I Believe – My Values

Lisa-I went into labor in the afternoon, January 11th, Herman was home it was a Sunday. After Lisa was born they showed her to me and I said” looks like her Daddy”. Was born at 4:28pm. When you were born they couldn’t find the heart bid but they found it. Dad said to Grandma and Grandpa Z, I went through hell.

Cissy-Born on April 28th, Thursay, 1960 beautiful sunny day. Blossoms were blooming on Mrs. Weirs apple tree. After she was born, Fr. Cusateri blessed her at the hospital. She was born in the evening, 7 pm something and died at 7:20pm.  When I brought her home Joanie fixed the bed it was all fresh. Took Lisa to stay with Grandma Z.

Marcy-Born on October 17th, 1961 the night she was born the moon was bright and beautiful it was a warm fall night. We got there and I couldn’t believe I had another girl. It wasn’t disappointed but another girl. She wouldn’t nurse so I had to put her on the bottle. It was so hot, but when they wheeled me out of delivery a window was open and there was a cool breeze.

Matt-Born on September 28, 1962, and I walked into the delivery room, got myself onto the table. delivered baby. Dad was waiting in delivery room and a nurse rolled Matt by Dad and he said “wait, is that mine?” He saw Matt for first time. Matt had a lot of black hair, then went blond later. I said when they told me it was a boy “finally we got Matthew Joseph”. If it wasn’t Matthew Joseph I’d change the name.

Mark, Born on August 31st, 1964, the year my dad (Grandpa Stiner) died and missed his birthday by one hour. Well got out in the front yard by the tree. Dad brought the car around and he kept saying “get in the car” but I couldn’t get in cause I had a pain/labor. Mark was the first one I got to hold right after delivery. One day the nurse came into my room and said “can you come down to nurse your baby” he was crying. He was a good nurser. Marcy was anxious and Cissy would spit it up while nursing.

Vince, Born January 1, 1966, Grandpa Z brought Leonard over to watch kids. He said I better get going before the fireworks go off. Dr. Harold delivered him and his son who was also a doctor, came in and jumped on me to push Vince out. He wasn’t coming out due to his broad shoulders. I told Dad on intercom “we even upped the odds”. 3 and 3 .Everyone was awed by how we had 3 girls then 3 boys. It must have been in the stars. We get what we get and we love them. It didn’t matter what I got, as long as it was healthy.

Mrs. Freeman said girls were easier to raise than boys but I didn’t see it, they weren’t hard. Only thing was Matt was a tease, he liked to tease Mark. I’d have to get him with my shoe. I’d say get over here-“behave yourself”.

18 years: I started having pain in my right side and they put my in the hospital with hepatitis. I was in the hospital for a month.

28 years: After Matt was born, I started feeling bad, couldn’t function. Had double vision, changed doctors went with Dr. Brooks. He diagnosed insufficient adrenal glands, which is addison’s disease and hypothyroidism.  I went on cortisone and felt so much better. I have been on cortisone since then.

I would get stomach flus and couldn’t stop vomiting. I would need to go to the hospital because I would get dehydrated. After a while Herman would give me shots to stop the vomiting so I wouldn’t get dehydrated. This happened often in my life.

Mom’s Family, the Stiner’s had Mom skin cancer, Paul and Russell had prostate cancer that went into the bone, Norma Jean had dementia starting when she was in her 80’s, Firman died at 63 years old of heart disease. At the time if he wanted to have open heart surgery he’d would have had to go to Texas. Dad died of a stroke in 1965. My brother Tip was killed in a train accident with his wife.

 

 

 

 

As a kid my jobs around the farm were whatever Mom wanted me to do. Go to the garden get vegetables for dinner. gather the eggs. Help to drive chickens into coops for winter. When Dad would let me, I’d drive the horses to pick up tomato baskets in the field.

