Caryn
Eliza Gladys Dean was just 9 weeks old when her parents decided to emigrate to the United States to make a better life for themselves. They were planning to relocate to Wichita, Kansas, where they had relatives. The decision was life changing, and not in the way they had hoped. Eliza “Millvina” Dean was born at Culverwell House in Branscombe, on the south coast of Devon, England, on February 2, 1912, to Bertram Frank Dean (1886–1912) and Georgette Eva Light (1879–1975). She had an older brother, Bertram Vere Dean, born May 21, 1910. The life changing part of the emigration process was that they booked passage in steerage class on, none other than the Titanic. We all know the story of Titanic, but something you may not know is that the youngest passenger was just 9 weeks old. It is unknown why she was given the nickname Millvina, but she was that youngest passenger. Being in steerage was a detriment in itself for many of the passengers, but Bertram Dean felt Titanic’s collision with the iceberg on the night of April 14, 1912, and after investigating, he returned to his cabin and told his wife to dress the children and go up onto the deck. That act of quick thinking, saved Millvina Dean, her mother, and her brother, who were placed in Lifeboat 10. Like most of the men on Titanic, Bertram Dean did not survive, and his body, if recovered, was never identified. 
As was the case with many of Titanic’s immigrant widows, Ettie Dean made the decision to go back to England, where her family was, once it was clear her husband had not been saved. Millvina later said, “We stayed in a hospital for two or three weeks for my mother to recover a little bit, and then we came back to England; because we had nothing, we had no clothes, we had no money and of course she was so broken-hearted, she just wanted to get home.” The White Star Line paid for Ettie and her children to return to England aboard RMS Adriatic. Millvina was a major attraction on the ship, mostly because everyone knew that not only was she the youngest Titanic passenger, but also the youngest survivor. An article in the Daily Mirror dated May 12, 1912, described the trip, “She was the pet of the liner during the voyage, and so keen was the rivalry between women to nurse this lovable mite of humanity that one of the officers decreed that first-class and second-class passengers might hold her in turn for no more than ten minutes.”
When she was grown, Millvina Dean, was a British civil servant, cartographer, and in the end, the last living survivor of the sinking of the RMS Titanic. In her seventies, Millvina became involved in Titanic-related events. She had not originally known that she was on Titanic, but was told when she was eight, as her mother prepared 
to remarry. Her brother, Bertram was also involved in Titanic events until his passing on April 14, 1982 (the 80th anniversary of Titanic’s sinking). He was 81 years old. Millvina Dean died of pneumonia on the morning of May 31, 2009, at a care home in Ashurst, Hampshire. She was 97 years old, and like her brother, her death had Titanic ties, because it coincided with the 98th anniversary of the Titanic’s launch on May 31, 1911. Millvina was cremated, and on October 24, 2009, her ashes were scattered from a launch at the docks in Southampton where the Titanic set sail. She never married and had no children.
My great-grandnephew, Jaxx Harman is Such a sweet boy. He parents, Jake and Melanie Harman say, “That little boy by far is one of the sweetest things God has ever created!” He is the youngest of his parents three children, and his older sisters, Alice and Izabella are his best friends. He wants to be around Izabella all the time and even tries to fall asleep beside her. His parents know that where Izabella is, Jaxx will be too. Jaxx has such a sweet temperament. He is kind and loving to all the people he knows, especially to his parents.
While Jaxx is best friends with his sisters, he is also very much like his daddy. One thing they have in common is gaming, and they often find themselves having to kick him off of the game so he can go do something else, like just to be a normal kid to 
run around outside and scrape some knees or something, hahahaha!! For many kids, gaming just comes naturally. Raised in a computer age, the totally get all the tech stuff from a really young age. Jaxx is no different. Add to that, watching his daddy play, and you have a very proficient gamer…at a very young age!!
