Blast from the Past

 In preparation for the memorial, Pam asked if I had any pictures of mom and dad. I began by looking through the box of photos in the basement. I thought it would make me feel worse, but the opposite was true. Last winter was so dark and scary and sad. It did me good to see pictures of sunshine and laughter. I found many pictures of good times. Here are just a few, in chronological order.

1985: I adopted my first and best cat, Fruitcake, a.k.a. Bubby, whom I found in the woods at camp.

Dear, sweet Bubby

c. 1987: Jane and I took Hilda and Dad on a trip to the Boundary Waters.

 I have no idea what we were having for supper, but we sure were proud of it.

Haute cuisine by the campfire

I loved canoeing! I loved the wilderness and the feeling that all I needed was in a few packs at my feet. So liberating!

So young! So tan!

Jane and I at the monument marking the border between the U.S. and Canada on the Monument Portage.

Monument portage

1991: After Dad decided he’d had enough of sleeping on rocks, we recruited other friends to take his place. We went for several years, but I’m only included two pictures from this year’s trip.

Bottles and cans are prohibited in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness. Here is a picture of Hilda portage two 5-liter boxes of Franzia Mountain Chablis. At the end of a day of portaging and canoeing, it tastes wonderful. Not so much when you are at home and better wine is available. (Note: this particular portage is through a parking lot at Trail’s End Campground. It is the only paved portage in the BWCAW.)

Hilda carrying the wine on the "asphalt portage"

On this particular trip, Hilda and I had new canoe shoes—khaki-colored, high-top canvas shoes. Aren’t they lovely?

New canoe shoes--Hilda would call them "fetching."

1994: Mom and Dad came to visit Jane and me for the holidays while I was in graduate school. I grew my hair out so strangers would stop calling me "Sir."

New Year's Eve with tiaras and top hat. 

Jane's cat Meggie supervised Hilda's quilting, which was very helpful, as you can imagine. 

Hilda and Meggie

Doug and Pam still have this quilt. There's a funny story that goes with it. Hilda appliqued all of the leaflets on the quilt squares by hand using "teeny tiny" stitches. She usually worked in front of TV so she wouldn't fall asleep. One evening, she stood up and realized she had sewn the leaflets and square to her shirt! All those teeny tiny stitches had to be carefully pulled out. In Hilda's words, "The air was blue!"

1996: I officially finished my PhD in December, 1995, but came back from North Dakota, where I was post-docking, for the spring graduation ceremony. This is the whole family.

The whole famn damily for my PhD graduation ceremony

1998: Terry and I were married in Buffalo, NY, where I was teaching at SUNY College at Buffalo (originally and still generally called Buffalo State College).

In the courthouse

The weekend after the wedding, we took Hilda, Dad, Terry’s mom, and his sister Iris to the Carousel Museum in North Tonawanda,

The Carousel Museum

The Maid of the Mist boat tour of Niagara Falls,

Maid of the Mist ponchos, which we carried around in the car for rain emergencies for years

And the Botanic Gardens in Lackawanna.

Me, Hilda, and my new mother-in-law, Minnie 

Later that summer (1998): Hilda and Dad continued to take trips to the Boundary Waters but switched to renting a cabin from Dave and Nancy at Hungry Jack Outfitters. The summer after our wedding, there was a terrible storm. The following day, Hilda caught the Walleye of Legend. Apparently all the little fish were blown into the bay by Cabin 1, and the predators followed. She was very excited! She ate it for breakfast.

The Walleye of Legend

2001: A happy moment in the old house in Portage, MI.

Mom and Dad

2002: Hilda and Dad visited us at the Girl Scout Camp where Terry was site manager. Della helped Hilda with her quilt. She was more actively engaged than Meggie. It's a cat thing.

Hilda and Della

2012: I took Hilda and Dad to the Boundary Waters for the last time. At 82 and 86, respectively, they still wanted to hike. They were truly remarkable.

Hiking near the Boundary Waters