By Lee Ryan
Although the stores are decorated for Christmas, a few of us are still aware that Thanksgiving is actually the holiday on the docket.

No one is more aware than Gail Fleming, 92, who still does all the cooking for her family and the friends who come for her old-fashioned feast.

I can certainly attest to her skills as a cook, as I was treated to a few slices of her homemade bread. In fact, I asked her about making bread, without a bread maker, and she said, "Oh you just knead it, let it rise, punch it down, knead it, let it rise, then put it in the oven and cook it."

Gail makes it sound simple, but that's because she grew up fast in the little town of Geraldine, Montana (pop. 250), when she was still known as Mary Gail Taylor.

Her folks owned a gas station, which also had a service garage and a car lot. Her parents and her 3 other siblings all lived above the shop.

She said, "When I was eight or nine, my granddad was supposed to watch the pumps, but he headed off to Elmer's Pool hall to play Seven Up, so I ended up pumping the gas."
They moved to Shelby for a short time, but when the Depression hit, they moved back to Geraldine. Her aunt, parents and the kids all moved in with her grandparents.

Gail reminisced, "We didn't have any telephones in the house. No one had telephones or electricity. Any calls would come through the Central Telephone Office and the operator would walk to your house and tell you if you had a call. It was only a few blocks to anyone's house."

As Gail petted her cat, Jimmy, she went on, "Nobody had any bicycles, either". I asked her why and she laughed and said, "Where would you go!" I practically spit my bread out, as I laughed in delight of her quick wit.

At only 16, she worked as hired hand for the Myrick Ranch. "I got a dollar a day and did the washing, cooking, cleaning and laundry. The summers were so dry and hot that the first load, which was out on the line, would be dry by the time I had the next load ready to hang."

By today's standards, she led a very tough life, but when I asked her about that she said, "I had all I wanted. All I needed - parents who loved me and the blessings of living in a small town, where everyone knows and likes you. Well, at least I didn't know if they didn't like me!" she laughed.

In 1941, she moved to Seattle and went to nursing school at the UW and ended up working right in downtown Des Moines at the Highline Clinic and also married.

In 1946, she and her husband bought a little house in Zenith for $2,500. However in 1956, only ten years later, her husband died in a car accident leaving Gail with five children to raise. I have no doubt that she had many opportunities to remarry, but she never did. She raised those kids on her own.

The amazing thing about Gail, other than her very sharp mind and delightfully droll humor, is her zest for life. In the winter, she goes cross-country skiing every Friday with a senior's group.

In the summer, she keeps up a large yard with a huge flower garden. I kinda wondered what she did with all of those flowers. She said, "Oh, I cut 'em and look at 'em." Again, I laughed at her childlike candor. There's not even a tad of pretense in this darling gal.

Gail is also an avid reader and loves science and politics. I'd pay money to see some politicians try and pull one over on her. She'd probably take them out cross-country skiing to some remote area and leave them all there!

I asked her what she was particularly thankful for this Thanksgiving.

She said, "I'm thankful for everything - my family, friends and health."
Gail went on with some advice "Don't complain about your aches and pains - no one cares. Get movin' and live!"

Gail has also given many other people a reason to be thankful, as she's taken in many wayward souls and volunteered for almost 15 years at the Des Moines Senior Center -- peeling potatoes, setting tables, doing dishes and any other kitchen work that needed to be done.

After a moment of digesting everything, I made the comment, 'You'd think, at your age, you'd be ready to relax a little bit.' She said, "That's kinda boring, isn't it?"

How do you top that?