44 Years Ago

 

It was 44 years ago today that we met at Bullwinkle's Saloon in Minneapolis. I was 21, Bruce was 25, we were really just babies. And for the longest time, we would only tell people that we met after college while we were both out with friends, which was true, but we didn't mention that we had also met at a bar. I'm not sure why we chose to leave out that detail, because that's where people would often meet back in the day. And of course, there was no such thing as online dating back then. The internet didn't even exist. 

Bullwinkle's was probably considered a dive bar even in those days, but reading up on its history now, the neighborhood became more dangerous, with a couple of deadly shootings there in 2018 and 2023, and then the place was condemmed. That just makes me sad.  

leftovers to bring home, yum yum yum!

Today, though, we celebrated 44 years with a lunch special at Kai's Little Sushi. Plus a workout at Planet Fitness, our new place to go a few times a week. 44 years! Doesn't that seem like a crazy amount of time ago? 

Turkey In January

This past week has been one of those weeks when I've had more energy, I think maybe because of all the bright sunshine we've been having. Wednesday morning, I woke up early at 5:00 AM and thought, that sure was a short night! My next thought then shifted to what I felt like cooking for our weekly Wednesday Supper. We've been having Wednesday Supper gatherings pretty much every week for the last several years.

I remembered that I had a large turkey in the basement freezer, just waiting to be cooked up and eaten, and decided that I was going to roast that 18.5 pound turkey from its frozen state. It can be done. I've done it before. I've even heard that a turkey cooked this way can taste better!

There's often drama when you try to get the giblets out halfway through cooking a frozen turkey, though, and this time, I never really found anything to pull out besides the neck. However, Bruce did find the giblets later on as he was carving ... 

green bean casserole in the crockpot

Our Wednesday Supper turned out to be a Thanksgiving dinner in January, and there ended up being nine people here eating! It was a party, and the little boys were so excited, running round and round through the kitchen, living room, and hallway, squealing and laughing. It was wild, and fun, and it felt so familiar to me from past years when our own three kids were little. 

Of course, then, we had lots of turkey to eat on for the rest of the week. Turkey sandwiches, turkey cranberry omelettes, turkey vegetable soup, turkey hash and eggs, and even several mason jars full of turkey bone broth that I put in the freezer for later. 

Katie gifted us banana bread with chocolate chips

super yummy sandwich

Tonight, I wanted to make something different besides turkey. I had picked up a couple of bacon wrapped chuck tender filets from my most recent trip to Aldi. And, they cost only $6.29 for the pair of them! I'm not the least bit embarrassed to say that I love shopping at Aldi. I feel like I can save 40-50 percent of what I might pay at other grocery stores in our area. Food is expensive these days! But since I do most of our cooking at home from scratch, I find the basic foods they have there work just fine for us. I broiled those bacon wrapped beef filets, and they were delicious!

I will be making these again ...

Bitter Cold January Book Club Beauties

It's been typical January weather in Minnesota here the last few days, with temps of negative 20 degrees, and wind chill of 30-40 below. And, lately my car has been noisy, which makes me a little nervous. I was thankful that the engine light didn't go on while driving to book club this past Sunday (the engine light has been going on at times, we just can't figure out the reason why) and I was also thankful that I could park at Mona's and catch a ride with her the rest of the way to Cathy's. 

yummy strawberry mimosas

it's good to use your china!

Cathy had made a Betty Crocker egg bake, and her house smelled amazing. 💕 We loaded up our plates with deliciousness, and settled in for a long talk. Besides a brief discussion of our book reading, we covered the topics of phone technology, total knee replacements, watching over moms living in care centers, and road trips to South Dakota to see the National Parks. It seems we never run out of things to talk about.

still practicing our selfies

We'll need to skip our meeting in February, but plan on meeting here in mid March, our next book being Leaving Time, by Jodi Picoult.

Mona modeling the socks Cathy gave us

Fort Snelling National Cemetery

On Friday, November 22, 2024, Mom and Dad were buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery. 

After Dad passed away in October of 2018, we decided that we'd wait to bury both him and Mom together when that time arrived. Their plan was to be buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery, though there were a couple of times when we considered the possibility of using another cemetery that was located closer to us. 

I wish I had more photos of Dad in the service

Dad enlisted in the United States Army Air Corps at the age of 17 years, and ended up serving in both Word War II and the Korean War. His military occupational specialty was as a Radio Service Technician, and he was honorably discharged from the Air Force in 1952 as a Staff Sergeant. 

Both Mom and Dad were patriotic, and proud to be citizens of the United States. Looking through papers, we found a post it note that Dad had attached to his military discharge papers that stated, "My Ticket To Ft Snelling National Cemetery." So in the end, we decided to honor that request. 

The volunteer veterans were very professional as they conducted Dad's military honors ceremony. We followed in our cars to the shelter where the service would be held, and as we drove up, we could see the color guard and rifle squad waiting for us. After a gun salute, bugle taps were played. Then a folded American flag was presented to Mark and me. The whole ceremony was surreal to experience, but the tenderness of this veteran as he handed me the flag made me so emotional. He had such a gentle manner. 

22 spent bullet casings were then given to us to keep in a little blue velvet bag. A certificate signed by President Joe Biden on behalf of the Department of Veterans Affairs arrived later in the mail. 

Although engravings on their headstone won't be completed until warmer weather arrives, we look forward to seeing it once it's done, and we do have confidence that their burial site will be kept up nicely. Also, a special thank you to Diana for helping take pictures, and then treating us all to lunch at Perkins afterwards. 💕

 

Celebration Of Life Service

Mom and Dad's Celebration of Life Service was held on Saturday, November 9, 2024 at Christ Community Church in Excelsior, Minnesota. 

Bruce sang Just A Closer Walk With Thee

We weren't sure where to have the service at first, but then remembered Mark's church, and it turned out to be the perfect place for us. Pastor Jon had come to Chapel View to pray for Dad before he passed away in 2018. He did the same for Mom after she went on Hospice at Mount Olivet Careview. 

We wondered how many people might show up for the service. It does seem that as people age to a very old age, the less family and friends are around to attend. Plus, Mom and Dad had moved away from their long time community and church home in Fridley to be closer to us as we cared for them. As it turned out, there were plenty of folks who showed up for the service. Flowers magically showed up, too. It was a beautiful service.

You could tell that the people of the church really cared for Mark, and everybody there was so kind and giving of their time for us. People stepped up to share memories, some familiar, some new memories I hadn't heard before. I did worry some about the planning of the lunch, but the women of the church knew what to do, and it all went smoothly.

Flowers from Diana

I wish that we could have snapped a picture of the food after it was all arranged on the tables! But, I did see it with my own eyes, and it was a very pretty picture. I think Mom and Dad would have been pleased. Dad loved to eat, and we made sure to have a Chocolate Chocolate Cake there in Mom's memory. That, and a double recipe of her Cherry Cinnamon Applesauce Jello! 

And since this blog is pretty much dedicated to being a keeper of the memories, I'll list the food we served: artisan sandwiches from Costco, quinoa vegetable salad, potato salad, veggies and dip, assorted chips, cherry cinnamon applesauce jello, a chocolate mousse sheet cake, assorted bars, cookies, nuts, and chocolate kisses, bottles of water. The church provided coffee. We had quite a bit of food left over, and were able to bring some home, but also able to give back to the church to use.

The service was recorded, and we had a photo slide presentation with music from Oh Brother, Where Art Thou.

I'm thankful for all my family and friends who have supported us during this long journey. I can't even put into words just how much their love and care has meant to me. 

Red Roses from Aunt Jeanie's Family