Fifty Years

Fifty years ago today my parents were married in a small catholic church in Northern Wisconsin. Along with the five couples in attendance, their two ushers, two flower girls and a ring bearer, the couple was married in front of a packed church in the old traditional Polish way, making it an all weekend affair.


Being the good catholic couple they took their duties to heart and quickly had a son, followed by two more sons within four years and then the highlight of their marriage when I finally arrived (ahem). A few four years later my baby brother arrived and our family was complete.

We grew up in the country raising chickens and a huge garden, nix that two huge gardens full of produce that my mother diligently canned. The chickens we butchered each year saving a few hens back for eggs (henny penny).

We, my brothers and I, grew up in the 60's and 70's amongst the Vietnam war and the civil rights movement. Life was truly guarded for us as I remember little of these conflicts. Our summers were spent building our cabin up in northern Wisconsin just a half mile from where my dad grew up and about five miles from where my parents were married. Each weekend we would pack up the station wagon or truck and head up north for the weekend.

We cleared the peninsula, made roads, built flagstone and concrete steps down to a swimming hole, picked rocks out of the swimming hole and camped. ALOT during our summers. Most weekends were spent at the bunkhouse either building it, or making the surroundings better.

We all worked our way through high school, some of us moving on to college others into the work force and one brother entered the air force. We are all married, and following their example have given my parents ten grandchildren and one step grandchild to help keep them young.

My father retired at 55 (I believe) from the Federal Aviation Association (FAA). A job he took after serving time during the Korean War in the Air Force (stationed in Alaska, poor slob). My mother stayed home and raised my brothers and I until my youngest brother was in school at which point she began substituting for the school food service in our school district. Within a few years she became the director of the school food service program and retired just a few years back at the age of 65.

My father has always been an avid outdoors man. In his younger days he hunted and fished and I remember rowing a canoe for him to fish or ice fishing in the winter with him. He, after retirement, decided it was his goal to plant at least 1000 trees for each year he was on this planet. A goal he has surely surpassed as my brothers would probably agree they have helped plant a lot of trees for him over the last twenty years. My father continues to enjoy electronics, the field he was employed in and enjoys the Internet and lately collecting rare coins.

My mother has always been an artist. She always had some sort of project for us to work on, whether it was polishing rocks or cutting glass bottles in half to make wine glasses my love of art came from her. In recent years she began chain saw carving and relief carving and most recently carving in the round. She enjoys her chickens and having coffee with her friends.


I've watched my parents work through 45 years of the good times and bad and through it all they stuck together and made it work. That was why when it was time for me to make a marriage commitment, Jack was an easy choice because well, 1) he asked me but 2) he came from a very familiar background. His parents will celebrate their 55th wedding anniversary this fall.

Mom and Dad congratulations and thank you. Thank you for all you have given me, thank you for you support, thank you for instilling me the right moral values and thank you for sticking it out. I love you with all my heart!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY