Share this page"Remembering June"
- Details
- Published on Sunday, 15 February 2009 20:17
- Written by Stanton O. Berg
"REMEMBERING JUNE"
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(June and Stan at Lake Geneva in 1977 - "Happy Days")
(This was also our 25th Wedding Anniversary year)
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June: The song "I'll be Seeing You" by Kahal - Fain (1938) – written over 70 years ago, could have been written for you and I – It became popular during WWII in our high school years. I have revised and rewritten and updated this beautiful old song to better tell our story.
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June – I am Seeing You!
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I am finding you in all the old familiar places...
That this heart of mine embraces all day through.
In the little French cafe...just across the way.
In all the little children's laughter.
In early fall, when bright leaves call... and the snows soon after.
I'll be finding you in every lovely summer's day.
In everything that's bright and beautiful.
I will always think of you that way.
I'll find you in the morning sun, and when the night is new -
I'll be looking at the moon... and I'll be seeing June!
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It was March 16th, 2005 that Alzheimer's took you from the house that was once our home. It was three years and seven months (October 23rd 2008) later in your twelve (12) year struggle with this horrible disease that God took you home to your heavenly mansions.
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I still see and feel your presence in the house that was "once" our home...6025 Gardena Lane...in every room that I enter and in every drawer, cabinet or closet that I open. I find your presence in the hundreds of poignant little reminders. You are so near but yet so far...You are just beyond my reach...in an impenetrable and silent void.
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I first found you on a bright spring morning in 1951 at a small cafe in Barron, Wisconsin...Gullickson's...our firs date a day later on a beautiful spring evening at "The Spot", a special Restaurant on Lake Chetek.
I found you later when we were married on a warm and sunny 16th of August in 1952 at the Wesley Methodist Church, Bloomington, Illinois...Mrs Veach who made our wedding cake and donated the use of her old Manson for a week as our honeymoon home...the County License Bureau that opened for us on a Saturday.
I found you with me in 1954 when we struggled financially to buy our first Home in Duluth at 4316 Oneida Street Lakeside...even with a Korean War GI Bill Loan Guarantee...we had no credit as we had never had a loan before...we later had two other homes in Fridley, Minnesota...the first one on Washington street that was destroyed by the Fridley Tornadoes of 1965...it was a year later in 1966 that we built our final home at 6025 Gardena Lane.
I found and do find you in the living room by the fireplace on a cold winter day.
I found and do find you at the Redeemer Lutheran Church Sanctuary for every Sunday’s morning service...and soon after the service I find you at Perkins where lunch was once our Sunday routine.
I found you on "Wings of Song" at our Redeemer Church Christmas Choir Concert.
I found you at our favorite French Cafe/Hotel, The Sofitel...at the little lobby table with a basket of French bread, wine and a cheese-fruit plate...and in the little lobby gift/card shop soon after.
I found you at Rosedale having your favorite Caribou Coffee at a little atrium table...and then in your favorite Hallmark card shop.
I found your loving and caring presence where ever there are joyful little children.
I found you at our favorite NE Minneapolis restaurant - JAX - where memories abound for nearly 50 years.
I found you at the Anoka Lyric Theater’s Sunday afternoon performances....
I found you at the Christmas Eve family gatherings...
I found you in memory with me very Wednesday noon at Lakewood Cemetery and shortly thereafter in the little “Holy Spirit” Chapel at the Benedictine of Innsbruck.
I found you in memory with me when we had our first flaming "Crepe Suzettes" at a charming restaurant in Budapest (1969)...our night with the Gypsy's and our first real "Hungarian Goulash."
I found you in memory with me when we viewed the Beauty of the Blue Danube (1969) from Budapest to Vienna, the fascinating "Coffee House" in Vienna...and an evening of Strauss music
I found you in memory with me on the first ever, Forensic Science Conference in the Soviet Union in 1969...a cultural exchange during the "Cold War"...the intrigue of Moscow, the Kremlin and Lenin's tomb, St. Basil's Cathedral. the Moscow River, waltzing the night away at the Rossia Hotel...the romance of Leningrad.
I found you in memory with me in1972 in Edinburgh and the exciting reception by "Her Majesty's Government"...the sighting of Prince Charles near the Royal Summer Palace.