Jaxx has a wonderful sense of humor. You just never know what things he might come up with. Every time he hears a new joke, he has to share it constantly. In that way, he tweaks it a little bit and makes it his own. Jaxx has a contagious laugh. When he gets started, everyone around him giggles too. He has a smile that will brighten a room! He is the first to tell his mother and sisters how beautiful they are and open doors for the ladies and says ladies first! In that way, he is his daddy’s boy too, because that is exactly how Jake is. Jaxx just has a heart of gold, and he 
knows that women are supposed to be treated as princesses. It’s an amazing trait. Still, even in his gentlemanly role, Jaxx has a silly side too, so he is just as likely to open the door for his dad and say, “Ladies first!” Hahahaha!!
As much as Jaxx is a gentleman, he is also definitely a boy! He is loud and crazy and a “little monkey!” He absolutely loves the family dogs and lays with them and cuddles them all the time! His mom says, “He is our Handsome Pandsome (Lol yeah it’s just something his mom said one time and it stuck ha ha) as we call him and we are so grateful to God every day for this sweet little boy!! He is a huge blessing!!” Today is Jaxx’s 8th birthday. Happy birthday Jaxx!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
My soon-to-be nephew, Tim Thompson is in the midst of some major life changes. Tim proposed to my niece, Kellie Hadlock on December 7, 2024, and they have been excitedly planning their wedding and their future since then. Tim had worked in Gillette, Wyoming, but as part of the transition into married life, he quit his job in Gillette, and started full-time college in Casper, Wyoming, studying Construction Management. Tim has been working very hard. He finished his first semester with a 4.0 average!! Kellie says, I have honestly never seen anyone more dedicated to their schoolwork and success in my life!!” This summer Tim will be working on a certificate for teaching on the side that he is very excited about as well! Tim is all about making their life better. They are so loving living in the same city, and it has made things so much easier for them! Long distance relationships, even those that are meant to be, are a struggle for the couple. So, I’m so glad they are both in Casper now. The change has moved their relationship to the next and most important level.
Tim has a daughter, Jolene “Jo” from a previous relationship. He is an amazing dad that loves being with his daughter and doing all the outdoor and active things! Kellie says, “They will be doing lots of fishing and adventuring (when possible…we are planning a wedding after all! lol).” They are gearing up to have Jo for the summer and they are so, so, so excited for that! Kellie loves Jo and the feeling is mutual. They couldn’t be more mother and daughter if they tried. Not only are Tim and Kellie meant to be, but Kellie and Jo are meant to be, which makes this little family meant to be!! Tim and Kellie are both very family oriented, and they love Jo to pieces!! It is such a blessed little family. We are all so excited for this next family chapter.
Tim fits so well in the Hadlock family. He is helpful, family oriented, and tall, which is so important in the tall Hadlock family. Of course, that was not the only reason Kellie fell in love with Tim. Kellie says, “Tim is literally the best fiancé! He has basically given me free rein on this wedding to make it exactly what we want! We are so excited to get married and start our lives together and I couldn’t have imagined a better man for that! God made him for me and that has been made clear in so many ways from the beginning! I love this man with my whole heart!” They will be starting that new life in a little under a month, and it is going to be amazing for them! A marriage made in Heaven!! Today is Tim’s birthday. Happy birthday Tim!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
I first met my husband’s step-grandfather, Walt Hein when he was the age that I am now…69 years old. I was 18 years old at the time, and soon to be married to my husband, Bob Schulenberg. While Walt, as most of the family called him, seemed gruff and tough, but underneath all that, he was really a softy. As stepfamily goes, Walt or Grandpa as I always called him was a “bonus” grandpa. He always loved when we came for visits. My girls, Corrie Petersen and Amy Royce stole his heart from the very start. They had him wrapped around their little fingers immediately. He let them chase the chickens, and he took them for little horse rides around the corral. Grandpa wanted the girls to have fun. He wanted all kids to have fun there. He placed a bathtub in the yard years before, and when the girls were there, he would put water in it so they could “swim” and cool off. It was great fun. The girls loved going to visit Grandma and Grandpa Hein.
