First off.
Hi. Good morning. Thanks for stopping by. :o)

Second.

If you are not reading the comments. Start reading now.
People leave great quote and links and information in the comments.
And they leave loads of love and wisdom too. So read them.
Your life will be enriched. I promise.

This weekend we learned that a Quiet Life reader is personal friends with the folks who make those wacky hats.
I mean. Come on. What are the odds?
You can find out more about that family on big guy hats dot com.


Third.

I went down to Wheaton over the weekend to wish my Uncle Mel a happy birthday!
His son Paul invited all of the cousins and their families. It was a wonderful idea!

How great to be together for a happy occasion!!

(For my sister's: paul, richard, heidi, carol, donald, michelle and three children, andy, jim, nancy, j.r., linda, uncle mel, loretta, emma, katie and me.)

We grew up very close to our cousins. We have very strong bonds and many shared memories.

Paul and Heidi (Paul's darling wife) made a slide show of old pictures and movies.

I absolutely LOVED every moment.

I got to see my parents dancing together.
I got to see my Grandpa again. Grandpa Glyman died in 1968ish.

He was so handsome. The way he danced with our Grandma...oh my...
I can see where all the boys got their love for dancing.

The clip of them all dancing in the living room....in their suits and ties.
Our mother wearing her silver dress. (The silver dress we played dress up in)

Oh. So young. They were young and beautiful.

Lots of pictures of Richard and Paul's parents and brother's and sister.

Happy sweet beautiful children; jumping on the bed, swimming in the pool, walking on the beach. Uncle Mel's babies.
In four/five years we have had to say goodbye to Jim and John and Karen and Aunt Sunny.

Yes. It has been a hard few years for the cousins. And for Uncle Mel.
But we really are family in the best way.

We love one another and care about one another and for one happy Saturday we celebrated together.

There should have been dancing. There was plenty of talk about rock and roll....
but we should have danced to honor those who danced before us.






Emma took the train to Wheaton. If you have ever lived in Wheaton you know about the In Between Popcorn shop.
The girls went in. Katie got penny candy.




Then we drove past our house on Whitman Lane.
It looks beautiful.

My room. Top left.




See that tree? It's a birch tree. I planted it in 6th grade. Arbor day tree. (You know those little sticks they give you!)
I am proud of that tree.


That is a lovely garage door now. We did not have that door. It's pretty.
The crab tree is gone from the middle of the yard. It's good.

What a nice house. Good memories. Sad memories.

That's life.



Happy Birthday Uncle Mel!

Love you.
Mean it!

****

Later that night, Katie and I drove Emma home to Uptown.
(ha. emma drove.)

Sunday we had breakfast at Ann Sather's, went to the church Emma attends in Lincoln Square and found a spot to watch bits of the Chicago Air and Water Show.

After an hour of diving around we found a nice spot on a quiet street to park.
Just so happened to be 3600 Lake Shore Dr. Our grandma lived at this building.

There was something about that lobby I'll never forget.
It was very Mad Men.

The Thunderbirds were very loud and put on a great show.

(I couldn't be that close to the Thunderbirds and NOT stick around to see them.)

So that's how I spent the weekend.
Reminicing with some of my favorite people in the whole world.
Hanging out with my favorite daughters in the world.


Love Always,
Donna


Edited.

Always love,
Donna