And now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; and the greatest of these is love …
I Corinthians 13:13
Another anecdote that just didn’t fit anywhere was the cartoons. I quite honestly don’t remember when that “tradition” started, although I think it had its beginning in some form in Illinois. I remember printing a weekly reminder calendar with pithy, theological and Biblical quotations. I think at least one book of collections is upstairs in the attic.
I think it got a little lighter after that. Hagar and Helga — those Vikings you’ve seen on these pages facing age-old relationship and life problems with humor — were one of Mom’s favorites. She commented to me in her letter, “I would always give you a hard time about your cartoons and jokes, but truth be known they were the bright spot in my day. If I got up for coffee in the morning and there was no cartoon on the table, I didn’t know what to do!”
I still leave a cartoon on the mantle for her every morning.
Mom got even with me though. She has a whole bag of “keepers” for me to go through … not a little bag but a BIG bag.
She added, “Through the years your sense of humor has seen me through so much. You managed to make me smile at times when I only wanted to throw something at you.” Sometimes that smile was on the inside. 
To be continued and finished …
THOUGHT TO REMEMBER: The real reason you can’t take it with you is it goes before you do.
