Recipes for Living Dr. Richard Spencer and Family

I grew up in Guthrie County, Iowa, the oldest of three children born to Dean and Agnes Osen, which is a Swedish name. I have two younger brothers. When I was growing up, Dad was a propane gas man, and president of the school board. Mom was mostly a stay-at-home mom. She was an outstanding seamstress. We attended the Methodist Church as did my grandparents, who staunch Methodists. Grandpa Osen was always an usher. My grandmother sang in the choir for years as well as being a faithful member of the UMW (United Methodist Women).

I had a nice childhood. I really enjoyed school and remember particularly several teachers- Mrs. Wessling, who taught advanced math- algebra, geometry, and physics - and Mr. Nelson, my chemistry teacher. They both had superior methods of teaching that included discipline but they also took time to help when a student had difficulty. They had a way of bringing out and affirming individual talents. It came across to us that they knew we could do the work, and so we did. Their belief in us made us want to do well in their classrooms. Maybe the bottom line is that we respected them because they respected us.

Our father wouldn’t allow us to take part in both sports and music. We had to make a choice, and the basketball coach was influential. I enjoyed sports and participated in basketball and track. I did well in the 440 yard dash and relays. In my freshman year I qualified for the state meet, but an injury prevented my participating. I regret, however, that I was not allowed to explore my musical side. I don't have a particularly good singing voice, but I have a sense of rhythm. I was good in math, and math and music seem to go together.

My dad's influence affected my attitude toward our children's upbringing. I didn’t want to put limits on them. I wanted them to have a broad experience and not be afraid to venture into new things, which I am hesitant about doing. I gently forced them to keep doing things they didn't want to do -like practicing the piano. Cassie has been in piano since third grade but there came a time when she preferred to practice clarinet. She put up a good argument, and we allowed it. She made the high honor role and we let her drop piano. Neither Dick nor I caved when they whined about the work of some project or activity, and he is more adamant than I. There have been times when I'd probably have caved, which would not have been wise.

Both Dick and I were brought up in the Methodist Church but as we grew older our education, marriage, and careers became more pressing than church attendance. In my earlier school years, however, I greatly enjoyed MYF (Methodist Youth Fellowship). Our group often went to Camp Wesley Woods, particularly in the fall, for overnight trips, staying in the cabins. I didn’t ever go to church camp.

I graduated in 1978 and went on to William Penn College in Oskaloosa. Overall, it was a happy experience. The first month was the hardest as I made new friends and became involved in college basketball. All my tuition was paid by financial aids, grants, and honor scholarships; and additionally by a work study program which required 10 or 11 hours a week working on campus. I signed up as a biology major even though I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do with it. In junior high I had been much more certain- I wanted to become a vet, but I had very low self esteem and lacked the confidence to do that. My rationale for majoring in biology was that I could teach, or it would be useful if I went into a medical field. I was unlike Dick who always knew that he wanted to be a doctor of some kind.

Dick and I met at William Penn. He was raised in Albia and is proud of fact that his family has been in Monroe County for six or seven generations. His mom was an RN, the factory nurse in several industries. When Dick and his younger brother, Ron, were small, their father operated a live dairy in which they bottled the milk. The boys started milking cows when they were six or seven years old. Later they stopped bottling and their dad became a milkman for Meadow Gold Dairy in the days when there was home delivery. Dick and his brother continued to be involved, helping deliver, so there was no relief from having to get up very early.

Dick's education through the grades was in Albia High School. He was very outgoing and had participated in football. He graduated in 1975. He was in his second year of college, in 1977, when Ron was working with their father on the milk route and they were struck by the loaded trailer behind a coal truck. Their father was so severely injured that he nearly died several times. Ron had enough credits to graduate at the end of the first· semester, so he took over the route in order that Dick could continue his schooling. Their father did recover and Ron returned to school to get his diploma.

Dick was a senior the year I entered college; We first met when he was Student Senate President and so got to meet all the incoming freshmen. Later he looked me up and we began dating. After he graduated that year, he went on to podiatry school in Chicago. We became engaged that summer, and when I started back to William Penn for my second year, we were so lovesick that we couldn't stand it. We announced to our parents in September or October that we wanted to be married during Christmas break.

