Monthly Archives: May 2024
My grandnephew, Zack Spethman is graduating from Roosevelt High School today, and we are all so proud of him. Zack’s high school journey has taken place during some of the toughest years in our nation’s history. Covid-19, the pandemic plague of education everywhere, shut down the schools for months, and put many students way behind in their studies. Many of those same students, like Zack, worked very hard to catch up and go on to finish their studies so they could receive their high school diplomas. We are so proud of Zack for sticking it out and for arriving at this point.
It is so hard to believe that Zack could already be old enough to be graduating from high school. Of course, having watched him grow up all these years, I know full well that he is old enough, but I can also vividly remember the cute little boy he was. Zack has really never changed one bit. He was a loving sweet boy then, and he is today too. While it seems impossible to me that he could be graduating, the 
fact remains that he is. Zack is looking forward to being out of school for a while. He is thinking about going to a trade school down the road a way, possibly for welding. Zack would come by a love for welding naturally, because his grandpa, my dad, Allen Spencer was a welder for many years. His cousin, Garrett Stevens is also a welder by trade. Zack took welding in school and found that he likes it. He is not positive that welding is what he wants to do yet, but he is exploring the possibilities. He will find what he wants to do. Of that I have no doubt.
Zack is a kind and loving young man, who is good to everyone. He is quick to hug those he loves, and always tells us that he loves us. He is a gentle man. These traits endear him to all who know him. I know that his teachers and fellow students all feel the same way about him. He is a loving brother to his siblings, Xander, Isaac, and Aleesia, and a loving son to his 
parents, Jenny and Steve Spethman. Zack makes friends easily, because of his friendly nature. I am excited to see what the future holds for him. He has the ability to do anything he chooses. He is a smart young man.
Zack is looking forward to spending some time in the great outdoors too. He loves to hike with his mom, and it is a special time for both of them. The family loves camping and cookouts, so I’m sure these days of nice weather will be filled to the top with fun, friends, and family. Congratulations on your graduation, Zack!! You’ve earned it, and we are so proud of you and your accomplishments!! On to new vistas and great accomplishments. We love you!!
My grandnephew, Jaxx Harman is such a sweet little boy. His mom, Melanie Harman, tells says, “This little boy has been a blessing, of course, from the very start!! He is always just so full of energy and joy. With a smile that will brighten the darkest of days!!” He is all that for sure. He loves doing anything that will bring a smile and happiness to those he loves. Every time I see him, I feel the same way.
While Jaxx is very sweet and filled with joy, he is also filled with goofiness!! Melanie says, “Plus, he is the goofiest kid you will ever meet. He came in one day to say ‘goodnight’ to us and as he was shutting the door he got down on his knees holding the doorknob in his hands and started hitting himself 
lightly with the door saying ‘for some reason the door is broken and it won’t close’ with his perfect little smile and goofy giggle. He says the weirdest of things at the weirdest of times like ‘I’m not a pickle Sr!’ Ha ha, which is weird cause no one has ever accused him of that!! The other day we looked out in the backyard as he was swinging, and he ust started scream singing ‘I Need A Hero’ by Bonnie Tyler!! He loves to say ‘I ain’t afraid of no ghost’ and then asks ‘who you gonna call.’ Then says, ‘Ghostbusters!!’ Ha ha” One second, he is walking next to his parents normally, and the next second they look at him and he’s walking like a goof! He loves to put smiles on everybody face, and he will do whatever it 
takes to make that happen.
This year, Jaxx got a new baby cousin, when his Aunt Siara and Uncle Chris had their little baby, Nathaniel. Jaxx loves his baby cousin so very much!! Jaxx loves playing video games, but above all else, his all-time favorite thing to do is to hang out with his best friend, and his big sister Izabella. Jaxx is a very smart little boy and is so much fun that he always keeps his family laughing almost to tears. Melanie and Jaxx’s dad, Jake Harman praise God every day for giving them this perfect little dude! Melanie says, “Our life would definitely be incomplete without him.” I agree!! Today is Jaxx’s 7th birthday. Happy birthday Jaxx!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My niece, Kellie Hadlock’s partner, Tim Thompson is, Kellie says, “Well…for starters…he is THE BEST!” I love when the family can say it better than I ever could. Kellie is so happy with Tim. It is a beautiful thing to see. The looks on her face just say it all. Pure happiness. Tim is a great also a great dad to his daughter, Jolene. Tim and Kellie have Jolene for the summer, so they have so many fun plans!! Tim is gearing up for summer and all the camping!! Tim took Jolene on a weekend fishing trip, and they caught a ton of fish!! Tim and Jolene are two peas in a pod and it’s adorable!! He is teaching Jo to cook and bake. While they are having a great time, it also looks to me like Tim is wondering what he was thinking. All joking aside. They are having a great time with that. Jo also started wrestling, which is 
what Tim did in college. They have just been living it up with all their similar interests!! He loves teaching her everything he knows!! He loves being a dad, and that is what dad’s do.
