Category: Family

Friday will mark Ruth and my 49th wedding anniversary.  I think we both believe that our 49th year has been one of the most unusual.  The coronavirus, all the “matters”, peaceful and destructive protests, and an extremely contentious national election have dominated the news.  I’m longing for the national unrest to settle and hoping that …

When I Was One-and-Twenty BY A. E. HOUSMAN When I was one-and-twenty        I heard a wise man say, “Give crowns and pounds and guineas        But not your heart away; Give pearls away and rubies        But keep your fancy free.” But I was one-and-twenty,        No use to talk to me. When I was …

It’s funny how names get connected.  My twin cousins have always been Gail and Gwen, never Gwen and Gail.  Mom and Dad  referred to them as “the twins”.  “Get ready we’re going to see the twins.” or “We’re meeting the twins at the lake.”  Things like that. They’re the daughters of my Aunt Gert and …

This is my forty-fifth Father’s Day.  I celebrated fifty-two such days as a son.   My first memory of my father dates back to our unpaved driveway at 500 N. Edgeworth.  Dad decided to pave the driveway of his new home when I was about four.  Prior to the paving he used the dirt drive to …

There are several popular posts appearing on Facebook.  There’s one about golf that keeps popping up.  It asks you to name your dream foursome.  For me that’s always been easy, I’d choose my three kids, David, Elizabeth, Michael and me.  Ruth’s recent resurgence on the  links muddies the waters a bit, but if we couldn’t …

My wingman got married on May 23, 1969.  He celebrated his twenty-second birthday four days later, and I followed him on the 29th.  That was fifty-one years ago. That wasn’t the only thing that happened that summer.  The biggies in my mind were 400,000 people attended the Woodstock Music Festival, a concert in a New …

Mitch is my oldest friend.  We met in 1951 or 52 at the fire hydrant fifty feet from my driveway.  He wandered around the block, and I was standing atop my usual perch, surveying the neighborhood.  We met, exchanged a few words, and have been friends ever since.  That’s my first official memory. We served …

The Walker family moved to Rochester, Michigan and lived in a house on a hill.  I believe they moved because of Uncle Jack’s job.  It was either that or Aunt Emma simply wanted a different house.  The place in Washington was vintage.  The Rochester home was new.  I don’t know how long they lived there, …

That’s how my mom referred to Diane, Elizabeth and Ruth Ellen.  They were “The Walker Girls”, the three children of Mom’s youngest uncle, Jack Walker, and his wife, Emma.  Mom’s mother, Margaret, was the oldest of the clan.  She was born in 1899.  Jack’s given name was John, but everyone called him Jack.  He was …

A kissing cousin is, by definition, a distant relative known well enough to kiss when greeting.  For example:  I’m not sure exactly how I’m related to her, she’s just a kissing cousin. When I was a young boy, 0 – 12, my dad expanded my kissing requirement to any, and all, females related to me. …