Last November, my aunt Rose passed away--and the next month, her husband, my uncle Elton, passed away, too. They were such a loving couple, married for 67 years and so caring toward one another, their own family, and all of us in their extended family. I have only fond memories of the two of them.
Rose and Elton lived in Colorado, as did most of their children and all their grandchildren. This weekend their kids and grandkids traveled to North Dakota for a memorial service for Rose and Elton in Battleview, where Rose and my dad (her brother) and their family first lived--and where Rose and Elton later were married.
Rose had let her kids know what she wanted at the funeral, and they honored her wishes. It was such a meaningful ceremony. Rose and Elton's kids are all great musicians, and they and some of their children provided all the music for the service. Each of Rose and Elton's kids spoke, too, sharing beautiful memories of their parents. It was all so touching and perfectly expressed just how great Rose and Elton were and what an impact they had on others.
After the service and burial in Battleview, we all gathered in Tioga at Neset Consulting, a business with a large community room that groups can rent for events. Regina Lalim from the Side Street Diner catered, so everyone could focus on visiting and catching up on one another's lives while sharing stories of Rose and Elton. It was not only a celebration of my aunt and uncle but also a demonstration of the closeness of our extended family.
(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)
Rose had six siblings, three of whom had already passed away. The remaining two are my uncle Alden (left) and my dad, Arlo (right). Next to Alden is my aunt Connie, widow of my uncle Ray. Next to Dad is his cousin Tammy, whose mom, Bea, was a sister to my grandma, Olga. (Also in attendance but not pictured: my aunts Goldie and Janet.)
My Moberg cousins: Rose and Elton's kids, nieces, and nephews. We were missing five: two who had earlier attended Rose and Elton's memorial service held in Denver, two who could not make it from out of state, and one who has passed away.
Rose and Elton's children and grandchildren except for one grandchild, his wife, and their child, who were not able to attend. In the front row are Rose and Elton's kids, my cousins Randy, JoAnn, Renae, and John.
Notable Events
When Susan was shopping in Grand Forks on Wednesday, she bought lobster tails for us to make for the family at Dad and Beverly's as a fancy meal for New Year's Eve. However, Dad and Beverly had already arranged for us to meet others for a nice supper at a restaurant tonight, so we prepared the lobster for dinner at noon instead! They were delicious with melted butter for dipping, roasted asparagus with hollandaise sauce, and creamy garlic potatoes.
Although yesterday was Dad's actual birthday, we celebrated it with him today instead because yesterday we all attended my first-cousin-once-removed's wedding and reception in Bowbells, ND (remember?). This morning Beverly made us a big breakfast, and then we went with them to her church in Tioga. The last time that we attended there, the pastor and church musicians and Beverly all asked us to sing for church the next time we were there; so this weekend we came prepared to do so. We provided "special music": I played piano while Susan and the girls sang "Come to Jesus," a song that we performed together most recently for Susan's grandma's funeral. Then it was back to Dad and Beverly's for dinner before "birthday company" arrived.
The McGregor, ND centennial celebration wrapped up today with a focus on Zion Lutheran Church, which also is 100 years old now. Our family provided music for the church service in the morning and the program in the afternoon, so it turned out to be A Very Moberg Day at Zion.
I grew up on a farm not far from McGregor, ND; and both the town and its church--Zion Lutheran, which I attended while growing up--are celebrating their centennials this upcoming weekend. So for months we have been planning to return for the celebration, as have my out-of-state sisters Cathy (OR) and Sandy (NE). Little did I know, until today, that they also have been planning a surprise birthday party for me, which is why they encouraged us to go to Dad's a day early (the centennial events start tomorrow, but they planned the party for this evening)! Susan was "in on" the party plans and collaborated with my sisters, even utilizing the time that I was in Chicago last month to bake and freeze a bunch of sweet treats to contribute to the spread for the party.
What Susan didn't realize until tonight is that she, too, was a guest of honor for the party!
Not even a full week after this extended family get-together, we had another one tonight. And this one was in Dickinson, so no travel required! My cousin Darren's daughter MaKenzie and her fiancé Kenny got married in an outdoor ceremony beside the lake, followed by a supper and dance at a hotel in town . . . and I've got all the photos you've been waiting to see!
We're spending the night at my dad and stepmom's in Tioga. We came up today to be able to attend a party this evening for my cousin and her husband, who are celebrating their 25th anniversary. Wanna see some photos?
