Past, Present and Future?

1982-2015

Yesterday, my son-in-law, Roland, emailed me pictures of his sons sled riding. It immediately triggered memories for me. I knew that that particular sled had been photographed many times over the years and that it had special memories for me from my own childhood.

A Flexible Flyer sled,
 from 1936, within the
permanent collection of
 The Children's Museum of Indianapolis.
Credit: Wikipedia

When I was a child, one of seven in my family, we had three wooden sleds of various sizes that we shared among us. At some point, I inherited the one pictured above. It was in pretty rough shape.

Fast-forward to 1982 and I was a single parent to Elizabeth and had recently started dating my now husband, Bill Reed. Bill had some skills, and I wanted to have him rehab the sled for Liz at Christmas. Bill replaced a couple of the boards and varnished the whole thing. We also wrote to the company that made the sled and they provided us with a new "Flexible Flyer" decal. The first two pictures on the upper left include Bill, me and Liz when we gave the sled to her. I'm sure it meant more to me than it did to her. It brought back memories of my Dad.


When our first grandson, Ian, came along, we decided to pass it on to him. I cherish the picture of Bill with Ian making final adjustments to the sled. It snowed here in Cincinnati, and Liz, Roland and Ian took advantage of the fresh snow with the old sled. Ian, in the pictures with the brown hat, delighted in this new experience -- as did Grandma with camera in hand.

So on January 31st, 2015, new pictures arrived in my inbox. Andrew, pictured on the bottom right in a blue hat, clearly loved his ride on the sled. Pictures of Ian on the "new" green plastic sled were also included, as well as a couple of videos. I guess I'm sentimental, but these traditions mean far more to me than any other kind of gift. On this date, I am grateful for my many blessings.

Ian's Preschool Graduation

It seems hard to believe, but my "super-great, special extra, grandson #1" aka Ian, graduated from preschool on May 19th. This weekend he will celebrate his 5th birthday. Where has the time gone? I'm not ready for kindergarten -- but I know he is.

Ian and friend

Ian has attended the same preschool since he was an infant. The staff is very caring and competent and he has flourished there. The church held a lovely ceremony that featured two musicians from Tennessee who were top-notch performers. The graduates entertained us with two songs including "This Little Light of Mine." Bill and I were privileged to attend and be a part of the day.

Roland and Andrew

The only downside was that grandson #2, Andrew, was not feeling well. He snuggled into his parents doing everything he could to feel better. Grandma Kathy can't help but look at this picture and want to hold him.

His teachers warned us -- in no time at all, we will be attending their high school graduations. Believe me, I can wait.

Bill's 77th Birthday!

"Congratulations on making it to a day neither one of us thought you would live to see."
                                                                              My husband's cardiologist when Bill turned 70.

Anyone that knows Bill knows that he has definitely beat the odds. He had his first heart attack when he was 42. He's had several since resulting in two triple-bypass surgeries and one double stent insertion. Among family and friends, we often joke about Bill "threatening" to be dead and never following through. He just keeps on rollin' . . .

I met Bill 32 years ago this month when I was a divorced, single parent of a not-quite-three year old daughter. The fact that we've been married for 26 years was definitely NOT in the cards. Who knows how these things happen.

We've had a wonderful life together. We've had the opportunity to camp our way from coast to coast of this beautiful country and Canada and travel overseas several times to Europe and once to Israel. We are very compatible travelers and wish we could do more. We spent 30 years sailing on weekends and had a  wonderful group of  friends who shared this passion with us. In recent years, we've replaced that hobby with  cycling along the Little Miami Bike Trail. Bill has logged almost 6000 miles on his "comfort" bike.

Bill is supported by several men friends including the members of C.A.K.E.S. (Coffee and Kibitzing Every Sunday) and his "Monday Lunch Group." I've never encountered such a caring group of men.