My first paying job was as switchboard receptionist at 18 years old. I was taught by AT&T  to answer the switchboard at Kingston products in Kokomo which made roller skates. I got fired fired from that job on Valentines Day. I had hepatitis and when I got out of the hospital, my doctor didn’t want me to go back to work right away. While I was out on leave, my friend’s Grandmas asked me if I’d be in a fashion show at Turners Department store. They put my picture in the paper and my boss saw it. He fired me when I returned to work on Valentines Day. After I was fired I went to my doctors to get a B12 shot and told him the story and he hired me to be his receptionist . This is how I got to Chicago, a nurse I worked with Annie was moving to Chicago and they needed a roommate. I got a job with Taylor instruments as a receptionist and would walk to work. I made more money in Chicago.

I then met Herman and my career became being a Mom. During our marriage I would do the store’s bank at night and fix his wallet with change for the next day. I would make sure he had clothes and everything he needed to get to work.  On the 50th Anniversary he wrote in a card, “thanks for everything you’ve done”.

In my early years we didn’t take vacations with my family. I did go to see my sister, Sissy who lived in Indianapolis every summer for 10 years for a month.

I went on a field trip to Washington DC and New York City with my high school class in spring of 1952. Everything in Washington Dc looked so clean and white. I remember going to Bowery street and seeing the wineos. My friends and I went to Joe Louis” (boxer) restaurant for dinner and bought souvenir boxing gloves.

Our family took the kids to Kokomo almost every summer for a week to see “Granny”. Mother always had a good meal for us when we arrived. Two of the kids had to go to Firmans to sleep because there wasn’t enough room at her house. Her garage was always clean so kids could play in it.

Herman won a milk contest trip to Colorado Springs in 1971 or 72. We took a train and there was another man and his family who had also won the trip. Dad got to see his friend,  Johnny Mattach who was in the Olympics. It was nice not having to pay for anything.

Went to St Croix  with Norma Jean my sister, her husband Al, and Herman. My brother Paul had a place there. We went shopping and there were strawberries everywhere. I spend a lot of time talking with my brother Paul. We bought a beef tenderloin and before we left I cooked it.

I went with Dad to see Grandma Z and Grandpa Z in Pompano Beach, FL in 75′ or 76′. I bought Dad a leisure suit which was in style; a green, blue and white from Littons in Oak Park. It was a nice trip. We went to the ocean and Grandma Z liked to ride the waves. Two weeks later after our trip,  Grandpa Z died of a heart attack. While there were there we established him with a doctor which was good otherwise he would have had to have an autopsy.

I went to San Francisco, four times, once when Lisa got married and then 3 times later when she had Max, Ian and Ava. San Francisco is windy, and I remember the fog horns on the Bay. Remember taking care of the babies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My husband, Herman Joseph Zanoni.

We met July 1957 at a softball game with Sylvia his sister but he didn’t ask me out until January 1958. He said though he thought about me. His parents had gone to Italy so he had to manage the store. Our first date was ice skating, that winter we did a lot of ice skating. The thing that attracted her to him was his ears which I noticed when I sat behind him.

My wedding day was a beautiful day, very sunny and just perfect. Mom, Norma Jean, Jerry, and Firman came up for the wedding. Fr. Silvio walked us through the wedding. Fr. John kept talking to everyone about the service, then I went in. Music started so I started down the aisle but no Fr. Silvio had to start over. Lino drove the car to reception/lunch. Herman was 27 years old and I was 23 years, our anniversary date is July 12, 1958. We were married for 52 years.

I admired him because he was down to earth, honest, and hard working. Good family man, helped with the children. I had one husband and the only one I wanted. We got along.

He loved to rock and sing to the babies and one day I came up from the basement and he was singing to Lisa ” Nenne Nenne Nonne” he wasn’t sure what it meant.

He always threw his clothes in the corner and would pick it up but I’d have to tell him. He would dunk his sweets into his coffee. He would like to go to the basement and watch hockey.

One night he was downstairs watching the hockey game and he came to bed and he was so cold. I would always lay on his shoulder until he got warm.

Herman died on December 8th, 2010. He was visiting Marcy because she was having gallbladder surgery. Marcy called me and said Dad had an accident, he fell down the stairs. I didn’t know at the time but he broke his 3rd vertebrae in his neck. Mark flew to Indy. I drove down to Indy with Vince. When I saw him his eyes weren’t as black, he was in a self induced coma. It was a week before we took off life support because neurologist said there was no hope.  When he died I told him to go Nenne Nonne and that he was my honey and he shook his head.

