Birthday Time

I was born December 10, 1927. So it’s time for my 87^th birthday.

Birthdays are, of course, personal. After all it is my time on this earth that I am observing. But birthdays are also always communal. Without Mom and Dad there would be no “me”. So I want to spend a bit of time this birthday reflecting upon my 87 years of life, both personal and communal.

It has been and continues to be a good life made so by a host of human connections, Divine Guidance and my own response. Here are just a few examples of how this has all transpired.

FAITH. My parents were people of faith. They saw me as a gift from God. They brought me to baptism just days after my birth. They taught me to pray, to trust, to believe in a good and forgiving God. During my years my faith has changed. It has been deepened, been threatened, been modified, exists among doubts, keeps me going, gives me hope for the future.

FAMILY. My family is my greatest earthly gift. My parents sacrificed much for me, sending me off to “study for the ministry” beginning at the age of 13. My two older sisters had to turn down college scholarships (and never went to college) so they could work “outside the home” to help pay for my schooling. My 6 sisters and one living brother continue to care about me and tell me they respect me. (In fact, as I write this, I have paused to answer phone calls from them wishing me “Happy Birthday”.)

I am profoundly blessed through my 5 kids. All are persons with wonderful values, professional success, caring hearts, liberal supporters of good causes and people in need. They have, I think, forgiven me for some of my unwise decisions and actions I may have made as a part of my less than perfect parenting. They know how greatly I love them and how deeply I respect them.

Jane, my wife of 63 years, is my anchor. I do not want to live without her. Someone recently made the slightly enigmatic comment, “You know that the longer the two of you both live, the less time either of you will be living alone.” Celebrating a birthday without Jane is something I don’t want to think about and celebrating with her is a high delight.

FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES. I have had more than my share of co-workers, people reporting to me, neighbors, bosses, colleagues. Most were wonderful supporters, a few hard to take, a very few impossible. At first it was just Rosa Bush and me in a 2-room school. Then it included hundreds and even thousands who were part of a throng of Lutheran teachers with whom I shared responsibilities. I have been challenged and affirmed, knocked down and pulled up, cursed at and prayed over. In almost every setting we had some great and wonderful birthday parties and cakes, including one massive sheet cake with a beautiful birthday greeting in Chinese characters delivered to Concordia Kowloon, enough for 65 servings! --- My number of close friends is now, regretfully very small. I can probably count them on one hand, but in my mind I can go back to multitudes together in quiet conversations, at conventions, sharing good Scotch and honest talk, great dreaming and exchanging quarters won/lost on the golf course.

EXPERIENCES. I am blown away in gratitude for the incredible set of experiences I have had in my life. I’ve taught in grades 1-8 and in graduate school. I’ve been the CEO of a staff of 2 and over 60, had responsibility for budgets totaling $20,000 and over $26 million. I’ve picked cotton, set bowling pins in a bowling alley, supervised, managed multi-million dollar building projects, peeled potatoes, waited on tables, had meetings in squatter huts, in State Senate chambers and the White House. I have preached, presided at baptisms, weddings, anniversaries, funerals – around the world. I honestly, greatly and humbly can feel that I have made a difference.

I was born in the country, a mile from the town of Walburg, Texas with a population of “44 friendly citizens and 1 old grouch”. In my early years a trip of 60 miles was a major experience. Last week I saw an ad for the10 top cities of the world and the top hotel in each of them. I did not stay in all those top hotels but I certainly visited those top cities. As I looked at the list of cities I reflected upon cities which I have visited, usually as part of a speaking tour or similar. I decided to list some of these cities, not in a spirit of braggadocio, but in the hope that as readers see names of cities they have visited they may stir pleasant memories as it did for me. Take a look: Tokyo, Seoul, Taipei, Hong Kong, Macau, Shanghai, Beijing, Xian, Urumchi, Lhasa, Bangkok, Singapore, Calcutta, New Delhi, Karachi, Islamabad, Jerusalem, Cairo, Beirut, Istanbul, Athens, Rome, Zurich, Vienna, Paris, Prague, Berlin, Amsterdam, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, London, Edinburgh, Madrid, Barcelona, Bermuda, The Bahamas, Rio de Janero, Cancun, San Juan, Tahiti, Sydney, Auckland … I have been blessed to have been in all 50 states of our country and made some kind of group presentation in all but 5 of them. Blessings upon blessings.

