Friends Memories Shared at Kim's Funeral
by Nancy Seelhoff
spokesperson for the "Fun Group"
by Nancy Seelhoff
spokesperson for the "Fun Group"
Kim said she would like it if she could hear this, so I am reading this as I have all the faith she is.
Even before our “Fun Group” as we have recently been labeled in the past week were couples, Kim was blessing us with wonderful memories, and even before she and Shane were a couple, she was known to have spent a few evening’s down at Farley’s implement store on Midland Street, partaking of free pop and other items, with Arlyn Werner, Brad & Jeanie Farley and thinking they were pretty sneaky hiding from the police as they made their rounds. Imagine Arlyn’s surprise Saturday evening when Gail presented Arlyn back his ID bracelet Kim had failed to return many years ago.
In 1976, five couples, the Janssen’s, Farley’s, Kirchhoff’s, Werner’s and Seelhoff’s were all married. Another unique thing was that we all graduated in 1974 or 1975 from Syracuse. There have been some real high lights, and most often we were all together but, not always.
Early memories were of the husbands playing softball and loading up our kid’s Big Wheels on Saturday’s and Sunday’s spending week-ends together. Our children couldn’t imagine not being included so it became a family time and to this day still feel like we are one big happy family.
We also traveled together to places like, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, Kearney, Omaha, and Manhattan . Some of the short trips were labeled “pre-planning parties and Kim as always was the hostess with the mostess, at one such trip to the Embassy Suite in Omaha, was seen bringing tray after tray of drinks during their free drink hours to our rooms so we wouldn’t have to be bothered with having to purchase any ourselves later. One very wet football game in Manhattan 4 couples deciding we probably would not sleep anyway, decided to just spend it in one motel room, we enjoyed togetherness.
Some of our later trips were very special, in January of 2006 we decided to take a wonderful trip together to celebrate our 30th anniversaries and many of our 50th birthdays. We decided on Jamaica and knowing we couldn’t leave out the Hobscheidts who we had adopted into our “Fun Group” designated them the chaperones, by the way, they did a very poor job.
Kim has always been the person with the camera and Jamaica was no different and she had so many moments caught on a CD to bring back for Jess to edit for us all, what she didn’t plan on was a certain “rum run” that she and Shane went on. Having no idea there were so many flavors of rums she decided to sample them all, and bring Jeanie back her favorite. In her own words this past week she said “A little would spill, so I would drink a little and then some more would spill and I would drink a little”, needless to say I don’t think Jeannie got her drink, and some where along the way the CD was lost.
Kim being the loving person she is had our beach bar maid still calling her in Nebraska for over a year.
Our last trip this past January to the Dominican Republic, Kim stuck to Bahama Mama’s, which aren’t quite as strong and took on the job as our conseiger and did a fabulous job. This is a trip full of memories we will all cherish. Mostly because of Kim’s work of making sure we were signed up for Zip line tours, catamaran tours along one huge lobster and anything else the island had to offer.
She loved to barter with the local merchants and was quite good at it. This time she had a visitor from Canada phoning her on her return home.
Traveling isn’t all we do together, we enjoy watching Nebraska Football games, Super Bowls, grilling out, dressing up at Halloween. We loved getting together for no reason at all, one time we felt we witnessed the best impression of John Belushi in Animal House by Shane. Kim did not see the humor in it at the time but we are sure she found it funny later.
We spent so many New Years Eve’s together. In fact one year our children all came down with the chicken pox, and we really thought, “you know our kids are sick we should just stay home!” , but then thought “no, let’s just find a couple of baby sitters that have had the chicken pox, and go out anyway”, after all the kids would miss being together.
Each other’s children’s high school sporting events were something we never even considered missing, you support each others children, that is what Good friends do. Kim loves athletics and will be sorely missed by the Rockets!
Another special event we do each year around the 4th of July is the Janssen open, a very fun golf tournament we all try to attend along with our children. Even this past July, Kim was golfing with the best and worst of us. Making sure to take the time to talk to all the kids and we are pretty certain she didn’t miss one.
Even before there was the Fun Group, Kim and I have been great friends, it all started about 43 years ago. We became the Goering and Scheef girls, my sister Sue and Terri were the same age, Kim and I and then Mary and Gail. We enjoyed everything Burr and 4-H had to offer, counties fairs being the high light. It seemed Kim and I were always in trouble with our parents. We probably were not, it sure seemed like it at the time. In our defense… if Terri and Sue would have just done a couple of things wrong they could have paved the way for us like we did for Mary and Gail.
But any respects we have remained friends through all these years. Along with taking part in each others weddings, she recently cut the cake at my daughters wedding and helped make her a special wedding hat, something we both cherish.
Friends are suppose to be there for each other in good times and bad and 3 years ago we were all ready to step up to the plate for Kim, but rarely if ever did we see her without a smile on her face and looking anything but healthy, even though we know she was hurting physically and emotionally.
Kim was determined to find the fun in life and she did. It was then we realized what it really meant to be a Hero and you Kim, have become ours. Kim we love you and cherish this friendship and these memories and so very many more.
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