All three of our kids have always been social beings. David and Michael had girlfriends and Elizabeth had boyfriends. I was comfortable with that arrangement but knew that alternative choices were possible. I liked all the girls the boys dated. Elizabeth choices were scrutinized more closely. I knew that when they were all …
Author: Robert
Good Catholic Boys
The neighborhood where I grew up was full of young families who moved into their new homes shortly after the end of World War II. We moved into ours in the spring of 1950. The new St. Dennis parish was established later the same year, and St. Dennis became our church of choice. My …
Copy – Paste – And Wait
I was originally going to write a story called – Rudy Rudy Rudy – in honor of my boyhood friend, Rudy, but I decided to go with Good Catholic Boys because it really is a story about more than just one boy. Spoiler alert!!! Good Catholic Boys will be posted Wednesday. Rudy was practically …
Our Second Child
When Ruth and I started our family we agreed that names were important. We wanted each of our children to have a strong name. Names that would be remembered and impactful. As teachers we were well aware that some names were designed to encourage nick names. Some names encouraged rhyming. We didn’t …
Anastasia Kabatkina
I met Anastasia Kabatkina on October 31, 1997 at the Metro Detroit Airport. I was one of many friends and family who welcomed her to her new home in Michigan. The last time that I had been a part of such an airport crowd was 1958 at the Willow Run Airport just ten miles west …
Two Random Bits of Recent Stuff
Super Seniors Golf Championship If you are an avid ESPN watcher you probably don’t know that I recently competed in – and won – the Super Senior Championship for the 8th flight in The Super Senior Championship held annually in The Villages, Florida. ESPN didn’t cover it. If you failed to see my name …
Do You Remember Me?
Ruth and I took a three-week, belated honeymoon, during the summer of 1972. One of our stops on our southern swing was Biloxi, Mississippi. The two biggest memories of that stop were the cockroaches that Ruth discovered in our motel room when she switched on the bathroom light and the beautiful plantation style mansions …
Bicycles and Baseball Cards Deux
Please note that I have invoked my French heritage in the development of this blog’s title. We can all use a bit of culture and refinement. The saga continues. My youth was spent in the 1950’s. I was two years seven months when they started and twelve when then ended. (You officially stop counting …
Bicycles and Baseball Cards
My dad bought me my first bicycle when I was six. It was a brand new, beautiful blue, wide-tired, girl’s bike. I’m sure that he bought the girl’s bike because: 1. He was planning ahead for Sharron to have the bike when she was old enough to ride. 2. He got a great deal on …
Dress to Excess
Ruth and I have two walk-in closets. One’s in Florida and one’s in Michigan. The one in Florida is large enough to hold all of our clothes, a couple of dressers and set up a single bed for company. It also stores our suitcases, a twenty-two-inch diameter exercise ball and assorted boxes and bags …