In 1976, Joe and I and our 3 boys flew from Texas to Los Angeles where we visited Disney Land and Knotsberry Farm. Then we rented a car and drove up the California coast, stopped to visit friends in Fresno then (loaded with sacks of grapes), drove to San Francisco where we feasted on crab at Fisherman's Wharf, explored the Exploratorium, went to the Presidio and walked on the beach near where Joe spent his army years at Fort Baker. We also went to Ghirardelli Square for ice cream treats.  I kept the menu, loving its graphics and mouth watering listings.  I framed it and hung it in our kitchen or pantry for several years.  I found the menu a few weeks ago, and thought it would be fun to Google their current prices.  If you really ever wonder how much more things cost now than almost 40 years ago, here is your answer.

I don't remember exactly what we had, but it is likely that one of us had (or shared) a Golden Gate Banana Split, featured on the above menu for $1.85. The 2015 menu lists the same banana split for $11.45. I am sure there was a Hot Fudge Sundae on the table, priced at $1.65 and now sells for $10.95.  And a Root Beer Float, another family favorite was 75 cents, but now would set you back $6.25.  

I know, everything now costs much more than it did then, and our income was less, too.  Enjoy those ice cream treat special occasions!

Changes

2016 is already proving to be a year of great change. We are readying our home and garden for sale, with plans to buy a home with our youngest son and his family. Our oldest son and daughter - in - law have changes in their household with their oldest daughter moving to an apartment.  Our son Jeremy and his wife and daughters have moved from Texas to Nevada.  Plain to see this last from the photo, since they never had snow to dig this deep in Fort Worth!  I miss their being in Texas, of course but I am thankful they are settling into their new home and are having fun with all the snow!
I only have to watch the Monarchs in our back yard as they go through their cycles of caterpillar, chrysalis, and metamorphosis to be reminded that change is necessary for growth.  Enjoy your wings, sweet girls!

Family Time

In all my sorting through hundreds of family pictures from many years, I often think, "Why didn't I take more?"  I know, of course.  Family life was busy, it was hard to catch just the right candid shots, and our equipment for photography was not very good.  I take such pleasure in being able to pick up my cell phone and catch a moment of unexpected happiness. We went out house hunting this afternoon, and Ben, Kristen, and Nora took this few minutes to sit for awhile on a bench.  I am passing some of their sunshine on to you!

Happy Birthday, Mignon!

I always thought having a birthday on Valentine's Day was very special.  So here's to my long time friend and lovely lady, Mignon.  We became friends in 2nd grade.  That was in 1947, which makes our friendship one that has lasted for almost 70 years!  When we moved back to the U.S. and settled in our area of the Texas Gulf Coast, we once again lived near enough to see each other more often. Ours is the kind of friendship that bridges gaps in time, so even though months may pass when we sit down to lunch together, we pick up conversation easily almost where we left off!

Mignon was my first friend for after school play times and overnights where we "roasted" crackers over a flashlight and put doll dresses on her kitty.  Her dog was a chow named Taffy. We got matching baby dolls and named them matching names.  I went on campfire cookouts to a place called Fry's Gap with her family.  Her older sister Charlotte and her parents were gracious and kind to me.

 Through the years, Mignon has remained a beautiful, charming woman and faithful friend. She is a woman of faith and has been a wonderful wife, mother, and grandmother. She is one of the most creative and talented people I know.  Happy Birthday, Dear Friend!

Ky and Clyde

Ky and Clyde

In the week that leads up to Valentine's Day, I am reflecting about the couples and marriages that have been part of my understanding of love and commitment. Both my maternal and paternal grandparents and my parents had the "until death do us part" kind of marriage.  And since they lived a fairly long time, that meant many years together.

The photograph above is one of the last ones I have of both of them.  It has been stored away for many years, and Joe's scanning project brought it to my attention again.  I am so grateful for these two and their love for me.  I remember Papa's hearty laugh, his toothless grin, the way he bent down low over a small radio to listen to baseball games. I remember Grandma's hands kneading biscuit dough, scattering scraps for the chickens, tucking me into a feather bed, doing fine needlework and quilting, the way she lived out her faith.  Life was not easy for them.  They had few comfortable amenities, and a great deal of heartbreak. But they did their best and shared what they did have. Ky's birthday, February 17(1885), and Clyde's on March 15 (1887) prompt me to think of them with great respect and admiration. They were married in 1905, and were together until Ky's death in 1965, a month short of his 80th birthday.  Clyde lived on for another 12 years, dying in 1977.  Their 60 years of marriage is a tribute to making a life together.

Family Photo

 Ben, Joe, Sean, Mary Ann and Jeremy on Nana's couch, probably 1979 or 1980

My last posts have been about postcards, but along with all the other saved things, there are plenty of photos in the boxes I have been sorting. I also found a number of 35 mm slides, which Joe has been busy scanning and converting to digital images that we can store on our computers. I am often less grateful than confused at all the techology we use in our home, but I am most grateful for his work on these photo prints and slides.

For awhile after we were married, I continued using my 35mm camera, but then we began using polaroid cameras - great for seeing the photos right away, but terrible for their quality and durability. Then we switched to a very simple point and click camera, which involved developing and negatives. Many of those have faded terribly. I was not a great photographer, and was usually in a hurry to capture a moment, so many of our pictures are poor photos.  I confess to having had very little organization with photo storage, with only a few making it into albums - which certainly makes it hard to organize them after over 50 years of family life.  We want to keep the ones we have in a way that allows us to view them easily, and digital storage allows us that plus ways to organize and share with all our family.

There are so many more ways to turn out great photographs now. My smart phone works better for me than my good camera most of the time because I have it with me, and it is so quick and easy to get good candid shots. I can capture an image of a granddaughter, view, edit, and post it on FaceBook for friends and family to see more quickly than I used to be able to take off my lens cap, focus, and click!  I take more photos, and have learned so much about cropping and editing. These, too, will be stored in files on my computer I am finally organizing pictures!  Old dogs really can learn new tricks.

More Postcards

As mentioned last week, major cleaning and sorting continues here.  This is more than Spring cleaning, but it will serve as that as well.  Some boxes are easy to sort into Keep, Discard, and Donate containers, but others take time because they are full of little pieces of memories, seeds of stories. One thing obvious in boxes of family correspondence, notes, and cards are the picture postcards. I am holding 3 postcards that Joe mailed to our sons when he traveled to Japan in 1983. There are similar postcards he mailed to my mother in that box and letters to me. It was a good way for them to see what he was seeing. I love the way he chose different things to say to each boy.  He knew them well.

Each card is addressed to our home, 2224 Old Orchard Court, Plano, Texas.

Sean's card is a photo of "Nijubashi" of the Imperial Palace, Tokyo -the double arched bridge hanging on the moat of the old castle. 

 Dear Sean,
I miss you. I know you are taking care of Mom and your brothers. Keep it up.

You would enjoy TV here. Lots of videos and Solid Gold. You would laugh to hear Michael Jackson in Japanese.

I love you, Dad


Jeremy's card has a photo of the same bridge from a different angle.

Dear Jeremy,
I wish you could be here to see all the sights with me. You would enjoy the fish and birds in the park near my hotel. Funny thing...the crows speak English...They say the same thing as Plano crows.

Love, Dad

Ben's card is a picture of Nagoya Castle. Originally erected in 1523 and rebuilt in 1959. Famous for a pair of dolphins on its roof.

Dear Ben,
How's this for a castle? It is beautiful here. Wish you could be here to share it with me. I miss you and can't wait to see you again.

Love, Dad

I was grateful then and am grateful now for the ways Joe kept us with him when he traveled!