Today I'm worried about Doug. He hasn't felt well in two days.
He has had consistent chest pain and he is so tired. He is getting a bit more forgetful although he doesn't seem to know it.
We planted a small container garden this spring. Tomatoes, cauliflower, onions, peas, beans and celery!!!
Nat came to help us last weekend. It was great having him here. Some days I miss the children so much. I feel as though I am not needed any more. They are all successful and raising their families. None of them live close by. They don't need my help or advice these days. Is this what it is like to be old? I will be 74 this year, but I don't feel old.
God gives His peace - that is my rock and my comfort in this uncertain time we are living in.
My husband lived adjacent to this factory in West Chicago from the age of 4 until he was 17. He now has dementia. He is probably in the middle of this disease. We have knowledge about how it manifests because we took care of my parents for nearly 10 years as they traveled the road of dementia.
I can't help but think this radioactive environment is the cause of his disease. As a boy he and his friends would climb the fence around the factory and investigate. He even said that they would at times walk in the retention pond. Probably filled with radioactive runoff.
Lindsay Light Site History and Background
History
Charles R. Lindsay Jr. founded the company bearing his name in 1902. Until the mid-1930s, the Lindsay Light Co. manufactured incandescent gaslight mantles at several addresses in Chicago's downtown Streeterville neighborhood.
A gaslight mantle is a small fabric bag infused with thorium or other metal nitrate that fits over the gas source. The heat from the gas flame burns off the mantle fabric leaving a fine metal mesh that glows brightly. The Lindsay Light Co. used the radioactive chemical thorium nitrate to manufacture their gaslight mantles.
Lindsay obtained thorium containing ore, typically monazite, to refine and extract the thorium. The refining process produced a sand-like waste known as thorium mill tailings, which were used for fill in the low-lying Streeterville area of Chicago and apparently former boat slip areas on the south side of the Chicago River directly south of Streeterville.
Lindsay Light's first location was at 22 W. Hubbard St. The company later expanded its operations to 316 E. Illinois St. and 161 E. Grand Ave. Ore containing radioactive thorium was processed at the Illinois Street site and the mantles were manufactured at the Grand Avenue location. In 1932, the company began moving its operations to West Chicago, Ill. (see Kerr-McGee Superfund site.) The company closed the last of its Chicago facilities in 1936.
Thorium contamination
EPA first discovered contamination at Lindsay Light's Illinois Street location in 1993. Since then, further investigations found soil contamination at more than a dozen locations in the Streeterville neighborhood and directly across the Chicago River at the New Eastside neighborhood. Thorium-contaminated soil emits gamma radiation. However, if soil, concrete, or asphalt is covering the contaminated soil, that cover will shield the radiation. It will also prevent people from touching, inhaling, or eating the contamination. In the Streeterville and New Eastside neighborhoods, nearly all of the thorium contamination was buried or shielded, so there was a minimal health and safety risk to people walking on sidewalks or inside buildings. When this contamination is disturbed, the risks increase.
To protect workers who might come into contact with radiation and thorium in subsurface soil, the EPA and city of Chicago developed a system that required anyone planning to work in subsurface soil in the Streeterville and New Eastside neighborhoods to monitor the soil for thorium contamination.
To date, cleanups have been done at more than a dozen properties. About 55,000 cubic yards of contaminated soil have been removed and shipped to out-of-state facilities licensed to accept radioactive waste. There are still several properties known to have contamination that need to be cleaned up.
Working in the rights-of-way within the areas that possibly might have thorium-contaminated soil
Because of the long-lived nature of thorium contamination (some radioactive contamination is very short lived), the need to know that these areas are safe for workers will continue far into the future. Therefore, EPA has agreed to host a web-based repository of radiation testing reports and other technical documents for the benefit of those working within the rights-of-way. The reports in the web-based repository allow utility companies and city departments to easily check to see if an area has already been tested and determined to be clear of contamination, or if the area has never been investigated and still needs to be tested. The repository should save companies time and money by avoiding the duplication of radiation testing.
We sold the family cottage last year. It was a very hard decision, but it was time.
It is sad to think that I will never spend wonderful summer days there again- baking
raspberry pie and having barbecues in the back yard.
