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| Winnifred and Norman Iverson & Lois Ann and Harold Alber |
Who are your biggest fans?
When I was asked that question a number of years ago, my Mom and Dad came to mind immediately, and following right behind them were my grandparents. I wish everyone could grow up surrounded by such positive influences! I wish every child felt that their grandparents were their cheerleaders!
Let me tell you a little about my grandparents. Both sets lived a day's drive away (Iversons in Dickinson, ND and Albers in Davenport, IA), so we usually only saw them every other Christmas and for at least a week each summer. Any other visits were
bonus! Sometimes they would come visit us in Alexandria and that was always a treat too! They would come to attend our concerts or plays or graduations or other such events. We always felt special knowing we had people in the audience watching us! All four grandparents attended my high school graduation in 1995 and my
college graduation in 2000. Grandma Alber was the only one living
in 2008 when I got married. It meant so much to me to have her attend my wedding in Becker.
Norman Iverson was born in 1910 in Lignite, North Dakota. He went to college in Jamestown. He was a teacher, a principal, a superintendent, and later he ran a music store in Dickinson, North
Dakota.
Winnifred Bale Iverson was born in Lisbon, North Dakota in 1914. She went to college in Valley City. She was an elementary teacher. One summer she went to Missoula, Montana to take some teaching courses and that's where she met my Grandpa! The first time they met was when they were playing volleyball on opposing teams. Winnifred fell into a gopher hole when Norman hit her with the volleyball. She liked to tell people that she, "Fell for him!"
Harold Alber was born in Lincoln, Nebraska in 1914. He attended
Cotner College and then the University of Nebraska majoring in economics and minoring in accounting. He ran a music store for many years and did others sales jobs.
Lois Ann Gustin Alber was born in 1917 in Grand Island, Nebraska. Lois Ann attended buisiness college and was a stenographer. She was very involved in the church Christian Endeavor group, which is where she met her husband!
I love the story of how Granda Alber proposed. I interviewed my
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| Having a picnic with Grandma Alber |
grandparents in 1999 and had Grandpa tell me the story himself. He remembers, "We must have been in business for two or three months before I popped the question for Lois Ann." Harold liked to star gaze, so Lois Ann would sometimes accompany him (somewhat pretending to be fascinated at the stars). It was on one of these occasions that Harold popped the question by asking...."You will marry me, won't you?" The two were sitting in the car when he asked the question and as Lois Ann said, "I didn't know he was going to say it that day. I was so excited! We were in the car and I reached my arms up to put them around his neck and I 'bout knocked his glasses off, I was so excited!" After Harold and Lois Ann got married Harold was in the service. I love the picture below of Grandpa's shining eyes! Below you will also see a picture of me with Grandma Alber holding a plate of cookies. Grandma always had cookies on hand. I just loved her blue Dutch maid cookie jar. And, I enjoyed getting to help her arrange the cookies on a platter for the meals. Also below is a picture of both my grandmas helping out my family by mending our clothing. Mom always had a pile of mending ready for the grandmas to help with!
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| Grandpa Alber during WWII |
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| Grandma Alber and me |
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| Sewing! |
As you can see, my grandparents all valued education. They all knew it was important to work hard in school. I enjoyed hearing stories of their school days and their teaching days. As I went through school, I always knew all my grandparents were interested in what I was learning about.
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| Grandpa Alber with great-grandchild Benjamin |
All of my grandparents also valued music. They all sang and both my grandpas ran music stores. All were involved in music in many ways. So, again, they encouraged us kids to practice. We often gave little performances and our grandparents were the appreciative audience. Our music room downstairs had a little stage area and my siblings and I had the best times being the "stars of the stage." We even created programs to pass out sometimes.
My grandparents enjoyed writing letters and receiving letters from their grandchildren. It was a very special thing to get a letter in the mail from one of them.
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| Grandma Alber with Jennifer and great-grandchild, Anna |
When we visited our grandparents we played lots of games with our wonderful cousins or we went for walks or to playgrounds. We went to Dairy Queen or to a local museum. Sometimes we traveled with our grandparents. We worked on projects with them and helped them with things around the house. I could write a whole entry about things we did with our grandparents. But, the most important thing is that we knew we were loved. We knew our grandparents took great delight in us. We knew our grandparents believed in us and wanted us to succeed. There was nothing like a hug from Grandpa or Grandma. I miss the three grandparents that have gone up to Heaven already and I miss my Grandma Alber that is way down in Arkansas, but I am full of great memories from my years with them all. I am full of wisdom, skills, and morals I have learned from them. I am full of appreciation for the impact they each had on my life. I look forward to the day I'll get to be with them all in Heaven with Jesus some day.