Okay, okay, I know: yet another weekend without a Scandinavian Saturday supper prepared by yours truly! Two weekends ago, I made Scandinavian Sunday breakfast instead; and last weekend, I made Scandinavian meatballs on Saturday that we ate as part of a Scandinavian potluck supper on Sunday. Although not technically Saturday evening meals featuring Nordic dishes created by moi, those culinary events qualify in spirit, at least.
In a similar way, tonight should "count," too. We drove to McGregor, ND to attend an open house for my cousin's daughter, Paige, who is graduating from high school tomorrow. We stopped by my dad and stepmom's home in Tioga first to visit, and then we followed them out to Paige's farm and enjoyed a delicious meal cooked by Norwegian-Americans . . . which is why I'm "counting" that food for this week's Scandinavian Saturday supper!
Some of my readers will immediately understand how deliciously moist this cake was and how rich and wonderful the frosting was as soon as I mention that it was baked and decorated by a Wolla. (Sandy and Cathy, you know what I'm talking about, right?)
We got to visit with several relatives and neighbors near whom I grew up and/or with whom I went to school. I hadn't been to Paige's dad and stepmom's house for many years, so it was fun to see the remodeling and redecorating that they have done. Paige's dad, my cousin Darren, had a significant divisible-by-ten birthday last month, and for that occasion, his wife bought him a fun and zany gift: a Dodge Charger tricked out to resemble the General Lee, the car driven by the main characters in the '80s TV show The Dukes of Hazzard. Its horn even plays the same bars from "Dixie" as those played by the car on the TV show! Darren gave the kids rides in his car, which was a big hit. Our daughters also enjoyed meeting and playing with the other little kids who were there; Susan and I didn't see much of our kids until it was time for us to leave because they were so busy playing outside with their new friends.
Dad visits with Paige, his great-niece (and my first cousin once removed).
This is Dad's brother, my uncle Alden, with his wife Janet.
And here I am with Dad and Alden's sister, my aunt Penny, who is Paige's grandma.
We bid our farewells and then made a quick stop to see the oil wells that have gone up on the land near Dad's farm. There's a lot of oil field activity in that area, as in all of western ND, and it's interesting to see how much the landscape changes from one visit to the next with more and more drilling rigs and pumping units everywhere we look.
P.S. It was just three years ago that we attended the open house for Makenzie, Paige's older sister, when she graduated from high school. Time flies!
Friday night when the phone rang, the caller ID showed a Dickinson number, so I certainly wasn't expecting to hear the voice of my aunt Rose on the other end of the line! She and my uncle Elton live in Colorado Springs, CO, but they happened to be calling from their hotel room here in Dickinson! They had decided at the last minute to accept an invitation to attend the wedding of one of Elton's relatives here. After checking into their hotel, they phoned us to find out if we'd be free to see them while they were in town. What a terrific surprise!
Rose laid out their plans: my aunt Penny (her sister) would drive down from McGregor Saturday (yesterday) to accompany them to the wedding in the afternoon and reception in the evening. She would stay overnight and then go with them to the Medora musical Sunday evening (tonight). That meant that they'd have this morning and early afternoon free, and Rose wondered if they could come to church with us and afterwards stop by our house to see our home and visit. We happily agreed!
As it turned out, our family was already scheduled to provide "special music" at both church services this morning, so I suggested that Rose, Elton, and Penny come to the second service, after which we could lead them to our house. They got to hear the five of us singing an arrangement of "Hymn of Promise" (melody: the daughters; harmony: the parents), which went very well. Afterwards I gave them a brief tour of the church and then hopped into their vehicle with them so that I could talk them through a little driving tour of Dickinson, showing them points of interest related to us (the girls' schools, the university, etc.). Susan and the girls took our vehicle home, and the girls were waiting patiently at the end of the driveway when Rose, Elton, Penny, and I finally got home.
When we stepped into the foyer, a wonderful aroma washed over us, and it was clear to them that Susan had prepared dinner for them. Rose, Elton, and Penny had planned to look around our house and then ask us to join them for brunch at a restaurant, so they were pleasantly surprised to learn that we wanted them to join us for a home-cooked Sunday dinner. (On the phone Friday, I hadn't mentioned that we would cook for them today, but I thought that that just went without saying. After all, we're Mobergs; that's how we roll.)
