Jeanette was the first staff member I hired when I became an administrator at the community college. It was a great choice! She and I have been good friends since we first met. Other staff members used to joke that we shared a brain because our ways of doing things were so similar. Although she’s Hispanic and I’m blonde, we often came to work wearing the same colors–not something you’d expect from people with such different coloring.

Two years ago, Jeanette had a double-lung transplant. It was a tough recovery (h-u-u-u-ge understatement), but she’s doing well and, except for still tiring easily and wearing a mask outdoors to avoid contaminants in her lungs, she’s back to normal. We’ve been meeting for lunch since she became strong enough to do that, and we had a recent get-together at Panera’s.

We missed the third member of our trio, Gail, who moved to Virginia two years ago. We were “tres buenos amigas.”

Family and friends are the greatest gifts in life.

Peggy’s birthday is in the summer, and the women in our neighborhood have made it a tradition to bring a luncheon party to her house. It’s fun for Peggy, who’s widowed and doesn’t drive, and it’s fun for the rest of us because we’re a happy group of people. This year, we couldn’t walk across the street or next door. We had to drive about 15 minutes to Peggy’s new home. She sold her house last spring and is now living with her daughter.

I visited her at her new location in late spring, and she gave me a tour of her daughter’s house. Peggy has the entire finished walk-out basement to herself, including the patio. Of course, she wouldn’t move without bringing some of her John Wayne collection with her. John Wayne is her favorite movie star, and she loves watching old westerns on TV–especially those starring John Wayne.

Before I visited Peggy in person, I asked her what she misses. Her answer: hot fudge sundaes. On the way to her daughter’s house, I picked up a hot fudge sundae for her and put it into an ice chest to keep it cold for the last few minutes of the drive. She was thrilled!

For Peggy’s 94th birthday this year, the neighborhood group decided to surprise her with an afternoon visit. We all contributed something, and brought paper plates, cups, etc., beverages, chocolate macaroons, a fruit salad with coconut in it (coconut and chocolate are favorites of Peggy’s), and a dessert. The dessert was my contribution. You can see a piece of it on the plate in the lower left corner of the photo below. Peggy’s daughter and son-in-law were out of town, but her granddaughter was staying with her in their absence, and she joined our party. She took this picture of us.

Peggy was totally surprised when we showed up. If you’re wondering how we knew she didn’t fake it, look closely at her in the photo. When she knows people are coming, she puts in her front tooth, but it’s missing. She jokes about the tooth and will say things like “I knew you were coming, so I put in my tooth!” Yes, we’re a fun group!

Ted and I celebrated our 56th wedding anniversary with a two-day event this year.

A number of years ago, when we didn’t know what to buy each other for birthday and anniversary gifts, we realized that we’ve reached a point in our lives that allows us to buy what we want when we want it, rather than waiting to receive it as a gift from each other. We decided to skip birthday and anniversary gifts and to treat ourselves three times a year to dinner at our favorite restaurant–Bentley’s, at the Lake of the Ozarks. It’s nearly a three-hour drive to Bentley’s and we drive, eat, and drive home on the same day (we’re night owls). It’s not fun to drive that far in crummy weather, so we check the forecast to see which day near our anniversary date will have the nicest weather. This year, it was Tuesday. We had our usual delicious meal and, as always, as we were driving home, we told each other that the meal and the staff (who we know well after all these years) are worth every minute of the drive.

Usually, that’s the extent of our anniversary celebration, but this year was different. Our anniversary fell on the same day as the “No Kings” nationwide protests, and we decided to attend our first protest. I never attended a protest in the 1960s because I am far less brave than those who did. I did not want to go to jail (do not pass go; do not collect $200), nor did I want to be beaten with a billy club, fired on with a fire hose, or corralled by a martial dog. The “No Kings” protest at our local mall looked much safer than the Vietnam and civil right protests, so we went. It was a large, happy crowd that stretched about a half-mile along the sidewalk, but the traffic was backed up farther than that. We picked a good protest for a starter. Nationally, an estimated 5 million people participated.

Later, I saw this protester in my news feed and, if I’d made a sign for the protest, it would have had a picture of Elvis with a caption that said “the only American king.” (Long-time Elvis fan here.)

The protest ended at 1:30, so Ted and I ran a few minor errands and then had hot fudge sundaes to celebrate our day.

Even though we’d had a fantastic anniversary dinner at Bentley’s earlier in the week, we didn’t think we should cook or do dishes on this special day, so we ordered a carry-out pizza, lit our anniversary candle (a wedding gift from our florist with instructions to burn it every year on our anniversary, which we’ve done), and watched the PBS movie of the week–Alfred Hitchcock’s “The Man Who Knew Too Much.”

We had a great anniversary and we’re looking forward to the next 56 years together. 🙂

My friend, Liz, and a friend of hers have season tickets to performances at Stages, the theater at the Kirkwood Performing Arts Center. Unfortunately, Liz’s friend was ill and could not attend the June performance. She generously told Liz to gift her ticket to someone else, and Liz asked me if I’d like to join her for lunch and the play. I said “yes.”

