Share this pageJune K. Berg - Valentine's Day - 2010
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 14 February 2010 00:01
- Written by Stanton O. Berg
June, since we first met in the Spring of 1951, you have been my forever Valentine.
Our period of courtship lasted a little over one year, before we became man and wife on 16 August of 1952.
We had a great life and we experienced many great travel adventures together. Because of my forensic activities we were able to travel extensively throughout the United States and Europe. This is the story I have told many times.
The story I have not told, is the story of how in my mind, you evolved from being not only my beloved wife but also the inspiration of my life.
This transition was remarkable in that it took place as a result of Alzheimer's taking over your life. It resulting from our journey together through the almost eleven (11) years of your slow disappearance into the darkness and sadness of this terrible disease. The transition in my mind continued as the Alzheimer's cauldron of blackness gradually enveloped your mind and body. It is also the story of God's love in bringing and illuminating areas of brightness, goodness and of hope out of all of your suffering.
The awakening of my mind all began during the time when I first drafted and wrote the story of your life - "Reminiscences of a Traveling Grandmother". It was at that time, when I really began to discover the true June and what a remarkable person you were. - all that had been hidden beneath you humble exterior. As I continue to research and revisit your life and expand on my first efforts to tell the story of your life, I continue to be amazed that God would have graced my life with such a special person. God obviously knew I needed much work and that you were the one who could bring about such a change in my life.
Who would have believed during the early years of my life that I would have looked forward to the time I now spend in the Redeemer Lutheran Church on Sunday mornings or that I would look forward to the time I now spend in Bible study on Tuesday mornings. You did that for me and you did it all with a soft loving touch and in a way that left me unaware of how my life was slowly changing. It was all because of you, the life you lived, your prayers and the inspiration that you presented me with. It is not only in my life that you have been such a remarkable influence, but in the lives of many others that you directly or indirectly touched or influenced during your lifetime. I am sure that our entire family would echo similar thoughts and feelings about you.
Thank you June for being my lifetime Valentine and my inspiration.
Stan
(Editorial Note: The photo of June was a picture that June gave me for Christmas 1951. I was in the service at the time. She mailed it to me at Baltimore, MD where I was stationed at the Counter Intelligence Corps Center, Fort Holabird. Color photography was not a standard at the time so she arranged to have the picture colored by hand. The back of the photograph has the artist's reminders: Brown hair, blue eyes, light blue dress etc. I was discharged the following spring.)
(Published in the Minneapolis Star - Tribune, Lovelines, Valentines Day, Sunday 14 February 2010)
Note: On October 23rd, 2008 June passed away after almost eleven years of an exhausting battle with Alzheimer’s. June's last three years and 7 plus months were in an Alzheimer’s facility. Her last two and half+ years were at the Alzheimer’s “Villa” of the Benedictine Health Care Center of Innsbruck, New Brighton, MN. See the funeral notice as published in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune. It is located on the top blue navigation strip under the label: “In Memoriam”. Click on: “June K. (Rolstad) Berg – In Memoriam”.
