36 Years....

Yesterday oldest son Sam celebrated his 31st birthday by working from his new office outside Chicago in the Western Bergs....I remember the day he was born, as Patricia and I slid through the snow towards St. Marys, Ohio, he was born that morning...I headed off to the WCSM Radio Christmas Party that evening at Bumpkins Night Club{which had been previously The Red Door, which I managed from 1973-75), while Patricia and new son rested in the hospital.  The next day, hangover and all, was our 5th Anniversary, we spent that day in the maternity ward at Joint Township....

36 Years.....

So that makes today, December 18, 2012, our 36th year together....well actually a couple of years more than that, but this day in 1976 we, dragging along my best man Rick, were wed in her hometown of Oconomowoc, Wisconsin.  Unlike the snowy and cold day of Sam's birth and the following day, our fifth wedding day, which was the same, that mid December in southeast Wisconsin was having a spate of warm weather....it was 60 something the day we were married, and when we spent our wedding night at the Pfister Hotel in Milwaukee, I remember walking in with just a long sleeve shirt on, with jacket slung over my shoulder...a rare weekend in December for Wisconsin for sure.

So we have known each other for some 39 years....lived in Celina, Wausau, Wisconsin, Kokomo, Indiana, Dodge City, Kansas, and back to Celina over those years...I know it hasn't been easy, but we have three kids, and have survived it all....despite it all.  Patricia and the boys have managed to get multiple college degrees and are successful, daughter Anissa, the oldest, is handicapped(as you know if you are a regular reader), but living well and spending her time between her place and much of the weekends with us.  Youngest son Hal, with a Bachelor and Masters degrees in Education and his wife Lisa, with a Law Degree, are both successful, and of course presented us with our first and so far only grandchild, Kasyn, a year ago Thanksgiving.  Oldest son Sam, returning to school at 26 years old, finished up his BS in Actuarial Science last June at Ohio State, and has just began a new career, putting his major to use, at a large corporation outside Chicago.

What lies ahead, who really knows in this age of Obama?  I have been semi-retired from my Environmental Health job for over 10 years now, and don't regret the decision, despite the financial hit that it may have cost me...so what?  After five years of driving RVs around the country, I have finally settled into just officiating high school sports, collecting a SS check, and trying to figure out what to do next....nearing 64, doing anything physical is a pretty good thing.  As for Patricia?  Not sure how long she will continue to teach, but that is her decision to make....I just give opinions and advice.

In retrospect, I have done enough wrong headed things to make up an entire life....but that is just the way I am...it's in the blood, I could have done things to make life easier and more comfortable...but what the Hell?  Life is an adventure, and I'm sure she agrees, life with me has been over these long decades....again, what lies ahead?  Depends on health, finances, and what the idiots in charge of this once great Republic do to us....in the meantime I look back on the years and think to myself...."Yep, it's been one Hell of a Ride"...

Happy Anniversary Patricia!!!


back later>>>>

photos-Oconomowoc, Wisconsin 12/18/76 and Celina, Ohio this morning on Anniversary #36