Category: Family

Ruth and I will be celebrating our fiftieth wedding anniversary with our family over Labor Day week-end. If you’re an avid reader, you know we eloped to Las Vegas on September 11, 1971. We’ve rented a home in Boyne City on Lake Charlevoix. It sleeps twenty-two. Our three kids and their families will be with …

If Mom was still alive she would have turned 101 last Monday.  While she had three children, Sharron, Jackie, and me, she often told me that my cousin, Gene, was more like a son than a nephew.  He was the oldest cousin from the Barner clan and the “go to” man in the family.  He …

Although I lived on a lake for forty-three years, I’ve never been a fisherman.  I’ve thrown my line in the water a few times, but seldom more than a couple of casts off the dock.  Most of the time I had one of the three kids with me or, later, my grandkids.  They’ve all caught …

Young Jackson James will start daycare in a week.  Part of the preparation is making a series of visits to the care facility.  Mike and Kate have visited several and chose the location because they believe it will be a safe haven for Jackson.  Great thought goes into making such decisions. California law requires a …

Eva is our family equestrian.  She takes dressage lessons and has become quite a “horse person”.  I’ve had the opportunity to see her in action, and she does very well.  Her trainer is working with her so that someday she may be able to show horses on her own. For those who may be unfamiliar, …

Brady got his first set of wheels from his Uncle Mike when he was two years old.  It was a blue pickup called Blue Thunder.  His first passenger, and constant companion, was B, his trusted teddy bear.  The two of them conquered the ins and outs of off road driving in their back yard on …

For forty-eight days each year Ruth is a year older than me.  It’s a special time of the year.  It ended yesterday.  We’re back to being the same age until April 11, 2022. During my dating years, the majority of my female friends were younger than me.  When it came time to get serious, I …

Young Jackson James is only forty-two days old, but he’s already made quite an impact.  If his arrival was anything like David, Elizabeth, and Michael’s, you understand the meaning of love at first sight like no other time in your life.  He wasn’t here a moment ago, and now he is.  Your life has changed …

About a month ago I destroyed my wallet by going swimming with it still in my pocket.  I tried to dry it out over the course of a couple of days  but finally decided to invest in a new one.  I dried out the contents, and everything was salvageable. When I was a child, my …

If you were expecting to read the final chapter of my fable about Rozlyn Heart this morning, you may be disappointed. If you were watching TV right now, exciting news would be scrolling across the bottom of your screen.  If you were listening to your radio, the broadcast would be interrupted with “Breaking News!”.  As …