Dear Family and Friends
Whew! What a year 2009 has been: bankruptcies of Chrysler and GM, stimulus package worth $700 billion, super crook Bernie Madoff, miracle landing on the Hudson River, double digit unemployment, H1N1, Tiger Woods’ woes, Michael Jackson’s untimely death and his concert/movie “This is It,” (personal favorite) and the movie “New Moon. Join me as I look back on some of our family highlights for 2009.
We are into our 2nd year in our apartment, and I think we’ve found a nice rhythm to our life. On most days, we drive to NMU to work out; then we either drive to Pinecrest to see Mom or run errands, attend meetings, or meet friends for lunch. On Friday nights we dine with friends and on Saturday we cook a special dinner and watch a movie. Our traveling usually consists of seeing family and friends. We’ve read some great books: Blink and Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell and Pillars of the Earth and World Without End by Ken Follett. The past year was marked by the rituals of watching Stanley Cup playoffs, Triple Crown races, Fourth of July parades and fireworks; attending NMU plays and football, girls’ volleyball, and hockey games; and checking Facebook and email. In November we watched four days of the World Cup short track speedskating trials at NMU—the last one before the Olympics. Speedskating records have been set in many cities, including Beijing, Budapest, Vienna, and Marquette. How cool is that!
We flew to Denver in January just after Raines turned one. We walked in the park in our t-shirts and ate lunch at outside cafes—you have to love Denver for that kind of weather in January. Mike is busy with his job and the classes he takes each semester. Shana went back to work (four hours twice a week) and continues to lead her Urban Baby Denver group and write articles for her fashion blog and her personal blog. Raines talks to Nana (that’s me) on his pretend phone. I enjoy hearing his high-pitched voice saying my name.
We spent February and March in a condo in downtown Victoria. Despite the unusually cold weather, flowers still bloomed. We visited Janice and Patrick in Nanaimo and Donna in Vancouver and then hosted both of them in Victoria. In fact, Donna watched part of a curling tournament with us. Robb, Anne, and Oliver joined us on a number of occasions when they spent part of their spring break near Victoria. Having our nephews Alexander and Robbie and his girlfriend Kelly join all of us for dinner and a hockey game was such a treat. Another treat was having Adam visit us for a long weekend and several days later having Shana and Raines for a week. The draw of Victoria is not hard to understand. All of us enjoy the many museums, attractions, and restaurants. We drove with Adam to the little chapel where he and Krysta were married, ate at favorite restaurants (including Pagliacci’s) and bought bagels from his favorite shop. With Shana and Raines, we walked along the ocean, ate at Pagliacci’s, bought treats from Roger’s Chocolates, and made our first visit to the Butchart Gardens, definitely not our last. We took in an opera, Handel’s Semelee; Bill says the worst two hours of his life, and he likes opera. So sad. Seeing the Royal Winnipeg Ballet perform made up for it—I hope.
My brothers Dennis (and Carol), Tony, and Tim joined us in celebrating my mother’s 94th birthday in May at the Special Care Unit at Pinecrest. Her grandson Josh and great granddaughter Hayden (2) were there as well. It’s seldom we all get to see mom at the same time. Her short-term memory is so bad at times, but she knows it and gets very frustrated. Sometimes when I arrive, she asks me how I found her, and I tell her that I always know where she is and then we laugh. We walk outside when we can. Usually we sit and have coffee or tea and a piece of chocolate—our favorite treat. She likes her new roommate, but she told me that sometimes her roommate doesn’t make any sense. Sigh. I am fortunate to have tea with my mom twice a week so I am not complaining.
We made our annual trip to Winnipeg in June. Al and Arlene Schick went with us to visit Uncle Donald and Aunty Cay, and David happened to visit them while we were there. We had a rather festive gathering with Uncle Donald displaying his dry wit. And for Bill a trip to Wpg wouldn’t be complete without an evening at The Downs. Lots of fun with Al and Arlene, who always so graciously provide us a home away from home. Now for the best possible news ever: Bill finally cleared up some confusion about his Canadian citizenship and applied for a Canadian passport during this trip. He was one of the “Lost Canadians,” people who lost their citizenship because they took out citizenship in another country between 1947 and 1977. On April 17, 2009, Bill C 37 restored Canadian citizenship to “Lost Canadians” all over the world. It was automatic and retroactive. He was so happy to receive his passport in the mail! No longer can Adam threaten to not sponsor him.
Shana and Raines spent five weeks with us this summer. Mike joined us for the July 4 weekend and then again for their last week. You can imagine the fun with an 18-month old. Shana, Raines and I would head out every morning for a walk along the Lower Harbor to the beach. We would end up at Babycakes for lunch. The clerks were soon bringing little samples of soup for Raines to try. He would nod his head when he found one he liked. We spent lots of time in the water with him despite our cool summer, running along the shore of Lake Superior in Big Bay, throwing stones, picking up big sticks, and eating lunch at the beach.
Our summer was filled with pontoon boat rides with beautiful sunsets, farmers’ market, potlucking with friends, babysitting Scotti’s cat Leo at camp, making strawberry and raspberry jams, picking blueberries (late this year, but so abundant), and enjoying the simple pleasures of camp (replacing the point was not simple but it’s done). My brother Tim and his wife Susan were able to join us at camp this summer. I have a great picture of Raines playing a practice drum that my brother brought along with him. Janice and Patrick made it out to camp at the end of August and brought their girls with them, Sophia and Xena, who were so good. We paddled down the Iron River with them—always a highlight of the summer.
Things picked up as we moved into the fall. The Schicks came for Labor Day, and we traveled with them to Copper Harbor. We enjoyed a delicious dinner at the famous Harbor Haus restaurant, took them on the scenic tour of the Brockway Mountain Drive, and then introduced them to the Jam Pot. We left the Jam Pot laden with cookies, breads, and jams.
We are working out every morning, and we continue to enjoy our living in Tourville. Bill looks forward to the weekly chats with Adam and Shana, and welcomes Scotti joining our friends and us for our Friday night dinners. As for me, I enjoy working with my P.E.O. group and Marquette’s Beautification Committee.
We flew to Calgary from Winnipeg in October and spent the Canadian Thanks-giving with Adam, Krysta, Jakob (10) and Zachary (7). Adam made a roast leg of lamb for the dinner—so amazingly good. They have a new home, which we loved, and recently purchased resort property in Canmore for their ski weekends. Adam took us to the Farmers’ market, which is unlike any I’ve seen before, the boys took us to the military museum, and we all attended “Bugs Bunny on Broadway.” (Imagine a huge screen on which cartoons are playing while the Calgary Philharmonic Symphony orchestra is playing the music in perfect synchronization.) Fabulous! And, yes, Adam did take us to Banff—my second favorite spot.
Scotti is doing a little substitute teaching but prefers her more permanent position as
bartender at Upfront. As much as she enjoys teaching, it’s bartending that pays the rent, and she does like it. She is hoping, of course, that with retirements to come, a teaching position will open up as she likes living in Marquette. She and I will often shop, visit my mom, and do laundry together. She persuaded us to get tickets for “Rent,” and we had a great night of theatre in Appleton. We’ve gotten to know her boyfriend Zach and his parents a little better this year and look forward to welcoming him to his first Christmas celebration with us when Shana and Mike arrive on Dec. 30. We also look forward to reading your cards and messages. Although we won’t be with you this Christmas, know that we are thinking of you with love.
Tina and Bill xxoo
Bill & Tina 