40th Anniversary Party

In Munich last summer, we got the idea of hosting an Oktoberfest party for our big 40th anniversary. So out came the blue and white checked banners and fall decorations. 

We built a stage out of one of our tractor trailers. 

These are our great caterers who served delicious brats and beer, pretzels and strudel. 

Here is the work crew taking a German beer break after setting  up everything. 

The tables were set with steins full of flowers and apples and pumpkins and fall leaves. 

I think we are looking a bit like a German beer garden. 

The flowers came from the cutting garden and around our property. 

The bar was stocked with imported German-made beer and wine. 

Beer steins with fresh flowers were scattered around. 

The buffet line with a big pile of hot pretzels and cheese sauce. 

The sign was made by Crystal and is in traditional Bavarian style. It says "Happy 40th Anniversary". 

The beverage and dessert table is ready for treats. 

German Chocolate cake, Black Forest cupcakes and apple strudel and ice cream will be here soon. Yum! 

Crystal was my right hand, with her generous help and creative ideas.  

Sharon flew in for the occasion and she helped too. Her dirndl apron tricks the eye. 

Hubby and I are enjoying this wonderful day that we waited forty years for...now we are waiting for the guests to arrive and the fun to begin. 

Window into a Wedding, Part II

In the salon, getting prettified, the bride (in the white shirt) and her bridal party are captivated by the "Growing Up" slide show that they are watching between hair-dos. This was a special quiet moment for mother and daughters and closest companions. A look back at all the days that led to this moment.

My dear friend Alison, standing in the back and leaning over, is the Mother of the Bride. She's a happy mama. She's invested so much into her daughters and is so happy to see them so happy.

The bride just graduated two weeks ago, after many years of hard work, from UVA med school with both an M.D. and a Ph.D.. We are all understandably impressed. And all very glad that she's finally got enough time in her packed schedule to marry the man she loves and get her MRS! (silly 50's joke. )

The bride's sister and Maid of Honor is getting married this year, too. Here she provides good cheer and liquid support. That's what sisters are for. They always know what's needed.

And here, a couple of hours later, the happy culmination of all this time, effort, and expense

--the Big Moment!

We did it!!

Let's get this party started!

They are thoroughly enjoying this wonderful set apart moment, for on

Tuesday, her residency begins.

Come live with me and be my love,
And we will some new pleasures prove
Of golden sands and crystal brooks,
With silken lines and silver hooks.
- John Donne

Window into a Wedding

Aged brick pathways

through overgrown hedges.

James Monroe greets you at the end.

We are, after all, at his farm.

An enormous welcoming gazebo

all set for a reception--

twinkle lights, twigs, tulle

and trees everywhere.

flowers in bottles hanging from the rafters

a romantic lover's nook

and this view.

oh my.

A gorgeous setting for such an important event.

The exchanging of the most sacred promises:

for better for worse

for richer for poorer

in sickness and in health

till death do we part.

Counting Our Blessings

....and one in Heaven.

Till Death Do Us Part

so young

so much in love

never imagining that our future held

unbearable grief

we are learning

to bear

holding on

for better for worse

love you

husband of mine

Eccles 4:12

Though one may be overpowered, two can defend themselves.

A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

Happy Anniversary, Honey

October is a very busy month for us. It is jam-packed with a big assortment of celebrations-- birthdays and anniversaries and visits to restaurants and special gifts and dinners and such. Ordinarily it's a happy, busy month, but now it's changed--now it's challenging. It takes an extra effort to celebrate when your emotional tank is full of grief. It feels dissonant, like playing polka music at a funeral. But we are pushing ourselves to do it anyway, because it's important to acknowledge not just what we've lost, but also what we have at this present moment. Today, on our 36th wedding anniversary, I want to count some of our blessings.

What we have at this moment, besides broken hearts and a beautiful, much-loved and deeply missed son in Heaven:

1. Two beautiful, precious daughters, whose presence and existence bring us comfort every single day

2. Their admirable and courageous husbands, who are our sons, too, and have opened their hearts to our family and served us all so faithfully

3. Five uniquely delightful grandchildren, who hug us and entertain us and compel us to laugh

4. A beautiful, compassionate daughter-in-love whose love is a precious gift

5. An enduring friendship that began as childhood sweethearts, and is now an unbreakable bond

6. The shelter and strength of our home and a shared outlook on all the important things in life

7. Beyond that: faith, friends, health, security, our needs met and enough to share with others

I am so glad that I have had you beside me these 36 years. I am proud of the life we've built together and the things that are important to us. I am thankful we can cry together, and rebuild together. You, more than any other human being, know my heart and welcome me into yours.

I love you, dear Joe. I do.

For 36 years and more.

Gen 2:28 And the two shall become one

Wedding Bells for JR and Clara

This is a banner week for Joey's closest friends. Kevin became a father earlier in the week, and this weekend, JR is marrying his beautiful and funny French bride in the French Alps. How fervently we wish we could be there, along with Joey, to celebrate this wonderful occasion.