But first, the girls and I gave Rose, Elton, and Penny a very detailed tour of the house, narrating extensively as we walked from room to room. They seemed to like our home, complimenting us on our decorating choices and remarking how fortunate we were to find a house so perfect for us in size, in proximity to our schools and workplaces, and in terms of the quality of our neighbors. (And we concur!)
Then we sat down to eat. Susan planned the menu, bought the groceries, and started preliminary food prep yesterday afternoon; and last night, Hillary and I set the table with a white tablecloth and cloth napkins with napkin rings and china from Susan's mom and silver flatware from my mom and candles and stemware and a crystal water pitcher. For dinner today Susan served chicken baked in a garlic cream sauce, mashed potatoes with the cream sauce as gravy, steamed fresh asparagus, wheat bread with butter, and a fresh fruit salad. She baked a lemon meringue pie this morning and served it for dessert with coffee. (It was her first lemon meringue pie, and it turned out great! Juice and zest from fresh lemons in the filling with a splash of limoncello to boost the flavor, and a sweet and fluffy meringue on top.)
It was so wonderful to have my aunts and uncle as dinner guests! It brought back many great memories from my childhood of meals with extended family during gatherings for birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, and holidays. It was nice to visit with them over a leisurely meal with phenomenal food. The time came too soon when they had to leave for Medora (in order to take in a few sights before the musical), so we whipped out the multiple cameras for the multiple poses in multiple configurations--just the little girls, just the aunts and uncle, now the girls with the aunts and uncle, now me with them all, now Susan with them all, now just the girls with Susan and me, etc. (again, we're Mobergs; that's how we roll).
For the indoor set of photos, Elton was the photographer. Left to right: Rose, Suzanna, Penny, Abigail, me, Hillary, and Susan. (I think Rose looks a lot like my grandma [her mom] in this photo. Family, do you agree?)
Before they left, Rose thanked us for the opportunity to see our home. She said that, from now on when she hears family news about us, it will be fun for her to be able to picture our house in her mind and imagine the girls' playing in their bedrooms or our making food in our kitchen, and so forth. Then it was time for hugs, kisses, a few more photos, and lots of waves from our front steps as they backed out of the driveway and drove off. Their visit totally made our weekend! Thank you, Rose, Elton, and Penny!
For the outdoor set of photos, Susan was the photographer. Left to right: Elton, Rose, and Penny. The weather is beautiful today with a comfortable breeze, so I'm sure they're enjoying their time outdoors in Medora.
Three generations of Mobergs! (Rose and Penny are my dad's sisters.)
Do you know the song "Wedding Song"? It was an immensely popular choice for weddings throughout the '70s and into the '80s. My sisters and I, throughout our teen years, used to sing for/accompany other singers on the piano for/play organ for a lot of weddings around northwest ND, and "Wedding Song" was often among those songs that we were asked to perform. I haven't heard it at weddings in recent years, but my cousin's daughter Rachelle selected it for her own wedding this afternoon--a nod to tradition, perhaps! (The song is also known by a repeated phrase within its lyrics: "There Is Love." That explains the title of this post!)
If you don't know the song, or if you haven't heard it in a few years, it's worth it to watch this 1970 performance by the man who wrote the song, Noel Paul Stookey (of the folk music group Peter, Paul, and Mary).
Anyhoo, Rachelle and her fiancé Jason got married today, and our family traveled to Tioga, ND for the wedding. We got to Tioga early enough to stop at the The Drive In (clever name for a drive-in restaurant, huh?) to pick up potato salad and broasted chicken to take to my dad and stepmom's home for dinner at noon. Beverly and her sister-in-law were at a baby shower, but Beverly's brother and my dad were home, so we ate with them. After we got cleaned up and dressed up, we left Dad's home an hour before the wedding to make the 15-minute drive into town. Susan couldn't figure out why in the world we would want to be at the church 45 minutes before the wedding.
But, to Susan's surprise (but not to mine), the church was already quite full when we arrived, and we ended up sitting halfway back from the altar . . . and on the groom's side, no less (no room for us on the side of the bride, my actual relative)! I leaned over and told Susan that we should have left Dad's house even earlier. She rolled her eyes in disbelief at the presence of so many people so early before the wedding and stated that no one should be at the church 45 minutes before the wedding except the wedding party and the photographer! Hey, this is how people roll in northwest ND.