We started with lunch at Café Provencal. Liz promised me a “very European experience” with delicious food. I enjoyed it so much, I can’t wait to take Ted there so he can enjoy it too. The restaurant has lots of outdoor dining, and the weather was nice, but the restaurant sits at the side of a very busy street with lots of traffic noise, so we opted for indoor seating. The decor was very French. We each had a salad and (are you ready for it?) French onion soup. We agreed that it was the most delicious French onion soup either of us has ever had. The best word we could think of to describe it was “depth”–a depth of flavor that provided a taste of substance far beyond water plus the usual ingredients. (I should be a food critic.) I’m going to order the soup again when Ted and I go there, just to repeat that gastronomic experience.

Stages is only a few blocks from the restaurant and we had time to enjoy ourselves in one of the lounge-type seating areas before the doors opened for the performance. It’s an intimate theater (read “small”) with free adjacent parking and only 529 seats. (529? Really? One more seat would make a nice round number.) Our seats were in the first row, center, of the balcony.

The play was titled “Murder for Two.” The “two” refers to the fact that there are only two performers–and they were both outstanding. Together, they play 13 roles and the piano. The plot is a musical farce about a small-town police officer who dreams of becoming a detective. When a Great American Novelist is murdered, the officer jumps at the chance to prove he has the skills to be promoted to detective. He works with his partner (the other actor), and they discover who the killer is–more by accident than skill. It was fun. The two men played the piano throughout the performance–sometimes individually, sometimes together–and sang songs that provided plot exposition.

The restaurant was charming, lunch was delicious, the play was fun, and time with Liz?–priceless. That’s what friends are for.

Ted and I have greatly enjoyed the friendship that has developed over the past seven months with our friends, Mike and Mary Jane, and the feeling is mutual. It was bittersweet to share our last get-together in early May during the final days of their mission in St. Louis as they prepared to return to their home in Utah. As always, we had a great time together.

For our farewell evening, Ted and I invited Mike and Mary Jane to dinner at our house. On a previous visit, the four of us had talked about the wonderful things you can make with rhubarb: sauce, pie, jam, etc. I asked if they’d ever had rhubarb kuchen, and they said, “No, what is it?” I know a lot of people who don’t like rhubarb (or have never eaten it), but the four of us all admitted to growing up with and liking rhubarb. Early May is rhubarb season so, as long as I was freezing rhubarb, I set some aside to make a rhubarb kuchen for our final group dessert.

Mike’s reaction was totally unexpected. I can honestly say that I’ve never seen anyone’s eyes light up like Mike’s did when he saw the kuchen. “Is that rhubarb?!” he asked, in a tone of disbelief. It was extremely flattering to the person who baked it for Mike. (Ahem. Me.) Mike ate two pieces and smiled through every bite. Mary Jane asked for the recipe so she could make it in the future.

Our evening together stretched out a little longer than usual because none of us wanted to say good-bye. When it was finally time for Mike and Mary Jane to leave, there were hugs and then repeated hugs. We’ll keep in touch and we hope to see each other again in the future, but it won’t be regularly like it’s been over the past seven months. Bittersweet is real: wonderfully happy friendships with emotionally difficult partings.

P.S. My rhubarb kuchen recipe is from my grandmother. Our son, Thom, liked it so much, he always ordered it for his birthday cake. Luckily for him, his birthday falls in rhubarb season.

It was exciting to arrive in El Centro and to see where Jeff and La are living for a year. The temperatures in San Diego were in the upper 60s and low 70s, but in El Centro–located in the Colorado Desert (part of the Sonoran Desert) in the Imperial Valley, and 42 feet below sea level–the temperatures were in the 80s. I loved it! The Imperial Valley is very flat because it used to be an inland sea. I guess that explains why the area is now below sea level. 🙂

We spent the morning playing games. Jeff and La introduced Ted and me to “Cover Your A$$ets,” which was a fun game. We plan to buy it for ourselves after we get home. We went out for a late lunch at one of Jeff and La’s favorite local restaurants, Burgers & Beer. It was a hopping place, even after the usual lunch hour. Our server was very nice, and the food was delicious. Fortified by our burgers and fries, we headed for Pioneers’ Museum, about an hour’s drive away.

An important factor in the permanent settlement of the Imperial Valley was the building of one of the most impressive irrigation systems anywhere in the world. This made the area one of the most productive farming regions in California, with an annual crop production of over $1 billion. Pioneers’ Museum celebrates the many ethnic communities that settled in this area and made it the community it is today.

We arrived at the museum only an hour before closing, so the ticket master (the only person on duty) allowed Jeff and La to enter for half-price, which was the same as the senior discount for Ted and me. It’s an interesting museum. We each went our own way to look at the things that interested us in the one hour remaining before we had to leave.

