Minus Ten Review - 2009-40

On a "head clearing ride" ten years ago.

Ten years ago here on the blog I wrote about the usual stuff: Trans Iowa, 29"ers, and a bit about Mid-West gravel events coming in the near future. But there was one thing that weighed really heavily on my mind that entire week. The fall-out due to this news I received was tough to deal with as well.

I never really let on what it was that was going on here. But now I can say that back then we had news that my father-in-law had a stroke. He was going to require open heart surgery. It was a time when we thought we might be losing him.

As you can imagine, news of that sort can shake you to your core. My wife's father was a classy, old-school Army veteran of the Korean and Vietnam conflicts. He could be very gentle and kind, but he had a countenance of a stern sergeant when he was angry. He was wise, and he had great stories about having been an over-the-road truck driver, the career after the Army, that he engaged in until his retirement just a year or so before this health scare.

He made it through this, but in 2017, on Easter morning, he died. He was an amazing father-in-law to me. I guess I must have been looked upon as a good son-in-law, because I recall how Frank, that was his name, would suddenly pipe up and tell me remembrances of the war while we were alone, quietly watching T.V. in his home in El Paso, Texas. According to my wife, he never told anyone else these stories.......

Well, back in 2009, this news of Frank's health scare caused a sudden trip for my wife, and a cancellation of my attendance to the Big Wheeled Ballyhoo, which was supposed to happen the following week. I felt awful for backing out, but my brother, MG, well he took over the reins and said not to worry. Anyway..... That helped, for sure, but I still felt badly. So, two major bummers a decade ago.

Next week I'll have more to say about the ill-fated Big Wheeled Ballyhoo.