I'm not sure what all went on in my mother's mind when she heard that. She probably realized immediately the complications of trying to plan a wedding with her daughter who was two hours away and the fiancée six hours away. However, she took care of all the arrangements, made all the bridesmaids' dresses, my dress, and her own dress. It was a lovely wedding. Dad complained about the expense, but I don't think we were extra extravagant.

After we were married, I left William Penn and went with Dick to Chicago where he continued his education. We lived in a one-room studio apartment on the near north side. I enrolled in DePaul University but had 1 ½ months to wait for the quarter to begin. That was a strange experience! I was very much a small town girl, apprehensive because we were right in the heart of the city. I didn't feel comfortable in the neighborhood but after awhile decided I had to venture out.

I started by going the two blocks to the grocery store, then three blocks to Lake Michigan. The people I met were nothing like those on the streets of Guthrie Center-all different ethnic groups, people who were obviously of a different sexual orientation, including transsexuals. In a small town, I was accustomed to greeting everyone. I learned that in the Chicago setting, it isn't wise to make eye contact. There was no way of knowing what kind of message that would send. However, I finally gained, the confidence that I could navigate by myself during the day, but never at night. I learned to ride buses and get wherever I wanted to go.

After Dick's freshman year, we moved and he got a job driving a city bus. It was a night job on the Halstead run. Halstead Street goes from one end of the city to the other, part of it being through extremely rough neighborhoods. We thought his dark complexion and curly hair would be to his advantage, but that was not the case. He was told that he should carry a gun, and "if somebody gives you trouble, open the back door and drop them, then drive away as fast as you can." It was not small town Iowa! He wasn't on that route too long. They put him on a route through a Jewish neighborhood, so he began telling me stories about driving little old Jewish ladies.

I found a job as a file clerk in an accounting company. I worked in downtown Chicago ina skyscraper by Grant Park by the lake. That fall both of us were back in college. Dick knew what path he was on, but I had to pick. I chose a four-year program in X-ray technology. We both graduated in May 1983, and that was very special. Both ceremonies were within the same week and both sets of parents came. It was a true celebration of special achievement and special visitors who came to see us graduate.

Dick and I extended the celebration by spending a month on the road, seeing the country. We didn't have much money and had to plan accordingly. We drove a VW Rabbit which got good mileage. Dick made a fold down table and we bought groceries for making sandwiches to eat in the car. Part of the time we camped in a tent in state parks. This was the way we covered almost 2500 miles in three to four weeks. We drove south out of Chicago, to New Orleans, across Texas; saw the Grand Canyon, Las Vegas, and Hoover Dam. In California, we went to Fresno and San Francisco then came across the country to Colorado and back to Chicago. Occasionally we had an opportunity to go to a relative's house. What luxury to be in a house, eat food, and sleep in a real bed. Once in a great while we spent a night in a motel. But the entire trip was really great fun to be together, forget about books, and know that we had achieved the goal of graduation.

When we returned to the "real world," we lived in a western suburb of Chicago. Dick started his residency in July and I found a job as an x-ray technician in a hospital. I made a lot of new friends, the closest being Patty, who was a student in the hospital. She lived with her parents who were small-town, common people like me. Patty's father was Italian, her mother Polish, so they were a Catholic family. Dick's job involved him for long hours, and Patty's family "adopted" me. I would go to their home rather than spend evenings alone in our apartment. We had lots of fun times. We still correspond and we get together whenever we go in to Chicago for Dick's conferences.

In July 1984, it was time to come back to Iowa. That was a bittersweet experience. We'd been in Chicago for five years and had developed a lot of close ties. On the other hand, we wanted to come back to where we had grown up. We were ready to start a new part of our life. Dick was eager to set up his own office, and then God had a test for us. Before we left Chicago, Dick had been working on buying a practice in Ottumwa. It was all set. All that was left was to sign the contract. Then, the man decided he didn't want to sell.

