sat.evening with mr. t...

tom made the trip to olives service today , and was good enough to write up an account of things...


tom...

I left at 8 and got back around 4:30. It takes about 2 hours and 20 minutes without stopping but i did stop 3 times, twice up and once back. I arrived about 10:15 am funeral was at 11 am.

The representatives of the Allen side of the family were sparse - Theo, me, Dorothy Thompson and her daughter Elna and Elna's daughter, and that's about it. Of course Dennis and Donna, Marylin and her son, his wife, their son "Oliver" about 3 years old, named after Olive, were there and others. Olive has two sisters, one is Dolly, and i don;t know the other one's name. Some others I am acquainted with through Dover School group. Many of Olive family were there and many, many friends and neighbors, about 60 people I'd say.

During the service, the minister whom I believe Dennis had arranged to come from Gladwin (he goes to church up there) invited anyone to share their thoughts about Olive, or stories. Marilyn, her daughter had planned to say a few words anyway, and turned out to be a great story teller and humorist. As odd as it may sound, this is the most enjoyable funeral I have ever been to, because of these stories: everyone was smiling and even laughing because we were celebrating her life rather than mourning the loss only.

Marylin told of the time a skunk was loose at the old store across the street and their dog thought it was a playmate (this was during the day) and chased it over into the Delmer and Olive Allen yard. The dog avoided being sprayed by moving to one side thinking they were playing. Stupid dog eh? the skunk was seen by Olive who went into a panic and grabbed a broom, chasing it around and around the yard and house, while the neighbor could not stop laughing hysterically as he watched. he later said he never laughed so hard in his life as you could imagine the sight of Olive trying to chase this skunk and smack it with a broom, running around in circles. the skunk finally landed on the back porch and she slaughtered it with a broom. Dennis and Marylin never disobeyed their mother again after seeing such brute force from their mother. unfortunately the smell of the skunk was there for a year afterward. It finally went away after initial attempts to completely wash it out were in vain. another time a beagle dog they had stole a pork chop off the table before dinner and ran out the door with it-Olive chased the dog with the broom and got the porkchop back. they don't remember who ate the pork chop but "assumed" Olive had cleaned it off first. Perhaps Delmer ate it, without knowing, since he was not home yet when this happened, they said, heheheh.

Elna then told the story of how she and Marliyn could yell to each other from their respective homes, were like twins and did everything together. One day they decided to give the horse a bath, the same day Olive did her hair. The girls decided to give the horse and permanent, so they went and got Olive's Curlers and shampoo and did the horses main and tail, with Olive's curlers. Olive's voice was heard calling "Marylin, have you seen my curlers" or something similar. The girls took the curlers off the horse quick and tried to clean them up. Marilyn apparently pretended to "find" them and return them to Olive. Olive later examined them and was finding these long hairs stuck in them, wondering for a moment where they came from. It did not take long to figure it out. To this day the girls still wonder if she actually used the curlers ever again..........

Elna Thompson also told of how Olive learned to drive. After she did she took the kids including Dennis, in the car somewhere but missed a turn, lost steering control and drove through the field and brush and manged to get up back on the road just before a bridge. Dennis had his eyes covered the entire time screaming something like "We're all gonna die! We're all gonna die!" Afterward, Dennis refused to ever ride in the car while his mother was driving ever again, and he never did! Ever!

We went to Cherry Grove Cemetery in Clare, behind the high school, on an overcast day but by the time we all got out of cars and gathered to say our final goodbyes at grave side, the clouds parted and the sun came out. (there was no tent). This was about 11:55 when the minister started speaking. In the middle of his speech and prayers, three blocks away, a church bell started ringing at 12 noon. It could have been either the Lutheran church or St. Cecelia's Catholic Church which are in close proximity to each other. but it tolled more then the customary 12 times, I think I counted 21 times. It may have been for the Memorial Day weekend thing, honoring the fallen soldiers or the dead, not sure why they rang it. The bell's volume was neither too loud nor too faint, but just right. I found this quite moving.

Afterward we went to Benchly's place, south across the street from Olive's house at Dover corners to their large garage for food and visiting. (These Benchly's are related to Paul Nass, I think the man is Paul Nass's nephew or something-I talked to the wife. I bet we're related to half the people in Clare county anyway.

I spent about 2 hours there. I actually got to visit Olive's house one more time, inside the front there, looking into the kitchen and the living room where I was last year. And I took one last walk around the outside, remembering her pride in her back yard garden , which still had some plants and flowers coming up, and tulips in front of the house. I remembered Jingles, their horse who used to be in the fenced in pasture back there, and how Marylin used to ride him over the Margaret Allen's sometimes and visit for a few minutes. I remembered the family visits as a child, and as an adult. i remembered Delmer's fun loving personality. how he used to tickle us kids, and stories of how he used to tease his cousins, Margaret Allen's girls, and his sister Dorothy. Dennis told me his father Delmer was an all A student in school, was very smart. I remembered riding over there on my bike when I was twelve, which I thought was a big deal at the time. And I viewed the museum and the Dover school with Theo for a few minutes before I left.

We will miss you Olive. You knew how to live well, and spread joy to everyone through your kind words, your paintings, your gardens, your humor, and your love for your fellow human beings