The Paulus kids have volunteered to write my column this week and I love them for doing it. Since I had a procedure this Monday and will again on Friday help was needed.
I have known Ruthie, Aaron, Emily and Sarah since they first moved to Hillsboro when they were about half as old as they are now.
This is Emily. I’m a sophomore at Hillsboro High School.
The memory that sticks out the most to me about Joel is when I was in 5th grade, he and Nancy came to Grandparents Day at the Elementary School.
They split up the time between me and one of the littles (that’s what we call the younger two) so it was just me and Joel for a little bit.
It meant a lot to me to have Joel there. We never really had grandparents around in our lives except for the people here who stepped in.
Joel has always been willing to step into that role for me and my siblings. He did it that day, and it meant a lot.
My name is Ruthie and I am 10. I am in fifth grade. I like to make Joel sweet treats because it makes him smile and happy.
He really liked it when I made him fudge one time. He wanted to have more, but Nancy said he couldn’t have too much.
I’m Aaron. I’m 13 and a seventh-grader. I have a lot of memories and stories about Joel, but my favorite one is going to see animals at the zoo with Joel and Nancy.
They took just us kids and not my parents which was fun.
I also like it when Joel tries to tell a joke but he is laughing too hard to even get the whole joke out. I start laughing too even though I haven’t even heard the rest of the joke.
My name is Sarah. I am 17 years old and I’m a junior at HHS.
I have lots of amazing memories with Joel. He and his wife Nancy have always filled in the role of my grandparents when my blood-related ones couldn’t be there and that really made a difference.
Joel has always been super corny but in the best and funniest ways.
One of my favorite memories with Joel though has to be the time he took my siblings and me sledding.
It was only a year or two after we first moved to Hillsboro and we had only seen snow a few times. It never snowed where we use to live, so we had no experience whatsoever. There wasn’t a ton of snow of the ground but he still pulled us down the hill as many times as we wanted. We had so much fun!
Did you hear about the guy who cut off the left side of his body? He’s all right now. n If you wish to share your comments or ideas, e-mail joel@hillsborofreepress.com.