It really pulled the rug out from under us, and we didn't know what to do. Dick's parents opened their house to us, and we stayed with them for about two months. We were grateful but it wasn't easy. We had a lot of emotional baggage to handle, and in five years we had become accustomed to living independently, enjoying our privacy. All that changed through no one's fault. But God had a plan. Dick had three offers. He didn't know which to pursue, so he said, "Let's split the deck and see what the cards tell us." The cards directed him to attend an interview in Des Moines that led to his being a professor at the podiatry college that was being started. On his way to Des Moines, he stopped in the St. Charles area to see if there was available housing. There was a big farm house and acreage for rent. He was offered a job, so he found employment and a place for us to live all in the same trip.

The podiatry college had grant money to set up podiatrists in rural areas where there was a need for foot care. They chose Osceola as the first remote site, and appointed Dick to be the clinic director. Students rotated through the clinic. Later that was expanded to Lamoni and Chariton. I began working at Des Moines General Hospital (recently renamed Des Moines Metropolitan Hospital), and that was the beginning of our careers in Iowa.

We lived in St. Charles for two years, and in May 1986, Catherine Ann came along. Because of her initials she soon became 'Cassie ' I stayed at home for eight weeks and would have loved not working, but we really needed the additional income. Finding a sitter was a challenge. We didn't know the community or the people. I decided to put an ad in the shopper and began interviewing people, insisting that the interviews be in their homes. I had about four responses and interviewed them all. One was awkward, another wouldn't let me in her house and then there was Diane. The first thing she said was, "Where's the baby? Why didn't you bring the baby?" In the first ten minutes I knew she was the one I was looking for. She had two older girls in school, one boy still at home and she was looking for a companion for him. She more or less adopted Cassie and watched her for about 1 ½ years. She stopped being our sitter when we moved to Osceola but we remain best friends. Diane is like the sister I never had. Their daughter was our kids' summer nanny for three years. I feel that God had a plan for us to meet.

During the time when Dick's practice had been moved to Osceola, he was commuting the 20 miles from St. Charles. He drove on Highway 152, past an acreage with woods. He thought, “I’d like to live there." When it came up for sale, the price was way too high, so we explored other options. About that time, land and housing prices took a tumble. The property we wanted came down about $20,000 in price. We loved the land, the woods, meadows, and wild life-and were okay with the house, even if not enthusiastic. We knew we could always change the house, so we decided to buy.

I continued working, making the long commute to Des Moines, until in May 1987, when we moved to Osceola. Dick's practice was growing. Besides having students, he became the residency director. He was getting very involved in the teaching aspect of his profession and really enjoyed that.

Amy was born in January 1989. She was supposed to be a Christmas baby with a due date of December 24. I had two or three false alarms, for two of which Dick and I both were dressed and ready to go when the contractions stopped. When the true time did come, I wasn't sure we would make the drive to Des Moines. Unlike Cassie's nine or ten hour delivery, Amy's labor was progressing rapidly. We got to the hospital and in a few minutes, Amy arrived-a total labor and delivery time of three hours! And she hasn't slowed down since!

Amy's arrival made me realize that it was going to be too hard to continue working, and I became a stay-at-home mom. For the next eight years I lost my personal identity taking care of our family. I immersed myself in caring for our kids, volunteering for all the things they were involved in. I also became active in UMW, particularly in the Suzannah Circle, comprised of young mothers with babies. It was a good support group while Dick was at work. It was interesting, however, that when I met a new person, one of their first questions was invariably, "What do you do?" When I answered, "I am a stay-at-home mom," they would move on to the next person. I wanted to say, "But I have a four-year degree. I can do these other things. This is my choice."

It was during this time, when the kids were little, that I picked up my spiritual journey again, and the church became important to us. We had previously had Cassie baptized. Dick's brother Ron’s daughter and Cassie are the same age and we had them baptized together when they were just a couple months old. But now Dick and I decided that it was important to us that our children be raised in the church. We needed to get back. About that time Rev. Haider visited our home, and we began attending the Osceola United Methodist Church.

