Springtime in Wisconsin

Here we are at the 21st of May and the weather has finally become beautiful. I have taken walks around town just to gaze at the blossoming trees. They have never been so lovely in my memory. I think the winter snow helped make the trees as beautiful as ever. The limbs were heavily laden with pink, white, and lavender blossoms. The lilacs have a special deep color this year. The redbud trees will soon lose their flowers and sprout leaves. Ah, what a lovely season to be here.

I had a call tonight from my contractor. He plans to be here early in the morning to start on the work we discussed last year. I have asked him to tuck point all the foundation and replace any window sills that need it (cellar windows). When he is finished that, he will fix the walkway between the house and garage. It sank an inch or so over the winter. I want him to replace the ceiling in the office (Paul's bedroom) when he has a rainy day and needs work. The roofer was going to do it, but will pay to have it done by whomever I choose. Mark does very nice work. He fixed the front porch last year while I was away.

June is creeping upon us and I am looking forward to a visit West. Haven't seen little Kate since the beginning of the year and I can just imagine how much she has grown, both in stature and vocabulary.

Memorial Day will be celebrated on Monday. Let us never forget the deeds of those who did so much to keep us free.

Memorable Day - April 30, 1954

Last evening my oldest daughter called and asked me if this day was special. I told her that it was the day Dad and I met fifty-four years ago. I was an employee of the Philadelphia Electric Company which had a meeting every month in the city. Usually the meeting happened on a Tuesday night but this time it was special because Sammy Kaye was going to be there to play for a dance after the meeting. My frieds left the meeting and proceeded to the bar in the Broadwood Hotel, where the meeting was held. We went there to wait for the ballroom floor to be cleared of the chairs and set up for dancing. None of us ever got there, however. While the bar was full of PE employees, some others crept into our midst because they saw all these "cute chicks" as I was told. They went from one to the next, talking to them and generally having a social visit. When most of the crowd left to go dancing, we stayed at the bar, visiting each other. Two young men sat down on the empty stools beside us, and we started chatting. Time passed and we never did go dancing, and it was time to leave for home. Ann Kertis was the driver, so I left with her. In the course of the conversation, I did tell one of the young men, Bob, what my name was and that I lived in Sharon Hill. You can imagine my surprise the following week when I received a call from him. He had looked up all the people with my last name, calling one after the other until he reached my Uncle Walter who told him the number to call to reach me. He did, we talked, made a date, and went dancing that Friday night. He was such a nice fellow that I invited him to escort me to the Country Club dance the following Friday. That was at McCall Field, the company's country club for employees. We did have a nice time, so Bob asked me to be his guest at his fraternity picnic the very next day - May 15th. We went to New Brunswick for that picnic and met his fraternity brothers and their dates. It was a lovely Spring day and we had a great time. While we were there, Bob asked me to marry him. He pinned me when I agreed. That was the start of our wonderful life together. We married a year later in September, and in 2005, we had a great family celebration for our 50th anniversary. All four children were able to attend and it was so very special. Lots of pictures to commemorate that big day for us.