My nephew James’ memories of his childhood home

 (with sisters Diana & Tammy, brother, Joe)

The house in South County - for some reason, I remember that it was white and one story. It had a large pine tree in front that we used to climb on. On the side of the house was a small incline then the garage. I remember Tammy and I playing there, making mud pies. I remember Diana walked in-between us two and she came to the back yard and the pasture. The pasture was fenced in - wood in the front, painted white. On the back of the house there was an enclosed porch, right? I remember the big tree to the left in the pasture and the two-stall barn to the right.

I don't remember ever riding the horses but I remember that one of them got out and everyone went looking for it. I remember being up late and Dad showing up with what I think was a black pony. (Not clear on that).

I think I remember the layout of the house; you walked in and you were in the living room then the kitchen to the left at the back or you went to the right, down the hall - the first was Diana and Tammy's room Then my and Joe’s; the bathroom was straight down the hall. I remember that my bed was to the left when you came into the room, with a window.  I remember the owl or bat that was flew in the house and they made us all go into your (Diana & Tammy’s)  room.

I remember sitting on Dad's lap and he gave me a taste of coffee - never did like the taste. I remember that one of us fell back into the mop bucket and sitting there all wet. I remember running into the kitchen and telling Dad that I only used one piece of toilet paper to wipe my butt.

I remember the neighbors and their “riding ring”and their barn. I remember being there in their “riding ring” but don't know why I was there. I remember that we used to walk to the road; wait for Dad to get home and get a ride in the UPS truck back to the house.

I have always wanted to go and walk around the  place to see if the memories are correct. I did stop by once, when I went to Oakville, but never got out to see it. Hope the house is still there and not torn down! I think that if I could go to a time in my life that is where I would be!

Velvet Jesus

My brother, Steve, and his wife, Regina, moved back from Florida many years ago; so, my wife, Kathy, and I visited them when they moved into their new home. They used to have a velvet painting of Jesus, before they moved to Florida; they used to have it hanging at the end of their hallway in their house, when their children lived with them, so, their children would see it when they walked down their hallway to their bedrooms.

They took it with them to Florida , but, when they returned, it was missing (hopefully just not yet unpacked).

After eating and discussing various topics, we were ready to leave, and, Kathy and I were near the door, ready to leave. Steve was in the kitchen; Regina was sitting in a lounge chair near the front door.

Since Kathy and I were very involved in various ministries in our church, and, had a reputation in my family as being evangelistic. Steve and Regina had a long history of being involved in their churches, and, had a good & close spiritual relationship with God.

I mention this to put it in perspective what I was about to say, as I was about ready to leave. I didn’t realize the words I chose certainly had a double-meaning, as I asked her (in reference to the missing painting, which they highly desired), “Have you found Jesus?”!

My wife immediately realized that Regina would have taken this as an insult, as evidenced by the startled look on Regina’s face, which I will never forget! Kathy interjected “the painting” to clear-up any misunderstanding, shown by Regina’s face as it changed from seemingly mortified to laughing (thankfully)!

From my brother, Steve, about his wife, Regina

THIS IS THE STORY OF THE LAST 45 DAYS OF HER LIFE. SHE WAS LAID TO REST ON SEPTEMBER 10, 2001.

It was August 15th, 2001, she was at St Mary's Hospital in Kansas City MO. She was bleeding internally and the blood was so much

in her body cavity that she had a hard time breathing. The blood did not leave enough room for her lungs to expand. I was home in Conception Junction, Missouri because I was up at the hospital for about a month; so, I took off that day to go home and pay some bills, etc.

I received a call to come to the hospital as soon as I could because Regina's condition had changed and it was very serious. I jumped in my car and took off as fast as I could to make it to the hospital and wanted to get there before she died.

Well, here is what happened and I did not find out about this for another 18 hours. Reggie's hospital room was filled with doctors and nurses.They wanted to poke a device into my wife's body cavity to suction out the blood that was filling up her body so her lungs could start working.

Now, the doctor who was going to do the procedure asked Regina for her permission to start but she refused. He looked at her and told her in a very faint voice to first pray with him. He had to put his ear to her lips because he could not hear her voice. When he heard her say she wanted everyone in the room to pray, he said, “WE DO NOT HAVE TIME FOR THAT, YOU ARE GOING DIE IN A FEW MOMENTS”.

A nurse, who just walked into the room, heard Regina's plea for the prayer. She reached over the bed and grasped Regina’s hand and she prayed the “OUR FATHER”. All the doctors and nurses in the room prayed together for my wife. After the prayer they inserted the needle and relived the pressure on the lungs - they started to work again.