This is a player piano. You can see the music scrolls above the pedals. Wouldn’t it be nice to have decorated pianos like these today? (I’m not sure, but the second picture might be a spinet harpsicord with horizontal strings.)

This car was part of a display about the people who came to the Imperial Valley during the Dust Bowl years. The yellow object on the right is a gas pump from the 1930s.

Here is a beautiful piece of tapestry. I think I’d enjoy making something like this, although I’d choose a different design.

Compare this to the cash registers we see in stores today. Which to choose: cash register beauty or computer speed?

There were two cabinets filled with hatpins. This is one group of them in one of the cabinets. Women in the late 1800s and early 1900s carried hatpins for protection against men who harassed them. (That might still work, judging by these hatpins.) Using hatpins as weapons led some cities to pass laws limiting the length of hatpins. You probably can’t get any of these past security at the airport today.

When I entered the second floor of the museum, this cabinet was directly ahead of me. My first thought was, “I’ll bet it’s a sewing machine cabinet.”

I carefully opened the top and there it was–the drop-down sewing machine hidden in the cabinet when it’s not in use.

The first sewing machine I bought had a drop-down cabinet. I had the cabinet retrofitted for my new sewing machine, but the new model is too large to fit the cabinet if it’s dropped. I store the sewing machine in a closet and set it into the cabinet when I use it.

This antique sewing machine is like the one my mother had when I was a young child. Mom started teaching me to sew when I was nine years old. (I made a sleeveless yellow blouse). She must have replaced her treadle machine before that because I only remember sewing on her electric Singer sewing machine (exactly like the one I bought as shown in the link above), never on her treadle machine. Note the photographer, trying to get the perfect shot.

Holtville, CA, in the Imperial Valley, is known as the “Carrot Capital of the World” because of its annual Carrot Festival and its large carrot harvests. The multi-day festival is held in late January or early February and includes a parade, a carnival, cook-offs (of carrot-based foods, I assume), and other activities. Also included in the festival is the crowning of the Carrot Queen, the Princess, and the Junior Princess, as well as the crowning of the Citizen of the Year. Here are an historic photo of a carrot harvest and photos of festival memorabilia.

As we were driving home from the museum, we passed an open semi trailer truck nearly overflowing with a load of carrots. Really.

Another display that interested me was the picture brides. Most of the picture brides were Japanese, Okinawan, and Korean. Their pictures were paired with husbands selected by a matchmaker, similar to the concept of mail-order brides. Picture brides were often poor and hoped that marriage would provide economic prosperity for them, allowing them to send money back home to their families. It was not unusual for picture brides to be educated at the high school or college level, and thus more emboldened to seek out new opportunities abroad. By 1920, over 10,000 picture brides had arrived in the United States, and over 15,000 arrived in the then-territory of Hawai’i.

This photo shows a picture bride with her husband.

You can read the story about another couple below. They exchanged pictures of themselves with each other (corner pictures), and when the match was deemed satisfactory, they were married by proxy. The woman said that, at first, she was disappointed when she met her husband because he was much older than he looked in his picture. They settled in the Imperial Valley and were married for 50 years until the man died in 1964.

Coming around a corner in the museum and seeing a Holstein cow caught me by surprise. Even more surprising (and kind of funny) was the accompanying tribute to “The Cow” (below).

Before we left the museum, Jeff found himself in the Holtville Jail. He managed to escape and drove us home, where we took a late afternoon walk around the neighborhood.

I have some wonderful friends, and I’m glad we express our feelings for each other. Recent friendship messages have warmed my heart.

Liz and I met at work and became friends in the middle 1990s. Our friendship has become more meaningful over the years because we know that we can trust each other with our deepest feelings and opinions and receive judgment-free support in return. As co-workers, we had adjoining offices, and because we worked in the same division, we often attended the same conferences at the Lake of the Ozarks–a three-hour drive away. We always looked forward to the drive time together because it was an uninterrupted block of three hours in each direction when we could share laughter, troubles, and everything in between. At Liz’s retirement party, I was talking with one of her friends and the lightbulb came on for her. She said, “Oh! You’re Liz’s Lake friend!” This is Liz and me. (Liz is the taller one.)

Last September, I was able to see my friend, Eileen. We had adjoining dorm rooms during our freshman and sophomore years in college and have been BFFs since then. I faint at the sight of blood, but Eileen, a nursing student, convinced me to give blood at a campus blood drive. I did it, and when I got back to the dorm, I knocked on Eileen’s door. When she opened the door, I proudly told her I had given blood without fainting–and fainted at her feet! Does that make us blood sisters? After our September 2024 visit–55 years later–Eileen sent me this message. (Note: we both look much younger–check the photo of us in the link–than these ladies.)

This sentiment describes me and these two friends–even though none of us has ever been in legal trouble.