JR and Joey met on the first day of school at the University of Southern California. They were both musicians, and as JR sat in his room strumming his guitar, he and Joey made an instant connection. They found they had many things in common, so much so, that their lives were almost mirror images for several years. They were both business majors, they had grown up in nearby towns and they both loved to travel. They ended up being roommates for the next 3 years of college and afterwards, as well. They also shared an extreme enthusiasm for beer and began brewing their own a couple years back. The forlorn picture above caught them dumping a batch that had spoiled.

Here they are on one of their great trips with Rachel in Sydney, AUS a few years ago when JR was sent there by his company. These three were a very close trio. We are so happy that Rachel will be at the wedding in France. She is standing in for our family and for Joey, and has orders to pass on a special hug to JR and Clara from me.

This picture is a classic. These two were definitely in a club of their own, a club with only two members! No, I'm sorry, the kangaroo paw in Joey's hand was also a member. Roopaw took on a life of his own. Don't call PETA and don't shed a tear--they sell these things all over Australia for pennies and the Aussies pretty much regard the over-abundant kangaroos as large rats!

Here they are on a college trip to Europe. This looks like France and is a fitting final picture on this congratulatory post. Though Joey is physically absent, he is present in spirit. Undoubtedly, as JR's best man he would have given a funny speech recalling their single glory days-- USC football games, playing music at the 3rd St. Mall for small change, catering that memorable summer in Maui, and seeing the world together. Then he would have raised the champagne glass and blessed JR and Clara's union and their futures together.

One of the last things Joey said to me the week before he went to Heaven was how much he liked Clara and what a good match she was for JR. He was always perceptive and wise. We join him in that fine opinion and send our deepest love and happiest wishes to them both. Mariage heureux, nos amis chers.

And the two shall become one.

Genesis 2:28

Changing the Mood

Hopefully my hubby won't kill me for publishing this. I just need a laugh, and figure you all could use one too. Is this like those beauty queens who have to relinquish their crowns when inappropriate photos make it to the internet?

Top of the Rock

I have seen so many fantastic chandeliers in this town, and here's yet another one in the lobby of Rockefeller Center. It is 3 stories high and I have just captured a glimmer of it's splendor. So much glamour, bling and glitz!

This beautiful building was built by John Rockefeller during the Great Depression. He put thousands of people to work building this spectacular hub of NY communications. It continues to be a gathering spot in the city, and the NBC studios are inside with the sets for Saturday Night Live and Late Night with Conan (from which he has been promoted to the Tonight Show.) I've also heard that Dwight Schrute haunts the hallways.

This is where the journey to the top of the Rock begins. We are flying up 67 stories to the top to see the 360 degree bird's-eye view of Manhattan.

See how fast that was. We are now at the top looking out toward the north and Central Park. The large lake in Central Park is the Jacqueline Onassis Reservoir. To the right of the park, is the Upper East Side where the very wealthy, with their chauffeurs and nannies, live and schmooze. On the left side of the park, still very expensive, just a little more artsy--John Lennon and Heath Ledger's neighborhood. If you could fly beyond the northernmost end of the park, you would be flying over Harlem and then Yankee Stadium. I'm name-dropping because I'm in New York, and that's what you do.

Imagine the fortitude of this fragile butterfly making it up to the top of the Rock! So high on those tiny wings. She's the Little Butterfly that Could. Beyond the butterfly, you can make out the silver strand of the East River and Brooklyn past that.

After a few days in NY, you start to really love these skyscrapers. They are like gentle giants surrounding you, each with it's own story and personality. My hubby points to the Empire State Building, actually about 15 blocks to the south. Under his forearm are the little rectangles of the financial district where the twin towers of the World Trade Center once stood. The skyline is not the same without them, and the hole in the spot where they stood, and in our hearts, remains.

A Reason to Celebrate

Happy 15th Anniversary for Sean and JoAnne in Jamaica

The Kiss of True Love-- Mmuuaahh!

Sean Jumps for Joy into the Crystal Seas of Jamaica

In all the sadness of the last year, I sometimes lose sight of the wonderful and bright things happening around me. I'm trying not to do that, so here's one very special thing that brings great joy to my heart. Last week Sean and JoAnne celebrated their 15th wedding anniversary. Fifteen, count them, fifteen years of marriage! It is a great achievement and these two have done it beautifully, despite the added stresses of having a war-time marriage that required long deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan and seemingly endless months of single parenting for JoAnne (including the life and money-sucking rituals of being a hockey mom).

To honor this great moment, they took an exciting trip to Jamaica--just the two of them! They have had 2, count them, 2 trips with just the two of them in their 15 years of marriage, so this was a big deal. Nanahoney (me) was privileged to take care of the Adorable Grandchildren so they could do this--my little contribution to their continuing happiness.

Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun.
—Ecclesiastes 9:9