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Sleepy Eye’s connection to the man who pitched the perfect game

Don Larsen’s perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series is one of the most memorable moments in baseball history. Seventy years later, it remains a signature moment in sports. In an iconic photo from that October day at Yankee Stadium, Larsen is seen leaping into the arms of Yogi Berra. At risk of being risqué, a year later Don would be in someone else’s arms, someone from Brown County. A couple weeks ago, a friend texted that Don Larsen’s wife had passed away, and did I know she was from Sleepy Eye? I did. Corrine was my brother-in-law Tom Seifert’s ...

Overcoming loneliness and building connections

Dear Annie: My mother died when I was 5, and I grew up in a very abusive childhood -- abuse in every sense of the word. I’m still traumatized over my childhood and I am now 65. I ended up in what I thought was a great relationship in my early 20s and thought he loved me. I ended up getting pregnant, and he wanted no part of it. He left, and I was a single mom. I absolutely loved being a mom and vowed to be the parent I always wished I had. My daughter is now grown, with a teenager of her own. I cherish the time I get to spend with them. My issue is that I am very lonely and wish ...

Scoped out

The human body requires a thorough checkup from time to time to see if anything is amiss or if something has worn out and needs to be replaced. It’s very similar to owning a car. It had been over a decade since my last colonoscopy, as my primary care physician frequently noted. I was long past due for my 50,000-mile checkup. Everyone I’ve spoken to regarding colonoscopies agrees that the prep is the worst part of the experience. Back when I had my first colonoscopy, the prep part involved drinking a literal gallon of a substance that was the consistency of camel snot. I’m not ...

Traveling — what can go wrong?

Slang tries to make language more efficient. Tickets become “tix.” Pictures become “pics.” Recently we took a “vacay.” That’s vacation for you less cool people. We met our two daughters and attached others for a week of running around Charleston, South Carolina, and Savanah, Georgia. One of those was our new Colombian son-in-law, Jhonattan. Abby met Jhonattan while working in Bogota. They were engaged, and wedding plans accelerated when Abby took a new position in Jordan. Not the Jordan by Belle Plaine. It’s the one by Syria. She will move to that interesting part of ...

Battling video game addiction

When video games came on the market I began to see problems gradually develop. I believe that Pong came out In 1972. You could get your own game in 1975. I believe my first relationship problem that was the result of addiction to Pong was sometime in 1976. At that time I could never have imagined how video game addiction has developed into the way it is now. How to define video game addiction? The gamer experiences a persistent recurrent pathological compulsion and obsession to play video games in spite of any negative consequences. The addiction can range from mild to severe. ...

Infidelity from both sides

your article about the husband having a relationship with someone in the office. The wife asked why women try to break up marriages like that. I’d like to offer some insight, as I’ve had experiences on both sides of the issue. First, in dating a married man, I lost sight of the morals my parents had instilled in me. I was young and naive, and I believed what the man was saying to me about him wanting to leave his supposed loveless marriage. It took me years to figure out I set myself up for failure in coupling with someone who was already coupled. It was a way for me to be safe ...