College Reunion

Jim's fraternity had a reunion last weekend in conjunction with the Iowa State vs. Kansas football game. We drove up to Ames on Friday, arriving in time to check into our hotel and freshen up before going to the Iowa State University Alumni Building to meet up with the guys and their significant others. Some people we had not seen in nearly 40 years, while others we met as recently as the Total Eclipse in August. It was great to catch up, and it helped that I am Facebook friends with a number of them. It certainly makes it easier to break the ice.

Alpha Sigma Phi

While we had beautiful weather on the drive up to Iowa, all of that changed once we got to Ames. There was a gentle mist on Friday night, but Saturday's forecast was 100% chance of rain. And rain it did. We tailgated with the group at the motor home of one of the fraternity brothers before heading to our seats. The last thing you want to hear on a crappy day is the announcement of a 30 minute start time. Fortunately we had heard the forecast and came somewhat prepared, but even with some rain gear on it was not the most fun I've ever had. We watched the first half of the game and enjoyed the halftime entertainment before taking off for somewhere dry and warm for a late lunch. Iowa State was leading 24-0 at that point. The final score of the game was 45-0. Wow!

Meredith Mansion

After lunch we drove to Des Moines with another couple, meeting up with some friends who live in the area. Jim and I spent Sunday walking (or perhaps I should say driving) down memory lane. We found the school where I attended kindergarten, stopped by Holy Trinity which was our home parish and where I went to school 1st-7th grades, and checked out Meredith and Hoover where I spent 8th-12th grades. Then we drove to St. Mary of Nazareth, where my family attended church when the new parish was established in 1964 on 11 acres of what had been Meredith (of Meredith Publishing Company) farm. This is where Jim and I were married, and had our reception in what was once the Meredith family mansion.

Des Moines house

We also visited my old home and stopped at nearby Woodlawn Park where I spent so many hours first as a child and later with my niece and nephews or children I was babysitting. The house has been repainted and the park totally redone. It all goes to show that while you can go home again, home may not look like you remember it.

Laboring Day

Women in Focus show

We had a very busy Labor Day weekend, beginning with the opening of the new Women in Focus photography exhibit on Friday night. I have three photos in the latest show, which is being held at Tavern of Fine Arts in St. Louis. Jim and I arrived around 5:15, needing to get there early as we had another commitment that night. There was already a nice crowd in place, so we grabbed a drink and walked around admiring the photos. Neither of us had been to the Tavern before, and it seems like a fun place to have dinner and then enjoy live music. We definitely want to go back when we have time to do that. The show will be up until the end of November, so perhaps we can make it before then.

Alpha Sigma Phi brothers

From the Tavern we headed back west to Kirkwood to the home of one of Jim's fraternity brothers. Several of the guys and their wives were in town for the holiday weekend, so they invited us to join them for a barbecue on Friday night. I was contributing a dessert, so I had to think of something I could make that would be okay in the trunk of my car for a couple of hours in 90 plus degree heat. I settled on making lemon bars, adding the dusting of powder sugar to the top once we got to our destination. There ended up being six of the fraternity brothers there (three of whom are brothers by blood as well, along with their younger sister who was also a Little Sister in the fraternity just like me and one of the other wives.) The fourteen of us enjoyed reminiscing about our time at Iowa State and some of the shenanigans that went on while we were there. It always amazes me that you can go 30 plus years without seeing classmates, whether college or high school, and still pick right back up where you left off. We had a great time!

On Saturday Jim's mom & dad along with his sister and her husband arrived from Iowa for the weekend to celebrate the occasion of his mom's 85th birthday (a few weeks early, but this is the only weekend that worked for everyone.) My other sister-in-law was also due to arrive from Kansas City, but unfortunately she became ill and was unable to make the drive. After church on Sunday, my sister and her husband and my niece came by to join us for dinner and cake. They all have known Jim's mom for over 30 years, so it was fun to have them celebrate with us. My mother-in-law's favorite cake is angel food, so I found a recipe where you add chopped maraschino cherries to the cake mix prior to baking. I just wanted to make the cake a little special. It rose nicely and looked beautiful when I took it out of the oven and flipped it over to cool while we were at church. When we returned home, it had flattened to half of its size! I have never had an angel food cake do that, so I don't know if the added cherries caused it or what. But of all the times for that to happen...The good news is that the cake was still tasty, and we all had a good laugh about it.

birthday cake

lighting the candles

After the house emptied on Monday morning, I cleaned up the kitchen from breakfast and then did the linens from five beds and all the towels. Labor Day brought much laboring for me. The Wolterman B & B turns over again on Thursday when my cousin and her husband arrive from Cincinnati for a wedding. They have never been here before, so I am eager to show them the house. After I get it all back in order...

If Tomorrow Never Comes

We learned today of the death of Paul Gassman. Gus, as he was called by the Alph Sigs, was a fraternity brother of Jim's at Iowa State. They were in the same pledge class, and I became a Little Sister of the house the same year. Paul was always full of life and fun, with joy bursting from within every time he opened his mouth. A deeply religious man, he was a great student despite majoring in the tough curriculum of mechanical engineering. He married a girl from the pom pom squad immediately following graduation, and they had a son nine months later. When she inexplicably left him two years later, we were all stunned. He was handsome, built, had a great job and was truly the nicest person I have ever known. What's not to love?

Luckily he met Crystal some years later, and they married and had two little girls, who I think are now about 9 and 11. My brother's wife died when their children were 3, 6 and 9 so I know what a tough road Crystal has ahead of her. I don't understand why the truly beautiful people of the world have to die and the people that are ugly inside and out go on existing. My thoughts and prayers are with the Gassman family as they try to make sense of something that clearly seems nonsensical.