Part of the reason we moved up here over 20 years ago was because of our
love of the cottage.
Many of us spent our honeymoons here, including mom and dad in 1944.
Each couple carved their initials and wedding date into a rock on the fireplace.
It was always called, the Wigwam. I believe it has had that name since 1900.
Our dining room. I don't think the new owners kept this table or the chairs. We heard that they had all the furniture hauled away, but it will always remain in my memory like this: our happy place!
The screened in front porch was the absolute best part of the cottage.
My mom had collected all the wicker, but I think the glider must
have been there forever!
When I was a teenager I remember our dog, Lady, would get tired and then she
would look at us as if to say, "good night" and head up the stairs
to her bed in the chimney room.
We loved you wonderful cottage. You will always be in our memories and hearts!
position in a family of boys, but he is navigating
it well.
Here he is in Michigan at our cottage on Portage Lake. This rock has been the scene of
many a photo shoot over the last 100 years!
He loves his new life in Tennessee
among his many animals.
I was with Lena when Ezra was born.
A few days after his birth my mother
died from the long goodbye of
Alzheimer's Disease.
My sister, Nancy has been transcribing
mom and dad's letters from WW2.
They are so sweet to read and to get
to know this other side of them. A
side we really didn't see as we were
growing up and they became busy
raising a large family.
Here is one of dad's early letters to mom
My Darling Wife,
Well, how is my little honey tonight, huh? As sweet and lovely as ever, just like you always will be. Just read some more from the Cosmo. Liked one story better than any I’ve read in months. It was “Ellen and Steve Forever.” The girl was just like you, that’s why I like it so much. Say darling, how about sending next month’s to me? I probably won’t have much time to read it but it’s nice to know you do have something to readjust in case you do need to pass away a few hours.
You know honey I actually believe I am gaining weight. This will have to come to a halt because we won’t be able to buy new clothes for awhile after I get back, besides you used to like the old gray suit so much.
Remember once when we went to the movie on Biscayne Boulevard with Jo and Bill? You looked so darn cute and pretty in your sweater and skirt, your hair was in one of its best moods. Sent a v-mail off to Bill last night; was not much to write about however.
Maybe it would be better if I added to this each day instead of writing a new letter. It can’t go out so it doesn’t make much difference, does it?
The sun came out and was hot so I got some more tan. I am wearing my shorts (swimming) most of the time.
Have you talked with Eileen since you got back home?
I got thinking today of how messed up our generation really is. We won’t be able to live like our folks have afterwards, not that I particularly wanted to. We probably won’t be near as prosperous as they because I will never have the education. The fact doesn’t distress me much as long as it is all right with my honey. The main thing is to make sure our children never have to go through this hell. For this I am willing to give these years out of my life. Afterwards we will live happier than ever because we have learned the value of it. So it won’t make much difference if we don’t have so much money or material things, does it darling. We will have each other always and that is what counts. Don’t forget – we said we wouldn’t let anything worry us; we would just live happy and completely in love all the rest of our lives. We have seen how little two people need when they are content with each other, deriving pleasure out of the things God made for people to enjoy. Saving our money for a home that will be built where we decide and no where else, a sailboat to enjoy being out by ourselves in, our children and then we will have all our dreams come true. Very simple and peaceful, huh? It’s not complicated when you leave out the dirtiness of city life and the rush and worry over seeing how much money you can stack away or how many cars you can buy. We know already that it’s not these things that constitute a happy life. I feel so happy and wonderful when I know we are meant for each other and are capable of being so terribly happy just being with each other. It’s rare when two people don’t need the company of other people in order for them to keep from being bored with each other or the life they are living. Think of some of your friends who have to go out to parties every night to officers’ clubs and all of that artificial life in order to enjoy themselves. They have to drink in order for life to be more pleasant. I have all I want in having you darling. I’ll love you until eternity, I know you have faith in our love Barb, so always feel that it will bring us through whatever comes up, no matter how hopeless it seems. Never give up darling and I will do the same.
We are getting more lake effect snow again today. I'm glad it's not as cold as it was last week!
We still have to walk Bud whenever he has to go out as we do not have a fenced yard.
There has been a bobcat around our property that really gets Bud worked up.