I got up to the hospital at about 3 in morning but she was out cold and slept real sound. When I went to the Nurses station, they just told me about the scare but none of the details. I was confident the emergency was over so I went to the top floor of the hospital, where I was about to sleep in a section of the hospital that was used for family who were there for the patients. I had been using the room for over a month at this point. In the late afternoon, after eating and a good shower, I went to see if my wife was awake and about to talk.

When I walked into her room she was very anxious to see me. She told me what had happened and how the nurse walked in and how the whole room took the time to pray. Then she told me something that I did not know really happened or not.

She said that when the nurse took her had and they all started to pray, she saw the face of Jesus in the eyes of the nurse!  I was very skeptical and I reminded her that she had been taking a lot of drugs and I told her that maybe she thought she saw that but it may not have really happened.

I made her a little mad and she said “I know what I saw and I know it was true”. I promised to go see the nurse and ask her about the incident. It seems that the nurse was from another floor and she was just helping out the night before. She was from another section of the hospital and so I went up to another floor to see her.

Darn - she was off for the next day or so; I could not get her story for a day or so. Two days later, she was back at work and I approached her and told her who I was and I wanted to thank her for working with my wife but I did not tell her yet about the sight my wife said she saw in this woman's eyes.

SHE SAID “NO NO NO DO NOT THANK ME, I WANT TO THANK YOUR WIFE”. I said why would you want to thank my wife because you reached out to help my wife. [NOW THIS IS THE REAL MIRACLE!]

The nurse told me that meeting my wife changed her whole life! She went on to say when I touched your wife's hand and started to pray, I SAW JESUS IN HER EYES! She went on to say that she had been dealing with a dead-beat Dad, who has been harassing her day in and day out for years. She went on to say that when she got off that day, she went to get an order on him to stay away from her, her kids, her work and her home.

She also said she now had a lawyer and she is going after him for back child support. “Meeting your wife and seeing Jesus in her eyes was the best thing that has ever happened to me and I am never going to be scared of him again”!

When I had a chance to get a word in edgewise, I told her about my wife seeing Jesus in her eyes too. Reggie was so happy and filled with joy when I told her about the nurse and what happened in the woman's life. My wife said she saw Jesus almost daily or an Angel and even the Blessed Mother!

My wife slipped into a coma about the 30th of August and I never was able to talk to her again. Some people said they could tell the room was filled with the Spirit when they saw her. Her whole family and my family was there, by her side, when she passed away. 

The morning she passed, my Father-In-Law told her “HEY REGGIE DO NOT GIVE UP BECAUSE BOTTINI'S NEVER GIVE UP”. She gave us a big smile, so we knew she could hear us. We were chased out of the room and we all went into a nice room and we prayed and talked and waited but nobody was allowed to see her for about 3 hours.

About 4 doctors and 2 nurses then walked into the room. I have never seen so many workers at any hospital all crying at one time but I saw it that day. YOU SEE IF YOU EVER MET REGINA MARIA BOTTINI HOLDENRIED, YOU LOVE HER!

She passed away on the 7th of September and she was buried on the 10th of September. The church was filled to capacity and there was about 10 priests that said Mass including Father Matt from St Joseph, MO.

I gave the Eulogy and I made it all the way through without crying. The Bishop was there and he told me later that I missed my calling. My relatives said there was not a dry eye in the house. I have one more thing to add and I made this my main point with my Eulogy because this is the lesson my wife wanted all of her kids and me to remember:

YOU WILL NEVER KNOW THE TIME, THE DAY OR THE PLACE WHEN JESUS COMES BACK. ONLY THE FATHER KNOWS, SO YOU MUST BE PREPARED!

What a great day

by Stephen T Holdenried on Saturday, May 7, 2011 at 4:24pm

You never know who is listening! I was at the park today near my home. It is a piece of land about 110 feet by 130 feet on a corner, lot just a half block from my home. Eight years ago, I worked with a group of kids from my neighborhood to build a flower park with benches, statues, a patio, trees and a grand entry-way to the park. In the last few years, I have been buying, planting and keeping up the park mainly by myself.

 

Today, I was getting the park cleaned up and make it ready for planting tomorrow, when my grand-kids will plant flowers at a 7 foot high Angel in the park (dedicated to my late wife) and another spot dedicated to Don Guss, my deceased son-in-law.

I was tired and just worn out but I had one more task to do. I started to do it but,instead, I sat down on one of the benches. I was feeling a little sad because nobody seems to care to help work on the park anymore and I thought “where are the people in the neighborhood?”. I was feeling sorry for myself.

 

I decided to just pack thinks up, not spray for the weeds and decided I would do it tomorrow. At the same moment, I heard a car stop and two kids get out. They came running over to the park yelling “can we help, please ?”. Then another kid came over and he too wanted to help.

