Ames, Iowa, November 13, 2012~

Howdy from Farm Country!  

This is Milton Eddleston writing.  I'm in Study Hall as I write this; am now in tenth grade and school is okay, but I'd rather be back home on the farm, tending to the critters.  That is more my speed rather than sitting in a stuffy classroon for over 7 hours five days a week!

I hope this finds you well.  I am okay, just ready for Thanksgiving (and Christmas) break, which are coming up fast.  The other day (Sunday) it was Veteran's Day.  We went to the city parade in the morning, then went to a community luncheon held at the First Presbyterian Church; I made a "pig" out of myself.  *OINK!*  LOL  

The food was free for all Veterans and their families.  My one uncle (Tom) served in Vietnam, so he's like in his seventies now, an old man.  He appreciated the gesture; heck, we all did.  That was very nice of the city of Ames to do this for our Veterans.  

 That evening, we went to church and they had a special service for the Veterans.  It was very moving; I don't think there was a dry eye in the whole sanctuary.

The weather is quickly getting colder; the leaves have since fallen off the trees; what leaves are left have turned an ugly brown and the trees have become mostly bare.  We have the animals in their barns and yet we still rise early, well before light, to tend to them, feeding them, mucking out their stalls/pens, making sure they are okay, and giving them fresh water and excercising them.  Even in the nasty weather, we do this (rather, Pa and I do; Ma stays inside, where she cooks and takes care of motherly things).

My cousin Travis, who has Canavan disease, is in the hospital as I write this: he has pneumonia (again).  Seems that his little system can't handle each little bug that comes his way.  I pray he doesn't die on us; I don't want to have to bury my little cousin and then live with the guilt, especially during the holidays.  That would just suck!

Grandpa Ocie, who has Alzheimer's, is now in a nursing home: caring for him got to be too much for our family to handle.  We do visit him several days a week, but he no longer knows us most of the time.  It's heartbreaking to see him like this because he was once a very hard working man who loved his family and his way of life.  Now he sits in a wheelchair, chewing his lip and rocking, and trying to figure out who we are or why we are there (or where he is or who HE is).

Happily, my other two cousins, Brandt and Bryson, who are now 1 1/2, are thriving and growing into two little tots; they are picking up attitudes and are entering the "terrible twos"  six months early.  Their ma and pa have their hands full of them, but they are still as cute as the dickens.

Well, I hate to run, but Study Hall is about to end, so I will go.  I will probably write in here during Thanksgiving break.  Until then, this is Milton Eddleston saying so long; may God bless you always!

~Milton (aka "Pig-Boy").  :)