Day 21: Celebrating Family

Day 21: Celebrating Family

The day started with a wonderful, and emotional, surprise.

After sharing our Day 18 blog about my cousin Tom, the 1973 WCCO-TV series Living with Death, and the beautiful letter reporter Don Kladstrup sent to the Nelson family after Tommy died, my cousin Terry sent me a Facebook message.

She had found an article Don and his wife, Petie, wrote nine years ago about the series and Don’s special connection with Tom. The article, titled Lost for Words, brought a flood of emotions rushing back.

https://medium.com/almost-home/tongue-tied-c64ffc686b4f

In the article, Don looked back on the months he spent with 17-year-old Tommy in 1972 while reporting Living with Death. Tommy had agreed to let Don and a WCCO cameraman document his battle with cancer in the hope that sharing what he was going through might somehow help someone else. Don wrote about the bond they developed and about being there when Tommy died. He also recalled one regret that had stayed with him through the years: knowing how much Tommy admired Minnesota Twins great Harmon Killebrew, Don wished he had arranged for the two of them to meet.

Reading Don’s words all these years later was overwhelming. Tommy had died more than half a century ago, but here was someone outside our family who still remembered him and had been deeply affected by knowing him.

I found contact information associated with the article and sent Don an email, introducing myself and explaining that I was Tommy’s cousin.

And this morning, Mr. Kladstrup responded!

He was happy to hear from me and to learn about my connection to Tom. He and his wife, Petie, now live in Paris. Don said he would check to see whether he still has a copy of the Living with Death series and will also contact CBS News Archives to see if they can locate one.

After all these years, there is suddenly a possibility that we might actually see Tommy again, not just in photographs or through our memories, but moving and speaking in a television program filmed during the final months of his life.

I can hardly describe what that possibility means to me and to our family.

Later in the morning, Janice and I drove about an hour south to St. Anthony, where my cousins Pam and Diane live.

After Aunt Jo’s home was sold last summer, Pam decided to move to North Carolina, near where my niece Nicole and her husband, Scott, live. Diane, meanwhile, bought an apartment in a 55+ community and absolutely loves it.

When Pam couldn’t find a place in North Carolina that felt right, another unit became available in Diane’s building. Pam decided to buy it and move back home to Minnesota.

Like Diane, she couldn’t be happier with her new home. The building is wonderful and even has guest apartments available for visiting family and friends.

We went out to lunch together and, as we have for nearly seven decades, thoroughly enjoyed simply being together, talking, laughing, remembering and catching up on one another’s lives.

And once again, I found myself appreciating how naturally Janice fits into my family. She joins the conversations, stories and laughter as though she has been part of them all along. There is something very special about watching your wife and best friend become so completely woven into the family you grew up with.

Pam and Diane were especially excited to hear about Don Kladstrup’s response and the possibility that we might locate the program featuring Tommy.

I sure hope we can find it.

Pam, Janice and I took Tad for a walk around the neighborhood. My Dad lived in St. Anthony when I was in college and I spent a lot of time bicycling around the area, including the area that Diane and Pam live.

From there, we returned to Lynn’s. She is working hard to establish a stable routine with her husband, Randy. I worry about both of them and the challenges they are facing, and I’m grateful that being here in Minnesota has given us some time together.

That evening brought another generation of family.

We met Nick, Alyssa and the kids for dinner. Cade and Alice had both gotten sick following Cade’s third birthday party on Saturday, but fortunately they were feeling well enough to venture out for dinner at Alice’s favorite restaurant, The Garage, in Pine City.

Afterward, we went to Sullivan Park, where I played with the kids while Janice kept Tad entertained.

Watching the grandchildren run and play, I thought again about how much family had filled this entire day: Tommy and the memories of a cousin I lost so many years ago; Pam and Diane, cousins who have shared nearly seven decades of my life; my sister Lynn; my son Nick and Alyssa; and now this newest generation racing around a park on a beautiful Minnesota evening.

Pine City is an idyllic little town about an hour north of Minneapolis, and it seemed especially beautiful as we headed home.

The sun was setting, illuminating leaves that seem to change a little more with every passing day. Bright green still dominates the landscape, but now patches of brilliant red, yellow and orange appear among the trees as if someone has taken a paintbrush to the Northland.

Fall is very much in the air.

Even beneath a brilliant blue sky, the sunlight seems softer now, somehow filtered through the changing season. Summer is slipping away and autumn is announcing its arrival one colorful branch at a time.

It seemed a fitting ending to a day spent celebrating something else that changes with the passing years but never really leaves us.

Family.

Those who are still beside us. Those who came after us. And those, like Tommy, who left far too soon but remain forever woven into the fabric of who we are.

Another wonderful day in the Northland.