Tag Archives: jim krause

Al capone, 75 years of Buick history in one family + me

19 Oct

this morning i woke up at my usual time of 4:45am.  does that mean i’m getting old?

i like it anyway because i get so much done.  sometimes i tell myself (quite literally) to chill out and just read or something.  today, i pulled out a box of old photos and there was a folder on top.  it was a draft from an article my dad wrote (i helped) for a publication.

if you’re into cars, in the business or not, you might appreciate this.  i didn’t know my grandpa but he was a pretty cool dude including being Buick’s General Service Manager for the whole country but also when he was single, he fixed Al Capone’s henchman’s cars.  #badass

but the most fun for me today (already) was reading this.  most of all because i could hear my dad’s voice in this draft below.   he wrote this about my grandpa.  if you’ve ever had someone you love for years and years pass away and then read something they wrote and hear their voice in it – it’s like they are reaching out from the grave and talking to you.

here you go – it’s three pages.  this was published in a couple of car publications.  for those of you in the business that think i’m just another ad chick that doesn’t know anything about anything – know that at my very core i come from 75 years of very smart and passionate car people!  🙂

 

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encouragement for today

11 Nov

there’s something i want to remember every single morning.  

but i don’t.  i wake up and go through my programmed routine and i forget.  in the beginning i didn’t forget. and i made myself promise that i wouldn’t.

i don’t want to forget to remember to live this day as if i had 4 months left to live.  

like so many people out there, i learned this lesson the hard way.  it happened to someone close to me.  in fact, now that i think about it, it has been a similar situation for several people close to me.   why should you listen?  because i promise that if this news hasn’t crossed your path yet, it will someday.  

do you know what my dad did when he found out he had 4 months to live?  he moved, within weeks, two doors down from me in an OK apartment complex in dallas, texas.  do you know where he was living?  in a million dollar or so house on a golf course on hilton head island – away from his children – away from his family.

when he got the word that he was dying, his very first thought was me, my sister and my brother.   and my mom.  he didn’t give a shit that he was going to a rented one bedroom apartment – all that mattered was he was close to his family.  he didn’t care about feeling uncomfortable about asking our forgiveness, he did it.  and quick.

i could go on more about this but this encouragement for today isn’t about my dad.  it’s about you + me.  how can we live each day with this mindset?  here is what i thought about:

1. close your eyes.  you just got this horrible news.  what is very most important to you?  make it that important every single day and act as such.  pick up and move to dallas, so to speak.

2.  make it right.  if there is anything off kilter, make it right, now.  don’t wait for this day to come.  make it right RIGHT NOW.

3. make other people important.  taking a lesson from dad, i absolutely became the center of his life.  and i wasn’t before.  he was genuinely interested in what i was doing, saying, learning.  my favorite memories ever were in the morning before work, i would see his bald head bouncing down the outside walk to my house for coffee.  i loved it.  he couldn’t wait to wake up and talk to me about my day and what i was going to do.  i need to be like that every day with everyone i encounter.

4. get over yourself.  and your fears, insecurities and inhibitions.  it’s not about you.  it’s about your time with people important to you.  big difference.  so say i’m sorry, say i’m scared, say let’s pray, say i love you – stop with the inside voice telling you stupid things.  you only have a limited time.

DSCN2053

 

 

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al capone, 75 years of Buick history in one family + me

1 Oct

this morning i woke up at my usual time of 4:45am.  does that mean i’m getting old?

i like it anyway because i get so much done.  sometimes i tell myself (quite literally) to chill out and just read or something.  today, i pulled out a box of old photos and there was a folder on top.  it was a draft from an article my dad wrote (i helped) for a publication.

if you’re into cars, in the business or not, you might appreciate this.  i didn’t know my grandpa but he was a pretty cool dude including being Buick’s General Service Manager for the whole country but also when he was single, he fixed Al Capone’s henchman’s cars.  #badass

but the most fun for me today (already) was reading this.  most of all because i could hear my dad’s voice in this draft below.   he wrote this about my grandpa.  if you’ve ever had someone you love for years and years pass away and then read something they wrote and hear their voice in it – it’s like they are reaching out from the grave and talking to you.

here you go – it’s three pages.  this was published in a couple of car publications.  for those of you in the business that think i’m just another ad chick that doesn’t know anything about anything – know that at my very core i come from 75 years of very smart and passionate car people!  🙂

 

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lyrical sunday: we live

16 Sep

on september 25th, my dad will have been gone 7 years.  

hardest for me to believe (and i’ve always thought this) is that a living, breathing human being who was such an integral part of my life is just…gone.  never to be spoken to again.

maybe some of you know how i feel.  every single day, i think about my dad.  either it is remembering the funny line from the movie “wedding crashers” (she’s a stage 5 clinger!) that he laughed at or feeling his hands as they got so soft from the chemo or a james taylor song on the radio.

but around this time of year, i reflect on something that many people and maybe not so many know about.  how to hold someone’s hand as they bravely die.  as their body shuts down.  i remember september 24th, 7 years ago now, sleeping on the couch next to my dad’s bed at night watching his chest go up and down in the night.  i would hold my cell phone up and shine it across the room just to make sure he would know i was there.

for today, i want to share with you some lyrics that have always meant a lot to me.  i swear i need to engrave them somewhere so every morning i remember this.  in a world of a very shallow focus of “keeping up with the jones” these are great words to remember.

