Nanny and Jidu

May 16, 2020. Jane and Abe came into my life around 1989, after Dena graduated and we began dating. She was working for Kimberly-Clark in Appleton, living in an apartment not far from Jane and Abe, and I would make short visits to Appleton from Milwaukee, some as short as a few hours, up and back the same day. Those trips would often include visits to 617 Cambridge, including a visit to their living room with Dena when I told them that I wanted their permission to marry Dena. As I recall, they were a tad concerned because the request did not include a ring -- not at that moment -- because one of the things I had learned from my father and several brothers was the tradition or courtesy for the husband to be to ask the prospective father-in-law for his daughter's hand in marriage. Again, to the best of my memory, everyone was satisfied and the date was st, November 17, 1990.

Jane and Abe always made me feel at home. Even before we were married, after a meal at Cambridge, they took it as a positive sign that I felt comfortable resting/napping in one of their lounger chairs. Their lives and marriage had so many fascinating aspects -- from where and how they were raised, where and how they met, when they moved and how long they lived in Iraq, how they returned to Wisconsin and then Appleton, and Abe's teaching at Lakeland and Jane's life in nursing homes and their management.

Dena and Jane arranged the wedding with a binder-organized disciplined that impressed even as organized a person as I am. This left Paige and Ed happily out of the details. And this allowed me to stay completely out of the weeds, other than to line up a best man (Marquette's Joe Fox) and two groomsman (Jeff Cunningham from Binghamton and Forbes; Bobby Friedmann from the universities of Kansas and Georgia) for our relatively small wedding. One of the features of the wedding planning was to have the cheese cake that was included in the meal instead of a wedding cake. And, as it was deer hunting season, we had unusually midl and sunny weather and great rates on the hotel, rooms, band, and more! Thank you, Wisconsin! Most important, thank you Jane and Abe!

Thirty years later and it has been a kind of Dr. Suess experience, "Oh the places you'll go!" After only eighteen months in our Appleton apartment, we headed out for three years in Arkansas and Georgia, before landing in Maryland for almost twenty-five years, from June 1995 to September 2019. The 'places' we went included California, New York, Texas, Kansas, Pennsylvania, Italy, England, Stone Harbor (New Jersey!), Florida (Disney World! Sun City Center!), Virginia (Busch Gardens) and more. Perhaps our most eerie trip was the drive from Conway, Arkansas to Dena's job in Atlanta. Driving through northern Mississippi a few days after a crippling ice storm left major portions of the state without power. There were trees and power lines down, stores, gas stations and entire small towns closed, and closed roads. We stayed mostly on the interstate system, but found some very quiet moments off the main road.

But the real journey and the greatest blessing came with parenthood. First Jane Paige in February 1996 (right after one of the most powerful snow storms to ever hit the northeast) and then Gaby in November 1998, the day after a lovely drive in the fall foliage of central Pennsylvania. Both girls have been the heart of our joy for the past twenty-five years. Their lives, accomplishments, personalities, decisions, and overall thirst for life bring us daily joy and reminders of our blessings. In 2020, in the pandemic, they continue to amaze us and, with their presence in our self-imposed isolation/quarantine of the past eight weeks, we have had time to discuss and share family memories that keep on bringing us joy. We had a very good 'run' at 601 Oak Farm Court and Dena and I know that it will always be 'home' for Jane and Gaby, but the future blessings and joys are to come.

For now, I can be most thankful for being here in Harrison, in a warm, safe, new home, near Jane and Abe, away from Loyola and Baltimore. It is easy to imagine how difficult life would be today were I still working at Loyola and we were living in Baltimore, a thousand miles (in awkward flight connections) from Jane and Abe. Harrison has been a wonderful landing spot for my retirement and wonderful Dena found an interesting job, one that really matters today, just before the pandemic lockdowns began. We are blessed to have room in Harrison for Jane and Gaby, along with Dena's office, and we are very fortunate to have excellent home WiFi and cellular data for our phones, along with easy access to well-stocked Target and Pick and Save.

There's more: We have our health and our good eating and exercise habits. We have Zoom connections to family and friends far away. We have helpful neighbors, who cleared our driveway of snow and provided yeast for Gaby's baking, while offering all sorts of services and support to our neighborhood. We have parks and places to walk. We have safe streets and little traffic. We have digital access to just about everything we need and pick up, take out and delivery of other necessities and more. I ordered hoses and sprinklers from Menard's online and picked them up the next day at dawn in their large drive-in warehouse. Yesterday, after Jane and I escaped the onslaught of lake flies in Riverview Park, we picked up three loaves of scrumptious pumpkin chocolate chip bread -- one loaf gone by the end of that day -- from Great Harvest in Neenah, salvaging our trip. And they took touch-free Apple pay, so the absence of my wallet was not a problem for the purchase.

And the blessings continue to flow: Our extended Lorenzi and Qastin families are healthy, safe and secure. Fr Hank's ministry has been a remarkable life line, with his week day 7:35 a.m. Mass and his Thursday Fireside psalms, along with his inspiration by email and phone. I have developed a habit with the daily Divine Offie, primarily reading and listening to the mid afternoon and late afternoon psalms, songs and readings. And there is the occasional online Mass on Saturday morning from Toronto, rosaries from Lourdes or Hillsborough, a rare sermon from Fr Carl at Holy Spirit, and weekly visits to see Carl in the Kimberly church confessional.

Last night, Dena and Jane Paige spent ninety minutes at Cambridge, helping Abe and Jane plant and water flowers in their bountiful garden. This is one more example of those 'small' family events and memories that bring us closer together and cause us to appreciate our lives, our blessings, our family and all of the gifts God has provided us for scores of years. Amen.