Mike and Mary Jane like history and so do Ted and I, so we had an “historic” day together. We met for lunch at Blueberry Hill, a St. Louis landmark restaurant and music club that opened in 1972.

Blueberry Hill has rooms for eating, for parties, and for weekly live musical performances. One of the rooms is named the Elvis Room; another is named the Duck Room in honor of Chuck Berry’s duck walk. Chuck Berry, the first person inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, inaugurated the Duck Room and played 209 consecutive monthly concerts there–doing his duck walk, of course. Many famous musicians have played at Blueberry Hill, and the walls have hundreds of framed pictures of the owner with each of them, as well as with four U.S. presidents.

The owner of Blueberry Hill started collecting things as a child and displays his collections in (again) hundreds of showcases throughout the building. His collections feature every kind of pop culture memorabilia imaginable, including Howdy Doody, the Simpsons, Chuck Berry, Star Wars, jukeboxes, lunch boxes, toys, and more.

Today, the four of us came to Blueberry Hill for lunch. We plan to come back on another day to explore the restaurant’s museum-like rooms and displays. You can’t always get a level photo with a selfie, but Mike managed to fit all of us in his picture.

These are the walls in one of the restaurant’s rooms.

Here’s a wall in the room where we were seated. In case you missed it, I added an arrow to the picture of Elvis for your convenience. 🙂

The St. Louis Walk of Fame honors people from the St. Louis area who were either born here or who spent their formative or creative years here. The more than 170 honorees are from all walks of life and areas of achievement and have made major contributions to the city’s cultural heritage. The Walk of Fame sidewalk passes Blueberry Hill, so we saw some of the stars as we entered and left the restaurant. Below are stars for Chuck Berry (musician), Bob Costas (sportscaster), and Stan Musial (baseball player).

Our primary destination today was the Missouri History Museum, housed in the original 1913 Jefferson Memorial building. The memorial was constructed with proceeds from the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair and stands at what was the main entrance to the fair. This was the first national monument to Jefferson. (Why would St. Louis build the first monument to Jefferson? Think Louisiana Purchase.)

A replica of Charles Lindbergh’s Spirit of St. Louis airplane hangs over the atrium area. The original airplane is housed in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. and is one of that museum’s most popular attractions.

Our main interest at the museum today was the updated 1803 Louisiana Purchase Exposition, commonly referred to as the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair exhibit. (The Exposition wasn’t finished in time for its scheduled 1903 opening.) The fair was held from April 30-December 1, 1904. The model of the fairgrounds in the photo below is built on a 1:400 scale. The fairgrounds covered 1,200 acres of the present-day 1,300-acre area of Forest Park, with the Palace of Agriculture alone covering approximately 20 acres. The fair featured over 1,500 buildings connected by 75 miles of roads and walkways. Over 19 million people attended the event.

Many of the fair exhibits focused on themes of racism and imperialism. This 2024 update of the museum’s exhibit includes information about those themes, rather than “sweeping them under the rug” and focusing only on the entertainment, new consumer goods, and architecture featured at the fair.

Here are some statistics about the 1904 World’s Fair.

There have been many claims that the ice cream cone was invented at the 1904 World’s Fair, but that’s not true. Several places claim that invention in the late 1800s, but the 1904 World’s Fair greatly contributed to the popularity of the ice cream cone.

Ted and I saw a wall like this in North Dakota. Just as in North Dakota, these stories and comments were fun to read.

So what makes St. Louis unforgettable? Read on to discover four writers’ opinions.

History can be fun. We all had a great time enjoying Blueberry Hill, a bit of the St. Louis Walk of Fame, and the Missouri History Museum.

One day last October, Ted and I were cleaning and doing the laundry. As I passed the front door, I noticed two people–a man and a woman–walking away from the door. Their car was parked directly in front of our house, as if intentionally–not like the canvassers who park out of sight and then troll the street. Thinking they might have car trouble or need help, I opened the door and called to them, asking if I could help in any way. They laughed and said, “No, we know your son, and he suggested we stop in to say ‘hello’ to you.” They had rung the doorbell, but with the vacuum cleaner running, we hadn’t heard it. Luckily, I passed the front door and saw them before they left.

We introduced ourselves to each other and I chatted with them for a few minutes, then asked if they’d like to meet Ted as well. They enthusiastically said “yes,” so I went to the house and called to Ted. The four of us continued talking with each other and none of us seemed ready to part, so I invited them inside. We enjoyed each other’s company so much that they stayed at least another hour, and we made plans to get together again soon.

The backstory is that Jeff and La are currently serving a mission for their church. While they were attending mission training last spring, they met Mike and Mary Jane (our visitors), who were assigned to a mission in the St. Louis area. At that time, Jeff told them we lived in the St. Louis area, but he didn’t tell us to expect visitors, so meeting them was a happy surprise for us. Before they left, we took a group photo. Here you can see me, Ted, Mary Jane, and Mike.

