I would like to write a tribute to my only sister, Ann, on her birthday. She is such a good and caring person and we have only grown closer as we get older, in spite of living over a 1000 miles away from each other

Ann always goes out of her way to help people. She has driven through the dark and snow to get people to cataract surgery, not to mention the free lip-reading classes she taught to senior citizens in Joliet, Illinois. Even at 82 years of age she and her wonderful husband George are very active. They drive to see their grandchildren in college whether it is in North Dakota, Iowa, Wisconsin, or Indiana.

I write about cooking, but Ann is the real expert. She grows her own vegetables, cans or freezes them, and makes most of her meals from scratch. Every Wednesday she hosts a dinner for her family that lives on the adjacent farm, usually spending the entire day to have the perfect meal for as many as 11 people. Some of her specialties are pies made from the fruits and berries that grow on their own farm, sauces and gravies, and special preparation of venison and other game.

Ann also serves on the local zoning board and spends hours at meetings advocating for those she represents in their rural farming community. In Illinois that means driving many miles, sometimes again in the dark, cold, and bad weather. She and her daughter-in-law Cindy have worked hours and hours writing in restrictions to protect residents from the ill-effects of wind farms near their residences; both Ann and Cindy are experts on these often unknown health problems that windmills create

And such a perfect hostess to friends and relatives, opening her house, cooking delicious meals for them. For many years she hosted a large family reunion on their farm – three days of food and creative games to keep everyone happy. Frog races, and homing pigeon competitions, to name of few diversions.

For years she accompanied her husband George on Field Trials throughout the United States, where she was one of the first women to blaze a trail into that mostly male sport. She rode horses through thick and thin, stopping through streams and muddy treacherous banks, not to mention the adventures and dangers of getting there, towing long trailer to accommodate their dogs and horses behind their large motor home. Now all their field trail friends are welcome at their sprawling farm in Illinois.

And in the last 4 years she has been there for her son David, a brilliant veterinarian like her husband, as she has dealt with a brain tumor. Whenever a crisis occurred, Ann and George have jumped in their truck to drive wherever needed, whether it be Michigan, Missouri, and Northwestern Hospital in Illinois. Today I can happily report that David is doing exceptionally well, with no signs of the tumor which was removed in 2020 and he is back performing surgeries, too.