There’s a cross on the side of the road
Where a mother lost her son
How could she know that the morning he left
Would be the last time she’d trade with him for a little more time
(so she could say she loved him one last time)
And hold him tight
But with life we never know when we’re coming up to the end of the road
So what do we do then
With tragedy around the bend

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

There’s a man who waits for the tests to
See if the cancer had spread yet
And now he asks why did I wait to live ’til it was time to die
If I could have the time back, how I’d live
Life is such a gift
So how does the story end?
Well, this is your story and it all depends
So don’t let it become true
Get out and do what we were meant to do

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

Waking up to another dark morning
People are mourning
The weather in life outside is storming
But what would it take for the clouds to break
For us to realize each day
Is a gift somehow, someway
And get our heads up out of this darkness
And spark this new mindset and start on with life cuz it ain’t gone yet
And tragedy’s a reminder to take off the blinders and wake up
(to live the life)
We’re supposed to take up
(moving forward)
With all our heads up
Cuz life is worth living

We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love
We live, we love, we forgive and never give up
Cuz the days we are given are gifts from above
And today we remember to live and to love

 -superchick (look the song up!)

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hey dad – start here

21 Sep

this weekend holds two momentous occasions for me.

saturday, is my one year anniversary to my wonderful husband ROF.  i’m going to give that it’s own post.  on the 25th it will be the anniversary of my dad’s death.  it will be 6 years on sunday.  it’s not sad, just i remember back to everything that happened that you can read here.

this story i found on-line on a flint, michigan website.  i’m in michigan now and i think of this with every coney place i pass.  it’s one of my favorite and something that was passed around on email FOREVER.  it so has my dad’s way of telling a story which i miss so much:

Famous Coney Sauce

 Passed on by Barbara Bacon Ewing

 From Jim Krause….R.I.P.


Good Evening folks! Since we all spent at least one afternoon in beautiful downtown Flint, this should bring back some memories.

This has been a secret of mine for years that I have been unwilling to share. However, in my present state, I am hoping that if I can share so much joy for so many people, the good Lord will say this man needs to be saved. OK, I know it is a long shot, but worth a try.


A LITTLE HISTORY:


No matter what you may have heard, I grew up in the Coney Island hot dog capital of the world. (Flint, Michigan.)  As a youth, a perfect evening would be taking a date home and then going directly to your favorite Coney island restaurant. In my case, it was the Original Coney Island located on Saginaw Street down from the Durant Hotel by the railroad tracks.  You could pull right up in front in the no parking space as long as you were just running in for “two to go”.  At 1:00 AM the place was full of drunks and hookers but that had no bearing on the Coney Islands.  I would get two with onions and head for home.  The plan would be not to ever try and eat a Coney in the car. However, about two blocks away the smell would be just too much. I would say to myself, I will very carefully eat one on the way home. No matter how carefully you tried, those onions and sauce would drop between my legs and sometimes fall on the floor. They were also known to ruin a great new tie. It didn’t seem too serious at the time, but the next day when you opened your car door after three hours in the sun, those Coney’s had a different smell.

Now, some people will tell you the key to the Coney island mixture is the Koegel hot dogs that are only available in Flint or online. However, you can still make a great Coney with regular hot dogs.
Before, I give you the recipe, this is the way to fix the Coney Island Dog on a soft hot dog bun, steamed bun would be best, mustard to taste, much Coney island mix, and then top with a generous portion of chopped onions.

Cheese is optional. If you are on a diet, do the same thing without the bun. (low carbs)


I can usually get about two dinners, four lunches and one late night snack out of a mixture. After six days and seven warm ups you sometimes get a little green tint to the meat. That tells you it is time for a new mixture. But DO NOT throw out the old mixture, just mix it in with the new and therefore none is wasted.

Here is the recipe:

1 tb butter
1 tb margarine
1 1/2 lb LEAN ground beef
2 md onions finely minced
1 clove garlic finely minced or equiv garlic powder
3 tb chile power
1 tb prepared mustard
1 6oz can tomato paste
1 6oz can water
10 skinless hot dogs
salt and pepper to taste

Do NOT brown beef before using!!!  Combine all except hot dogs and simmer until thick. Grind up the skinless hot dogs or chop in food processor.
Stir in and cook 15 min longer. The big secret in this recipe is the ground up hot dogs.

DO NOT SEND MONEY………………JUST ENJOY!

 

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