These kids were in the 4th and 3rd grade but they said they really wanted to help, like their sister or brother did years ago. Then, one of the kids said he was 3 years old and he pointed out a brick that he swears he helped put up!

 

Well, they worked about a half hour then finished up and I scheduled a time next week for them to come back and help me plant some flowers. When they left - Josephine, Andrew and Joe said they have always wanted to help because they love the park. They all said it is a great place to sit and talk to their friends and it is just a nice place in the neighborhood.

Well, that is what the kids 8 years ago wanted to do for the neighborhood and it is still a great place to sit and look at the flowers. 8 years ago, these kids were just 3 or 4 but they remember me and the park and want to continue where their older siblings left off.

Thank you kids for lifting my spirits!

Letter from my brother, Steve, about Stevie Wonder

Hello.  My name is Stephen Holdenried ,Sr. and I am 72 years old and from Missouri.  Stevie Wonder has always played a part in my life.  When I was in High School I started playing with bongos and really enjoyed it a lot. I was a southmore in High School when I first heard the song on the radio “FINGERTIPS” (part one and part two). I loved the songs so much, I left the house and bought the record. I had never bought a record before because I had three older siblings and I listened to their records and the rock and roll stations on the radio. However I just had to buy this recording that I had just heard on the radio. I listen to Fingertips over and over again and played the bongos until I learned how to play pretty good. 

When I was in High School, I was part of a 2 man team that competed in a talent show and we won first place, with me playing the bongos.  I am now 72 and still play the bongos but, because of a disease I now have, I have slowed down a bit.

Stevie Wonder has alway been one of my favorite singers and I have always enjoyed his music. In 1969 I had just finished my tour in the Air Force and started dating a girl name Regina Bottini.  We were in love and she was the best thing that ever happen to me. It was November 27th 1969 and we just left her mom and dad’s house and we were headed to my parents home.  As I turned to corner just a half block from their house your song “FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE” started to play on the radio. We both liked the song and we just listen to it very intently.

The song was so real and the words just hit us both like a tank. We both listened to the song and I have to say we both cried and we both felt like the song was written for just us. I was parked by a tree, just next to my parents home. and I remember looking her in the eyes and saw she was also crying. She looked so beautiful and sweet to me and that is when I asked her to be my wife.  

We married five months later and we were married for 32 years and then she passed away on November 7th, 2011. We had a love filled marriage and we shared 4 kids together and a love that will always carry me through life.  Because I loved her and it was, FOR ONCE IN MY LIFE.

Thank you for the memories and the greatest song I think was ever written and performed.  Lo and behold, when my wife died I found out that my brother, Mark Holdenried, and his wife, Kathy , also felt the the song was their song. It always brings me joy to hear the song. Stevie, I thank you.

Thank You Forever!

In Jail for bringing Sarah home late

Years ago, I was going through a long divorce/custody case, with my 2nd wife, Judy. During a weekend in which I was supposed to have our daughter, Sarah, with me; I spent the weekend at my brother, Steve’s, (also had my older daughter, Amy (from my 1st marriage) with us).

It was getting late on Sunday evening, and, since we were about 25 miles away from where Judy was living (our prior home), I called to ensure she was there but she did not answer; I tried several times but - no answer!

Finally, realizing that I’d be a little late (within an hour), I drove home. To my dismay, when I arrived, I was met by 2 female police officers, who, after Sarah went into the house with her mother, and, Amy walked down the block to her grand-parent’s, I was arrested (for bringing Sarah home late, according to the court-order), hand-cuffed (in front of my neighbors), put into a police car and driven to the local police station, where I was put into a paddy-wagon with other suspects, and, driven downtown to police HQ.

At the police HQ, I was placed into a large room close-by with many other suspects, all asking each other what crime they were arrested for (e.g., attempted murder, robbery, car theft, etc.). When I replied “taking my daughter home later than the court order specified”, some snickered and some sarcastically said to “watch-out for that guy”!

Later, I asked to pay bail, though I had no $ to pay it, but I hoped my brother, Steve, would come down to rescue me, but, he was on vacation with his family (DisneyWorld); I was staying at his house before this. They said I could call him; I left him a voice-mail about my predicament.

Then, I was put into a cell with 2 other jail-mates. Luckily (as this was late at night), they were passed-out. It was the most gross & disgusting place I had ever been, with trash, vomit, urine, and feces all over, and, a single toilet in the middle of 1 wall, though I hoped I would not have to use it. There were 2 bunk-beds; I was supposed to sleep on the lower one of 1 of these beds, with another suspect (passed-out) in the upper one. One major problem - I soon realized that, after I laid down, there were dozens of roaches crawling all over me! I got up, brushed them off and stood-up until I could leave this cell, and, just prayed to God for help!