Mike and Mary Jane asked for suggestions about things to see while they are in St. Louis. One of the places we mentioned was The Hill–an Italian community in the city, well-known for its Italian grocery stores and restaurants. It’s the birthplace of Joe DiMaggio, Joe Garagiola, Yogi Berra, and Jack Buck–three major league baseball players and a baseball broadcaster–who grew up together on The Hill and were all inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. We met at Mama’s on the Hill for dinner and had another wonderful time together. It was even better than our first visit, so we decided to meet again.

Mike and Mary Jane invited us to their home for dinner and introduced us to two other missionaries who lived in the same apartment building. The six of us talked nonstop for at least three hours, and Mary Jane commented to me that “We’ve become fast friends in a hurry, haven’t we?” I agreed.

Another of our suggestions for things to do in the area was to visit Historic Main Street in St. Charles (close to our home) during the holiday season to see the lights and decorations. Their daughter came for a holiday visit and the three of them planned to go to Main Street. We invited them for dinner at our house after they finished viewing the holiday decorations. We also invited Kari’s family, but the guys were all working, so only Kari could join us. It was fun for Mike and Mary Jane and for us to meet one of each other’s children–in this case, daughters. It was a small holiday get-together with friends and family members, and we celebrated with Christmas candy and cookies for dessert.

The downside of this friendship is that in May, Mike and Mary Jane’s St. Louis mission will be finished and they will be returning home to the Salt Lake City area. We will still be here. Luckily, we have grandchildren in the SLC area, so there’s a possibility of the four of us getting together again when we visit our grandchildren, and we’ve all expressed a strong desire to keep in touch with each other.

You never know what’s going to happen in your day. One day, a few months ago, we unexpectedly made new friends.

The ranks of retired people added a member in July.  One of the office staff members that I hired during my working years retired, and I was invited to the party, described as a “high tea” for “Her Grace.”

It was wonderful to see so many of the staff and teachers I hired and worked with—still there 12 years later—and it was fun to see that they all enjoy working and celebrating together, just as we did while I was an active part of the team.  I started as a one-woman show, but the Adult Education program grew too large for me to handle alone.  The first person I hired was Jeanette (also retired now), on the left in the photo below.  Her Grace, Sonja, is in the center, and I’m on the right.

The two ladies in the front in the photo below are Lynn and Ellen, who were hired after I retired.  Those in the back row were some of my co-workers:  (L->R) Patty, a lead ESL teacher; Lindsay, a GED teacher (almost invisible behind Lynn); Sonja, an office staff member; Mandy, my second-in-command who took my place; me; and Ingrid, a lead ESL teacher.  By the time we decided we needed a group picture, quite a few people had already left or we’d have a much bigger crowd in the photo.

In keeping with the English tea party theme, the party favors were little cardboard teapots with candy inside.

When I retired, the staff gathered photos of our group from throughout my tenure, wrote a story to go with the photos, and had it all bound into a book titled “A Tale of the Star Kingdom.”  Our AEL (Adult Education & Literacy) program—the “Star Kingdom”—was one of a limited number of the 26 statewide AEL programs that had achieved Star status for excellence.  In the book, I was designated as the Empress.  The current staff made a similar book for Sonja.  In her book, Her Grace, Sonja, was recognized as the Duchess.  Shall I assume that when Mandy retires from the dean’s position that she accepted after my retirement, she will be referred to as an Empress in a similar book?  I hope so.

In addition to the book, invited guests were asked to send stories about their memories of Sonja.  Those stories were put into a binder for Sonja, and each of us who was present read our own story aloud to Sonja and the group.  It was fun to hear all those memories.  Among other things, my story included a trivial but true lesson I learned from Sonja.  It was about candy.  Sonja worked at the front desk and always kept a dish of candy on her desk for visitors.  All of us regularly contributed candy to the dish (it’s not a budget item), and Sonja once told us that:  (1) the more candy there is in the dish, the more pieces individual people take; (2) chocolate disappears very quickly; and (3) nobody likes Dum Dums.

I was still doing PT at Athletico at the time of Sonja’s party, and I couldn’t help noticing that the candy dish on the Athletico counter was filled with Dum Dums.  There was very little difference in the Dum Dum level over my next few visits, so maybe the Athletico staff will learn the same thing I learned from Sonja.

I hope Sonja’s retirement is filled with as much happiness and as many blessings as mine has been.

We have a 93-year-old lady in our neighborhood who has been a lifelong Cardinals fan. A few weeks ago, several members of her family invited her to go with them to a Cardinals home game. I don’t know which of the family arranged it, but the seats were in one of the luxury boxes with air-conditioning, food, and all the other high-end amenities. (Maybe someone’s employer had a corporate box.) Peggy was reluctant to go, but the family convinced her that she’d enjoy the evening. She finally agreed, but said she was going to take her 60-year-old jacket with her. The temperatures were in the 90s during the day and in the mid- and upper-80s for the game, so that announcement brought a lot of protests, but Peggy insisted, and she wore her jacket.

