My somewhat uncanny ability for remembering dates--especially birthdays---came to action today as I checked an online site to make sure if today was, indeed, Thomas Edison's birthday.
Indeed, it is. He was born a little over 100 years before me in 1847 on this date.
So, the lightbulb in my head is still working, and if it's working on all watts, I'm guessing that today is also Helen Schmidt Poelstra's birthday.
She's the one in the front on the left. All those ladies were associated with my mother via "horse."
They all came to Mother's Celebration of Life last August, and my friend Kari was nice enough to shoot a few photos of them as a group.
The group: Helen Schmidt Poelstra, Jeri Phillips Stockman, Jean Miller Martin and Marian Wyman Works.
I'll bet Mother was smiling a lot that day as we celebrated her life, especially when this group got together to talk some old times.
Well, let me talk about Helen, the alleged birthday girl.
Like the others, she was always a devoted friend to Mother and Harold. She even rode Harold's handsome gelding Darkie and later owned him.
Darkie was the same horse I rode, as a snotty-nosed tyke, when Mother and I took off one day to get some frozen meat from Jack's Lockers. We rode from our North Boyer home into the northwest part of Sandpoint.
Of course, I knew it was not a good idea to complain around my mother, so when she turned around from her saddle aboard Largo and saw me leaning almost at a 90 percent angle to the left side of Darkie, she wondered why I hadn't said anything.
As I said, I was trained by a young age not to complain. In this case, I received a little lecture about not alerting her to the fact that my saddle was slipping sideways.
Anywho, we made it to the lockers and back home with no problems. Darkie was a very patient and good horse.
Helen worked for Doc Eakin as a veterinarian's assistant, and I'm thinking she may not have the papers to prove it, but she could pretty easily practice as a knowledgeable vet, thanks to the education she received accompanying Doc on his rounds.
When she wasn't working, she was riding. Mother, Helen and the ladies above took more than their share of long trail rides up Baldy and along other area trails.
Helen used to always bring nice Christmas presents out to our house. One evening she didn't stay long-----just dropped the presents in the living room, said a few words and hurried along her way.
Within minutes, we could see why. One of the beautifully wrapped presents opened on its own, and out came the cutest little pup anyone could ever have. Helen gave that pup to Harold. Fritz was a family favorite until his sad end when nerve damage caused his back legs to quit functioning.
Mother also sold cream to Helen's mother. Their home was on St. Clair, so on Sunday's Mother would drop us off at church, go deliver her cream and visit with the Schmidts, often much longer than Mass lasted.
Sometimes we ended up visiting with the Schmidts too, after walking from St. Joseph's over to their house. I have a feeling there were some heavy topics being discussed on those days.
When Helen married Rennie, we had a new farrier. I can't remember how long he shod our horses, but along with Harold, he was one of the few we had over the decades. After all, when you find a good farrier, you keep 'em.
Helen and Rennie have a daughter named Lynn. She was born around the same time as my brother Jim, and I'm thinking that sometime in May she'll turn 50. Lynn played volleyball at Sandpoint High and earned a scholarship to the University of Washington.
The Poelstras have remained longtime family friends, just like those other ladies in the photo. All good folks!
I'm thinking I need to call Helen today and make sure my lightbulb is functioning properly.
If it's not her birthday, we'll still have a great visit, and she can celebrate twice.
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