My brother, Bill and I went over to pierport beach the other day to look at the ice formations. The lake is always awesome in the winter. Last week when Doug and I were there the ice had formed way out into the lake. There were islands of ice everywhere. Some looked like icebergs. There is something about the winter weather that always makes me happy. I'm not sure just what it is-maybe the beauty of the snow covered land, the freshness of the cold air and having more time to engage in hobbies. I always look forward to winter and then am a bit sad when it goes.
Benjamin turned 7 on February 4th.
Benji has always been a sweet and loving child with a
bit of a temper, too!!
I think he will be the tallest of the three boys.
I was present the day he was born and have shared so
many happy times over the years.
He moved from Illinois to Tennessee with his family
and I really do miss all of them. They have a
fun homestead farm with chickens, dogs, cats, donkeys and
I have enjoyed knitting more these past few years.
This Christmas I made hats, scarves and
afghans for Lena and Anna's families.
CARSON, ADY AND DAVY
Lena found some bittersweet there in Tennessee and sent it to me as she knows how much I miss our times together searching it out and making wreaths when we lived in Indiana.
I haven't written in a long time. It's January 18, 2022.
Two years ago I was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was shocking as no one in my family has ever had breast cancer. My sister had a melanoma years ago that was cured completely.
I had a lumpectomy since my tumor was small-only 4mm. I am very grateful for the doctors and for my recovery.
Before I was finished with my radiation treatments Covid hit. We were all concerned. The world in the last two years has undergone major shifts. We have succumbed to fear and lies and panic. Now two years later many countries shut down their economies for extended times. This has now caused shortages of goods. Even in our own country the government has mandated masks to be worn and even in some places for vaccination cards to be shown to enter establishments.
It is really just too much to try to tell. The vaccinations were rolled out under President Trump and then the new president, Joe Biden (who was voted in under very suspicious circumstances) has mandated them. Our country is so divided now between the vaccinated and the unvaccinated. It is a very sad time we are living in.
A year and two days ago on September 26, 2018, my life was changed forever.
Little did I know when I woke up that morning that something so crazy would happen that it would shake up my life entirely. At roughly 2:35 we were running back from an outdoor gym class, and then we came to the final stretch. It was just one long stretch of sidewalk between me and The Door. Out of the corner of my eye, I see this person start to sprint for the door, and me, being naturally pretty competitive, decided to race the person and try and beat them to the door. I thought the person just wanted to race to the area around which the door was located, but as we reached said area,I saw the person go for the door. I did not want to be beaten, so I reached for the door and I was still going at a pretty fast pace. There were double pane glass windows in that door,
I thought my hand would not go through, and sure enough, I was very, very wrong.
My right hand went straight through the glass.
When I pulled out my hand, there was this gaping hole in my wrist, I could see stuff hanging out, and I saw this white thing that was cut in half which turned out to be a tendon. I was bleeding really badly, and my hand was going numb fast. To give you an idea of how much I bled, in the first picture with the door, you’ll see four cement squares. I legitimately covered every inch of those four squares with blood, and I still have some blood on the pair of shoes I was wearing at that time. At this point, the main thoughts going through my mind were,
“What is happening right now,” and, “I really messed up.”
Thankfully, it was about pick up time for school, and there was a mom at the front of the line who happened to know a nurse that lived close by, and once she came over to me, she called her friend. I can’t remember exactly how, but at some point a lot of gauze pads showed up, which proved to be helpful with the bleeding. The head of school came out of the building to help me, as well as this other kind gentleman that was working at the church at that time (my old school rents space from the church I attend). The man was wearing a thick belt which he used to make a makeshift tourniquet for my arm to try and slow the bleeding. At this point, I was sitting on the ground near the door with the four people surrounding me.
A second thought I was having was, “So this is how I go out? Pretty lame ending.”
Another person associated with the church came out and prayed for me. Soon after, the EMTs arrived, they put a real tourniquet on and took me to the hospital. Due to various delays, I went into a 5 hour long surgery at 10:30 p.m. . I woke up at 4:30 a.m., and left the hospital a day later on September 28, 2018. The diagnosis I received from the surgeon was that I had severed my ulnar artery, my flexor tendons, and my median and ulnar nerves . The first couple days after the incident were hard, because I am right hand dominant, so I had to use my left hand for a lot of things including writing.
