Ole Pappy

Making the best of tough situation

For months my grandsons Timothy and Matthew Higgin of Holly Springs, North Carolina have looked forward to coming to Minnesota/Wisconsin to ski during the Christmas Holidays.

And they got their chance. Matthew, who is 12, got instructions from a ski coach before he took to the slopes himself. It was his first time on skis. Brother Timmy, almost 14, is an old hand on the slopes.

Their dad Josh also enjoys it. They skied all day — and when it got to be evening, they went back out one more time. But soon their mother got a phone call from Timmy.

Something had gone wrong and I could see it in their mother Michelle’s eyes. Matthew was hurt and laying on the slopes. Rescuers got him down. He had a broken collar bone and had to spend the rest of the time with his arm in a sling.

But he handled it well and made the best of it. The next day we went bowling and by using the aid of a stand, Matt rolled the ball down the lane. After three games, he’d won. “Hey, a one-armed bowler beat all of you,” he laughed.

LAUGH A LITTLE: The Bubbly Tummy song. One day my little sister crawled up on our Ole Pappy’s lap and said, “let’s sing a song!” Ole Pappy smiled and said, “What song do you want to sing?” My sister responded, “How about the “Bubble Tummy” song. Ole Pappy looked stumped and said, “You sing a little bit so I’ll know what song you mean. So my sister wound up and belted it out ... “Jesus Loves Me, This I Know, for the BUBBLY TUMMY so!” We had to pick Ole Pappy up off the floor after he laughed himself silly.

THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: As my Ole Pappy used to say, “I moaned when I didn’t have a pair of shoes ... until I saw a man who had no feet.” This was one of Ole Pappy’s favorites. It was his way of telling me things can always be worse, or maybe I didn’t have it so bad after all. Thanks Ole Pappy!

One of the year’s best stories from the Mascot files ....

Grandma gets early gift

Minneota grandmother Darlene LeGare was on hand at the state championship to watch her grandson Andrew Anderson of Cold Spring Rocori play for the state championship. Andrew, the son of Darlene’s daughter Kim, caught the winning two-point conversion in overtime against to beat top-ranked SMB, 22-21 for the state title. Anderson had to stretch out to beat all-state SMB player Jalen Suggs to the ball for the winning points. It was a great moment for Grandma LeGare. And, of-course, husband Vince would have been there — he would have love it. He passed away a few months ago!

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