I have to admit that I'm in an unusually reflective mood as we reach this milestone. There are so many things I could discuss -- Bill's daughter in Tennessee, Liz, Roland and the two wonderful grandsons we have, the three dogs we've shared (Scruffy, Anchor and Zippy), but something else is on my mind this year.

A couple of weeks ago, my daughter told me that her son, Ian, was asked in Sunday School to draw a picture of someone he loved. He explained to his parents that despite loving them, he had chosen to draw a picture of Grandpa Bill because Grandpa Bill had given him some yellow trucks. These trucks were vintage die cast trucks, probably from the 50s. Ian loves his trucks -- and needless to say, Grandpa Bill loved hearing the story. So it made me think of one of my favorite pictures.

Ian and Bill walking into Heather's wedding, July 2011

So happy birthday, Bill. I know you are loving your life right now. Just keep on rollin' . . .

Love,
Kath

My Love/Hate Relationship with Christmas Trees

This year I REALLY didn't want to put up my Christmas tree. My 63 year-old body protests at the thought of bringing all of the boxes down from the attic, assembling the parts, stringing the lights, putting on the ornaments and cleaning up the fake needles from the floor. In addition to all of this, it's the memories that put me in a melancholy mood . . .

Memory #1:

When I recall the Christmas trees of my youth, I can't help but recall how excited we all were to decorate the tree. The rule in our house, however, was that we could not do anything until Dad strung the lights. He was an electrician, after all, and the lights weren't LED lights as they are now. It was probably best that he string the lights. I remember anxiously waiting for him to get finished -- then we could have at it. The style back then was to hang "icicles" from all of the branches. As kids, we didn't have the patience to place them one at a time on the branches, and I'm sure Mom followed behind us "fixing" everything we did. The trees were always "live." I searched through photo albums and found this picture of my brother, Ted, and sister, Karen, in front of a tree when we lived in Golf Manor. It was our "cowboy" phase. I bet there are a lot of you who grew up in the 50's who remember that time well.

Ted and Karen in front of our tree ca. 1958

Memory #2:

In 1959, we moved to Pleasant Ridge. This was truly the home of our youth. The arrival of Dan in April of 1959 made it nearly impossible for us to continue living in the small three-bedroom Golf Manor home now that we were a family of eight. It was sometime during that period that I'm sure Dad became perfectly happy with relinquishing some of his "tree" duties. It was also during this era that Scotch Pines became the preferred tree in our family. I have numerous pictures of me, my siblings and my cousins, all lined up in birth order, in front of those trees. I was even able to find one of Dad showing off his new robe. (Note Tom in the lower right-hand corner).

Memory #3:

I'm sure that tucked away in my memory are several examples of Christmas trees that I put up with my husband at the time, Bob. I'm sure we enjoyed putting up a tree for Elizabeth's first Christmas. But what I REALLY remember is the Christmas of 1979. I was newly-divorced with a one-year old baby. I was in no mood to celebrate Christmas, but felt I HAD to get it together for Elizabeth. So I took my newly-single self over to the Blue Ash YMCA, bought a live tree, and brought the thing home. (To say I didn't care about it is an understatement). I lived in a second-floor apartment. I tied a rope to the tree, hoisted it up and over the balcony railing and decorated it. I'll never forget the feeling. Having accomplished that, I felt for the first time since my divorce that I would "make it" as a single parent.

Memory #4:

Fast forward about ten years, and I'm now married to Bill. Bill has never had a love of putting up Christmas trees, partly because he could never buy a tree that was the "right one" for his ex-wife. Once he literally brought home three different trees before she was satisfied. Besides, he's Jewish, so he could cop out on this Christmas tradition. Add to that the fact that I am allergic, and I do mean ALLERGIC, to Christmas trees. Decorating the tree always meant long sleeves, gloves and a great deal of itching. I turned into a "witch" -- or you can substitute your own word. About 20 years ago in frustration, I left Liz with Bill and went down to the local "Big Box" store and bought an artificial tree. If you can believe it, I put up the SAME tree today.