Over the past year I’ve thought a lot about why God would allow this to happen to me, and I’ve come to a few conclusions.
First, God allowed this terrible thing to happen to me because He knew I could handle it.
Second, I believe God allowed it to happen, because he wanted to show me that He cares about me, and is looking out for me.
I also believe that He does the same for everyone else. To close it up, I want to talk about a song that has stuck with me and encouraged me. The song is called “Scars” by I Am They. This song was sent to my mom from one of her friends in hope that I would hear it, and I’m glad I heard it. The main part goes, “ So I'm thankful for the scars
'Cause without them I wouldn't know Your heart
And I know they'll always tell of who You are
So forever I am thankful for the scars.”
Not only is my scar a good reminder of what God has done and is doing in my life, but it is in the shape of a cross, so I’ll always remember the reason that I am alive today. I firmly believe that if God was not real, and if He was not looking out for me, I would be dead. Only by His grace were the people there to help me, and only by His mercy am I alive. So far, pretty much everything is healed, and the only things I’m waiting for are the nerves to regrow and flexibility to come back. I can’t wait to see what God has in store for me this next year and what other truths He’ll reveal to me.
George after his operation last September
George this September almost totally healed and playing football at Wheaton Academy as a freshman!
To God be the glory for the great things He hath done!
We helped celebrate his 7th birthday once again at the cottage!
Lena, Adam, the boys and I toured the alpaca farm in
Frankfort
where the boys got to visit the petting zoo, look at the
alpacas and take some funny pictures!
BENJI
The cottage is a wonderful place for the children to have vacation. Adam often lets the boys do s'mores over the fire in the old fireplace in the morning.
The fireplace is made of round Michigan stones and whomever had their honeymoon there has etched their initials and the date into one of the stones. Mom and Dad's are there as are mine and Doug's and many other relatives for the past 80 years!
Our sweetheart, Samuel
Anna and the children flew into Michigan on August 7th so that they would have time to get plenty of play time in with the Meade boys!
Ady loves her cousins. She has LOTS of cousins, but they all live far away from Texas so we are very happy when they get to come for a few weeks.
Here Ady is at home in Texas waiting to go to Dallas to catch the flight to Traverse City...
Ady and I scurried off to Pierport to search for Petosky stones and to build a sand castle!
There were many monarch butterflies on the beach and other people wading in Lake Michigan looking for stones to take home!
We always make a trip to
The Cherry Hut
and take a picture with
Mr. Cherry!
Ady likes to have fun with the messenger app on my phone!
You can make all kinds of faces and she laughs and laughs.
Joe came up for the day with Bethany and Josh to visit with his sisters, Lena and Anna!
This was Carson's last good day.
When Anna arrived in Michigan Carson had been sick.
However, he was taken to the dr in Texas and told he could travel and that he only had a virus that had settled in his hip. He assured Anna that all would be well.
By Monday the 13th we felt he just wasn't getting any better so we took him to the ER in Manistee.
They sent us to the Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids as they felt they were ill equipped to handle whatever it was in Manistee.
It was a serious sepsis infection in his hip that had
started in his femur. Carson had to go into surgery
and have the fluid in his hip area drained and
cleaned out. He was on an IV antibiotic drip for 4
days and was discharged on the 17th.
Ulysa Girard ,Anna's sister-in-law came from
Midland to stay with Anna and Carson so that Ady
and I could go home.
Poor little man was always in good spirits and is
doing much better now.
Ady and I got some more swim time in and had a fun few days together while Anna was in Grand Rapids.
Ady, my sister-in-law Susan, and I having fun at Portage Lake.
Fun at the park in Onekama!
Carson came home on Friday and they had tickets to go home on Monday. It was very sad to see them go, but we are so grateful that Carson is on his way to being totally well and that we had so much fun with Ady.
Ady was brave enough this visit to ride the horse at the Meijer store!
She was very proud of herself.
We put the old red swing from the cottage up on the large Catalpa tree in our backyard. She was also brave enough this year to get on and really enjoy it!
It was a wonderful visit.
Ady redecorated Doug's infrared sauna into a playhouse.