The evening was such a success that Peggy didn’t stop talking about it for days, and she still brings it up in conversation. First, the luxury box seat tickets got the group through a special gate without a line. Peggy had her jacket on, and the gate attendant stopped her to chat, complimented the jacket, and asked her for her name. During the conversation (no line–remember?), Peggy mentioned that, although she used to attend games regularly, she hadn’t been to any in the new stadium, which opened in 2004.

As the group moved toward the private elevator that took them to their luxury box seats, lots of people stopped Peggy to talk about her jacket and many of them asked permission to take their picture with her. (She said, “Yes.”) One man offered to buy the jacket from her, but she told him, “No way!” Another man, standing nearby, offered to marry her to get a specific pin on her jacket. She turned him down too. 🙂 The luxury box was a treat and, before long, there was another surprise for Peggy: her name appeared on the jumbotron, along with the information that this was her first time in the new ballpark. Right after that, her son’s family and her grandchildren called her from Kansas City to say they were watching the game on TV and saw her name in lights. She said she felt like a celebrity, and it was the most exciting night of her life. I talked with Peggy the day after the game and asked if she was tired from the late night. “Not at all,” she said, “I’m way too excited to be tired!”

Here’s what all the excitement was about. It was a lot of fun to read all the pins and to recognize so many of the great Cardinals players–especially those from the “Whitey-ball” era.*

A few days later, Peggy had another surprise. The Cardinals sent her a framed certificate to commemorate her first time at the new ballpark.

Several of us in the neighborhood had a little party for Peggy’s 93rd birthday this week. We kept it simple–ice cream sundaes, brownies, and talk–and we all saw her Cardinals’ certificate on the kitchen table. She’s still excited about the ballgame she didn’t want to attend. Isn’t it great to be 93 and still having that much fun–including a marriage proposal at a ball game? Long live Peggy!

* Players’ pins on Peggy’s jacket: Tito Landrum, Rick Horton, Pete Rose, Bob Forsch, Keith Hernandez, Tom Lawless, Greg Matthews, Ozzie Smith, Vince Coleman, Willie McGee, Danny Cox, Jack Clark, Tom Herr, Tony Peña, Todd Worrell, Terry Pendleton.

My neighbor, Peggy, was 92 in July, so a few of us had a surprise birthday lunch for her. We all brought food and had a great time together. Only Claudia and I were brave enough to be photographed with the guest of honor.

Nearly all of Peggy’s family members, down to the great-grandchildren, live within a few miles of her house. They all took her out for a birthday lunch the next day.

Peggy insists she doesn’t want parties, but she always has fun. Visiting her the day after her family took her out to eat rewarded the guest with a piece of leftover chocolate birthday cake. Yum!

The second monthly lunch in our neighborhood group of ladies was beautiful. Kelly hosted the group and said she enjoys using nice things. How do you spell “understatement”? Here’s a picture of the table we saw when we arrived. Each place setting had a charger, a dinner plate, a salad plate, and a dessert plate. Kelly described her decorating theme as “French country,” and each chair had a little gift for its occupant–a zippered bag with a screenprint of something French. (You can see one of the bags hanging on the center chair.) There were also small bottles of wine and a fruit punch with a bit of a kick for those who wanted something more than water or iced tea to drink.

Like last month, we all brought more than one food item. Each item was large enough to allow everyone to try everything and to take a serving or two home for family members who are not ladies and, therefore, were not invited to the luncheon. The take-aways are great for dinner after we go home. Kelly was prepared and had restaurant take-away boxes for each of us. Main courses are in the first photo, then there’s a quiche, followed by desserts. The oatmeal raisin cookies were Kelly’s contribution. She used brandy-soaked raisins. Guess who brought the scotcheroos. As usual, they all disappeared. They’re simple to make, but everyone loves them.

The lunch gathering is expanding. Last time, we gathered, ate, split the leftovers, and went home after two hours. This time, we did all of the above and then went out on the deck to play games and talk with each other for another two hours. We played a version of dominoes, Catch-Phrase, and St. Louis trivia. A good time was had by all and we now have a tradition that’s been ongoing for two months. It’s been so much fun to get together as a group rather than one-by-one as we see each other, that I have a feeling this will go on for awhile. What a great idea!

P.S. Last month’s lunch was served on paper plates, take-aways left the hostess’ house on paper plates, and there were no adult beverages (or cookies). The rest of us conceded that Kelly wins the hostess prize, but she should expect paper plates again next month! No pressure allowed for the hostesses.

Peggy, our neighbor, celebrated her 91st birthday this week, so some of the women in our neighborhood decided to give her a party. We all brought some food and had a wonderful time. Here’s Peggy, the birthday girl, still looking great at 91. BTW, on her plate, she has three of the four desserts that were contributed to the party. If that sounds like a lot, you should have seen the rest of the food!