Tim has been working on Kellie’s house too. He is very handy. He’s been fixing all the things and doing all the lawn work!! They just went on an early birthday weekend to Denver to watch a Rockies game. They had a great time. Tim’s family is from Philadelphia, so they weren’t going for the Rockies, but Philly won so that was awesome for his birthday!! Well, I’m happy for Tim on that one, but I would still rather see the 
Rockies win…sorry Tim.
Tim is very much an outdoor man. He loves hunting, camping, fishing, and anything else outdoors. The hunting and fishing he does also help to provide for his family, and the time he spends with the girls, showing them the ins and outs of hunting and fishing make it fun for all of them. Tim works hard to take good care of Kellie and Jolene. He shows his love for them every day, and in every way. Kellie says, “Truly though, he does everything he can to take care of Jo and I and be extra good to us!! We love him and his giant heart!!” Today is Tim’s birthday!! Happy birthday Tim!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Most wars end when one of the sides surrenders because they know they have lost the war. It would be strange for two enemies to simply walk away from a war. Nevertheless, in the year 585BC, the Medians were at war with the Lydians. When the king of Lydia refused to hand over the Scythians to Cyaxares, a war broke out between the two kingdoms. The war had been going on for five years. Things weren’t going well for either side. Neither side seemed to be able to get the upper hand in the war. Then, it all changed. Still, it didn’t change in the way you would expect.
Technically this battle was called the Battle of Halys, but it ended with the solar eclipse that Thales predicted. After that, it was called the Battle of the Eclipse. The solar eclipse so terrified the Medians and Lydians that they forgot about the vicious battle they were fighting 
and fled the battlefield. It had to have been the fastest end to a war in history…before or after.
Modern astronomical research places the date of the battle on May 28th 585 BC. Other dates have been proposed with varied evidence, but May 28 is the most widely accepted date for the event. For these ancient people, a solar eclipse would have appeared to have been an omen from the gods. They didn’t know any better. Subsequently, they lay down their weapons and quickly ushered in a truce.
Whilt this eclipse wasn’t the first one to be recorded, it was the first to be accurately predicted. According to the Greek historian Herodotus, Thales of Milete had made the prediction that it would occur in the year that it did. 
How he made the prediction is a mystery, and the answer continues to elude modern historians, because prediction of such events requires certain astronomical knowledge that they weren’t thought to have had back then. Nevertheless, he was probably the only one who was not particularly surprised about the sudden darkness on the battlefield. Everyone else was in a state of panic, and both sides decided that it was time to get the heck off the battlefield, before something really bad happened.
My grandniece, Brooklyn Killinger has hit a milestone birthday this year. It’s not so much that the birthday is a milestone, as it is that she is now at a landmark time in her life. She is leaving elementary school behind and is headed to middle school. She will start attending Dean Morgan Middle School in the Fall. Brooklyn is finding that she is suddenly both excited and apprehensive at the same time. Of course, Brooklyn is not the only one having these feelings. Her parents are feeling the same way. It’s hard to watch your little girl becoming so grown up.
Brooklyn is definitely getting grown up. She is starting to get into makeup and skincare. In that respect, she takes after her bonus mom, Lacey Killinger. Brooklyn is becoming more and more a girly girl every day, not that she wasn’t before. She was the flower girl in Lacey and her dad, Chris Killinger’s 
wedding. She loved every minute of it…especially wearing “the pretty dress.” She also loves her little cousins, Elliott and Maya Stevens. Both of those little girls love Brooklyn and her brother, Jaxon Killinger very much. They play well together, they love hanging out, going camping, and especially going swimming. Chris and Lacey got a new camper, and they are all looking forward to going camping. Brooklyn and Jaxon love that they have bunk 
beds in the back of the camper.
Brooklyn just finished playing basketball ball at the YMCA this spring. Her team made it to the championships, but they lost their 2nd game in the championship tournament. Nevertheless, making it to the championships is an awesome thing. For her birthday Chris and Lacey threw Brooklyn as Taylor Swift themed birthday party at the Wagon Wheel Skating Rink. She loves Taylor Swift. Some of her friends from school, and her family joined her for her special day. Everyone had a wonderful time…especially Brooklyn. Today is Brooklyn’s 11th birthday. Happy birthday Brooklyn!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Memorial Day is a different kind of day, because it is not a holiday of celebration, but rather a day remembrance. We cannot celebrate this day, because it is about honoring those soldiers who went to war and didn’t make it back. It was the ultimate sacrifice. As the saying goes concerning soldiers, “all gave some, but some gave all!” When a soldier goes to war, they know. They are very aware that the possibility exists that they will not come back home. They know that their sacrifice might be the ultimate sacrifice. They want to make it home, but they know it may not be. Today is about those soldiers who did not make it home. 
