3 Score & 10 Years Ago...

...on September 10, Henry Verhoeven unloaded 25 tons of copper metal for his job.  He worked only half a day on September 10. It was an important day for him.

His betrothed, Lorraine, had the day off from her waitress job a Sweet Shop of Lakewood, CA.

They were married at 6 PM that evening.  It was a small ceremony at his parents' house on Artesia Street.  His sister and brother stood up for them.

Pops and Grandma's Wedding Photo.
(As soon as I figure my scanner out, I'll change it to the real photo.)

They left for their honeymoon in San Francisco that evening, but once they arrived, they didn't even get out of the car.  They just turned around and drove back home. Though they cannot recall why, they speculate they were too scared to get out of the car in San Francisco.

Pops and Grandma with Dale

Last month, we celebrated my grandparents' 70th wedding anniversary.  Such a fabulous weekend!  Most family guests flew in on Friday night.  Saturday many of us spent the day at Pops and Grandma's house.  The hours passed quickly as I looked through photos of Pops and Grandma through the years, and of my mom and her siblings as a child.  I came across a photo of Pops as a boy with his family just after they'd arrived in America from The Netherlands and photo of Grandma's grandmother! Bonding and laughter filled the room as we passed photos and listened to Pops & Grandma share their memories.

Pops and Grandma's children from left to right:
Glenda (my aunt), Pam (my mom), and Dale (my uncle).

Jace and I were best friends as kids.  Really.  I promise.

Saturday evening we went to dinner in Belmont Shore.  (Most of the pictures below were taken there).  Ty and I enjoyed a nightcap with my cousin and childhood friend, Jace.  So great to catch up!

30ish years later.
Even though he doesn't remember our bug collections or spy games, I still love him.

Sunday morning came much too quickly.  We filled the back pews of Rosewood Church where Pops and Grandma have attended since my mom was a child. After a cake reception at church, we enjoyed lunch at Claim Jumpers. From there, most of us headed to the airport to catch our flights to various places across the US.

Jeff, Mari, and Audrey.  

With my favorite niece.  Think we both have the head tilt mastered?

Love my parents.  

My sweet husband.  I love that he loves my family.

Taking care of Grandma, our daughter's namesake.
This picture will be framed in Lainey's room.

The whole family.

There is nothing like family.  And I feel so fortunate and blessed to have Pops and Grandma to look up to.  They are the first to say that marriage is hard work. They made it because they are committed to each other, to their marriage, and to God. Not to mention, they each have a sense of humor.  Pops will tell you how proud he is that Grandma "kept the weight off all these years." And Grandma will tell you after 70 years their marriage is finally falling apart because Pops needs the heater on all the time.  They've experienced the ups and downs of life together. Pops worked hard to provide for Grandma, and theirs' is a rags to riches story.  They've traveled the world together.  They've suffered the death of their only son together.  Through it all, they have never let the words separate or divorce enter their conversations.

Pops and Grandma are a testament of devotion, hard work, and love.

Thanksgivings Past & Present

This is a holiday season like no other.  It defies any sense of tradition, and Thanksgiving was no exception.  We don't really have a Thanksgiving tradition, evidenced by the following chronicle of the Thanksgivings since the year we were married.


2004 - Went to Portland together.  It was our last family get-together with Uncle Dale before he passed.

2005 - The only Thanksgiving we spent at our Tacoma 6th Ave house.  We enjoyed dinner with a teacher I worked with, Jenny, and her husband.  We just got Mia, our first attempt at having a puppy.  Later, we gave her to Ty's mom, and what a blessing she's been to her.

2006 - I had to take the week prior to Thanksgiving off because I had pneumonia and bronchitis.  We had Thanksgiving at Ty's second high school family, the Wilsons.   Bryce's mom, Marilyn, was also very sick.  Neither of us had a voice, but it felt so good to be welcomed into their home.

Here are Bryce and Ty (two years prior).  They'll always share a history and bond.

Later, we celebrated both Thanksgiving and Christmas with Ty's parents.  This was my first turkey dinner, and it turned out all right.  I went to the local cooking shop and said, 'I have get to cook dinner for my in-laws.  What the hell heck do I do?"

2007 - We brought take-out turkey dinners to the hospital.  We sat in a hospital room in silence, looking at our meals.  This was the day before Ty's dad was transferred to hospice.  Exactly one week later, he passed.

2008 - Just the two of us in our condo, and we made it romantic.  Ty's mom was spending Thanksgiving with Billy (his brother) and Trisha on the East Coast. 

2009 - Just the two of us in our condo.  Still romantic, but being the second year in a row, I was a little sad.  (You may notice I didn't even bother to put on make up in the picture.)
 

2010 - This year we planned for 4 guests up until the Monday before Thanksgiving: Marsha, Aaron (Marsha's boyfriend), and Aaron's dad and dad's wife, who we would be meeting for the first time.   I was pretty darn excited, and had the table set a week in advance.

 

We had an unusual bout of winter weather and were fortunate enough to have the entire week of Thanksgiving canceled due to icy road conditions and multiple power outages.  Thankfully, we had power. 

One thing led to another, and by the time Thanksgiving rolled around, we had a grand total of 12 guests.  Ty invited a teacher from his school and her son.  I invited Dave, Brenda, Liam, and Eryn - my pseudo-sister and her amazing family.  And the night before we discovered that my former co-worker, Tony, and his wife Kim did not have plans either, so what the heck, the more the merrier.  And merrier it was.  It was a blast.   I only had one minor moment of panic, right before dinner was served.

I didn't mention Tanner, our friends' dog, who we were watching for the holidays, in the list of guests.  She's hiding under the table.

I've often wondered what I have to offer others, and this year I discovered how much I love to open our home to others. I am grateful for our home and the opportunity it provided us this Thanksgiving to reach out.

A Walk Down [Winter] Memory Lane

Inspired by, obviously, our rare winter weather today.

Learning to drive.  My dad taught me to drive in the ice/snow as if there were an egg between my foot and the gas pedal that I didn't want to break.  I can still hear his voice when I drive in the snow.

The Christmas Village.  My mom and I set up her "Dickens Village" together every year.  And my dad and I would go to the local "boutique" in Sunnyside to pick out a new shoppe. (Yes, there was a boutique in Sunnyside, which I am quite confident has since gone out of business.  Anyone remember Hopfengarten Gallery in the Mini Mall?)  This was my Christmas present to my mom for many years.  When my parents moved, my mom let me keep the village.  There are newer, updated villages out there now, but none top this one.  This year's display:

Manheim Steamroller Christmas CD.  This must've been one of the first CD's my mom bought. Ty doesn't care for it much, but it reminds me of growing up.  I could listen to it year 'round.

Snow Days.  They weren't called often because we knew how to drive in the snow on the east side of the mountains.  The best snow days were when Grandview and Sunnyside Christian had them called on the same day.  Nothing beat movie marathons and walking around on the icy streets with friends.

Basketball Practice (never, ever canceled).  We'd start our cars during the last water break of practice because they took at least that long to defrost.