Richard Dean was born in 1990. For his birth my friend Diane had asked if she could be my "coach" in the birthing room. I agreed because Diane knew a lot about having children. Two of her three were born at home. I guess it came about this way: Dick was going to be out of state for a medical board exam around the time of Richard's due date. I had actually invited Diane to "fill in" for Dick. She agreed enthusiastically. Richard was not born on time-he was one week late, and so Diane was not going to get to assist me. I could see her disappointment. Dick usually was a bit nervous in the delivery room, being a doctor himself yet not actually being in control of the situation. He seemed relieved at the idea of Diane being there with us. It was all set. With her valuable experience, she helped me relax during labor, and Dick had a much more pleasant experience also.

We had planned our family, but we goofed up in figuring. It was so much more work than we anticipated. Richard was a little more demanding than we remembered the girls being. Amy was 23 months old and not ready to give up her mom. Cassie was already in pre-school. But those years are now long since gone.

In 1997, the year Richard started kindergarten, the University of Osteopathic Medicine for which Dick was a residency director, decided to discontinue the clinic part of their business, so Dick took on the clinic privately. I began working in his office, doing all the billing, insurance, and generally managing the office work. Even though I had computer knowledge and had been doing our family accounting, I had no background for all that this job required, so I learned as I went along and Dick didn't fire me.

We are an animal oriented family. We have five cats, an adult dog, and just got an Australian Blue Heeler puppy. A dog of that breed was our first "kid" before Cassie came along. And God has given us several strays that have been loyal, protective, gentle, and just generally good with kids. Children can learn a lot about life from animals, and we have lots of animal funerals at our house.

I have been a horse nut for years. When I was a girl, I always wanted my own horse. An uncle taught me to ride. The first opportunity for us to own one was in St. Charles where we had a barn and land, so we bought a horse from a lady in my home town. We still have him, but we had only had him for about a year when we started having kids, so there was not much time for a horse. When you have one you realize how much work they are. To this day I am a horse lover, but the passion has subsided. Dick, however, won't let me get rid of him so he is a family pet. We also have a burro. Dick's father decided our horse was lonely, so he bought the burro, and he is a great companion for the horse.

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It is now the latter part of August. We began this story in early March, but there has simply been no free time for us to continue it. Now the summer activities are behind us. Little League and 9th grade softball are finished. I kept score books for Richard's and Amy's teams and we were at one field or another from May until July 4th, watching Amy and Richard in Little League and Cassie in 9th grade softball. They all enjoyed it and worked hard. We became accustomed to our "walking tacos" and enjoyed our family suppers at the Little League field. Richard’s highlight was that his team got first place in their league. Amy's was that in this, her last year for Little League, she won a sportsmanship award and a place on the All-Star team.

Ironically, Amy chipped a bone in her thumb in the first tournament game and couldn't play. However, she never gave up. She was fitted with a Velcro brace to hold her thumb rigid, In fact, she had two - one that she could wear in the water so she could shower and go 'swimming. She was faithful about wearing one because it was painful when she didn't.

By the time for post season tournaments, Amy had recovered enough to play in some of them and it was fun to see how she managed. She learned how to bat without using her left thumb. She borrowed someone's left-handed glove, which a person wears on their right hand, and got a hit nearly every time she came to bat. The coach put her in the outfield, which in Little League is not too active. One time a hit came her way. She fielded the ball, but in order to get it back to the infield she had to throw down her glove and switch the ball to her right hand. We were so pleased when Murray's scorekeeper remarked at the end of the season that she would miss Amy's smile. We felt that was really something coming from a member of a rival team, someone who didn't see her except for about three games during the season.

Richard was picked to be in some Little League tournaments on weekends in really hot weather! All three went to basketball camp. Cassie worked out in the gym and was involved in Drivers’ Ed classes. She also went on a church youth trip to Arkansas for four days with friends from Indianola and Osceola who attend Bethel Chapel. Kim White leads the group and provides transportation. Several of Cassie’s friends go there and she is learning a lot about herself and about God.

Our other summer activities included a family vacation in July, when we went to Colorado with another family and relaxed for a week in the Rocky Mountains. We had a visit from a nephew from West Des Moines. Amy is at church camp now at Wesley Woods.

