Once again, I will not find time to write a new blog post today, so I am sharing an old one. This post about a woman was first published on today’s date back in 2017. Unlike most of the posts I write, it was not about a birthday girl or boy or about a couple celebrating a wedding anniversary. It was inspired at that time by the fact that Altheda Schmelig had died at the age of 107.
Altheda Littge was the oldest child among 8 in her family, and she was the only girl. Several of her brothers earned the reputation of being daring boys who were willing to take on risks, such as her little brother, Ray Littge, who went on to be the most decorated fighter pilot from Missouri during World War II. I have to think that Altheda had to also be strong herself to survive in such a family full of testosterone. I like to think that Altheda’s upbringing in such a family contributed to her being so strong and hearty that she lived to the ripe old age of 107.
Yet, Altheda had a softer side, too. Her hobby was decorating eggs. She did not just decorate eggs like a child would for Easter. She would take fragile egg shells and paint them with exquisite designs. Products such as are shown in the photo below are what I would describe as works of art. And I doubt that her rough-and-tumble brothers would have had the ability to do such intricate work on such fragile egg shells. Her egg collection has now become part of our museum’s collection of artifacts.
Now, I feel obliged to tell you about one of those “Act of God” moments. Yesterday, after arriving in Faribault, Minnesota to visit our friends, the Chase’s, I was shown a collection of decorated eggs that are on display in their home right now (probably put out for the Easter season). I was told that the Chase’s are regularly gifted an egg from their friend, Theresa Meschke, who also has the hobby of doing some pretty fancy egg-decorting herself.
Then, this morning, when looking for an old story to share on the blog today, one of the first stories I ran across was this one about our museum’s famous egg-decorator, Altheda Schmelig. What are the chances? It was almost as if God was choosing the story for me to share today.