I doubt if there are many families that can say that they have never lost a soldier in battle, but while I don’t specifically know of any in my family, I’m sure there are some back there a way. There have been many wars, and with each one examined, comes the increased chance of having a relative who dies at war. It doesn’t matter anyway, because Memorial Day is a day to honor those who gave all, whether they are related to us or not. Their sacrifice is what makes us free today. They fought for people they didn’t even know, gave up time with the family they loved, and died in a place they didn’t want to be. That is the epitome of bravery and courage.
Some of them, including my uncle, Jim Richards’ brother Dale Richards never left the place they died. Dale fought in Normandy, France, and that is where he is to this day. The people of France are so grateful for the soldiers who fought and died over there, that they keep the graves looking beautiful. It’s nice to know that there are people who continue to show their appreciation for those men who “gave all” for them. Their sacrifice should never be forgotten. Their families can certainly never forget. They have had to go forward with their lives without the love and support of the soldier that went to war and never came home. That soldier had 
potential. They could have been anything they wanted to be, but instead, they chose to give their life to ensure the freedom of other human beings. Today, we honor all of those men who “gave all” for us and so many others. We thank you for your service, and we honor your memory. God bless you all, from a grateful nation.
After World War I ended, war weary Americans decided that we needed to isolate ourselves from the rest of the world to a degree, in order to protect ourselves. Of course, that didn’t stop people from other countries from wanting to immigrate to the United States. The Johnson-Reed Immigration Act reflected that desire. Americans wanted to push back and distance ourselves from Europe amid growing fears of the spread of communist ideas. The new law seemed the best way to accomplish that. Unfortunately, the law also reflected the pervasiveness of racial discrimination in American society at the time. As more and more largely unskilled and uneducated immigrants tried to come into America, many Americans saw the enormous influx of immigrants during the early 1900s as causing unfair competition for jobs and land.
Under the new law, immigration was to remain open to those with a “college education and/or special skills, but entry was denied disproportionately to Eastern and Southern Europeans and Japanese.” At the same time, the legislation allowed for more immigration from Northern European nations such as Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavian countries. The law also set a quota that limited immigration to two percent of any given nation’s residents already in the US as of 1890, a provision designed to maintain America’s largely Northern European racial composition. In 1927, the “two percent rule” was eliminated and a cap of 150,000 total immigrants annually was established. While this was more fair all around, it particularly angered Japan. In 1907, Japan and US President Theodore Roosevelt had created a “Gentlemen’s Agreement,” which included more liberal immigration quotas for Japan. Of course, that was unfair to other nations looking to send immigrants to the United States. Strong US agricultural and labor interests, particularly from California, had already pushed through a form of exclusionary laws against Japanese immigrants by 1924, so they favored the more restrictive legislation signed by Coolidge.
Of course, the Japanese government felt that the American law as an insult and protested by declaring May 26 
a “National Day of Humiliation” in Japan. With that, Japan experienced a wave of anti-American sentiment, inspiring a Japanese citizen to commit suicide outside the American embassy in Tokyo in protest. That created more anti-American sentiment, but in the end, it made no difference. On May 26, 1924, President Calvin Coolidge signed the Immigration Act of 1924 into law. It was the most stringent and possibly the most controversial US immigration policy in the nation’s history up to that time. Despite becoming known for such isolationist legislation, Coolidge also established the Statue of Liberty as a national monument in 1924.
My niece, Cassie Franklin has been enjoying being a mother of three since adding the daughter, Alicen, whom she shares with her partner, Wesley Burr. Alicen has been an added blessing to their whole family. Cassie has always been a devoted mother. She loves her three children, Lucas, Zoey, and now Alicen. Lucas was born with Down Syndrome, and since that time, Cassie has been researching ways to make her family healthy. She is very much against vaccinations, as are many people these days. Since Covid, and all the issues the virus and the vaccine have been found to have, many people are leery of the vaccine.
Cassie has had a couple of businesses in which she makes candles and beautiful resin creations, like dishes, bowls, trays, and even jewelry. She is very creative, and her creations are absolutely beautiful. Cassie is also an excellent photographer. Her photography started with her own children, and that developed into a business of photography. She also does exceptional landscape photography. Of course, being from Wyoming, most of her landscapes are centered around our great state.