It was serendipity that, despite our "late" arrival (45 minutes early), I ended up seated at the end of the pew right on the aisle, so I was in a good position for taking pictures (we Mobergs take a lot of photographs at get-togethers). This one is of the aisle runner for the wedding. Zion Lutheran Church in Tioga has red carpeting in the sanctuary, making the gauzy white runner look somewhat pink. The blue rose petal was one of many dropped by the flower girl as she processed up the aisle (the wedding colors were royal blue and lime green).
That's the groom, Jason, in the lower right-hand corner. At the opposite end (on the left) is his brother and the best man, Jordon. The little blond guy toward the middle is Nicholas, the bride's brother (and my cousin Brenda's son).
The two women at the right are the bride's sisters. Farthest right is Meghan, the maid of honor; and beside her is Katrina.
Here's a closeup of Katrina and Meghan.
Rachelle was escorted up the aisle by her daddy, Rick.
Here are Rachelle and Jason being presented as a married couple to the congregation.
"You may now kiss the bride." And our daughters may now put their fingers up in front of their eyes and giggle and squirm in the pew.
After the wedding and the receiving line outdoors, the bride, groom, and wedding party left the church atop a fire truck! Jason is a volunteer firefighter, so he got one of the fire engines for the day, and some helpful gentlemen on the ground used a stepping stool to help all the be-gowned bridesmaids climb aboard for a quick drive around town with the sirens blaring. While they did that, I had my ladies pose inside the church entrance for a pic.
Afterward Jason and Rachelle had a reception and wedding dance at the Tioga Farm Festival Building, which they had decorated with a couple professionally printed posters (like this one) on the walls, tons of ropes of pretty blue lights on the walls and columns, and blue and green decorations and ribbons on the tables.
The tasty cake was pretty, too--and huge! They also served salted nuts, Hershey's Kisses in blue wrappers, punch, and coffee. Of course, this was all supplemental to the meal: pasta salad, fruit salad, pudding salad, buns, ham, corn, Swedish meatballs, and mashed potatoes and gravy. Delicious! (And with the Swedish meatballs, tonight's meal qualified for Scandinavian Saturday, too!)
Pretty background for the table at which the wedding party sat and enjoyed their meal. Meghan did a fine job offering a toast to fulfill one of her duties as the maid of honor. Particularly sweet, though, was the best man's toast. Jordon had written it out, enabling him to make the jokes that he wanted to make while still wrapping up on a serious note, telling how sincerely happy he is for Jason and how much he loves him. Jason stood up and gave him a lo-o-o-ong hug, and Jordon buried his face in Jason's shoulder and cried. It was so touching that I'm tearing up again just writing about it!
Here are all the Gohrick cousins (my aunt Penny's grandchildren): my cousin Darren's daughters Makenzie, Paige, and Shantell; and his sister Brenda's children Rachelle, Meghan, Katrina, and Nicholas. (Darren and Brenda's brother Jerry has no children.)
By the way, Darren and Jerry served as ushers for the wedding; Brenda (the mother of the bride) joined her daughters Meghan and Katrina in singing for the wedding; you already know that Meghan, Katrina, and Nicholas were in the wedding party; Makenzie was one of Rachelle's personal attendants; Paige was a punch pourer; and Shantell was a wheat attendant. I have a funny story regarding her job:
As we left the church, Shantell handed us each a packet of wheat wrapped in a small square of gauze tied with a ribbon. Abigail asked what it was for, and I told her it was to throw at the bride and groom. She said, "But won't that hurt?" Apparently Abigail didn't remember previous weddings at which we have unwrapped the packet of rice or wheat or bird seed in order to toss the grains into the air above the bride and groom's head rather than pelting their bodies with the hard little grain balls themselves.
Turnabout's fair play; at the reception, Susan had me pose with the lovely ladies.
Here I am with my dad. Do you see any resemblance?
I got to dance with Susan and with each of our daughters before we headed to Dad and Beverly's to spend the night. (Beverly made us all tasty late-night snacks: popcorn, ice cream floats, sundaes, etc.) During one dance with Susan, the DJ kept sending couples off the dance floor with commands such as, "Okay, if you're dating but not engaged, go sit down," "If you've been married for less than a year, go sit down," "Less than five years," and so on. With our 16th wedding anniversary coming up next month, Susan and I lasted a while on the dance floor before having to leave. The last couple remaining? My aunt and uncle Rose and Elton, married for 52 years! The DJ told Rachelle and Jason to take a look at the longest-married couple left on the dance floor and aim to be like them.
