Mary Welch Steinhoff Archives

May 21, 2015

Taking a Break

After more than a year of posting seven days a week, you may have noticed that I’ve been slacking off.

This has been a rough winter for Mother: she had her heart shocked back into rhythm in February, her pacemaker was replaced and she’s been sucking down supplemental oxygen to help her breathe (her oxygen saturation is higher than mine, so it must be working). In addition to the miserable weather that kept her trapped in the house, her circle of friends is getting smaller and smaller, which has made her a bit gloomy.

Regaining her strength

Different combinations of Mark, David and I have been keeping her company, but we determined that we didn’t have the expertise to get her back up to speed. She’s moved into the Lutheran Home temporarily so she can get physical therapy and gain some weight back. She’s got plenty of muscles from mowing the lawn, blowing leaves and going up and down the basement steps, but she’s working on learning how to use those muscles more effectively when you’re 93, going on 94.

I like the Lutheran Home

I’ve done quite a few stories over the years about healthcare facilities, including some that are no longer in business in Cape County. Most of the stories, sad to say, were about neglect and abuses.

The first thing I noticed about the Lutheran Home was that it didn’t smell. It’s clean and shiny.

The staff is friendly and caring. I’m usually there from late afternoon, through the evening meal and wind down watching a movie with Mother until she falls asleep, so I’ve had plenty of time over the last couple of months to get to know the folks who work there. They are stretched a little thin, but that’s a management issue, not anything the individual nurses, aides and therapists can control. I’m impressed.

Cards and letters

Road Warriorette Jan put the word out to her wide network of friends that she knew someone who would love to get some cards in the mail. Before long, Mother was getting batches of unique and interesting cards from all over the country. It has certainly given her something to look forward to.

If you’d like to send her a note, here’s her address until she gets back home.

Mary Steinhoff

Lutheran Home Room 217

2825 Bloomfield Road

Cape Girardeau, MO 63703

Back to work

I’m way behind on some projects, but I’ll try to post to this blog a little more regularly. Thanks to you folks who sent me email saying you missed seeing the morning posts.

I also need to thank Marty Riley and Rachael Criddle who have been a tremendous help over the past few months. It’s nice to have folks around who can explain medicines and procedures to you in non-doctorspeak.

April 25, 2015

Finn Levi Steinhoff 04/24/2015

I got an email from Son Adam at 8:33 a.m. Friday: “We are at the hospital.”

That was followed by a Facebook announcement from Carly Steinhoff: “We would like to introduce Finn Levi Steinhoff. Born at 12:59 p.m., 7 lbs 9 oz, 20″. {Swoon}”

Gosh, those things are tiny

You forget how small those babies are (Carly might differ). It doesn’t take long for them to grow up, though. Sarah Steinhoff posted a photo that shows that Wife Lila is now shorter than Grandson Malcolm.

We’re an “L” of a family

Through accident and design, we are a family with lots of L middle names. My brothers and I are Kenneth Lee, David Louis and Mark Lynn.

Our boys are Matthew Louis and Adam Lynn. The grandsons are Malcolm Lee, Graham Louis, Elliot Lane and, now, Finn Levi.

Finn’s brothers Graham and Elliot (left and right) and Cousin Malcolm in the middle (isn’t there a TV show by that name) celebrate Birthday Zero.

I’m in Cape, so it’ll be awhile before I meet Finn in person, but I was able to break the news to Mother that she had another great-grandson. That almost made up for it.

March 26, 2015March 26, 2015

Welcome to Spring in Cape

I was driving around North Sprigg this afternoon looking for the old Shivelbine house before SEMO preserves it in a landfill. The address I had been given was wrong, so I was turning around in a driveway when I saw these young folks cavorting on a rooftop. I gave them a friendly wave so they’d think I was a little less creepy. I’m not sure it worked.

Shades of the old days

That reminded me of this single frame I must have taken when I was visiting my future best man, Andy McLain, at his apartment off William somewhere near Pacific. The place was pretty rundown, but I think I see why he stayed there.

Better get an umbrella

The weather report said we were going to have a front blow through that was going to bring a couple days of rain, so I went looking for a large umbrella to replace the one I forgot to put in my new van. Just after I got in the house, the weather alert went off with a severe thunderstorm warning. I wasn’t overly concerned because it sounded like the cell was north and east of us.

Not too long after that, though, the alert sounded about a strong storm near Mable Hill headed our way. This one had high winds, a possible tornado and large hail. When the first few small hailstones started falling, I debated jumping in the van and heading to the funeral home overhang, but all of a sudden the sky opened up. It was too late.