In about 30 minutes, I was told I could leave, as my brother posted my bail ($50)! I was so very happy to leave; Steve told me he heard my voice-mail, though he just drove for many hours to get home and was very tired, but, after hearing my message, he hurried downtown to bail me out!

God works in mysterious ways since Steve  & his family weren’t supposed to arrive home until the next day, but, for some reason, they left early - thanks to Steve and thank God!

From that point-on, I knew that I never wanted to spend a night in jail again (for any reason)!

Steve - St Louis Steve - St Louis my home

Tuesday, August 30, 2011

I grew up at 2862 Texas in South St Louis. I lived with my family in a 2nd floor flat and downstairs was my Great-Aunt Clara and my dad's mother, Grandma Holdenried (nee Kramer). I live in the St. Francis De Sales Parish, which is where many of the Holdenried relatives grew up. My Grand-Father Holdenried, who died before I was born, owned a home just north of the lower playground. I remember playing at school knowing that my dad grew up in a house that I saw each day from my playground. 

Just east of the school and the gym there was an old building, that at one time, was a dairy. That is where the Kramer's had their business. On Gravois, just next to the church, was another store where my Grandpa had his store. It was a store - I think they sold wall paper and rugs. The Holdenried Cleaners was only a block and 1/2 half from my home on Texas. My Grandfather’s brother, Philip, was a barber and had a shop just about 5 blocks from my home on Texas. The shop was not run as a barber shop for many years. Phillip was a great checkers player and played in many tournaments.

Peter Holdenried also live on Texas Ave about 10 blocks from my home on Texas. It was south of Cherokee Street near where Lutheran Hospital is now. One of the things that really bothered me, when I moved up to St Joseph Missouri, was the fact that my family was all around St Louis and I felt I was leaving my family behind. I guess that is why I work hard as a volunteer, I want to make St Joseph my new home! I grew up at 2862 Texas in South St Louis. I lived with my family in a 2nd floor flat and downstairs was my Great-Aunt Clara and my dad's mother, Grandma Holdenried (nee Kramer). I live in the St. Francis De Sales Parish, which is where many of the Holdenried relatives grew up. My Grand-Father Holdenried, who died before I was born, owned a home just north of the lower playground. I remember playing at school knowing that my dad grew up in a house that I saw each day from my playground. 

Just east of the school and the gym there was an old building, that at one time, was a dairy. That is where the Kramer's had their business. On Gravois, just next to the church, was another store where my Grandpa had his store. It was a store - I think they sold wall paper and rugs. The Holdenried Cleaners was only a block and 1/2 half from my home on Texas. My Grandfather’s brother, Philip, was a barber and had a shop just about 5 blocks from my home on Texas. The shop was not run as a barber shop for many years. Phillip was a great checkers player and played in many tournaments.

Peter Holdenried also live on Texas Ave about 10 blocks from my home on Texas. It was south of Cherokee Street near where Lutheran Hospital is now. One of the things that really bothered me, when I moved up to St Joseph Missouri, was the fact that my family was all around St Louis and I felt I was leaving my family behind. I guess that is why I work hard as a volunteer, I want to make St Joseph my new home!

Gethsemane

My sister-in-law, Reggie, was in a Kansas City hospital dying of Lupus; so, my wife & younger daughter and I wanted to visit with my brother, Steve, as he was  by her side.  Along the way there, I wanted to buy something (to lift his spirits)  at an OzarkLand store; so we stopped for it.

As I looked around the store at books, plaques, figurines, etc., I passed-by a small painting of Jesus, praying at Gethsemane - so hard, the Bible says He was “sweating blood”! This certainly was an item expressing great Faith, but, it didn’t seem, to me, to be the gift I wanted to uplift my brother’s spirit.

I searched around this store several times, and, each time I passed-by this painting of Jesus at Gethsemane, it seemed to call to me “buy me”, but, I resisted this, until I gave-up trying to find something that was more uplifting; so, I bought it and hoped for the best.

After we arrived at the hospital, my brother was speaking to a large group of his friends & family about his previous night of emotionally driven dreams, in which he said God placed the image of Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, praying “not My will Lord, but Yours”!!!

He shared with everyone that he believed God was giving him a message about his wife - to let her go into God’s Hands, and, he seemed much more at peace with this situation!

I had yet to tell him of my gift, but, waited until later, when we went into Reggie’s room, where she was sedated. I gave him the gift and explained the experience when I bought it. I expected him to be “in awe”, as I was (as of his witnessing his dream), but, he wasn’t, since he was still focused on his wife.

Reggie died within a short time later. It was about a year afterwards, that Steve read my story and then realized how amazing it was, and, we cried together, and “in awe” of God’s Ways!