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Thankful for Memories
The following article, “Thanksgiving Eve” was originally written by Dan in 2014. Please post your favorite memories of Dan in the comments.
I wrote this article on the day before Thanksgiving. I like to refer to this as “Thanksgiving Eve”. I may be one of the few people to use this term, but I am hoping it takes off. Earlier today I had to go to the store to pick up some granny smith apples. Apparently the red delicious variety were not hard enough. The store actually only had one bag of the granny smith apples left. Apparently supplies tend to get a little low around 8 p.m. on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving Eve). I am not complaining about having to run this errand for my wife. Other than taste-testing the pumpkin pie and helping to anchor the apple peeler, it was my only pie making chores this year. My wife was nervous about the pumpkin pie for some reason and perhaps a little overconfident about the apple. I have gone on record many times espousing my love for Thanksgiving. It is such a simple concept. The idea of taking time to be thankful for all the wonderful aspects of your life is beautiful. Also, I am of course a fan of a great meal and a day full of football. That last sentence sounds like an accurate description of many of my fall days and I guess that is something to be thankful for. The NFL games this year featured many teams with good records and great matchups. It helps that Detroit is no longer terrible. For a while, the NFL was considering ending the tradition of having the “Motor City Kitties” play on this day. In many parts of our country, there exists a tradition of rivalry high school football games or at least of families playing touch football. That might be a little difficult to do around here on most years including this one. On the bright side is the fact that snowmobile enthusiasts should be able to enjoy some riding on this turkey day. I do not love the turkey day term, but I was getting tired of typing that other word. We traveled for the holiday this year, but only to a farm near Andover. I hope you were safe on your Thanksgiving travels and that you enjoyed your day with family and friends. Now I suppose it is time to diet until Christmas Eve.
I will always remember Mac’s excitement at seeing Uncle Dan because he knew how much fun he was going to have. Dan always made everyone feel so welcome and happy.
This comment was from my aunt, Deb Utecht
-Julia
I remember many things about Dan but especially his positive outlook and sense of humor. We shared a love for football, but he watched more CFL games than I ever could. Dan was very appreciative of the things people did for him, which in turn made it easy to do things for him. I think about him, and Cheryl, often and miss him. Maybe he and Sandy are swapping stories about the goofy things I do. God bless.
Thanks for being there for me at Roncalli High School when I was in grad school and teaching me how to be a good counselor and striving to be one just like you.Glad you saw me at Qli when I was injured.
This is an absolutely beautifully done site! What a tribute to a man who influenced many! You are truly continuing his legacy as you share his life, his passions, and his faith!
Words have always been easy for me, but for some reason leaving this comment isn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Mr. Wold was one of my English teachers in high school. He was easy going, taught outside of the box and made English fun. He used games to teach lessons and introduced me to some of my favorite authors and books. But most importantly, he taught me that connections last well beyond residing in a community. Your impact isn’t determined by your zip code. And your voice is so much more than vibrations of your vocal chords. Mr. Wold continues to inspire and be heard, which is a legacy that we all dream to leave for future generations.
Dan was my teacher and golf coach and also a friend. Going to golf meets was always a blast. I can also remember when I was in 10 grade I total out my pickup hit a big washout so I had to walk back home and I happened to walk right by dans house so I Decided to stop and use his phone but I told him I was to scared to call my dad and tell him so dan told me he would tell him but before we called we talked about what happened and by the time we were done talking he asked me if I was ready to call my dad I said yep so thanks dan for building my courage up. I am sure glad I stopped by to see him before he passed away.
What a great teacher dan was and a great golf coach. The golf trips were always filled with laughter and Seriousness. Dan and Cheryl also surprised me at my wedding which was fun to catch up on things. Dan was not only a good teacher and coach but he taught me about life and I will always thank him for that.Rest easy coach AKA pothole your legacy will live on.
From Dan’s cousin: Crystal Tedder
I never really got to know my cousin, Dan (or any of my ND relatives very much) because (as a great excuse!) we all lived so far from one another. But about a year and a half before he died, Dan & I both – after years of foot-dragging – joined Facebook about the same time & began a year+ of IM communication. Say what you will about Zuckerberg/FB/social media…but this platform gave me a unique gift: a very close friendship with a cousin in the last year of his life. Not many people would be as willing to talk so frankly about an illness that I?m sure he knew would eventually claim his life, but Dan willingly answered all my questions, tolerated my Pollyanna cheerleading, & often joked about the situation. Our funniest back & forths included jokes about his nurses (male & female), massages, his playing the C card to get out of housework, and we shared serious thoughts on religion, politics, addiction, and children. Cheryl was so incredibly generous with me in his final minutes to hand him the phone so I was able to say goodnight to him for the last time. You know, there used to be a lot of online chat rooms & message boards that don?t seem to exist anymore, which is a shame since, in writing, you can really share some of your deepest thoughts and feelings that would not be dared just speaking. I don?t think we would have formed this bond had we connected while he?d still had his voice. We can disparage ?texting? as trivial and swear up and down that we need a ?real? connection with humans, but I assure you: I had a very Real one with my favorite cousin, Dan Wold. In my mind (& especially when I re-read our year-long correspondence) I still do.