The Marcus Blanket

got my greg marcus blanket (and an email i got back in august when i was asking for them) - Yaya 

Gone too Soon

Horrible news reached us this afternoon.

When YaYa moved to her first apartment a few years ago she befriended Mike Somer, her older neighbor across the hall. I know, your mind goes immediately to "creep" but it wasn't like that.  He was genuinely kind and cared about her as a friend/surrogate daughter, and we all got together for a 4th of July BBQ at their apartment complex last year. 

 As YaYa is fond of telling me,  he told her I seemed much too nice to be a lawyer lol. 

The two stayed in touch even after she moved to her new place.  This was their text last week:

It was to be their last communication. Mike was found dead today in his apartment during a welfare check.

He was nice to my kid and made a positive impact in her life.  That's enough in my book to make him, in the words on my Grandma, a Good Joe. He'll be in my prayers. 

RIP 

Benny

beautiful boy🐈 - Lulu

30 Years Ago

30 years ago today, on New Year's Day 1994, I watched my Wisconsin Badgers defeat the UCLA Bruins 21-16 in the Rose Bowl. 

I watched the game from the living room in my friend Tre's family home. By my recollection we followed it up with a two VHS Metallica concert that was part of a box set Tre bought. 

That Rose Bowl was the culmination of Madison's resurgence under Barry Alvarez. All my life the Badgers had been a joke, relegated to having their pre-taped games broadcast on public TV later on Saturday nights. As of that day though, they were a team to reckon with in the Big Ten. 

Their rise coincided roughly with the Packers returning to contention too, and both franchises suspended 30 years in the spotlight, with only a rebuilding year every now and then. Quite the change from my youth. 

Two Things Worth Remembering

I wanted to post this snippet of conversation for two reasons. 

One, to forever immortalize the day that Junie first utilized her driver's license by being out on her own. She spent New Year's Day evening driving to her friends house, then driving to Lisa's work where the two girls visited for a while, followed by a few errands before Junie dropped off her friend and headed home.

Second, and more importantly, it shows the love and trust that Lulu has for her baby sister.  

Good job to both of you!

Happy New Years

Happy New Year Ya’ll - Smiley

Movies 2023

everything i saw in theaters, 2023 .I enjoyed Polite society, ballads of songbirds and snakes, and thanksgiving the most i think-  YaYa