Usually I work full time in Dick's office, but this summer I have just done enough to get by and have gone in at night to catch up. I am so aware that Cassie will be going off to college in just three years, and a couple years later, Amy will go. In eight years, Richard will be graduating. Then we will have different things to worry about, but the office will take care of itself until I can get there.

Dick and I also have other interests. In my family, my grandmother and aunts have kept elaborate, thorough, scrap books. I have all of Grandmother's that include both sides of the family, going back to the early 20th century. She was big on genealogy, so I have that, too. I haven't found the time to follow their lead, a1though I intend to and have boxes of material to include in my scrapbooks when I start them.

Dick's hobby is old cars. We have accumulated a whole fleet and have about run out of room in the "car shed," a big metal building on our property. The collection has come about in various ways. Dick and his dad bought the body of a classic '57 Chevy Bel Aire convertible while Dick was in high school. His dad was driving it in various parades, and Dick talked him into letting him have it to do a complete, authentic restoration. He wanted to show his dad what it would look like. That car has become his pride and joy. But he also has other cars that he has gotten at estate auctions or has seen advertised in a paper. Dick is quite selective and looks for bargains that he finds in out-of-the-way places.

This summer will be the third in which Dick and his dad have gone on a five-day MotorIoway tour. Car enthusiasts go on the highways and byways of the state, similar to RAGBRAI except that they sometimes end the tour in other states. Last year they started in northern Iowa and ended in the Wisconsin Dells. This year they will end in St. Louis, Missouri. They enjoy each others' cars and visiting with one another. The Spencers, including Dick, are quite talkative. Now Dick's Uncle Bob, his dad's brother, has joined them, and it seems quite unbelievable that Dick has trouble getting a word in edgewise.

Dick also has two motorcycles, one of which is a classic. He has a 30-year-old Harley that he rides to work when the weather is favorable. In other words, he likes motorized vehicles.

I am excited about a new venture. Ever since I was a child I have loved hawks, and several years ago I got to know Beth Brown. She needed someone to do her bird chores when she was on vacation. She has owls and hawks for education purposes, and I feed and care for them while she is gone. I don't let her pay me. It is not a chore. It is fun! That has led to my becoming an apprentice, learning how to rehabilitate injured or sick raptors, which are birds of prey. This is a year-long project for which I had two challenges. First I had to pick two species on which to learn, and second I had to talk my husband into the whole thing. He was afraid I wouldn't have time. I promised, however, that if he would let me pursue "the bird thing," I would very happily continue doing his office work.

That was agreeable, and he even helped me build cages. We also asked our first baby sitter, Diane Fitch, and her husband Rick, who is a great carpenter, if they would help. They built us two good-sized cages, which got us through that process without damage to our marriage. I started in January and so far have had screech owls, which are small owls, and an American Kestrel, otherwise known as a sparrow hawk or small hawk, which are quite plentiful in this area. I wanted to start with smaller things.

I have learned quite a bit, but Beth knows so much about everything that I want to learn all I can from her. Eventually I hope to have more cages so that people can bring me injured or sick birds. My family has had to learn not to freak out when they see dead mice in the freezer. This is what I feed the birds once a day. We order them, they come frozen, and we have to thaw them. They have accommodated to that pretty well, but occasionally the kids have guests who go to the refrigerator to get a snack and are surprised to see a dead mouse being thawed.

I’m glad to be serving on the Clarke Community Housing Board because I think the project is important to the town. It provides a place for our elderly people. Over the course of30 years, their projects have included South View between highway 69 and South Fillmore, West Ward on Jackson Street, and North Fair on Shaw Street. I have been the secretary since 1996.

This coming year will be interesting because we will have three children in three different school buildings. Amy will be challenging the system by going out for junior high football. She played when she was in sixth grade which was full contact, with full equipment. She did well and would like to continue. I am just a little nervous about the possibility of her getting hurt and what people might think of a girl taking on this venture. I guess I am just a nervous football mom. Another first will be Cassie getting her license and driving herself and Amy to school. I need to remember that I had to learn to drive and I got through it, so I am sure she will, too. I suppose it is part of being a parent that we move from one concern to another. The rewards are that the joy and appreciation of our children outweigh the nervous jitters.