Marble size and bigger

I’ve been in hailstorms where the stones were bigger, but I’ve never experienced having so much ice fall at one time and propelled so hard. The way the stones were pounding against the kitchen window, I was afraid the glass was going to break.

Here’s just a little of the ice on my windshield about 15 minutes after the main storm quit, and after the rain had melted them smaller than their original pea and marble size.

Yard and street covered

In a matter of a minute or two, the street and yard were a solid white.

Hail makes me uncomfortable

I love storm chasing, but hail makes me uncomfortable. When you get large hail, that means there are some serious winds in that storm bouncing the ice around.

These photos don’t do the hail justice: while it was falling, there was too much water on the storm door to shoot through it, and I couldn’t open the door because I was afraid the wind might blow it from my grasp. By the time I could shoot these, quite a bit of rain had fallen and melted the ice.

Rabbit and solar lights OK

So far as I can tell, Mother’s solar lights and rabbit came through unscathed. I hope I don’t see any dimples on my car in the morning. Click on the photos to make them larger.

February 27, 2015February 24, 2021

The Circle Grows Smaller

Mother called with shocking, though not totally unexpected news: Katy Proctor, one of her closest friends had died. She and her husband had been in ill health some time, but Mother and Katy still talked and visited fairly frequently.

In 2001, Brother Mark and I surprised Mother by renting a couple of stretch limos and taking her and her friends to a birthday dinner. We planned it for a month before her actual birthday so she wouldn’t expect anything. Katy and her husband, Woody, were part of the crowd.

The group decided they wanted to see and be seen in their limos. As they cruised down Broadway, throngs of people lined the street, and she thought that maybe the whole town had turned out to celebrate her birthday. It was actually spectators showing up for the SEMO Homecoming parade, but, what the heck.

There was some discussion about mooning the crowd, but the folks in MY limo were talked out of it. I can’t testify as to the behavior of the rowdy senior citizens in the other car.

Unfortunately, most of the people in this photo are no longer with us, something that makes Mother feel increasingly more isolated.

Katy’s obituary

Kathryn Revelle (Katy) Proctor passed away on Feb 24 2015 at Assisted Living West at the Lutheran Home. She was born on November 23, 1920 at Hickory Ridge, Missouri to Melvin and Chlora McNeely Revelle. She grew up in Delta and graduated from Delta High School. She married Woodrow Proctor on June 7, 1941 at Oran, Missouri. They lived at Chaffee until 1964 when they moved to Cape Girardeau. She was cafeteria manager at Franklin School for 22 years. After her retirement she worked at Mothers Day Out at Lynwood Baptist church many years and volunteered at the Fish Food Pantry and SE Hospital Auxillary.

She is survived by her husband of 73 years, Woodrow Proctor, a son, David (Jeanie) Proctor of Nellysford, VA, a daughter, Brenda (John) Faris of Cape Girardeau. Five grandchildren, Stephen Faris (Jenny Weiss) of Cape Girardeau, Stuart (Megan) Faris of Webster Groves, Mo, Amy (Jack) Leachman of Asheville, NC, Andrea (Tarlton) Brewer of Richmond VA, and Kipp Proctor of Bozeman, MT and three great grandchildren Delia and Grady Faris of Webster Groves and Mary Grace Brewer of Richmond. She is also survived by a sister, Audrey Kitchen of Union, Mo.

She was preceded in death by her parents, 6 brothers and 4 sisters.

Active in organizations

I did some newspaper searches several years back for some celebration Katy’s family had planned.

The November 9, 1961, Missourian had a society brief that The Fern Herrington Intermediate G.A.s of Calvary Baptist met at the church on Monday to study, under the guidance of their counselor, Mrs. Woodrow Proctor, the chapter on “Germany, A Nation Divided,” from the book, Teen Traveler Abroad.

Woody served in World War II

A brief in the August 6, 1945, Missourian said that Pfc. Ralph W. Proctor of Chaffee, a member of the 13th AAF Bomber Command in the Philippines, had been promoted to corporal in the Netherlands East Indies, according to a dispatch from headquarters overseas. Corp. Proctor, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Proctor, joined the service in December, 1942, and saw his first action with the veteran “Jungle Air Force” in June 1943, at Guadalcanal. His wife, Mrs. Kathryn Revelle Proctor, lives at Chaffee.

Squabbles

Mark and I were always amused at how the group of women were constantly squabbling and getting on the outs with each other, then reuniting like nothing had happened.

We’re going to miss her

Katy had an infectious grin that wrapped all the way around face, she could talk a mile a minute, and break out laughing at the least little thing.

She was a good friend to Mother. We’re all going to miss her.