 

My favorite foods: Grandma’s (Harriets) peach cobbler, green beans (southern style) with bacon, cornbread dressing, pickled beets, we used to can them and fried potatoes.

Pickled Beets:

1. Wash the cans and this was my job. Sterilize them by pouring hot water over them 2. Wash beets cut tails off 3. Boil beets until they soft, approx 15 minutes, depends on size 4. Let them cool, take the skin off 5. cut up beets and put them in the can 6. vinegar and water. So good with beans and corn bread.

My favorite foods to cook: What every Dad brought home. Beef stew, Chili, fried potatoes, I really like to cook.

My favorite foods to bake: Pies; Pumpkin, Apple (Dad liked), Chocolate Cake (15 minutes)

I said “I cook for two legged, four legged, no legged.

 

 

 

 

My mother’s name was Harriet Elizabeth Savage and her mother Rebecca married a Sharp. Harriet was born in Union County Tennessee on June 8, 1891 and she died when she was 98 years old. My father’s name was Charles McEwan Stiner, how he got the name of McEwan I don’t know. His Mother’s name was Elizabeth but they called her Betty Russell. I met her but I was only two years old. Harriet (Mom) told me that after they were married, they walked through the field he didn’t hold the fence down and said get your clothes off and get me some grub. The first night Theodore, my Dad’s son by his first wife stood by the bed because he was used to sleeping with my Dad. My Dad was previously married and he had four children his wife’s name was Pearly, she passed and he was a widower for ten years before he married Mom. My Dad’s job was to haul coal with his mules from Tennessee to Kentucky. When he married Mother he built a brand new 10 room home. Harrison Heath was the one that built it, he was married to Dad’s niece. He would sing “Hanson Lolly” as he built the house. I was born in the back north room of this house which was the cooler room. My sister Sissy, (Edith Arthur Lynch), took me into kitchen to warm me up because I was turning blue. My parents had to move to Indiana because US Government was building the Norris Dam and they bought Dad’s land for water back up. He had over 200 acres of timber on his land. He also worked for train company and bought ties that were used on train tracks.

My mother was 5′ 1″, blonde hair, and blue eyes. Her eyes were as blue as the sky. She was 43 years old when I was born. My father was 6 ft 1 in, dark hair but I never saw it with full head of hair but he never lost all of his hair. He was 55 years old when I was born and I was the youngest of My Dad’s 13 child and my Mom’s 10 child.

My half siblings were Curtis, Josephine, Sarah and Theodore and Harriet’s daughter was Edith. My full siblings Firmin, Rudolph (Tip), Clifford and Clifton but they died at birth, Junior and he died 2 years old from a fall on glass, Paul, Russell, Norma Jean and myself.

My Mom had a daughter Edith (Sissy). Mother was 18 years old when she got pregnant. She wanted to get married but the boy’s Mother sent him to Arkansas.    Mother went to live with her sister and had Sissy and it was hard to get work with a child. She was paid 50. cent a week at various jobs. Harriet came from a family of 15 and her mother is buried in California.  Sissy was a second Mother to me. I would spend a month with her every summer in Indianapolis. She bought me dresses at Blocks which was the first time I was on an escalator. She’d take us to Riverside amusement park where ladies came out of the fun house and they’d shoot air so their dresses would fly up. She was married four times before she died of uterine cancer. She was in her 40’s when she died and never had children.

My memories of my Dad are that he would sit until it was time for a meal, walk from his chair and then back. He didn’t go to far. Our big meal was at noon we called it supper. He was quiet until someone came to visit. I was excited one time in high school when I came home and my parents were talking to each other which didn’t happen often. If the boys would fight, I would yell for Dad and he’d come and point his finger at them and say “one more time” and they’d stop fighting.

