Moments Ago

A personal memoir in poetry and art describing a remarkable life. Mary and Marvin Glaesman drove to Alaska in 1952. The road was gravel, dust, slippery mud, rough rocks, or two ruts with grass growing between. Bridges were often one-way. They had thirteen flat tires, and arrived in Anchorage with no money in their pockets, and no job in sight. Being quite newly-wed, they welcomed the challenges. Both were from families that "roughed it" and found that faith in God would "see you through." The Glaesmans gave birth to five children, adopted two Alaskan youngsters, and raised a granddaughter. Mary stayed home to be with the children. To augment their income she gave piano lessons and began painting in oils. During their years in the North, over a thousand paintings left her palette. Most of them were sold, though some were gifts to hapless friends, and some were burned in the fireplace. Marvin was her morale booster, framing and shipping. Now and then a youngster would help mommy by rearranging the wet paint! After forty-one years of a love affair with Alaska, Marv and Mary moved to Nevada to be near Mary‛s mother who lived with them the final years of her life, and died at the age of 104. Marvin, a World War II Navy man, made his Honor Flight to God‛s country after nearly 62 years of marriage. Mary misses him deeply, and delved into the family Scribble Book for memories. Friends wanted to sponsor publishing some of her poetry, so this book began to take shape. She is pleased to see her long romance with words finding a place between the covers of a book.