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| Hope and Swede with their 4 sons, Dude, Bill, Jim and Jeff, 1960 |
Hope Enger Reyman, July 18, 1926-October 28, 2013
After spending my morning watching the videos that were made
over the years by my sister Hope Enger Reyman, (Thank you Jill Wyatt!) I came
to a conclusion that I have probably known all along—it just didn’t occur to me
before. Hopie and I were born of the
same parents and loved each other with all our hearts, but we were born total
opposites!
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| Baby Hope, 1926, Kindred, ND |
Maybe our differences stemmed from the fact that we were
raised in vastly different eras. She in the 1930’s and 40’s with two brothers,
and me in the 40’s and 50’s as an “only child.”
Hopie and my brothers lived through the years of the Great Depression
and World War II, while my experiences included the boom years of the post-war
era and the birth of Rock and Roll. But
truly I believe that we sisters were just born with different genes. Hopie inherited the patience of our mother,
and I was born with the antsiness of our father. Today it would be called ADHD, back then I was
pegged as having “ants in my pants.”
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| Baton majorette, Worthington, MN High School, 1944 |
Hopie enjoyed the simple things in life. On her videos she spends what seems like an
eternity just watching a tiny crab sidling across the beach; a bird chirping on
its perch; and flowers growing in the field—so much so that I can’t help but
hit the “fast forward” button to go on to the next scene. She loved the beauty of nature, was always
amazed by it, and took time to observe its wonders. I, on the other hand, always wanted to hurry
things up, to go on to something more interesting, bigger, or better than where
I was or what I was doing at the present.
A lot of the time I was disappointed when I finally made it there, and I
would say to myself, “Is that all there is?”
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| Marriage to Durward "Swede" Reyman, 1946 |
Hopie lived a life that was what some people of today would
call “uneventful.” From the time she married Durward “Swede” Reyman at age 20 in
1946 she was a supportive wife and later a stay-at-home Mom to their four
boys. The family never went on trips to
exotic destinations, but always spent their vacations “going home” to visit
parents and family in Minnesota and Kansas.
Any money Hopie had was never spent on herself or things she wanted, because
what she wanted is to buy things or make things for others. And whenever anyone in the family (or
friends) ended up at her home they were always welcomed with open arms and good
food.
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| Hometown Heroes, Fort Morgan, Colorado, 1990's |
I think of her artistic talents which she also inherited from
our Mom. Over the years I and all the rest of the family were recipients of the
fruits of her labors-- oil paintings, bean and seed pictures, stuffed pictures,
ceramic Christmas trees, dummy dolls, concrete lawn ornaments, quillows, and even
gold-sprayed cow pies, turd birds and porcupine eggs! She was probably the most sentimental person
I have ever known and she saved every card, gift, letter or picture that anyone
ever gave her.
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| 60th wedding anniversary, January 21, 2006 |
Hopie and Swede’s marriage lasted 64 “uneventful” years, and
the unhappiest I have ever seen my sister was after his death in 2010. She did not want to let him go, and from then
on she was never her old self. Her
health deteriorated also, and she went to join him on October 28, 2013. The
hole that was left in my heart when she died will never heal until I see her
again someday, but at least now I can put in the video and relive the memories!