Grandpa loved playing cards and having us come for visits. When it was just him and Grandma there, playing 
cards really didn’t happen very much, and that was sad for Grandpa. When we came the first time, they taught us to play “Pitch” and so we played…every time we were there. Quickly, I became his official “Pitch” partner. We both tended to be ruthless…at least during the card games. We seldom lost, and he never wanted to quit playing, even when we needed to go to town for visits with the rest of the family. Once we went to town, Grandpa would head off to one of the outbuildings on the ranch for his afternoon nap. That usually lasted an hour or so, and then he was totally re-energized and ready to go play cards again. If Grandpa could have had his way, this would be the agenda for our visits there…and Grandma would have never gotten any of her work done.
When we got ready to go to town, the look of disappointment on his face was so hard to see. I knew that he didn’t get to play cards much when we weren’t there for a visit, so he really wanted to play all day, but Grandma had other things to do. She loved working around the house, cooking and cleaning, and her other activities, so sometimes we just had to stop. Poor Grandpa!! That ruined his whole day. Maybe that was why he took the naps. I miss those days. Today is the 119th anniversary of the birth of a sweet old man. Happy birthday in Heaven, Grandpa Hein. We love and miss you very much.
My grandniece, Brooklyn Killinger has grown up so much this year. Her pictures took me by surprise a little bit. Sometimes you just don’t notice the changes…until you do. I guess that is typical of a girl turning 12 years old. Brooklyn has become a beautiful young lady. She loves all things girly. She has been asking stepmom, Lacey Killinger to get acrylic nails, so they went for her birthday to make that dream happen, and Brooklyn in totally obsessed with her new nails. Coming into the preteen years, Brooklyn is very much into makeup and skin care. She discovered Ulta Beauty, and wants to go every chance she gets. She also has her own makeup model…her little brother Jaxon. She makes him sit in her room so she can practice makeup on him. Thankfully, Jaxon is patient and loves his sister, so he “tolerates” being the model…for now.
In addition to being a girly girl, Brooklyn is an athlete. She is really into volleyball, and she has basically been playing it all year through different places. She doesn’t want volleyball to be just a few weeks during the school year. We all know that the more you play a game, the better you get, so I’m sure that Brooklyn is a great 
player. Brooklyn will be starting 7th grade in the fall, which used to mean junior high school, but now the kids start middle school in 6th grade, so she won’t be going to a new school. Nevertheless, she will be moving into the upper group of middle school, and no longer the newbie age. Kids change so much in middle school, that is it really shocking…to us adults anyway.
Brooklyn’s birthday party for her friends and family was held over the weekend at the Aquatic Center, and everyone had an absolute blast. Now that summer is almost here, Brooklyn is very excited for camping with her parents Chris and Lacey Killinger and brother, Jaxon, but she will probably bring a friend for the first time too, 
because she’s at that age now, where she doesn’t want to just play with her brother anymore. She is very excited to be able to bring a friend camping. It will be a whole new experience for them both. Of course, Brooklyn is still very excited about getting to spend more time with cousins Elliott and Maya. The girls live in Sheridan, so Brooklyn and Jaxon don’t get to see them as much as they would like to. They are so close, especially Brooklyn and Maya. Maya, being the youngest of the cousins, and Brooklyn being the oldest of the cousins, means that Maya thinks Brooklyn hung the moon, and Brooklyn just loves playing with Maya. The summer looks to be shaping up into a great time for all. Today is Brooklyn’s 12th birthday. Happy birthday Brooklyn!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
Louis Zamperini was born in 1917 to Italian immigrants. He grew up in Torrance, California, where he was frequently in trouble with the law. While his young life was troubled, when he reached his teen years, he channeled his energy into athletics and became a champion distance runner. This was a turnaround point for Zamperini. At age 19, Zamperini competed for the United States at the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin, Germany. While he didn’t finish first, instead coming in 8th in the 5,000-meter race, his fast final lap caught the attention of Adolf Hitler, who later asked to shake Zamperini’s hand. (Of course, that was prior to all of the atrocities Hitler was responsible for. Either way this was not a hand shake I would have been proud of.) After the Olympics, he was a record-setting standout on the University of Southern California’s track team.
