Carl Nelson

My Far Far was a great man, grandfather and great grandfather. I have so many great memories of him in my youth from the fishing trips, crabbing, spending the summer on the beach with him and my beautiful Far Mor, and helping him out with his many home improvment projects. His great grand kids and I were fortunate enough to visit and chat with him the week before he passed away and it is a memory that I will hold onto for all of my days. We loved that he always had a story to tell about "back when" and gave Jamal and I a bunch of his old WWII Air Corps patches. I know that I probably won't live near as long as he did, but he got the chance to know and love his great grand kids. I have some good pictures of him with his great grand kids and will try to add them shortly to this page.

Dad And Mom Dancing into the early morning Hours. So Much In Love. Love And Miss You Both So Much

This is also a facebook post...

I remember Carl and Lil with fondness.  Growing up with John since 3rd grade through college (John sat behind Copernicus in 7th grade homeroom), I was at their house almost as much as my own.  The reason we live in Three Lakes, Wisconsin on Planting Ground Lake (way "up north near the UP Michigan border) is because of Carl and Lil who owned a place up here in the 60's.  They knew how to have a good time.  Back in the 60's the word "party" was just a noun--Carl and Lil turned it into a verb!  Best wishes John and Barb--14 years of caregiving is a long time, both a burden and a privilege...well done my friends, well done.

Warm regards,

Ron and Pat Nelson 

Remembering Dad Whistling in the morning and making Swedish pancakes. Dad could give the greatest big bear Hugs and make me feel so safe and Loved

Just about everyone who knew my Pa knows that he loved music.  He had either a radio or phonograph playing perpetually.  He never did much singing, but he was an accomplished whistler, with a rich variable vibrato that he'd use to accompany his favorite songs, some of which play on this web site.

My Pa & Mom danced to Glenn Miller's "Moonlight Serenade" throughout the houses and backyards of all of our homes.  I must have heard this tune played at least 300 times per year for all the years that I lived at home...

Nat King Cole was one of my Pa's favorite crooners, perhaps, in part, because Pa had interviewed him and had him on several of his shows.  Although, Pa generally did not follow the pop music scene much after the 50's, he thought that the studio engineered version of "Unfortgettable" that featured daughter Natalie with her father, Nat, was a technological marvel.  About 3 weeks before he passed away, my Pa had a very bad day where he was semi-comatose, and the medical staff didn't thing he'd survive that day as he stopped breathing multiple times, but would start breathing again before they could confirm his demise.  Early that evening, Barb acted on good instincts to turn-on some of his music on the component stereo system that I had built for him as an Xmas gift.  The 1st CD was by Nat King Cole, and when it began he stirred for the 1st time in over 8 hours...   Soon thereafter, he told Barb that he wanted to dance.  We left his room that night, fully expecting to get a call to rush back, but that call didn't come.  Instead when we arrived early the next AM, he was sitting-up, having the biggest breakfast he'd had in more that a month and listening to more music.

Tony Bennett's "I left My Heart In San Francisco" was Pa's all-time favorite song.  It just made him happy, regardless of how he was feeling before hearing that song.  This is the one tune that he made some token attempt to sing/talk in accompaniment.  His eyes would twinkle and his smile would broaden, and when the song ended, he'd repeat what he said so often regarding his fondness of the Bay Area.  Consequently, I closely associate this song with my Pa, as though it had become his personal anthem.  Over the past few months (and now), whenever I hear this song, my accompaniment is tears of memory...