Memory #5:

Christmas 2010
Ian was 2 1/2 years old

Christmas 2010, we moved into a new chapter. Liz and her husband, Roland, blessed us with our first grandson. Bill and I pulled out all of the stops. The tree went up and so did the train we bought for Liz 23 years earlier. Anything to make Ian's Christmas special.

Which brings us to Christmas 2012. Oh, how I dreaded putting up the tree. Fake knees and hips don't lend themselves to this kind of activity. I wanted my Dad to "string the lights" one more time.

I've got a new grandson, Andrew, and I want his first Christmas to be special. So I got myself together and put up the tree -- one more time. I'm thinking this year will be the perfect year for Roland and Ian to help Grandpa put the train up -- I'm sure you would agree.

Merry Christmas 2012 to all of my family and friends. 

                                                    Kath

I Promise Not to Turn This Into a "Mommy" Blog

Everything You Need to Know Can Be Learned in Preschool

Ian is the third one from the left in this picture.  I love how his arms surround everyone.

My grandson, Ian, loves his preschool.  He has some wonderful friends there. Every day you can get a full report on the activities of Ian and his friends.

My daughter just shared some precious pictures that were taken of Ian and his friends at school by their teacher.  In deference to the parents of the other children, I will only identify Ian.  I just felt they were too priceless not to share.

Here is a collage of Ian and his friends.

What can I say . . .  Grandma Kathy loves him.

Photo Credits:  Ian's Preschool teacher in Columbus, Ohio.

Ian Meets Andrew

Yesterday my newest grandson, Andrew, was one week old. Now that he is tube-free, my daughter and her husband were allowed to bring Ian to the hospital to meet his younger brother. He was not allowed to come into the NICU, but his parents were able to alternate holding the baby at the window so that Ian could at least see him. My son-in-law sent us some pictures and I just had to share them. Ian was given a "Big Brother" shirt for the occasion. In the first picture you can just see Ian's anticipation. In the second, it is apparent that he seems to be happy with the result.

Roland and Andrew

How I Love Halloween (And Made My Mother Pay for It)!

Roland, Ian and Liz

As many of you know, I am the oldest of seven children.  When I think back on my childhood, it didn't get much better than Halloween!  FREE candy! Costumes! Laughter! Racing from neighbor to neighbor at night!

The Halloween I will never forget happened when I was six years old -- one of the best ages for trick or treating.  A day before the annual ritual, I came down with chicken pox.  (My grandchildren will have to google it).  I was miserable.  If you can believe it, MY VERY UNREASONABLE MOTHER WOULD NOT LET ME GO TRICK OR TREATING!  Are you kidding me?  Well, I'd show her -- I probably remember that Halloween not so much for what I didn't get to do, as much as what I did.  I don't remember EVER behaving so badly.  I threw a tantrum.  I kicked. I screamed.  I blamed my mother.  It was her fault, wasn't it?

Well, now I'm 62 years old.  I still like Halloween, but I wish I didn't have to get up and down from the chair every couple of minutes to give candy to children I don't know, hoping to have just enough candy so my husband and I won't eat the leftovers.  Some of the costumes were cute and a few of the kids took me back in time, but I feel a little bah-humbuggy.

My Urban Cowboy, Ian

Maybe it would be better if I lived closer to my daughter's family.  They've sent me pictures.  How can these not get you in the mood?



Ian and Preschool Friends

Well it's now 7:32 -- less than a half hour to go. There was a lot of traffic at first, and I sent my husband for more candy -- candy that it now appears we didn't need. I hope your Halloween was a happy one and that you made a wonderful childhood memory for some little kid. Anyone for a Reese's cup?

A Day in Eden

Cincinnati is known as the city of seven hills.  One of my favorite hills is one called Mt. Adams. There is a special city park nearby called Eden Park.  It has more than one view of the Ohio River.  The river is high now, but thankfully, not flooding like what is happening on the Mississippi. 

