Above - Paul and sister Connie with Carol behind. Connie passed way in 2007 from breast cancer.
But not for me! Paul and my 'lil buddy Judson went to Minnesota today to visit Paul's eldest sis Carol. She has a beautiful place on Long Lake at Park Rapids - around an 8 hour drive from Creston.
Carol is 18 years older than Paul. So he really didn't get to know her until he was all growed up. But since then we've both gotten to know and love her. She's not had an easy life. Around when Paul was found under a cabbage leaf (born after 8 brothers and sisters) Carol was moving to Dubuque to go to nursing school. While she was at school she met and married Irv Meyer - known as Hap, from a small town just outside Dubuque.
Soon she was preggers - like good Catholics of that day. Carol and Hap's first child, Joseph, was born with fluid on his brain, and he died shortly after birth. Since is was the 60's, it was the era of "let's pretend bad stuff didn't happen." So the church women rushed to Carol's house and wisked away all the baby stuff. After a few month's Carol was pregnant again, and 9 months later, Tom was born followed by Terry a year or so later. Barb brought up the rear.
My impression of Hap is that he wasn't the easiest guy to be married to. When he was in his early 50's Hap starting acting very strange. The bank discovered he didn't have as many dairy cows as he was supposed to. He began repeating things that he said - acting kind of crazy. Carol was afraid he was drinking. After many months of this, Hap was diagnosed as having an early onset type of Alzheimer's Disease. He was soon institutionalized, and died a couple years later.
Carol was a widow before age 55, but she still had a lot of living to do. Even while Hap was alive, Carol found ways to keep busy - otherwise she would go crazy. The kids were out of the house by then - and they've all gone on to become very successful, wonderful people. Carol began riding her bike and went back to school to get her master's degree in nursing.
Then, a year or so after Irv died, Carol decided to ride on RAGBRAI (Iowa's big bike ride across the state) with Paul and their sis Jean and spouse Dave Fox. That year the ride went near Northwood, Iowa where one of the Docs Carol worked with in Dubuque grew up. This Doc talked Carol and her biking posse into staying with his widowed father Bud Kragenbrink. When Carol and Bud met - it was all she wrote. Bud's wife had passed on a couple years prior after a battle with cancer. Bud had 5 kids, and before long Carol was invited into the family. We attended their lovely wedding in Farley where Carol lived. Storybook!
Carol sold the Farley farm and bought her place on Long Lake in MN, and Bud and Carol lived the rest of the time in Northwood. They loved their lives together - traveling to all their kids (who all got along great, amazingly) homes. Sadly, Bud died of a heart attack in January of 2007. So Carol is again alone. She lives full time in Park Rapids now that she sold the Northwood place. She remains close to Bud's children, and travels to her kid's homes often - California, Idaho and Des Moines.
Here's to you Carol Goldsmith Meyer Kragenbrink. You're quite a lady!
Carol is 18 years older than Paul. So he really didn't get to know her until he was all growed up. But since then we've both gotten to know and love her. She's not had an easy life. Around when Paul was found under a cabbage leaf (born after 8 brothers and sisters) Carol was moving to Dubuque to go to nursing school. While she was at school she met and married Irv Meyer - known as Hap, from a small town just outside Dubuque.
Soon she was preggers - like good Catholics of that day. Carol and Hap's first child, Joseph, was born with fluid on his brain, and he died shortly after birth. Since is was the 60's, it was the era of "let's pretend bad stuff didn't happen." So the church women rushed to Carol's house and wisked away all the baby stuff. After a few month's Carol was pregnant again, and 9 months later, Tom was born followed by Terry a year or so later. Barb brought up the rear.
My impression of Hap is that he wasn't the easiest guy to be married to. When he was in his early 50's Hap starting acting very strange. The bank discovered he didn't have as many dairy cows as he was supposed to. He began repeating things that he said - acting kind of crazy. Carol was afraid he was drinking. After many months of this, Hap was diagnosed as having an early onset type of Alzheimer's Disease. He was soon institutionalized, and died a couple years later.
Carol was a widow before age 55, but she still had a lot of living to do. Even while Hap was alive, Carol found ways to keep busy - otherwise she would go crazy. The kids were out of the house by then - and they've all gone on to become very successful, wonderful people. Carol began riding her bike and went back to school to get her master's degree in nursing.
Then, a year or so after Irv died, Carol decided to ride on RAGBRAI (Iowa's big bike ride across the state) with Paul and their sis Jean and spouse Dave Fox. That year the ride went near Northwood, Iowa where one of the Docs Carol worked with in Dubuque grew up. This Doc talked Carol and her biking posse into staying with his widowed father Bud Kragenbrink. When Carol and Bud met - it was all she wrote. Bud's wife had passed on a couple years prior after a battle with cancer. Bud had 5 kids, and before long Carol was invited into the family. We attended their lovely wedding in Farley where Carol lived. Storybook!
Carol sold the Farley farm and bought her place on Long Lake in MN, and Bud and Carol lived the rest of the time in Northwood. They loved their lives together - traveling to all their kids (who all got along great, amazingly) homes. Sadly, Bud died of a heart attack in January of 2007. So Carol is again alone. She lives full time in Park Rapids now that she sold the Northwood place. She remains close to Bud's children, and travels to her kid's homes often - California, Idaho and Des Moines.
Here's to you Carol Goldsmith Meyer Kragenbrink. You're quite a lady!
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