HEALTH is another great gift for which I am thankful. My body still works reasonably well – most days -. I even shot my age again twice this year. But I am getting older, weaker, hear less well, forget much more, tire more quickly, have low sexual impulses, less stamina, think more slowly.

DECISION. I have decided to stop making any more speeches, delivering any more sermons, conducting any workshops, being responsible for any more events. I want to do only one-on-one stuff like visits to the sick or lonely. I want to be available to my wife and family, especially to our eldest son David who has serious cancer. I want to get more involved in the retirement community in which Jane and I live. I want to continue to support organizations making a positive difference in the lives of people. I want to continue my autobiography via this LOG.

So I celebrate my birthday with gratitude and in faith, hope and love.

Reflections Upon a Blessed and Exciting Life – No.15: High School Dorm Life

 As mentioned previously my 4 high school years were at a residential prep school (preparing for ordered ministry in the church). It was small; less than 100, all boys.

The facilities were sparse. I remember especially the long concrete corridor of our second floor dormitory. A favorite midnight prowl was for a student to take a big 16-pound shot put and roll it down the entire length of the corridor. The whole floor reverberated, especially in the bedroom of Dean George Beto who slept in his room one floor behind ours. I recall one night he came up to investigate. Of course, every student was fast asleep. Nevertheless he went to the end room, opened the door and screamed at the two occupants, “Steyer and Krueger, you are both campussed for next weekend.” “Campussed” meant they were not allowed to step their feet off campus.

Another very daring adventure (remember this was way back in 1941) was to sleep on the flat deck serving as the roof over the dining rom. I guess what made this exciting was that it was forbidden – and we had to pick a lock to gain access. But when we lay there on our blankets on a starry Texas night we felt daring – and maybe even romantic.

Naturally, there were no computers or cell phones then. There was one pay phone in the main hall. To make a long distance call home was out of the question, way too expensive. My memory is that I made a total of 2 calls in my 4 years there, both times calling “girls” and asking for a date. Once I succeeded. It provided me with the only real date in those 4 years at Austin Concordia.

I am embarrassed to remember that I never did my own laundry. As was the custom I placed my dirty clothes and bed linens in a cardboard laundry box and mailed it home! My mother washed, ironed and then sent me back my newly laundered clothes.

Only upper classmen were allowed to smoke.  If a freshman or sophomore was ever seen with a cigarette, that cigarette was confiscated along with any others the smoker had unsuccessfully hidden.

Showers were, of course, communal. I recall no doors on the shower stalls. As adolescent boys it was a time for much “comparison”, pride or embarrassment.

There was supervised “study period” every night from 7:00 – 9:00 p.m. I still recall how I shuddered when, one evening, Dean Beto opened the door to my room and bellowed, “Kieschnick, what are you doing?  You’re supposed to be studying!” My memory is that I was writing a message on the penny post card I was mailing to Mother the next day.

I still have some feelings of guilt about an “extra expense” I caused my parents. In my sophomore year I got a new room-mate, Mike, who now lives 5 minutes away from me in Encinitas, California. He wanted to place venetian blinds on our room windows. I agreed and my share of the cost was, I think, $8.00! This was an extravagance my parents paid with great reluctance. (I can assure you the home in which they lived had no fancy window coverings like venetian blinds.)

As I reflect now on those experiences some 70 years ago my memories are warm. I learned to live in community, to budget time and money, to develop my own set of values, to appreciate friendship, to resolve conflicts without resorting to violence and to survive the teen years in an all male environment.