Between dances we were able to visit with many friends and relatives. As it happened, most of the relatives at the wedding and reception/dance were ones we had just seen at the Aune reunion last weekend! But there were others, too, including my second-cousins Kim, Val, and Jeri, with whom it was fun to catch up.
Aren't they cute?! We wish you all the best, Jason and Rachelle!
We're back from yet another busy weekend! We spent the Memorial Day weekend at my dad's farm and got to see my sister from Omaha, NE, also visiting for the weekend. Here's a photographic recap of the weekend:
On our way out of town Saturday morning, we stopped at the cemetery where Susan's mom, Sue, is buried (a sad anniversary: Sue died 10 years ago this past January). Susan and the girls had decorated Sue's grave a few days earlier but had trouble getting a wooden cross into the ground, so I helped with that and then had the blondes pose. The pretty ladies are as colorful as the pretty flowers surrounding them!
My sisters and I take turns buying flowers for our mom's grave, and this year it was my sister Cathy's turn. Because she lives in OR, she ordered this beautiful arrangement for us to pick up from the flower shop in Tioga, ND on our way to Dad's. After we got to Dad and Beverly's and exchanged hugs and kisses with them and Sandy, we all headed to the cemetery to decorate Mom's grave and visit the graves of other relatives buried there.
Here are the beautiful blondes posing with me at my mom's grave. What you cannot see are the swarms of mosquitoes that defied the wind and persisted in attacking us the entire time we were at the cemetery.
Here are my sister Sandy and I at Mom's headstone.
We brought a belated Mother's Day gift for Beverly: flowers in purple, her favorite color. Beverly has a couple shepherd's crooks in the front yard from which to hang plants, and these purple flowers looked nice hanging there this weekend.
We brought an early Father's Day gift for Dad: a bird feeder made to look like a barn (since he lives on a farm). We also brought bird seed, and we filled the feeder and hung it on a shepherd's crook near the flowers. Both yesterday morning and today, little yellow and gray birds enjoyed the feast!
At the end of fourth grade for Suzanna, I gave her my trombone (remember?) so that she could take band lessons last summer and then join band in fifth grade. Well, Abigail's fourth-grade year is winding down, so Sandy--who drove to Dad's from Omaha--brought her saxophone for Abigail to use for lessons this summer and band in the autumn. Isn't that nice?! Here's Sandy demonstrating how to put together the instrument. (By the by, when it's time for Hillary to start band, she will play the flute that was Susan's when she herself was in band. Aren't we s' good to recycle?)
Beverly's great-granddaughter Cady spent Saturday night at the farm. Her dad brought her out Saturday evening, and her mom picked her up Sunday morning. In between, Cady did a lot of sleeping . . . but we still got a little playing in! She's a good-natured baby.
Suzanna and I made supper for Scandinavian Saturday! It was interesting to do so in somebody else's kitchen, but Beverly told me where to find things, and it all turned out well. Appetizer: shrimp and crab salad -- rye/caraway crackers and garden herb crackers -- dill pickles; Main Course: Swedish meatballs in gravy -- steamed baby potatoes in butter and fresh dill -- creamed peas with fried onions and bacon; Dessert: angel food cake -- homemade whipped cream -- homemade fruit sauce of strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries simmered in the juice of a lemon with sugar and cardommom added
Sunday night Beverly made a big supper of ham, scalloped potatoes, creamed corn, sweet potatoes, and salads, and Sandy baked an apple/rhubarb dessert. Beverly invited her son and his wife (Dennis and Julie) as well as my aunt Penny (Dad's sister) to join us. The photo above is of Dad and Beverly relaxing after supper.
And here's Dennis.
And here's Julie.
And here's my sister Sandy, the dessert baker.
And here's my aunt Penny.
And here's Bandy, Dad and Beverly's puppy. She was thoroughly overstimulated this weekend by the girls and me, so she's probably enjoying a quiet night tonight. Susan, the girls, and I stopped in Tioga on our way home from Dad's and enjoyed a supper of chi-chi burgers, onion rings, French fries, and vanilla malted milkshakes at the Bobbi Sox drive-in restaurant (remember?). We still had enough time to get to Dickinson well before dark, meaning it was a lot easier for me to see the numerous deer standing along the roadside the entire way home. But we're home now, safe and sound, with fond memories of another busy weekend.
P.S. Compare this year's Memorial Day weekend at the farm with last year's.
P.P.S. See my sister's take on the weekend here, here, and here!
