The End of an Era

The date - December 23, 1920. The place - A small humble home in the farming community of Bowdin, Maine. The event - The birth of Milton R. Lane. Who the that this little baby would accomplish so much in his life, and that he would leave touch the lives of so many people.

I've been thinking about him a lot lately, and my mother too. The reason is because their birthdays just past and it's the first year that I haven't made a birthday call to them in 25 years. My mother passed away in 2007 and my father just passed away last October. They both had a very big influence in my life, but especially my father. So I'll dedicate this blog to him.



I learned a lot from him. I learned how to drive, to do home repairs, carpentry, car repairs, geneaology, and many other things. For the last year and a half of his life he underwent his most severe challenge. He had a stroke back in February 2007 which left him paralyzed on his left side. Unable to do even the most basic of tasks he had to rely on everyone else to help him out. This man who for years was the one everyone called when they needed help, now needed help himself, and he didn't want to ask for the help. But the help came anyway. The family came together to do what we could. The lot fell upon our youngest sister Judy to become the main caretaker for my father since she had the training and the time to help him. We were able to keep him at home for most of the rest of his life.


It was difficult to talk to him because it was hard for him to focus and to talk. I'm sure there was a lot he would like to have said, but for the last year he mainly just wanted to finish his mission here on this earth and go back to be with his wife who passed on before him, our brother Randy who died back in 1987, and all of his brothers, sisters and parents who have all passed away to continue their mission in the next life. But I remember that he was active until shortly before his stroke.


In 2004 he came back to my home in Fairport, NY, and with the help of my brother-in-law Charlie, my father was out there with us cutting down some very tall trees. Keep in mind that my father at this point was almost 84 years old. I admired him for his ability to keep going for so long when I have seen younger men than him give up and spend their time sitting down in front of the TV all day. I learned a lot from him. Thanks Mom and Dad, for everything.