Dad turns 94 amidst Social Distancing

Social Distancing - noun, medical definition: "the avoidance of close contact with other people during the outbreak of a contagious disease in order to minimize exposure and reduce the transmission of infection." (Merriam-Webster online dictionary)

A short 3 months ago, I had never heard this term. Now, it dominates our lives. Case in point ... please see the photo of Dad's 94th Birthday Party below:

Dad sits in his driveway between 2 (of his 3) loyal and dedicated caretakers, Lynn and Susan, as Nancy, Helen and I bring him birthday wishes while wearing our COVID-19 face masks. No hugs. No cards. No giant birthday luncheon at his office. Instead, we practice Social Distancing of 20 feet.

In hopes that Dad could see it, I created a crude 3 foot by 5 foot Birthday Card and laid it in the driveway.

Sigh ... maybe we can have a real Birthday Party later.

The World Turned Upside Down

April was COVID-19 Stay Home month.

Based on Orders issued by our former across-the-street neighbor, and County Medical Officer, Dr. Gianfranco Pezzino 

as well as one issued by our former down-the-street neighbor, and current Kansas Governor, Laura Kelly

we stayed home all of April.

Helen cooked. We both did laundry and cleaned the house ... sort of. Except for a few brief trips to our offices, and some walks and bicycle rides, we stayed home. Whether Constitutional or not, we complied with their Orders. Most people did. Oh yes, I occasionally attacked the Crow Links in the back yard ... 

but was still not able to improve my putting.

Fortunately, at least so far, COVID-19 has only impacted a small percentage of Kansans. Regardless, we will remember this as the time our World Turned Upside Down. I think most people will.

COVID-19

On Leap Day, Jonas and Teresa left in a blur to return to Barcelona to rescue their RV. They made it just in time.

The next day, on March 1, 2020, I saw this at the local Walmart Neighborhood Market.

A smart person would have run home and sold all of their stock. I'm not a smart person. Two weeks later, the paper products and cleaning supply shelves looked like this:

Ten days later, I moved my office to our basement.

March was all about COVID-19.

February ... Jonas and Theresa visit - California for Valentine's Day

We jetted to California to give Valentine hugs to the 3 cutest grandchildren EVER.

We had a blast!

On our flight home, we saw our first Coronavirus (COVID-19) mask. It was February 18, 2020. Little did we know how much our world was about to change.

Lucky for us, Jonas and Theresa had decided to visit. They had arrived on January 28th and planned on a long visit as they worked on their Masters' Thesis. They are always fun and interesting. They had parked their RV in long-term parking in Spain, feeling it was safe and secure. Their trip was cut short when they learned their RV parking lot was going out of business ... in three days! Bummer. Since they left in such a hurry, I only got a few photos.

February was a blur.

72nd Wedding Anniversary

Today would be my parents' 72nd wedding anniversary. In their honor, here is a short musical video of them during our Father's Day visit to Branson in 2011.

The video was taken on a moving Dinner Train and epitomizes their joy of life ... at 86 years old. Happy Anniversary to them.

Thanks to Andy Crow for the video.

Dan turns 68

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of my 18th birthday, I chose to honor the event by remembering my first legal beer. It was with my father and consumed at Por'e Richards Cafe, 900 SE Quincy Street, Topeka, Kansas. Dad invited me there for a beer. Just the two of us. Here we are 50 years later.

Helen made me a triple chocolate cake.

I ate it.

Christmas 2019

Christmas Eve

Christmas Day

Fun stuff.

Oma is buried next to Opa

It was 2 years ago today that Oma died peacefully in her sleep with Helen and me at her bedside. As per Oma's specific instructions, her body was whisked off to KU Medical Center to be used for medical research. Her cremated remains were recently returned to us. Placed in a special box

and without great fanfare ... we buried Oma in the company of her good friends, the Hassetts, whose two sons are buried nearby.

Helen was able to securely "tuck her in" immediately next to Opa.

Congratulations, Helen. You fully and completely honored your mother's wishes.

By the way, I was super impressed with how well Helen handled the shovel. Opa and Oma would be very proud.

Thanksgiving Weekend .... a real sleeper

Thanksgiving 2019 was a real sleeper. Gone are the days of hosting tons of family and friends with a fancy sit-down dinner. 

 (flashback to 2008)

This year was the quietest Thanksgiving ever. We did take Dad to Annie's for a traditional turkey dinner. We also put up the Potwin Holiday decorations on the circle ... and our wreaths too. Oh yes, I cooked a small turkey (for cold turkey sandwiches) under the watchful eyes of Mickey and Minnie.

Otherwise, it was a real sleeper. 

zzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Halloween 2019 ... cold

Halloween 2019 was cold. Let me say that louder ... IT WAS COLD. With the temperature hovering around 32 degrees, only the intrepid ventured out ... approximately 1,600 of them.

 

Fortunately, we had lots of volunteer helpers, who were possibly enticed by the promise of mega pizzas and craft beers. Volunteers and visitors included Dad, Nancy, Lynn, Paul, Toni, Keegan, Blake, Myriah, Sheena, Harry, Haley, Jason, Hadley, and Eleanor. Baili of the Washburn International Program brought 6 Japanese exchange students to experience their first American Halloween. We also loved seeing Samantha's childhood friend, Hannah, who stopped by with her husband and toddler Georgia from London.

We also got a welcome visit from Cal and Heather with their children allowing us to help celebrate their first wedding anniversary. Our dear friends Mark and Kris also visited. We reminisced about their marriage in our living room 31 years ago on November 1st. 

So, even if the temperature was COLD, we felt lots of warmth.