Gail Wolfe Caskie
I grew up two doors down from "Georgie". The house in between, built by my dad, belonged to my grandmother, then later, to George's grandmother. My brother Roger and I have many happy memories of playing outdoors with George and all the kids on Walnut Drive and nearby streets. When George was very young, he would come knock on our door and say "come pay wid me". Also, I have fond memories of his parents. One day, I went over to their house and Mr. Moon said his wife was in the hospital for awhile because Georgie had a new sister named Melody. After we were teens, I didn't see George for about 52 years. A couple years ago, I stayed in Ames while my daughter had radiation treatments and happened to go into HyVee for a few things. The friendly guy checking out was talking about having grown up in Newton. Shortly, we realized that we knew each other as kids. The other customers in line seemed to be as tickled as we were. So I went back one more time to chat awhile in the store's cafe. It was great to reminisce and also to exchange stories of the directions our own lives had taken. Apparently, he was very content and happy. My sympathies go out to his entire family.