AliceBell.com

Photo courtesy of Monty Carlson 

Photo courtesy of Monty Carlson 

We wish to bring you up to date on our recent travels. On July 17, we left Minneapolis for a long but interesting drive to Oregon. The first day we traveled 856 miles to Billings, MT. We met with one of Sheila's first cousins there and spent the morning with her. Then we drove on to Red Lodge, MT to spend a day with Aunt Anna Lou. I was surprised that she was living in the same place since the name on her address was different, but I discovered they had changed it from Beehive to Tender Nest. The street address if you go to Red Lodge is 215 North Cooper Street and is easy to find since Red Lodge is not overly large.  

When we walked in, Aunt Anna Lou was in her room resting. She was glad to see us, but obviously did not know who we were. When I told her that we were Sheila and Monty from Minnesota, she said, "I have a sister living in Minnesota with her husband Larry and son Monty." When I said that I was Monty, she said that "No, no, you aren't Monty. He is much younger than you are!" My white beard seemed to throw her off. Even later in the day after we had been driving around, she asked Sheila who that was with her. We decided to take her for a ride since she was complaining that no one ever took her out of that place. She had a walker, but did not need it the whole time we were with her and was able to hop up into the van without too much difficulty. We drove around the area, stopped at several scenic spots, and took pictures. She was talking the whole time about many things in the past.  

She eats well according to the ladies running the home. She seems to think that there are only 3 or 4 people living in the home, but actually there are 15. I don't know if she doesn't see them when they eat in the central area or she just forgets that they exist. She had Alice's book [the "Dear Sister" book of letters] at her bedside and talked about the letters in there and some letters she had received from folks. I am going to write her again soon with the pictures we took of her. I am enclosing (attached) two shots of her that we took with the digital camera. I went back the following morning to spend a little time with her and just chat. She seemed to know me then, and was very glad we had come. She gave me the familiar "God Love You" as I left that morning. We plan to get to see her again next year and for sure in March 2004 when she turns 100 as she seems to be very strong and healthy.

Photo courtesy of Del Buckman 

Photo courtesy of Del Buckman