Life On The Ranch

My husband, Bob Schulenberg’s grandparents, Walt and Vina Hein were so much fun to go visit in Forsyth, Montana when our family was young. They owned a ranch outside of town, and while Bob and I also lived in the country, our little place outside of Casper, Wyoming was no ranch. Grandma and Grandpa had chickens, horses, and cows, and that gave our girls, Corrie Petersen and Amy Royce, the experience of seeing life on a real ranch. They lived going to see Grandma and Grandpa every summer. It was a big part of their summer break, even though it was only a week out of the summer. It meant the world to Grandma and Grandpa too, that we wanted to come each year. Their photo albums were filled with pictures of their little great granddaughters. It’s hard to live so far away and never get to see those great grandbabies.

Grandma and Grandpa Hein are parents to Esther Hein, Eddie Hein (who went to Heaven on October 16, 2019), and Butch Hein. Grandma also had two children from her first marriage, Marian Kanta and my father-in-law, Walt Schulenberg. Theirs was a happy marriage, even if life on the ranch was hard at times, including the fact that they had an outhouse for all the years they lived in the ranch. That outhouse was a bit of a culture shock for my little girls the first time they had to use it, but they soon adapted, and it was…just normal. Of course, when they got married on June 7, 1939, outhouses still weren’t that uncommon. At least not like they are in these modern times.

Grandma and Grandpa Hein were truly wonderful people, and I was always glad to go and spend time with them. It also gave our girls a chance to get to know their great grandparents, which was something I didn’t have for most of my life, because my own great grandparents died before I was born, or when I was a young girl. The prospect of having great grandparents, some close by and others further away, was very exciting to me, and something I wanted for my girls. All too soon all of the great grandparent left us for Heaven, and that made me very sad. Happy anniversary in Heaven, Grandma and Grandpa Hein. We love and miss you very much.