t2
REMEMBER,
BUTTERBALL TURKEY
IS NOT AFFILIATED
w/ GRANDPA's
BUTTERBALL FARMS
BUTTER, APART from the
fact that grandpa sold
the name “butterball”
many years ago to the
turkey company (as an
aside, grandpa dabbled
in the meat business as
well, & always hosted
big thanksgiving meals
at the butterball
mansion:
https://www.scribd.com/doc/29456154/Grandpas-Mansion-for-Sale
above: this is the ONLY photo I could find of the Kok-Peters et al having a BIG THANKSGIVING DINNER @ the BUTTERBALL MANSION in Grand Rapids, MI. .On the left you see my step-grandmother, Nancy, ...she appears to be interacting with my younger brother Steven, who was still a toddler at the time (mid-70's), and you see my mom, Linda to the right of Steve, and that may be me in the dark blue shirt to the right of my mom. I may have been about ten years old at the time.This was a typical thanksgiving dinner at Grandpa's house...he always cooked a big turkey as well as prime-rib and we enjoyed his fancy butter and all the fixings at the big table...while grandpa & my dad (a Christian pastor) had theological conversation most of the time...and sometimes my sister, Julie, & my half-uncle Mark would get in an argument...while I played with my half-aunt Teri (same age as me)...and we ran around the mansion after dinner...searching all the little nooks & crannies of the huge house.
above: there must be a color version of this somewhere...but I could only find the black-&-white...must have been late 70's at the Butterball Mansion...a larger gathering including some of the cousins & aunts/uncles from out-of-town...(vangenderens, spees, kammingas, barb, et al), most of BOTH the Peters I & II families, posing by the beautiful spiral staircase, back when we were still in relative harmony with each other...before the "big split" of sorts...
also see
1/5/10
http://www.mlive.com/business/west-michigan/index.ssf/2010/01/butterball_mansion_property_in.html
also
http://www.mlive.com/grpress/business/index.ssf/2008/10/sonia_speakman_bids_goodbye_af.html
my letter to the chimes re leo peters 89? 88?
this was ironic because
he also happens to be my grandfather
(alive at the time) .
Today, I am more supportive of the conservative creationist position but have reservations about the way in which my grandfather
attacked the college & people
...so it's a new day and I'm blogging at a different starbucks today and still intent on my quest to APPRECIATE the PETERS2 family just for being alive and well (i hope)...life's too short to hold grudges even for large or small amounts of money... i finally realized the deeper meaning of Jesus' teachings to "walk an extra mile" with your enemy...and that's not to say the Peters2 family are our, or my, enemy, but that because of the "financial transaction" of grandpa Peters who I affectionately call, at times, "Grandpa Butterball" for some time various members of my nuclear family and extended family (on the Peters 1 side) felt cheated. So it took some time to overcome thinking in terms of 20th century (or 21st century) legal jurisprudence...or the traditional sense of "fairness" and start thinking in terms of "Jesus justice" which is essentially NOT fighting for our rights , or certain rights, at times, albeit we STILL fight for the rights of others and defend the cause of the weak, the widow, et al.
...but when it comes to fighting for money...at times we must take off our coat and give it to our adversary..and say, "It's all yours" ...as much as that may offend our traditional sense of jurisprudence...the deeper meaning will slowly but surely dawn on you...if you allow it to do so...as it has for me.. and it's an "open secret"... which people may tell you, but you won't understand until you put it into practice, as difficult as it may be for some people..
..so back to the MAIN POINT of this blog...and that is, appreciating the Peters2 familyu. Mark Peters is the oldest of the Peters2 family...two years older than me, one year younger than my older sister, and one year older than my older brother. My sister Julia and Mark were both strong-willed persons, both of them the oldest siblings in their nuclear families...and so when we had social gatherings they would occasionally clash, ..ha ha funny in retrospect, ...
...one time we were at the "big house" (ie the butterball mansion at 750 Plymouth...which at the time, and maybe still..was the largest house in Grand Rapids...maybe in West Michigan.. very well possible..it was definitely a "mansion" in classic terms, not a "McMansion", ...it was all brick and mortar..with a brick driveway ...a big green lawn surrounded by beautiful shrubs & trees...and a an outdoor "fountain" which was basically the size of a swimming pool and apparently used as such at times, and a nice tennis court in back, with a detached 6-stall (or more) garage behind it...everything about it was beautiful...and still is (last time I heard, Uncle Mark was still trying to sell it, and had received approval from the city to make it a split property, so somebody could build another house on part of the grounds; I hope they don't tear down the mansion, it's too classic & beautiful to lose it)...
.. anyways, one Thanksgiving we had gathered at the mansion for a big meal and some socializing..and after the meal Mark & Julie got into a big argument...and then Ani also got involved...and they were in one of the bedrooms with Mark trying to get in...and they kept pushing the door shut and he would insert a stick between the door and the jam...and they would SLAM it again..and this happened several times..until there was some slight damage to the beautiful wood surrounding the doorway (as you can imagine based on my description of the exterior, the interior was just as classic and of fine quality with an impressive spiral staircase as the focal centerpiece of the house) ..which of course caused grandpa to get angry...not sure what came of it..but usually that meant somebody must "pay" for it..whether it was Mark alone or Julie & Ani..as well... somebody HAD to pay IF damage was done..grandpa had to teach a lesson about responsibility..same thing with a record player that was broken at the cottage one summer..somebody in our nuclear family was blamed, rightly or wrongly, and my mom had to give cold, hard, cash to pay for it, to satisfy the Peters2 family... kind of funny in retrospect...but it made some people's "blood boil" at the time..
... but you see this many years later it can be APPRECIATED rather than something to be eternally upset about.. it's kind of comical in retrospect..meaningless in terms of hanging on to any anger about..
STAY TUNED for more
