He prayed both before and after he ate.....

Growing up I knew only one set of grandparents. We lived near Mom's parents. Dad's parents lived in
owa and that was like a far-away country in those days. His Mom died when I was maybe 4 or 5 and I remember that he went for the funeral. I didn't understand all that was involved, but I remember I cried one night because I missed him.

We lived about 11 miles out in the country from Watford City where Grama and Grampa lived. And Uncle Ted was there, too, and sometimes Aunt Alma. Neither of them married. Grampa and Ted ran the gas station next door, on the corner. Grampa was responsible for a church that was built nearby. It was a Lutheran church and now it is a Baptist church.

I remember Grampa, with his mustache, always prayed with his eyes open. And he prayed both before and after he ate.

Grama was a petite little lady, so like a little Japanese grandmother I've often thought. Though she went through much sorrow and heartache in her early married years--losing 4 children to illnesses--she was a cheerful lady who loved to talk. It was all in Norwegian, which she spoke even to my girlfriend, Jean, when i brought her over. Before Orvin was born she came by train to be with us and one day she told me that my mother was going to have a baby! Then she said, "I guess I shouldn't have told you!" Never discussed things like that then!!

Grama Aarhus took me aside and gave me a special hug before I left for Bible college in Canada at l7. It was like she knew that we'd never be together again on this earth because she passed away a few months later. Mom wrote that her funeral was like a "coronation." Several pastors took part.