And here’s our neighborhood group (clockwise from the top): Claudia, Maureen, Kelly, Peggy, and me. The party was so much fun, we’re going to turn this into a monthly gathering.

This was the week for old friends. On Wednesday evening, I received a text from my neighbor, Claudia. She said Gene and Mary contacted her and said they would be in town on Thursday and wanted to meet Claudia, Ted, and me for lunch tomorrow if we were available. We all said “yes” and it was wonderful to see our old neighbors again. I think they said it was 2002 when they moved out of our neighborhood and relocated to a small town about 25 miles north of here. In 2013, they moved to Florida, so it’s been awhile since we’ve seen them. It was so much fun to catch up with them about what we’ve all been doing, what our kids are doing, and how many grandchildren we all have. We exchanged current contact information and will take them up on their offer to visit them the next time we go to Florida.

Thursday’s lunch with Gene and Mary was followed by a Friday evening dinner with a former co-worker of Ted’s. Roy took a little road trip from Green Bay to St. Louis to attend a Cardinals baseball game and wanted to spend some time catching up with Ted. We had a nice restaurant dinner and then spent several hours visiting with Roy at our house. It was just the way I remember NWS gatherings from Ted’s working days. At least ninety percent of the conversation was weather-related. Big storms of the distant and recent past were popular topics and so were changes in forecasting technology. The conclusion of NWS gatherings is almost always that, in the “old days,” most things were better. I’m used to that kind of conversation, so I didn’t mind. It’s always amazing to me, however, that these forecasters can remember the month, day, and year of every major storm. When Ted and Roy were talked out, Roy headed back to his hotel and left us with an invitation to visit him in Green Bay and to give him a chance to show us the area. (I think he momentarily forgot that we both used to live in that area.) It was another good evening with an old friend.

Coming up: A birthday party for Floyd, one of the teachers I used to work with and later supervised. Floyd’s 90th birthday was in 2020, but his daughter told me she couldn’t have the party at that time (thanks, COVID) so she’s having it this year. We’ll be celebrating Floyd’s 90th birthday as well as his 92nd birthday. If some of the other teachers are there, Ted can listen to my friends and me discussing education and how things used to be better in our old days.

My senior year college roommates (six of us) were scheduled to meet in Madison, WI for our annual get-together on August 24. Of course, it’s 2020, so lots of things aren’t happening the way we planned them. Instead of an in-person reunion, we had a Zoom reunion today. All six of us were planning to be at the Zoom-union, but two did not join the meeting–not even after we texted a reminder to them. Again, it’s 2020, so who knows what might have prevented them from joining us.

Not surprisingly, we talked about some of our college memories, including the Viet Nam war protests. UW-Madison and UC-Berkley were the two most politically active campuses in the country in the late 1960s. I was actually stopped at the point of a bayonet during one protest, but that’s a different story. (I wasn’t even protesting!) Lin’s, Carol’s, and Barb’s husbands all served in Viet Nam. Lin’s husband was a POW and Barb’s husband was exposed to agent orange and has some serious health problems as a result. We talked about the parallels of that era and the current Black Lives Matter movement.

A happier topic was technology. We graduated in 1969, long before PC’s, internet, cell phones, social media, etc. We did have radio and television (the 1960s weren’t that long ago!), but electric typewriters weren’t common except in businesses. We all agreed we are glad to have the technology to meet in one place today (Zoom) while we are in Michigan, Wisconsin, Florida, and Missouri.

It’s been 51 years since we graduated from college, but we’re keeping up with the times and still having fun together.

Thanks to COVID, I’ve now participated in my first drive-by birthday parade. My friend, Cindy, celebrated her 60th birthday with a parade arranged by her husband. My friend, Liz thought it would be a good idea for us to go together in my convertible–top down, of course. Riding together also gave us an opportunity to see each other in person for the first time since January 30.

The parade went around the block twice, honking horns, blowing noisemakers, etc. to celebrate Cindy’s coming of age. Liz is a very creative person and has what I call a “treasure chest” (i.e., closet) full of creative and playful goodies. She scrounged in the treasure chest and found pinwheels that spun as the car moved, plastic hand clappers that we could shake and rattle, a crown with sparkling cutout stars and streamers for Cindy to wear, and posterboard for a birthday sign. I brought a letter about two of my favorite memories of Cindy. I’m not creative like Liz, but I hunted up clipart and added speech balloons to tell the stories, and I put birthday stickers all over the envelope. Woo-eee!

I found this in a box of miscellaneous things. Friends and flowers may never fade, but this refrigerator magnet certainly did.

This is my friend’s grandson, enjoying a frosty beverage.

Last week I had a holiday lunch date with four retired women friends from the college.  Today, I had a lunch date with two other retired women friends from the college.  These two were both on my staff.