My cousins' grandpa Morris died last week; he was 99.5 years old! Because I spent a lot of my childhood at my cousins' house, and because Morris was always there, he felt a bit like my grandpa, too, when I was growing up. I attended Morris' funeral this afternoon in Tioga (Susan and the girls stayed behind; they all still have school). One of the things that Morris was known for was his ability to recite selections that he had memorized long ago, including the Gettysburg Address, which he would often deliver with great expression at patriotic gatherings such as programs for Memorial Day or the 4th of July (he's even been featured on the news doing so). In honor of that, the minister recited the Gettysburg Address today in much the same way that Morris often did. It was a nice touch that everyone who knew Morris understood as soon as the minister began with "Four score and seven years ago . . ."
The ladies from Morris' church served a delicious lunch after the funeral, and in the room where Dad, Beverly, and I ate (Dad sang a song for the funeral), we watched a slideshow, set to music, that featured photos from throughout the years including family as well as farming: from the implements that Morris used when he started farming in the '20s (which required horses to pull them) to the huge tractors and other machinery that Morris and his family were using when he retired from farming a couple decades ago.
Morris had two sons--both deceased now--the younger of whom was my uncle Jerol, married to my dad's sister Penny. For supper Penny invited the extended family to the Jungle, a restaurant in Tioga, and I snapped a buncha pics. Here are some highlights for those of you tuning in to see photos of the family:
my aunt Penny, Morris' daughter-in-law
Dad and Beverly
my cousins Brenda and Jerry, two of Morris' three grandchildren (Penny and Jerol's children)
Darren (Morris' other grandchild; Penny and Jerol's other son), Brenda, my cousin Myrna (Dad and Penny's brother Shine's daughter), Dad and Penny's cousin LeeAnn (their dad's sister's daughter), Penny's hair to LeeAnn's right, Morris' niece in front of Penny, and Brenda's son Nick in front of Darren
my step-aunt Janet (Shine's wife), Wanda (Jeff's wife), my cousin Jeff (Shine's son), and Myrna
We had a very relaxing morning. The girls played: with Christmas gifts, with Cathy's Wii, with Bandy, with toys in the house and in the garage, etc. The adults visited and made a big brunch: smoked turkey scrambled eggs by me, French toast by Susan, and caffè latte by Cathy (using the espresso machine that she gave Dad last year). Aunt Penny came out to visit, too, and before we left, we snagged a photo of three generations of Mobergs:
Suzanna, Cathy, Dad, and Penny on the couch; Abigail, I, and Hillary on the floor
The grandkids.
In the afternoon we set off for the eastern edge of the state, and I had the displeasure of driving through weather that got windier, colder, and more drizzly as we approached Grand Forks. But we're happy to be here in East Grand Forks, MN, where we're spending a couple nights with friends (Jay and Erin) whose family was one of several "game night" sets of friends (along with Jesse and Nicole and Rob and Laurie) when we used to live here. (Monthly or often more frequently, we would have a game night at one of our homes. We'd eat and then send the kids away to play the night away while the adults enjoyed beverages and played Catch Phrase or charades or a board game that inevitably got more and more entertaining as the night wore on and the beverages kept a-flowin'!) In fact, shortly after we arrived tonight, Jesse, Nicole, Rob, Laurie, and their kids showed up, too--just like old times! It's good to be with them again for the weekend.
I also had the opportunity to meet up with a couple good friends whom I haven't seen in a long time: Mishka and Darin. We met at the Italian Moon, a restaurant where Darin and I used to go frequently for late-night snacks, and we caught up a bit on each other's lives. Darin is in a Ph.D. program in OH, and Mishka recently got a graduate degree in nursing and is working as a nurse practioner. Darin had just been out tonight with another mutual friend, Michael, with whom both he and I had once been in a musical called Monky Business II: Back in the Sandals Again. So Michael joined us, too, and he's the only one of the three with whom I have a photo (Mishka had his camera along). Michael has an acting career that's going well in New York City, NY. I'm sure he owes it all to me. Or something like that.
Michael and I at the Italian Moon. When Suzanna was but a youngun, one night Michael and Darin were over to our house snacking and watching TV in the family room downstairs. Sleepy Suzanna came wandering out of her bedroom, saw a blond man seated on the floor at the end of the hallway, toddled out, crawled into his lap, and fell back asleep, thinking she was snuggling with Daddy. It was Michael! He mentions it each time that I see him.
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