My memories of my Mom if she wanted to do something she’d do it. When she was older her and her neighbor, Mrs. Dodge would go to the drugstore and get her favorite drink a “pineapple sodie” She taught me a little prayer, we slept together until I left home because we only had two bedrooms. She didn’t want to sleep with my Dad because he didn’t take a shower and chewed tobacco. She’d  scratch my back. The little prayer was

 

By Ben Krehbiel

It was March 1994. Actually it was Wednesday, March 2, 1994.

How do you know what fun really is when it seems like every day of growing up Krehbiel was a blast. I may be guilty of selective memory, but my Junior year in high school could not have gone much better. In my 2nd year at T.R. Miller High School, I did not have lofty expectations at the start of the basketball season. The year before I failed to make the talented varsity team, and started out as the point guard for the JV team. My first game was at Clarke County, and I think I played a decent game until the last 10 seconds. As Clarke County just tied the game, I took the inbounds pass from under our basket and started confidently dribbling up the court seeking an opportunity to win the game. I was even a little more excited because the defender guarding me could not have been taller than 5’5″.  I took a few dribbles towards half court when all of the sudden he popped the ball lose, retrieved it while I dove helplessly to the floor only to look up and watch him complete the layup and execute the easiest buzzer beater in the history of the game. I was devastated, and somehow managed to get a ride home with mom and cried for the two-hour trip. Ok, so that day wasn’t that great.

But after a pedestrian stint at point guard, my coach, Ronald Jackson, decided to put our most athletic, and individually talented forward, Anthony (Rock) Johnson, at point guard and told me to shoot the ball. I remember one of the last JV games at Monroeville it was almost like Coach Jackson stopped the world to figure out ways to let me shoot the ball. I could be wrong, but in my mind many of our timeouts were just Coach Jackson telling me to shoot 3s on the baseline. They must have been playing a zone. I hit 5 threes that game…no idea how many attempts, but I am pretty sure that those 5 threes came in a matter of 6 or 7 shots.  This was only 15 years before the times of Stephen Curry making double-digit 3PT FG made something routine. That Monroeville game was huge for my confidence and helped the foundation for my place on varsity the next year.

So I remember being physically outmatched against much of the team. I wasn’t the strongest. I wasn’t the tallest. I sure as hell wasn’t the shortest, and my speed and quickness led one of my favorite teammates, Ricky Middleton, to affectionately call me ‘greased lightning’. To start the season I was still trying to fit in. For the first 3-4 games of the year I was the 3rd player off the bench, and did not get very much playing time. We started the year very poorly, losing ?4 of our first 5 or 6 games?.  We hosted a “County Tourney” early in the year and my grandparents Ken and Darda came to watch. I’m almost certain I was not a starter. But that was a very special tournament. I remember shooting well the first game and our team won to go against a tough Escambia County High School (Atmore) team. The championship game was back and forth and a tough battle. At some point late 3Q or early 4Q, it was magical for me. I single handedly scored 15 points in a row to lead our team to victory. That was the day I won my teammates over, especially the senior leader, Alan Terrell. He was so pumped after winning that tournament he grabbed me in the locker room and said ‘That’s D1 effort right there.” and for someone that wasn’t quick to hand out compliments, it was a great moment. The next game I think was at an Andalusia 8 team tournament, and I think we lost but I had 20 pts and made the tourney team. Great momentum, although our team, I believe was 3-5 at the Christmas Break.

I remember our first practice after Christmas, which highly likely could have been Monday, December 26th. And while our team showed some nice spurts, we were not playing to our potential at all. Coach Jackson got our attention the first practice back from “break.”  My memory may not be great, but I’m not sure we even touched a basketball. Coach Jackson started us on the baseline, which is how we normally ended practice. He would usually break us into two running groups of about 5-7 players each if it was just varsity practicing, and typically he’d put about 15 minutes on the clock and we would run 5 ‘5 in a minute’s (5 times down in back in one minute), 5 ladders/suicides (baseline, ft line, half court, ft line, full court) and 5 ‘down & back’s in 9 seconds. That was usually our staple. But Coach Jackson always seemed to put more time on the clock than he intended — perhaps to keep us from knowing how much work we should expect or we never really knew what he planned. He didn’t tell us before running how much we were going to run.