I found you in memory with me in Rome in 1973 and the delightful reception at the Campidoglio hosted by Italy's President Leone...the Reception at the U.S. Embassy...the sidewalk cafe's on a warm fall day...your concern for the little orphaned kittens at the Coliseum...our audience with Pope Paul at the Vatican and your delight at Pope Paul shaking your hand.
I found you in memory with me in the picturesque old German University town of Gottingen in the fall of 1974...attended by many of Germany and the world's elite...it dated back to 955 AD...Gottingen is located on what was then the politically and physically divided East-West German border...you loved shopping in this quaint and historic old town.
I found you in Memory with me when we had our breathtaking cable car ride down Mt. Pilatus near Zurich in 1975...the beauty of the Swiss Alps.
I found you in memory with me on our many trips to London (1972-1999) and our friends "The Bruces" at nearby Bexley, Kent...a picnic lunch with the Bruce's above the White Cliffs at Eastbourne on England's South coast...a luncheon Yacht cruise on the River Thames...visiting Churchill's home..the Sherlock Holmes Hotel...the awe of Westminster Abbey. the reception at the House of Lords hosted by Lord Cottesloe...your shopping trips to Harrods...the Guard at Buckingham Palace that winked at you...when you taught me how to use the London Underground, the Sherloch Holmes Reception in the high walkways of the Tower Bridge Kent.
I found you in memory at our week at Oxford University in 1984...our stay at the historical "Christ Church College" and "Queen's Colleges"...our daily "High Tea" in a little restaurant overlooking Oxford's Main Street.
I found you in memory at our 1993 Forensic Science Conference on a Yacht...a three day cruise Conference from Los Angeles and Catalina Island to Ensenada, Mexico and return to Los Angeles.
I found you in Memory with me on our forensic travels in Canada (1976-1998) with our Canadian Forensic friends...Toronto and the CN Tower and Niagara Falls, Montreal and the French Atmosphere, Vancuver's beautiful Bay, Waters and Mountains.
I found you in memory with me at a "Blue Grass Session" at culver's just as twin violins struck up their soulful strains...strains that awakened dormant and pleasant thoughts of Your Father Henry, a violinist, then long gone...you looked up at me smiling and said: "I'm so happy!"...but only God knows how happy you have made me.
I remember how your prayers and your inspiring examples of your Christian faith brought me into our Lutheran Christian Church...our daily mealtime Grace periods when you always thanked God amid tears for all he had done for us...even as you were well into the darkness of Alzheimer's
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"I am finding you in all the old familiar places
That this heart of mine embraces all day through.
I will always think of you that way...
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June, there is not a day passes that I do not think of you the first thing in the morning and the last thing at night. Nor a day passes that I do not talk with you as I look at one of your pictures...Your million dollar signature smile - automatically brings a simile to my face.
Every day has its sad notes - not a day has passed since you have gone that I have not wept for a moment or two - I miss you so very much.
Stan
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(Stan's Memories of June)
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Stan's Note: As of November 2020, this page has had approx. 21,100 visits or views!
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Reader's Comments
Michele Christie - Cullowhee, North Carolina - (14 February 2013): "It is so hard to be without her on this day of romance. However, I cant help but think you were blessed to have had that kind of deep love at all. Dementia is so devastating to those that love as much as it is to the patient."
Judy Lemon Spooner - Oliveira do Hospital, Portugal - (15 February 2013): "It's true to say, the greater the love, the bigger the hole it leaves, and the longer the healing process. I wish there was some way to help you carry your burden of grief. May your heart be warmed by memories of her life, and not... by constant reminders of her loss."
Vicki Cadogan - Limerick, Ireland - (16 February 2013): "Your poem is very touching Stan, one of my dad's favourite songs, days like these are very tough. My prayers are with you."
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(Published - Minneapolis Star Tribune - Valentine's Day, Saturday 14 February 2009 - "Love Lines")
(Revised and re-published - Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Valentine's Day, Thursday 14 February 2013)
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June's Passing
On October 23rd, 2008 June passed away after almost twelve years of an exhausting battle with Alzheimer’s. June's last three years and 8 plus months were in an Alzheimer’s facility at the Alzheimer’s “Villa” of the Benedictine Health Care Center of Innsbruck, New Brighton, MN. See June's funeral notice as published in the Minneapolis Star Tribune.
“June K. (Rolstad) Berg – In Memoriam”