Religion

Is it still okay and culturally acceptable to blame your parents for your weird personality quirks? My mom and I went out on late afternoon drives twice this last week to look for bears. My mind got thinking on why this fascination to see bears?

“Aha,” I said to her, “you and dad probably caused this obsession I have about bears. Remember when we went to Yellowstone Park back in the olden days and we could feed the bears right out the car window?”

You have traveled through lots of family experiences in this column. Some of you, like Jim Wilson, in Hardin, Montana, and many Rosebud County friends, have been with us since our first column was in the Rosebud Press in 1987. 

Have you treated yourself to a respite lately? Sometimes I think what if this was my last week or day or year on earth? What would I change? It sure makes me take second thoughts to petty whining (calling it what it is). 

“Good grief, Lois,” I say to myself sometimes. “Think about what you are thinking about!” I have so much to be thankful for and so many blessings, I can’t count them all. When He-Who-Takes-Long-Steps was here, and I was fully booked for spring and fall tours, he cared for me and my health by teaching me the value of rest. 

It is a Bohleen family ritual. It started on my first solo trip up the road of our ranch. I kept up the tradition when my name changed to Olmstead. I would say it to He-Who-Took-Long-Steps. We said it when our boys began to drive. Even though I have gray hair, and my body is sinking into my shoes, my dad would always say it and my mom still does. It is the last words every time. “Drive carefully.”