Ruth-less

We lost Rog's mom, Ruth, last week, a month before her 90th birthday. What a truly wonderful woman.

When Rog invited me to go cross-country skiing at the state park one night  during our senior year of high school in Bemidji, MN, I told him I had never skied before and didn't  have skis. He said I could use his Mom's skis.  So, that night he introduced me to his parents and we had a sort of awkward conversation sitting in the living room, where I think his parents gave me some basic cross-country skiing safety tips (like avoiding the  trees at the bottom of the big downhill run.)  Who would have thunk I would end up with these sweet people  as my  parents-in-law? In fact, I am certain that one reason (among many) that I married Rog was because I loved his mom and dad and brothers so much.

I admired Ruth so much as a confident, intelligent, kind, curious, patient and wise woman.  We often went for family walks in the north woods and she could identify most of the wildflowers and trees.  She seemed to love authentic, simple pleasures: bonfires, gardening, canoeing, fishing, making jam, Sheba the springer spaniel and Mickey the furry gold cat,  cross-stitch, baking those unforgettably decadent  sesame cookies... She reveled in the spirited discussions her family would have about mathematical philosophies (heuristics? I still don't really understand that) and  the value of those new-fangled computers in education.

I will miss Ruth so much - her husky laugh when something tickled her, her intellectual curiosity about everything, her way of telling a story almost like a parable, her kind encouragement, love and support  of her sons, daughters-in-law and grandchildren - but happily, these traits are being carried on by the sons she and Jerry raised so well.  Love you, Ruth.