With the onset of World War II, and the entrance of the United States into it, came Zamperini’s enlistment in the fall of 1941, into the US Army Air Corps. He was eventually stationed in Hawaii. Zamperini was serving as the bombardier on a B-24 in May 1943. They were searching for a missing plane when his own aircraft developed mechanical problems and went down in the 
Pacific. On May 27, 1943, the B-24 carrying US airman Louis Zamperini crashed into the Pacific Ocean. Crashes into the ocean are often fatal, and for most of the men onboard this was the case. Only three of the eleven men onboard survived…26-year-old Zamperini, along with the pilot, and the tail gunner, and with their survival began a long ordeal. Fighting for their lives, the three men stayed alive in a small raft by drinking rainwater and eating the occasional seabirds and fish they were able to catch…raw, of course. If that wasn’t awful enough, they also faced strafing from Japanese bombers and of course, the ever-present threat of shark attacks. A month into their ordeal, Francis McNamara, the tail gunner, quietly passed away.
Finally, on their 47th day in the raft, Zamperini and fellow survivor Russell Allen Phillips were picked up by Japanese sailors, after drifting some 2,000 miles since the crash. While they were no longer in danger of starvation, strafing, or shark attacks, they were not “out of the woods” yet. The Japanese sailors took them captive, and for more than two years, the two men were held in a series of prison camps, where they were 
repeatedly beaten and starved. As an ex-Olympian, Zamperini was considered a propaganda tool by the Japanese and saved from execution. Nevertheless, he was also singled out for particularly vicious forms of torture. The defiant American managed to survive and was finally released after the war ended in 1945.
Like most soldiers who came home from wars, Zamperini carried war baggage home with him. Today we would call it PTSD. Once he got home to California, Zamperini drank heavily and was haunted by his experiences in captivity. Finally, a miracle happened to him. After listening to evangelist Billy Graham, Zamperini became a Christian in 1949. He went on to become an inspirational speaker, forgive his captors, and publish an autobiography called Devil at my Heels. Author Laura Hillenbrand heard of his story and wrote a book about his life called Unbroken. Zamperini died of pneumonia on July 2, 2014, in Los Angeles. He was 97.
Memorial Day is the day that we honor our fallen soldiers. Many people mistakenly think that it is a day to honor veterans and active-duty soldiers too, but it is not. This day is just for those soldiers who gave all…gave their lives for freedom. One that comes to my mind is my uncle, Jim Richards older brother, Daile Richards, who gave his life at Normandy, France. That operation was one of the most shocking attacks to me, because these men who “stormed the beaches of Normandy” were basically sitting ducks…or running ducks anyway. Their task was to leave the relative safety of the boats and swim to the beach. Then, they were to attack the strongholds there. The fatalities on that day numbered between 5,000 and 12,000. The discrepancy being those who were deemed missing. It was a horrible loss for the Allies, but it had to be done.
Those losses were in one battle alone. are just the tip of the iceberg, and the other losses are mind boggling to imagine. Nevertheless, every soldier that was lost in that battle or any other battle deserves our deep and abiding respect and appreciation for their sacrifice. They gave all…they gave their life, and if they hadn’t many more people would have been lost. We can never repay them or their families for their sacrifice, but we can forever remember what they did. Their sacrifice means everything in a war. Without that sacrifice, freedom is lost, and fear reigns. So, instead of saying Happy Memorial Day, I say thank you to the fallen soldiers and to their families.
My niece, Cassie Franklin is a mother of three children, a partner, and an entrepreneur, but mostly…to me anyway, she is her mother’s daughter. Cassie was born when her mother, Rachel (Franklin) Schulenberg was just over 16 years old. It was a dark time in Rachel’s life. Rachel lost her mother, Connie (Mooren) Franklin, just a month and two days after she turned 10 years old. She lost more that day that just her mother. To a large degree, she lost herself too. It was a temporary loss, but a long one, that would culminate in becoming a wild child, and then to becoming a mother at 16. Many people would think that was one more way to sink into a pit, but for Rachel, it was not. Cassie was her saving grace. Rachel was a good mother to her little mini-me, and while they, like all mother-daughter relationship struggled at times, but they loved each other so much. Rachel passed away on January 19, 2021.
