one of us was going to fall into the mud at the end of the pipe. The worst that could have happened would have been a muddy kid, but, he liked to wave his cane at us and shoo us away.

             Grandpa was pretty much deaf, he had been thrown from a horse that had been scared by a train. The fall somehow damaged his hearing, at least, that is the story I remember. To communicate, he had a “Magic Slate” for us to write on to tell him something. For you youngsters, this was a waxed board with a piece of translucent plastic sheet over it that you could write on, pull up the plastic to erase it, and write again. Each year for his birthday, he received a new one. Big fun!

            Grandpa died when I was in 2^nd Grade and was the first dead person I had ever seen. Some may think it is not good for young people to see close ones when they are dead, but, I think it gives them some closure. I think, in my humble opinion that one would possibly feel abandoned if they don’t get to see them one last time to know that they didn’t just leave them.

            I hope to have a guest post by one of my siblings next week, to give a little different flavor for your enjoyment. Until then, have a great week.

In the beginning, drama!

We started out life with drama. I say we, because I have a twin brother, Michael Patrick Robeck. Yes, my full name is Patrick Michael Robeck. Neither one of us is Irish, go figure. We were born premature and there was concern for our health, mostly Mike’s, as he was smaller than me and needed the incubator. Our parents decided to have us christened right away, and I guess they picked our names fairly quickly, so it was an easy way to come up with two in a hurry.
 I was born 13 minutes earlier than him, so I have bragging rights about being the first-born, but he likes to point out now that I am so much older than he is, (but, also wiser, don’t tell him I said that!). 

        My Dad was in the Army when we were born, stationed in Ft. Riley. I like to say I was born in Manhattan, but, leave a long pause before I say Kansas. People think I am all cosmopolitan and everything, for a few seconds.

            We had another brother James join us a little later and we all lived in the tiny house pictured. We didn’t live there too much longer after he was born, as Dad’s hitch was over. They packed us up and we moved to Minnesota, back to Dad’s childhood home. 

          
  So, you see, we had medical drama and interstate travel, all before the age of two. Mike lives next door to our original homestead, but, as I will relate in other stories, I eventually ended up here in Ohio, enjoying a full 4 seasons, unlike the 2 in Minnesota, winter and winter is coming. 

            See you soon!

Just the Beginning....

Hello, I am Pat Robeck. I plan on passing on stories from my life and my family. I am the oldest of 14 children that grew up in Minnesota. I am 53 and my youngest brother is 28. We are now scattered around the country.

We had a lot of fun growing up, and we had a lot of chores to help out our Mom and Dad. I hope to have my brothers and sisters submit stories and add their own spin on things, just to keep me honest. I hope you will find them interesting. Thank you for visiting.