My grandmother, Emma Nita Kruger, 90, of Talent, Oregon, died peacefully on Wednesday, March 15, 2023. Emma was the sixth (and youngest) child born to Frank Bortolazzo and Rosa Silvestri in Weed, California, on October 10, 1932, and grew up between the family's dairy operation there and her parents’ home on a ranch in Grenada. She finished eighth grade at the little school in Grenada, where she played the trumpet and went out for the football team. The next year, Emma transferred to Yreka High School where she was the first in her family to earn a high school diploma. On December 15, 1951, Emma married Frank Ellis Roy in front of a justice of the peace in Weed, California, before making a home with him in Talent, Oregon. In their first year of marriage, Frank was paralyzed in a logging accident, and Emma, pregnant, vowed to care for him at their home. Their daughter and only child, LaVern Ellis Roy Muhr, was born in April 1953, and for the next ten years, Emma served as mother, wife, and caretaker. Frank died two weeks before their twelfth anniversary. Five years later, after getting him to join her church, Emma married Owen Ellsworth “Ike” Kruger at Talent Friends Church in Talent, July 20, 1968. Emma loved her family and friends, taking regular fishing, deer hunting, and camping trips as well as an annual vacation with Ike to the Oregon Fire Chiefs Association annual conference. Emma and a small but dynamic group of friends met every week for Bible study and lunch at McDonalds, and until Emma was no longer able, she and her friends also took part in twice-weekly workout sessions at a local gym. For her entire adult life, Emma always took a nap after lunch to maintain her beauty, and she was still making the claim, on her ninetieth birthday, that she’d never had a gray hair in her life. She played cards or dominoes to keep her brain sharp, went for long walks, and she loved to teach every single one of her small dogs (mostly rescues) how to knock on the door, wipe off their feet, and yawn when it was time for bed.

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Doors open at 6:30 p.m. tonight, Monday! Mother Foucault's Bookshop. 523 SE Morrison St in Portland. Come hear from Florida's Carol Lynne Knight about how we grapple with violence, love, danger, and betrayal. Carol is the co-director of Anhinga Press and the author of If I Go Missing. What happens when the ex-wife of an ex-cop, with a penchant for TV detectives, speculates about her own disappearance? In this thoughtful journey, fictional detectives examine her house, her belongings, her lovers, and her longings. Who has disappeared in this finely drawn and sometimes humorous sequence of poems?

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I'm at AWP in Seattle, but coming up on Monday, I've arranged for Anhinga Press co-director Carol Lynne Knight to read from her new book at Portland's Mother Foucault Bookshop. Doors open at 6:30, and if you don't already have Monday night plans, I'd love to see you there!

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"Going to the mountains is going home" -John Muir It’s time for another giveaway! Enter for a chance to win one of my new posters! All you need to do is head to the link in my bio and subscribe to my newsletter. That’s it! Entries for this giveaway close at midnight on March 9th. Winner will be selected and notified via email on March 10th. Contest sign up page: https://ift.tt/orOVNWZ #Oregonexplored #inspirationalquotes

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Pay attention to where the light breaks through It’s time for another giveaway! Enter for a chance to win one of my new posters! All you need to do is head to the link in my bio and subscribe to my newsletter. That’s it! Entries for this giveaway close at midnight on March 9th. Winner will be selected and notified via email on March 10th. Contest sign up page: https://ift.tt/X1stwLn #Oregonexplored #inspirationalquotes

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It’s time for another giveaway! Enter for a chance to win one of my new posters! All you need to do is head to the link in my bio and subscribe to my newsletter. That’s it! Entries for this giveaway close at midnight on March 9th. Winner will be selected and notified via email on March 10th. Contest sign up page: https://ift.tt/X1stwLn

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"May we dance in the face of our fears" - Gloria E. Anzaldúa #Oregonexplored #inspirationalquotes

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Let the trees teach you #Oregonexplored #Oregon

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"Where we find happiness teaches us what we value" -Sara Ahmed #Oregonexplored #NeskowinBeach

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By the time we're getting back to the car, I'm usually already thinking about lunch. But on this morning, the light blue sky above the trees made me stop for a moment and get my camera back out for a final photo. Then we drove to Hood River, where I ordered fried chicken and a short stack. It was the most beautiful day. #Oregonexplored #ColumbiaGorge

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You are the first and best you that has ever existed #Oregonexplored #NeskowinBeach

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"Grab whatever chance of happiness where you find it" -Haruki Murakami #Oregonexplored #MountHood

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Here in Portland, there's still a pile of snow ❄️ from when we shoveled the driveway. But bulbs are coming up everywhere, and it won't be long before I'm able to get outside without a jacket again 🌞

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You give people hope

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