Jeanette was the first person I hired to help with the administrative work in my department.  Until then, the Adult Education and Literacy (AEL) program was a one-woman show presided over by me.  Over the years, Jeanette and I became close friends.  We work in such similar ways and think along such similar lines that other people sometimes said Jeanette and I shared a brain.

As time went on, the AEL program grew in size and, several years after I hired Jeanette, I hired Gail to work as a lead GED teacher.  She and I share an almost identical teaching philosophy, based mainly on “What’s the best thing to do to benefit the students?”  We always worked well together and, in addition to being co-workers, we, too, became very good friends over the years.

The three of us enjoy getting together regularly for lunch and have been doing so for several years.  This time, before we left the restaurant, Jeanette said, “We need a picture,” so we did the selfie thing.  Here we are:  three good friends.

L->R:  Jeanette, me, Gail

During my recent hospital stay, my friend Liz sent me a pot of mums to cheer me up.  It worked!  They are beautiful in our kitchen bay window.

Jeanette was the first office staff member I hired when the Adult Education and Literacy program grew too big for me to manage by myself.  She was a treasure as an employee and became a treasure as a friend.  Although I’m blonde and she’s Hispanic, we often showed up in the office wearing the same colors on the same day–kind of surprising, given the difference in our coloring.  Jeanette and I think along the same tracks.  We could easily find each other’s files, because we filed in the same kinds of categories.  People in the office used to tease us about sharing a brain.  Jeanette retired from SCC last week, and I went to her retirement party.

Once again, Jeanette and I showed up in the same colors.

There were decorations, food, and a slide show.  Since Jeanette and I worked together for 11 years, I showed up in quite a few of the slides.  (I’m in white-and-purple in the middle; Jeanette is wearing the long purple dress.  We wore the same color again!)  That’s Jeanette and her husband watching the slide show.

The roses on the tables were pretty.  This is Jeanette’s husband, niece, and sister.

Naturally, there were gifts.  Mandy (she has my old position) presented Jeanette with a gift from the office staff–a music box that plays “Remember.”

I gave Jeanette a cut glass “window” to hang in her window.

I knew everyone at the retirement party–DESE staff from Jeff City, Jeanette’s family, and AEL teachers and staff–so it was a wonderful opportunity for me to catch up with lots of people I don’t see regularly since I retired.  Not surprisingly, I set up three future lunch dates with friends at the party.  We’re still having fun together.

Bob, my photographer friend, is having fun again.  (Check the title of this picture.)

While I was out with Kari last week, I was excited about meeting one of my friends instead of one or more or her friends as we usually do.  Today was was another good day for meeting friends.  Ted and I went out to lunch and we saw Cy and his wife, Pat, in the restaurant.  Cy used to be a volunteer tutor in my Adult Education and Literacy program.  We were both waiting for a table, so we decided to share a single table instead.  It was so much fun spending time together unexpectedly.  We both admitted that we often go to this restaurant for lunch, so there’s a good chance we’ll see each other again, especially since we met them there once before.  Last time, however, Ted and I were leaving when Cy and Pat arrived.  I hope that, next time, our timing works out like it did today.

Friends are fun.

Yesterday, Kari took me out to lunch for my birthday.  Yes, my birthday was in March, but we’ve both been busy, and waiting until yesterday gave us something to look forward to.  Besides, this might have provided me with a record for the Longest Birthday Celebration.  My first birthday lunch with a friend was on March 2 because she wanted to get it in before Ted and I left on our trip to the southeastern U.S. on March 9.  From March 2 until July 25 is a 21-week birthday event.  Awesome!  Kari and I had a wonderful time and sat in the restaurant for over three hours, then talked for another half hour at her house.

The most amazing part of the lunch was that, while we were eating, one of my friends came into the restaurant and exchanged a few words with me.  That never happens!!!!  Most of the time when I go somewhere with Kari, we run into at least one of her friends.  Even when we took her to New Orleans to check out a possible college for her, we met one of her high school friends in the French Quarter.

I couldn’t believe it:  We met one of my friends instead of Kari’s.  It’s never happened before and probably never will again.  This really has been my best birthday ever.

My friend, Bob, lives in Illinois.  He is a talented and often playful photographer.  He titled this photo “Illinois Cactus.”

Today is International Women’s Day.  To recognize this day, I’m sharing a picture of some of my favorite and most respected women.  These women worked in a broad spectrum of departments at SCC.  We are all retired now and we get together for lunch every two months.  Each of these women worked to make a difference in the lives of the people served by the college and in the community.  They are smart, interesting, and fun.  I’m honored and fortunate to call all of them my good friends.

Left -> right, back row:  Me–adult education; Amy–not an SCC woman, but making a difference as a caregiver for Barb; Liz–business and industry.

Left -> right, front row:  Barb–academic success center (she has Alzheimer’s, so Amy brings her to our lunches); Terri–finance; Elaine–president’s office; Cindy–math instructor; Yvonne–continuing education.

Absent:  Barbara–science and technology.