The last few years have been a bit difficult for Cassie. Her mother, Rachel Schulenberg, with whom she was very close, passed away on January 19, 2021. Cassie and her brothers, Riley Birey and Tucker Schulenberg miss their mom very much. Cassie is so much her mom’s mini me, that they could actually be twins. Every time I see Cassie, I can’t help but see her mom too. Cassie and her mom practically grew up together. Cassie was the child of her mom’s youth, and Rachel was an excellent single parent. It was so hard to lose Rachel when she was so young, and we all feel the loss deeply. 
Cassie is working on building a new life with her partner, Wesley Burr, and children, Lucas and Zoey Iverson, and Alicen Burr. They have their own business called Back to Back Cleaning Company. They do everything from yards, to houses, to cars, and probably much more. From what I understand, no job is too big or too small. I hope their business venture is a great success. Today is Cassie’s birthday. Happy birthday Cassie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
There are many diseases that can become an epidemic, but I never expected laughter to be one of the. After all, isn’t laughter a good thing? It is known as the “best medicine” as far as I have ever heard. Nevertheless, I suppose that one can have too much of a good thing. Such was the case on January 30, 1962, in or near the village of Kashasha on the western coast of Lake Victoria in Tanganyika (which, once united with Zanzibar, became the modern nation of Tanzania) near the border with Uganda. On that day the Tanganyika laughter epidemic of 1962 began. It was then that the outbreak that was categorized as an outbreak of mass hysteria, or mass psychogenic illness (MPI), was rumored to have occurred.
The laughter epidemic began at a mission-run boarding school for girls in Kashasha. It started with three girls and quickly spread throughout the school, affecting 95 of the 159 pupils between the ages of 12 and 18. I wonder if the teacher thought the girls were just trying to cause trouble or disrupt classes? The symptoms lasted from a few hours to as much as 16 days, with the average being around 7 days. Strangely, the teaching staff was not affected, other than to report that students were unable to concentrate on their lessons. All told, the first outbreak in Kashasha lasted about 48 days. It was just too long to be able to successfully run the school, so the school was forced to close on March 18, 1962. Unbelievably, a second phase of the outbreak began when the school reopened on May 21, 1962. This second phase of the outbreak affected an additional 57 pupils. The all-girl boarding school reclosed at the end of June.
You might think that the girls were just having a great time messing with their teachers, but the epidemic spread to Nshamba of the Muleba District, a village 55 miles west of Bukoba, where several of the girls lived. In 
April and May 1962, 217 villagers, mostly young people had laughing attacks over the course of 34 days. In a crazy twist, the Kashasha school was sued for “allowing” the children and their parents to transmit it to the surrounding area. In June, the laughing epidemic spread to Ramashenye girls’ middle school, affecting 48 girls. Additional schools and the Kanyangereka village were also affected to some degree. About 18 months after it started, the Laughing epidemic simply died off. It was contained to the areas within a 100-mile radius of Bukoba. In all, 14 schools were shut down and 1000 people were affected.
Symptoms of the Tanganyika “laughter epidemic” included laughter and crying, beside general restlessness and pain, as well as fainting, respiratory problems, and rashes. Contrary to the name, this was a very really epidemic with very real health concerns. Many of the symptoms experienced were stress-induced due to various external factors. This kind of stress and anxiety provokes mass hysteria outbreaks, which are reactions to perceived threats, cultural transitions, instances of uncertainty, and social stressors. You would think that these kinds of stressors would be common and happen to people every day. Maybe they were, but for whatever reason, this time, these stressors seemed much worse to those suffering with them. On top of that, the majority of the population affected by this epidemic were young people and adolescent children. The outbreak has been attributed to the young not having the appropriate coping skills to manage such stresses and anxieties. In addition to those stressors, the young people have a need for acceptance and are eager to blend into a group, making them vulnerable to “influence” contagion. Influence contagion refers to “the subtle and sometimes unwitting spread of emotions or behaviors from one individual to others. It occurs when people 
influence each other’s thoughts, feelings, or actions without necessarily being aware of it.”
Basically, in this cast, linguist Christian F Hempelmann theorized that the episode was stress-induced. “In 1962, Tanganyika had just won its independence, he said, and students had reported feeling stressed because of higher expectations by teachers and parents.” MPI, he says, usually occurs in people without a lot of power. “MPI is a last resort for people of a low status. It’s an easy way for them to express that something is wrong.” Whatever the case may be, the “laughter epidemic” ended up being a very real phenomenon.