Well, this very UNmerry Christmas break return seemed a little different, as he put up 60:00 minutes on the scoreboard. I don’t think we’d ever seen that before, but none of us thought that number was very significant because it wasn’t an indication of what the plan was.

While I never recall starting practice with sprints, we started this one, as usual, with the ‘5 in a minute’ sprints. As the clock ticked near the 50:00 mark with the second group finishing their last of five ‘5 in a minute’ sprints, I believe the first running group was preparing to start the typical 5 ladders next. But that command from coach never came, and we just kept running 5 in a minutes (essentially only getting a minute rest while the other group is running). The clock approached 40:00 and everyone was hoping for some change…but it didn’t come either. We continued and as we were getting stretched, Coach Jackson brilliantly said ‘all except 1 in your group have to make time’, and while we were already disoriented from doubling our usual routine and mentally and physically fatigued, after a few more the group worked together to carry the load while letting one person fail to make it…usually rotating that lottery ticket around.

By my memory we ran 15 ‘5 in a minutes’ before Coach Jackson switched to ladders. We had 28 seconds to complete each one. Instead of 5…I’m almost certain we ran 30 of them. If we didn’t complete 30, then I’m sure the last minute or two were down and backs in 9 seconds.  But I’m almost certain we did fifteen ‘5 in a minutes’ and 30 ladders. I’m pretty sure that was the end of practice. I honestly don’t remember if anyone quit.

I also seem to remember coach putting 6 minutes on the clock and told us to run 22? laps around the gym to equal a mile. Today Google tells me it’s 18.33 laps for a mile, but we had to run it under 6 minutes. I think that was the only time in my life I made it under 6 minutes, which makes me question how many laps I actually ran. Probably impossible to count AND run when you hate running.  So we may have started practice out with this and then went to the baseline.

The reason this practice is so significant in my mind for this 1994 season was that we only lost 2 or 3 more games the rest of the season.

** Final Four game (1-11 or 1-13, who knows….1 for Wednesday captures it)

***Lockerroom

This defeat was crushing. After having a string of 7-8 games of shooting very well and being a leader on this journey, the worst game of my life in the Birmingham Jefferson Civic Center on this night would be a scar for me for years to follow. In fact, it also is responsible for the venue of the greatest Kansas Basketball team losing their 2nd game of the season in March 1997 to the eventual underdog champions, Arizona Wildcats. So painful.

But after my terrible performance, I remember being benched for significant minutes in the 4th quarter, which was a first for me since cracking the starting lineup early in the season. I felt helpless. When the game was over, I was in shock, because I didn’t cry – which is what I expected after doing so nearly every year of my life watching the Jayhawks in March! But I remember pacing the large lockerroom in the facility.  Ken and Darda even made a return trip to Bama to watch this game. I felt like I let my team down. I don’t remember any significant interactions with my teammates in the locker room. I remember folks being quiet and dejected, changing out of their uniform and backing up their gear.  I just kept pacing…in full uniform. I think it was only Marlon Ried and I remaining. I kept pacing and started to think about what my family may be thinking as I knew they were likely anxious to see me. As this nudge grew, I decided to head toward the locker room door. As I got within 10 feet of the door, it surprisingly swing open, and a monster of a man with Great Presence walked confidently through that door. It was my dad. Even though I had made up my mind to walk out of the lockerroom to see my family, I was unprepared for this. Dad took a step or two towards me as we met in one of the Greatest Embraces in my lifetime. If it were a competition, I’d put it up as the best hug in the history of mankind. It certainly was to me in that moment.  I remember him saying “I’m so proud of you” and “I love you so much” and those words completely disarmed me. My stronghold barrier of toughness was exposed as a façade. I cried uncontrollably in my father’s arms. And felt completely comforted. It’s a hug that I’ll never forget. I also often reflect back on this hug as a glimpse of what I imagine God’s hug feels like. All encompassing, overwhelming, and complete Love.

***HUG

I am nearly positive we left Birmingham and came straight home after that season ending, disappointing loss.