8 posts tagged “connie”

Between my wife (who made the turkey chili) and my son (who knows how to make an omlet) I had a great lunch.  It was fun to see them working on this little project together.

Chili omlet

"What are you most grateful for in your life right now?"
Submitted by Becca-Pink.

Connie down the shore

Without any doubt, the thing in my life now that I am most grateful for is my wife, Connie.   

She is my greatest joy--and indeed perhaps the reason that I even have a life now.  I was pretty ill after Barbara died, and really almost entirely alone quite a bit of the time.  

She is a very good woman:  a loving mother, and grandmother, a good friend--and to me, a loving wife.

Exactly how it happened that Connie came along, I am not sure.  I had not known her at all in my "previous life."

But for her, for her company and her daily presence, for all the help she offers to keep both of us going, and for the many pleasures we share together, I am incredibly grateful.

And, I am very fortunate.  Extremely lucky.

Barbara, my wife of 35 years, and who passed away on the 9th five years ago, was one of the very early computer teachers. She had been a middle school counselor, but stayed home with our son for a few years after his birth. Then, when she went looking for a job, she tried something new.  It must have been around 1980, we had an early Apple ][, and she learned enough to be a teacher for the customers of a store near Alexandria, Virginia.

Glowing Macs

Holiday Confusion

I am a little bummed by the "mergerization" of all of the holidays (holy-days) from Halloween to New Year's.  Christmas items were out so early!  I wish each of the days was understood and celebrated separately, each in its own way.

But of course the holiday season is painful for many who (like us) have lost close family members, the people who used to be part of any such celebration.  Still, Connie and I are very glad to have each other, going into this sadly dreary (for us) season.

Westfield NJ

Our most recent trip started out toward Florida, but ended up in New Jersey.  Connie's mom (97) was dying.  We were there before she passed, and were able to help with her funeral and Thanksgiving dinner also.  It was a painful event, yet one with much loving family around.  Connie's mother was very much admired, and was quite active for nearly all of her life.

Our wedding photo

In Great Falls, Montana, at the courthouse.

Totally unplanned, in a wonderful if very small and private  ceremony presided over by a Justice of the Peace. 

After we got back home, friends celebrated with us. 

It made us very happy to take this further step of commitment to each other.

For better and for worse, as they say.  We are together.

We made it down old route 66 to far western Oklahoma today, the town of Weatherford. The motel (a very nice Best Western) is at one of the many points where Route 66 and I-40 run in parallel. Previous stops included the Rock Cafe, for a wonderful breakfast, and the National Cowboy Hall of Fame and then the Oklahoma State Fair in Oklahoma City.

The weather was really beautiful, although warm (hot). But nice.

The most noteworthy event, though, is that Connie and I exchanged "commitment rings." We did so in a chapel at the National Cowboy Museum, where there is a realistic "mock" old western town.

Our rings

Our commitment, of course, is not changed from what it has been for quite a while now. But the rings are an outward symbol, and we are both very pleased with this addition.

Connie and I first went out to dinner on April 2nd, 2004.  (She is much better at remembering these events than I am!) We went to a restaurant that was closer to her house than mine, as it turned out, but one I had suggested because my father had liked it.  He had sometimes met with ham radio buddies there.