FIFTY YEARS !

50 years ago today Edi & Bob got married! Happy anniversary & many, many more mom & dad!

The dream shall never die

"For all those whose cares have been our concern, the work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives, and the dream shall never die."

...in dark passages & in bright days...

And may it be said of us, both in dark passages and in bright days, in the words of Tennyson that my brothers quoted and loved, and that have special meaning for me now:

"I am a part of all that I have met
Tho much was taken, much abides
That which we are, we are--
One equal temper of heroic hearts
Strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."

Rest In Peace

1932-2009
"Those of us who loved him and who take him to his rest today, pray that what he was to us and what he wished for others will some day come to pass for all the world.

As he said many times, in many parts of this nation, to those he touched and who sought to touch him:

"Some men see things as they are and say why. I dream things that never were and say why not."

Dangerously ... delicious

We had a small gathering this past Sunday-just a few folks getting together.No big deal as we are NOT celebrating my parents
59th. Just keeping it low key as per their request.
We did end up with 4 cakes! One coconut covered confection was made by Rachel & Joanne. Another fondant covered 3 tier (with marzipan flowers) was created by Jean. Cake 3 & 4 were cheese cakes and a peach cake. Talk about an embarrassment of riches!
Please note:we did have water melon & not just for show! It tasted amazing and that says a lot since it followed the cake eating contest portion of the evening.

Edi & Bob

The cousins / my dad's side of the family - on August 29, 1959 . Looking at all of the faces I see laughter. I would love to know what the photographer said to make everyone so happy in the heat.
It is hot & humid here today. My husband's brother-in-law's side of the family is having a wedding today and we wish them the best on this day & always. I hope they are comfortable in this weather & that everyone has such smiles on their faces today.

In 9 days...

In 9 short days my parents will have been married 50 years. Successive generations of my family have married "later" in life & as this milestone approaches we joke with each other that none of us will get to celebrate 50 years of marriage.
For the past year we have tried to get a sense of what my parents would like to do to mark this date & this has not been an easy task.
My cousin Helen recently sent me some slides she took of that day & I found out this evening that you can use your computer screen as a light box-who knew!
I have been given this one memory of this day in New Jersey : it was VERY HOT & HUMID. You can not tell from looking at these photos can you?
When I got married I asked family to bring / send photos of their wedding day to me. I framed the photos and we scattered them throughout the inn we were married in. In part this was done to introduce my husband's family to my own (and vice versa) through photographs. But the photos served another very important purpose:many folks in the various photos were no longer with us . By photograph they were "there" & able to share the moment with us all.
I look at the 8 slides taken on this day and see the usual things:the beautiful dress, the handsome men in their suits, the lovely flowers, the serene surrounding and the smile filled faces. Then I notice the people who are gone & that more than the term "50th anniversary" bring home the passage of time. The years flown by. One by one. Day by day. How amazing!

A petition we urge you to sign:

Here on the 4th floor, we love all of our animals very much.Nicki & Sandi helped to make our apartment an actual home and they shower us with fun, love and some very basic lessons about a life well lived.
In light of my love for animals I am posting another petition here , this time regarding the signing of football player Michael Vick to the Eagles. I happen to feel signing him sends the wrong message & I agree with those who say this:if Vick has been a lesser talent he might have been banned from returning to football all together. Perhaps the N.F.L. would have been wiser to have banned Mr. Vick for life , taking into consideration the impact players have on the children who naturally view them as role models. I also think something like this points to the prevalence of violence in some forms of sports. It almost seems like the more violent and cruel you are the more successful you can be & I would like to think that it is who you are as a person that matters most-NOT what you are able to accomplish on the playing field. (My grandfather always told us grand kids: it is not weather you win or lose but how you played the game that counts) Our society needs good, solid, well rounded role models to lead us (and our impressionable children) and to inspire us to be better ourselves. I do hope that Mr. Vick may one day attain that status but I have the feeling he is still playing the victim .
If you watched "60 Minutes" this past Sunday perhaps, like me, you were offended by Mr. Vick's assertion that he had found God and that he really was sorry and had learned his lesson. I sensed a script was being read. One we have heard before and it had the usual hollow sound to it.
*please note that the petition has a very graphic photograph of one of the dogs that suffered at the hands of Mr. Vick. I found it disturbing and did want to warn folks as it is very sad.

Dinner on the 4th floor in summer often includes salad. The salad itself includes all sorts of things & to keep from getting bored I mix something different up each evening. Usually there are some greens & there always is some sort of nut:walnut, pine nut or sunflower seeds are favorites. As my husband has a sweet tooth, I  often add either raisins or cranberries. Lately I have been inspired by the simple bean salads of our local diner "Shalimar" . I have been putting a can of Goya beans into a large Ball canning jar, adding spices, vinegar (organic cider or balsamic) , some garlic powder, good olive oil, freshly crushed pepper and some well diced onions , then toss and set in the frig. to marinate. I use this as my salad dressing, spooning 2-3 tablespoons of the mixture on top of each salad. YUM.