Today I got to spend with my grandson, Ian.  Of course, I had to take him to Eden Park so we could check out the river and the view of the bridges connecting Cincinnati with northern Kentucky.  If you want to make a "river rat" you must start working on them when they are young.

Since the last time I was there, the Park Board has installed a delightful play area close to the overlook.  It was perfect weather for Ian to explore all of the challenges the play area had in store for him.  One father from Puerto Rico was there with his two daughters and a neighbor.  We all had a great time.




One of the reasons we headed to the park is that it is also the home of the Krohn Conservatory. Each year, the Krohn Conservatory sponsors a butterfly show. This year, the show featured butterflies from Brazil. Each of the children was given a "flower" to wear on their finger to try to entice the butterflies to land on them. (Since I am a former science teacher, I immediately recognized an experiment. I wondered which color "flower" was most likely to attract the butterflies. What other variables, in addition to color, would have an effect on which "flowers" were selected by the butterflies)?

The one thing I did not anticipate was that Ian did not want to attract the butterflies to himself. He seemed OK with them landing in my hair and with other kids showing him butterflies they had "caught" -- but I never could convince him to try to catch one for himself.

It was a great day to be a Grandma!

Bill Reed's 75th Birthday!

Kath and Bill
Photo Credit:  Mark Jones

Today is my husband's 75th birthday!  This, in itself, is quite an accomplishment.  Bill suffered is first of many heart attacks when he was 42 years old.  He's had two triple-bypass heart surgeries and double stents put in. And yet yesterday we indulged in one of our guilty pleasures -- riding our bikes the eleven miles to Loveland.  Bill has always loved exercise, and his cardiologist would be the first one to tell you that that is the reason he is still here.

Bill is my second husband.  He has one daughter, Julie, from his previous marriage.  We met when I was a divorced single parent of a less than three-year old daughter.  When we started dating, my daughter who was used to having me all to herself, did not feel like we needed anyone else in our lives.  He hung in there, however, and we were married 5 1/2 years later.

Roland, Bill, and Kathy on Elixir

Bill is NOT defined by his health.  One of his favorite passions was sailing.  For more than 30 years, Bill spent just about every weekend from May through October on whatever boat he had at the time.  As I grew up in a family of "stink boaters," having a sailboat was "heresy." Now our son-in-law, Roland, is Elixir's owner and captain.

We have been married for 24 years.  Not only was Bill a "father" to my daughter, but now has the privilege of being a "grandfather" to Ian.  I've been blessed by knowing him for thirty years.  The joke in our family is that Bill is always on the verge of "dying."  When we decided to get married, I was led to believe I'd only have to make it through a couple of years (since he'd be dead before too long).  Not only have I shared most of my adult life with him, but we've also been able to travel together all over the United States, Canada, Europe and Israel. He is the BEST travel companion.  We know how to accommodate each other's health issues.

So I wish the best for Bill as we move forward from here.   I'm grateful for the wonderful partner he is.

Ian, Kath, Bill, Roland and Liz - Easter 2011
Photo Credit:  Mark Jones, Nephew

Love

Kath

Easter 2011

I love the holidays -- in my family the holidays mean family.
Easter 2011 was no different.  My brother, Tom, and sister-in-law. Linda, once again agreed to have us over.  My daughter, her husband and my grandson came down a couple of days early, giving Ian and me the chance to color Easter eggs.  Ian is a huge fan of the color "green."  Can you tell?


My brother, Ted, entertained all of us by showing up in a 1949 Packard.  Thankfully the predicted rain did not arrive or I'm sure we would have had to go to great lengths to keep the spots off of the car.



Of course, the Easter Bunny showed up.  We didn't have as many of the next generation in attendance as usual, but those who were able to come had a wonderful time.

