- Date Of Birth: September 28, 1940
- Date Of Death: October 8, 2017
- State: Colorado
Shirley Ann (Krause) Lane
I was born at home on Sept. 28, 1940, in a house with no heat, in Hillsboro, Kansas. Two weeks later Kansas had a blizzard with zero degrees wind chill, as only Kansas can do. So Mom took me and my older sister over to Grandma Prieb’s house where it was warm, while Dad stayed home and worked on getting the gas hooked up, so the furnace would work.
We lived in that house until I was 13. By then there were 5 children and 2 adults in a 2 bedroom house with no running water. Most houses had 2 bedrooms and a bath. We had 2 bedrooms and a path! We then moved 9 miles away to Marion, Kansas where we lived for 4 years, before moving to Western Colorado.
There I met John Lane. He was leaning against a post in the peach packing shed, telling some sort of joke, (like usual) and had everyone laughing. The first thought that went through my mind was, ‘I’m going to marry that man’. My second thought was oh no, he might already be married. But he wasn’t and he wanted us to get married right away, but Mom said I had to wait until I was 18, because she wasn’t going to sign for me.
So we did. 2 long years. I turned 18 in September, and we got married on October 26, 1958. John had to get his mother’s permission. A man had to be 21 and he was only 18 also. She sent a notarized paper in the mail giving her permission.
I did not meet any of his family until after we had been married about a month. Apple harvest was over and we went to Nottinghill, Missouri where he was from, so I could meet his family. I was more than a little apprehensive about it, but Mom Lane met us by the gate and hugged both of us at the same time. She was a very remarkable woman and I loved her dearly. I never knew his father, as he passed away before I even met John.
Dale Eugene was born Feb. 7, 1960 and Evelyn Fay was born Nov. 5, 1961.
John took sick on June 30, 1992 and 2 days later we learned he had 6-12 months to live. He had that bad brain cancer that nobody lives through. We prayed mighty hard that he would be the exception to that rule, but it was not to be and he was finally released from his suffering on May 11, 1993. We buried him on the 14th of May, and my life has never been the same since.
I said many times, ‘I lost my anchor’ when I lost him.
When you stand at my grave and if you are weeping, don’t weep for me, but rather for yourself, that you still have to put up with this world and all its troubles and trials. As for me, I am in Heaven with my Saviour, and John and I are together again, dancing in the streets of gold and singing with the angels. There is no pain or sorrow or parting. We are waiting for you to join us.
Lots of other things have happened in these many years, but I would bore you silly if I mentioned everything, so you remember some of the good things and don’t get caught up in the not so good things, because we all make mistakes.
Remember, we are waiting for you to join us. Shirley Lane, Mom, Grandma, Sister, Great Grandma, Sister-in-law, and friend.
