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| Welcome to the
Fromherz
Newsletter
From The Heart Web site! |
Hello, my name is Connie (Fromherz)
Gale. I am
the grandaughter of Adolf and Lucy Fromherz and daughter of Jim and Mary
Fromherz.
Editor: Connie Gale
Senior Editor: Florence Gross
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"About
Newsletter From The Heart"
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Some time around 1972 Florence
(Fromherz) Gross thought it
would be nice to have a family newsletter that kept all of us abreast of current
events. As the family grew we found that we had less and less time to talk
with other family members and we never seemed to have enough time at the family
reunions. Along the way, Florence asked the family for a good name for
this news letter, and sometime in the early years, Joe's daughter, Marie came up
with "From the Heart" It was decided that this would be
the name of the newsletter and has kept that name all these years.
Florence has been Editor
and Chief of this project for many
years. Sometime in the late 90's Florence asked Jim's oldest daughter
Connie if she would take over the newsletter. Late in the 90's Florence
finally felt it was time to make the change. So in 2000 Connie took over
the responsibilities of the newsletter.
Over the years
"From the Heart"
has changed. Florence started by typing and using a mimeograph followed by
stencil machine the "typewriter" word processor and copy machine to
print the news letter all these years. With the change, Connie has moved
from the typewriter to the word processor. As the improvements came, so did the
length of the newsletter. It mushroomed from a few pages to as many as
60. The cost of postage became a factor and as more of the family members
moved to the electronic age it became evident that it was time for the
newsletter to make some additional changes. And as more family members
came on line the move was to e-mail. Both themes have found to be a
long process, as the current newsletter has up to 60 pages, many of which have
color pictures inserted into the page. This can take up to a couple of
hours to down load and sometimes will overflow a e-mail box. With that in
mind, it was decided to open a web sight. The savings in postage, and
e-mail download times should prove vital to the endurance of the
newsletter. Please look forward to more family information "From
the Heart" as its published.
If for some reason
you decided that you would like a personal copy of any of the newsletters please
contact Connie at her e-mail address below and we will see if we can either
print off a copy or find one in the Archives.
Please join me in
the celebration of Family!
Happy Reading!
Connie
November 22,
2002 Florence writes About Newsletter From The Heart:
Dear
Connie: You
asked for a short story
about "From The Heart Newsletter", how it started and kept going for 28 years.
When
Louis and I retired in 1973
and had moved to Florence, Oregon, our lives were definitely changed . . . no
jobs . . . new home and new community . . . complete new lifestyle . . . life
was exciting and very interesting . . . our children were launched on their own
lives.
I
began our retired life by writing newsletters
to our family and vowed that I would be regular keeping in touch. I
extended my mailing list to include my brothers and sisters, a few friends and a
few other relatives.
In a
few months I was getting requests
from nieces and nephews and some others that wanted me to include them as part
of my family. It was then that I considered all the descendants of my
parents Adolf and Lucy (King) Fromherz as my bosom "From The Heart Family".
I had
called for newsletter name suggestions
from the family . . . Joe's Marie came up with this perfect title, "From The
Heart Newsletter", which I adopted enthusiastically and continued to use for 28
years. I am happy to see the new generation of writers and our new editor,
Connie Gale, continuing to use it . . .even now on the "web". (Is that what you
call it????)
Until
the family started sending
their news to me, most of the letter was personal family news . . . about my
family and what were doing as retirees. I was having a good time telling
about ourselves when someone said, "that letter sounds like Aunt Florence's brag
sheet", OUCH! I stopped and gave that a thought and made a change in
"mid-stream". From that moment on my letter would be about all the
activities, ambitions and happenings in the entire FROMHERZ clan.
I had
a wonderful response
when I asked for birthdays, wedding announcements, anniversaries, etc., etc.
I even worked on genealogy for a time and kept close track of all new arrivals,
new in-laws, deaths, etc. Thanks to everyone these letters are now our
history.
My
Love and prayers will be with you now and forever. With God's
blessings, Florence (Fromherz) Gross
November 2000 From The
Heart Senior Editor Florence writes:
Dear Family,
My students used to repeat my cliches in the classroom. Here is one for
you to ponder over; Shakespeare said, "The old order changeth yielding
place to the new". We are constantly living with changes all about us
daily. I must admit some changes as we are growing older are
"bittersweet" for us to accept easily! Such as changing the production
format of the 28 year old FROMHERZ " Newsletter From The Heart".
Some of you may know that my good
health broke down with a congestive heart
failure last winter. I had very good care by doctors and hospitals. I am now
on heart medication and have a pacemaker to bring me back to relative good
health.
We decided several years ago
that when this day of reckoning was upon us we would move into the
retirement facility of Mt. Angel Towers. Yes, we have sold our home and are
now living the life of "riley" in a beautiful garden apartment at the
Towers. We have two bedrooms and two baths, living room, office space and
entrance kitchenette. We have beautiful surroundings inside and out---Have a
covered 32 foot patio---car and motor home parking close by---and our
kitty-cat, Cali enjoys being with us free of leash both inside and out.
We are enjoying wonderful meals,
special events, Champagne Brunches on Sundays, and we attend daily Mass in a
very special chapel where we provide the music part of the time. We love all
our nearby neighbors. Housekeepers keep us spotlessly clean---even change
our beds once a week and launder them with our bath towels. Our apartment is
next to one of the house Laundromat facilities where we can do our personal
laundry without feeding the machines with quarters (as we are accustomed to
when in an RV park.)
Some things we do not realize until
we are struck down with illness---How many
close friends we have and how are family will drop everything to help us.
Friends bring food, friends help with chores---a friend helped me bathe.
Three of our children would have traveled to bring us home when I was being
released from a California hospital---they were right there with every kind
of help when we arrived home. Sharon even came home from Switzerland to give
all the help she could for a couple of weeks.
Even after my health improved
and we were in the moving "mode" our children (including grandchildren) were
right there supporting us and giving us much needed help---(Claire was here
from Tucson to help the grandchildren with our yard sale). Pat and Paul,
Jerry and Judy took time out in their busy lives to give us their full
attention.
It makes us feel very much at peace
that all our children are happy that we are now living here at the towers
where we have no housework, no yard work and no binding responsibilities,
and just about no worries. What little we do seems to be so much more
appreciated---our friends here let us know daily how much they love our
music for Mass each Sunday. We tell them "Thank you we appreciate being
appreciated."
And now I have announced giving up
the From The Heart Newsletter. I appreciate
so many of you thanking me for the many years that I have put this letter
out. Yes, it has been a sacrifice but one that gave me much pleasure and
satisfaction. It gives me much happiness to see that you wonderful young
folks
will be continuing the works I have
started.
And my heart-felt thanks goes
to the ones for $ & $’s that helped in
silence when the expenses were getting horrendous. Only God and myself
know who you are---shall I say "you will reap your reward in heaven." FG
Yes, the old order "changeth" with
this newsletter. Several in the family have offered to help me with this
newsletter---finally I have accepted Connie Gale’s request to use her
computer expertise. I have used my word processor and copy machine for many
years to spread the family news, but new technology in the hands of the new
generation can "flash" the same news around like the automobile racing a
horse and buggy! Like the tortoise racing the hare---that is e-mail and
snail-mail More power to the computer age! , as I bow out with this
last "Swan Song" letter. I promise continued support and will always have a
message in all future "From The Heart Newsletters".
We have requested everyone to
update us with all addresses, e-mail
and telephone numbers, birth dates, wedding dates, info on new births,
etc. so that we can put out a new address booklet. I am presently
working on this project along with this newsletter.
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