I understand that my great niece has made it her mission to determine who is playing the Easter Bunny.

Easter represents new birth and resurrection, as does spring.  This year I planted a couple of azalea bushes in honor of my mother.  She would always say that the azaleas were in bloom on Derby Day -- the first Saturday of May.  Thanks to my son-in-law, the bushes and some of my other spring flowers were captured in pictures.  Oh, how I love this time of the year.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and is enjoying spring on this, the first day of May.

My Son-in-Law, Roland - AKA Clotbuster

Roland the Clotbuster

Today is my son-in-law's birthday.  As you can see from the picture, he is many things.  In addition to being the husband of my daughter and father of my grandson, Roland is passionate about educating the public about blood clots and how to prevent them.  He is a triathlete who uses his races as a vehicle for increasing awareness. You can check out his blog by clicking on this link: http://clot-buster-triathlete.blogspot.com

My daughter, Liz, met her future husband while attending DePauw University in Greencastle, IN.  Roland has an interesting personal history.  His full name, Imre Roland Varga, reflects his Hungarian heritage.  Roland's parents, Imre and Ildiko, defected from Hungary at the height of Communism.  It is a story in itself.  They eventually ended up in Venezuela where Roland was born.  In his family, it is traditional for the first-born son of the first-born son to be named "Imre".  Thus, my grandson Ian's full name is Imre Ian Varga.

After graduating from high school in Venezuela, Roland's parents thought it would be important for him to become proficient in speaking English.  Never mind that he was fully bilingual already -- English is the language of business.  So they arranged for him to be an exchange student in Evansville, IN where he attended an additional senior year of high school.  The family Roland stayed with in Indiana encouraged him to consider attending college in the United States.  The husband was on the Board of Trustees for DePauw and, as they say, the rest is history.

Roland, Liz and Ian

Liz and Roland started dating their Junior year.  As Roland wanted to be an electrical engineer, he had to complete his education at Washington University in St. Louis.  Their relationship was not an easy one to maintain as Roland had to transfer to St. Louis and eventually got a job in Kansas City.  Liz, meanwhile, spent a semester abroad in London and returned to Cincinnati after graduation to pursue her Master's Degree in Genetic Counseling.  During two summers, Roland stayed with us as he pursued summer internships.  We feel so blessed that the two of them hung in there and became the parents of our beautiful grandson.

So here's wishing a happy birthday to Roland.  Who knows what we'll be able to write about by his next birthday.

Love,
The In-laws -- Bill and Kathy

Traditions

Every Christmas I feel like I "have" to make the kind of cookies pictured at the left.  Grandma Ryan used to make them every year.  They were part of our annual Christmas Eve at her house, along with "brown" or "red" cows -- a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a cup with either root beer or "red pop" poured over it.  My favorite cookies were the ones pictured in the middle of the plate.  They are made with a cookie press and then the ridges are covered with sprinkles. They are light, crisp, and have a great texture.

When we were over at Tom's on Christmas day, I recognized a little rocking chair in his family room.  I asked him to remind me of its history.  He told me that the rocking chair had once belonged to my Dad's Dad, our Grandfather "Pop."  Tom has made a point of photographing each of his grandchildren in the chair.  I wish I had photographed the chair empty, but I did flip it over and take a picture of the underside. You can see the original slats that made up the seat of the chair.  Over the years, many of the slats broke and my Dad fitted a plywood seat over the remaining slats. 

So, of course, I had to coax Ian into the chair. He politely accommodated me, but was too involved with the blades of a play helicopter to look at the camera.














Ian's cousin, Mark, played with him by sending "Thomas, the Train" back and forth on the floor.  Ian loves his "Choos" (trains).











I have many pictures of all of us -- too many for a blog -- so I may update this post with another photoshow in a day or two.  Meanwhile, here is a picture of "my" branch of the family.

Liz, Ian, Roland, Santa Don, Bill and Kath