Truly, I think Cassie learned much of her mothering skills from her mother. Of course, it wasn’t like Rachel set 
out to specifically teach her daughter to be a good mom, but rather that together, they became a great mother-daughter team. Rachel told me once, that they really grew up together. That’s probably true. With only 16 years between them, Rachel was still a girl too. She didn’t really know how to mother from her own mom, because she died when Rachel was so young. Nevertheless, there were people around her to help. There was her stepmother, Janice (Grosch) Franklin, who married her dad Clifton Franklin in 1981, for example. Of course, that can be a blessing or a curse in the early days, but later on, they got along, and the relationship was a blessing. For Cassie, Janice became a beloved grandmother. The only one she had ever known. Janice passed away on June 17, 2019.
Cassie has three children now, Lucas Iverson, Zoey Iverson, and Alicen Barr. The children are so blessed by their mom, who is a hands-on health advocate and protector against medical abuse and overuse. She doesn’t agree with vaccinations, because they have too many issues tied to them, and too much in them that is unknown. Cassie is also the guardian on her youngest brother, Tucker, who lives with her and her partner, Wesley Burr. They are a healthy, happy family, and together, they run a growing cleaning business. Today is Cassie’s birthday. Happy birthday Cassie!! Have a great day!! We love you!!
The Brooklyn Bridge to 14 years to construct over the East River in New York, but in 1883, it was finished, thereby connecting the great cities of New York and Brooklyn for the first time in history. Prior to that point, the trip from Brooklyn and Manhattan Island could only be accomplished by taking a ferry boat across. While that method was feasible, it also took more time to get a larger number of people across. The bridge would make it possible to transport many more people quickly.
On the day of the dedication, thousands of residents of Brooklyn and Manhattan Island turned out for the dedication ceremony. To make it more special, it was presided over by President Chester A Arthur, as well as New York Governor Grover Cleveland. The bridge was designed by the late John A Roebling, and it was the largest suspension bridge ever built to that date.
The designer, John Roebling was born in Germany in 1806. He was considered a great pioneer in the design of steel suspension bridges. He studied industrial engineering in Berlin and at the age of 25 immigrated to western Pennsylvania. Once in Pennsylvania, he attempted to make a living as a farmer, but he was unsuccessful. Later, Roebling moved to the state capital in Harrisburg, where he found work as a civil engineer. He began promoting the use of wire cable and established a successful wire-cable factory, which put him in a position to design the Brooklyn bridge.
Roebling began to earn a reputation as a designer of suspension bridges, which at the time were widely used. The problem was that they were also known to fail under strong winds or heavy loads. Roebling is credited with a major breakthrough in suspension-bridge technology, using a web truss added to either side of the bridge roadway that greatly stabilized the structure. Using this model, he successfully bridged the Niagara Gorge at Niagara Falls, New York, and the Ohio River at Cincinnati, Ohio. Due to those successes, New York State accepted Roebling’s design for a bridge connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan. The bridge was to have a span of 1,595 feet, and Roebling was appointed as chief engineer. The bridge would become the world’s first steel suspension bridge.
Unfortunately, just before construction began in 1869, Roebling was injured while taking a few final compass readings across the East River. It was a strange sequence of events. A boat smashed the toes on one of his feet, and three weeks later he died of tetanus. No one would have expected such a thing. Oddly, Roebling was the first of more than two dozen people who would die building his bridge. Following his dad’s death, his 32-year-old son, Washington A Roebling, took over as chief engineer. Roebling had worked with his father on several bridges and had helped design the Brooklyn Bridge, so he was the likely choice to replace his dad.
Because of the way the bridge was built, building the two granite foundations of the Brooklyn Bridge on timber caissons, or watertight chambers, which was sunk to depths of 44 feet on the Brooklyn side and 78 feet on the New York side, and the unknown problems with compressed air pressurized the caissons during underwater construction…a little, at the time, risk of working under such conditions caused more than a hundred workers to 
suffer from cases of compression sickness. Compression sickness, which is also called the “bends,” is caused by the appearance of nitrogen bubbles in the bloodstream that result from rapid decompression. Several men died, and Washington Roebling himself became bedridden from the condition in 1872. Other workers died as a result of more conventional construction accidents, such as collapses and a fire. The bridge is amazing, but at great cost.
