Beloved Gram

(inset: Grandpa Harold & Grandma Bonnie on their 25th wedding anniversary)

Miss you so much, Gram. You were a blessing to have as a grandmother. Even though I wasn't your blood, you took me in and loved me the same. I used to love going to your house when I was "sick" (and I'd be just a bit less sick than I let on, just to come see you). You used to want to make me soup to help me get well, but would always make me egg-toast after I bothered you 'til you did. It was always so good, even if such a simple dish, because you always made it with love. (It must have been a lot of love, too, because you always reminded me of how much I ate!)

I'm going to miss you so very much, Gram. Nothing will ever replace your grandmotherly love. I know you are looking down on us from Heaven, and will always keep watch. I'm sure you and Gramps will always be with us. You have given me peace, even in this time of mourning.

Our bond of egg-toast will always be with me forever... and while it may be silly to some, the first thing I did when arriving home was to honor and remember you with an attempt of my own (thanks, Connie, for helping me through it!). It certainly wasn't the same as eating it with you and sharing the stories of when I stayed with you, and didn't taste quite as good as yours always did, but Maite and I enjoyed your egg-toast while thinking of you and the love you always gave.



I know a time will come when I see you again. No more pain. No more barriers. Only love, squeezes, and the biggest batch of egg-toast ever!

in loving memory...

Bernice Marie Strand
(Grandma Bonnie, Grandma Peep, but always our "Gram")
November 9, 1921 - May 7, 2010

Bumped, But Not Bitten

Siesta Key, FL: At approximately 11:30am, January 4, 2009, Maite and Woody were waist-deep, wading in the shallows near their 'weekend escape' hotel on the Gulf side of the Siesta Key (near Sarasota, FL) when Maite felt something "brush" against her. After claiming this to her husband, who was standing next to her, Maite's story was discounted as "just your imagination." (The truth is that Woody's first thought was a jellyfish or something, but didn't want to make his wife nervous.)

The two began looking around in the very clear water for the mysterious guest and saw nothing. As they moved around in this search, the two were a few feet apart with their backs relatively toward each other, and were approximately fifteen or twenty feet from shore, when Maite spotted a large fish swimming immediately past her.

As she was about to say something to her husband, Maite was trying to get the words out to tell Woody about the large fish, but instead exclaimed in "ahh, ahhs." Woody turned around to find out what his wife was trying to say, and noticed the large fish as it had just swam past Maite and was now gliding through the water five feet away in a circular pattern around the two. He simply and slowly spun around watching as he calmly said, "Yeah, that's a shark."

Like a ball shot from a cannon, Maite splashed her way to the tiny beach area and Woody watched as the shark started to circle back before swimming back out to sea, likely started by the stampede that went on a few feet away.

It was only later at home that the married couple realized the gravity of such an encounter. Through a few simple searches, it was determined by both that, without a doubt, Maite had been bumped and circled by a four-foot bull shark, one of the most deadly in the ocean.

The shark was similar to the one below in both size (maybe a bit smaller) and color:

For more information about the bull shark, check out this article: http://www.slate.com/id/112116/

Thank God that the water was freezing and that neither of the couple actually went swimming, as the flailing of arms could have easily been mistaken for fish. You see, before the shark encounter, the two were standing in the water and sporadically saw fish jumping out of the water (likely avoiding the jaws of the 'large fish'). In addition, there were pelicans and other birds feeding a short distance away at the end of a pier. This feeding frenzy was likely what had attracted the bull shark to check out which other goodies were in the area.