USS Newell and My Dad’s Coast Guard Scrapbook

My mom passed away last month. She was 97. It’s hard to believe she was 97! My dad passed away in 2015 at 95. This time we all needed to go through and keep all the mementos that we cherished before handing the house over to the next door neighbors who cared for mom the last few years. Both my parents were in the military in WWII. Mom had a great Navy scrapbook and Dad had two well documented Coast Guard scrapbooks. We think we will be donating them somewhere but haven’t figured it out yet. We have dog tags and medals, and even an officer’s well preserved jacket. There is also a letter from 1939 requesting special permission for dad to enlist from his father because he was underage. The history of the USS Newell is well documented, but my dad never talked about it. He was in the engine room and their convoy took direct hits. He always said he would never take a cruise across the Atlantic because they made several during the war to North Africa and the Mediterranean. The photographs tell a story in time - we especially like the Washington DC and Wisconsin items. He was very proud of his twenty one years in the Coast Guard. His story is a great one to tell. 

Bartholdi Fountain Gardens Starting to Bloom

Yesterday we took a ride to Capitol Hill to visit the Botanic Garden. We used to walk by it almost daily on our morning treks to the National Mall. Now we need to ride in from northern Virginia where we moved ten months ago. I don’t care for metro, so it’s a hassle to find parking in our old neighborhood because we no longer have our visitor pass. We finally found a tight spot, and walked over, first passing through the Bartholdi Fountain gardens. The daffodils and crocus were showing, and the iris weren’t far behind. The vegetable garden still had cabbage and other assorted items. Everything looked so crisp and clean with the sunny and blue skies backdrop. The fountain itself was dry - none of them have been turned back on yet. There was a long line of taxis crawling up Independence Avenue toward the house office buildings. Everything felt different because we no longer live on Capitol Hill. But we are close enough to still visit our favorite spots when we feel like it. 

In the Old Neighborhood

It’s been a while since we took a ride to DC. I think we went in January to get my medical records transferred to a new doctor. Since we knew it was going to be a lovely day, a visit the Botanic garden came to mind. It’s one of my favorite places. We used to pass by it almost every day on our morning walks when we lived on Capitol Hill for thirteen years. But this time would be tricky because we no longer have our visitor parking permit. That means we need to find street parking with a two hour limit. And you can not park on the resident side of the street. So we ended up driving around quite awhile before finding a very tight space on Duddington - a block from where we used to live. As usual the streets were blocked off in several places due to repair work, an old rowhouse was being rejuvenated, and the rooftops of the townhouses were majestic against the blue sky. Unfortunately I was the chauffeur these days because my husband had cataract surgery and he doesn’t have the right eyewear yet. So I was not able to take as many photos going and coming to town. Nevertheless, it was a beautiful day in the old neighborhood. 

Reston Surgery Center Thank You Card

Both my husband and I were health care professionals. He was a general/vascular surgeon and I was a registered nurse/admin nursing professional at the corporate office. Both of us have seen a lot of changes in how health care is provided since we retired from it. He stopped practicing twenty years ago; I stopped fourteen years ago but worked another ten years at the Library of Congress. My husband has never had surgery before and had cataract surgery last week. He will be going again next week for the other eye. We went to the Reston Surgery Center because we switched eye doctors having recently moved to northern Virginia from Capitol Hill. It was so much better than trying to navigate through Washington Hospital Center. The procedure took place in an ambulatory setting filled with not only operating rooms but physician offices. It was very straight forward particularly since everything was completed on line beforehand. Each caregiver was really nice - from registration, to pre op, to surgery, to post op. Today in the mail we received a thank you card from Reston Surgery Center. All the staff who cared for my husband signed the card. Getting a thank you card for having surgery at an outpatient facility is something we never received before. Health care has become quite the business. Now I need to figure out the bills that go along with it. We already overpaid the lab charges. I’m just glad we can figure it out. But it’s still very confusing. I wonder if we will get another card after the next one?

Retirement Anniversary

It’s been four years since I officially retired from the Library of Congress and permanently from working life. It was actually on February third, but a lot was happening around that time. It was also my mom’s 97th birthday, and I had a feeling that it would be her last. I had a feeling in December that it was the last time I would see her. After a bad fall in January, she never really came back so it was just a matter of time. She was born in February and passed away in February. Maybe I picked that retirement date so I would remember it. It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years already. And I don’t miss it one bit. It still feels weird that mom isn’t around anymore as she was a big part of my life. I just keep thinking that everyone else goes through the same thing. Anyway, as life goes on the milestones and landmarks are changing. This year started off on a different note than all others before it. It’s a good time to reflect on the things of yesterday and hope for happy tomorrows. Getting back to a routine will help and I’m looking forward to it. 

Ethan Allen Furniture Signatures

Our entire home in Milwaukee was furnished by Ethan Allen. We had a great designer take us room by room, including an addition to the house that required more furnishings. It all started with a pillow that we happened to purchase from him and the relationship grew from there. We left most - if not all - our our stuff behind when we moved to a tiny 500 square foot condo on Capitol Hill almost fourteen years ago. So when we moved last year to northern Virginia, a lot of what we had didn’t really fit in the new space - particularly the living room furniture and tribal Persian carpet. What was our tiny monk’s room in the large closet space on Capitol Hill no longer worked in the den. So when we visited Milwaukee last year, we met up with our same designer and worked out a plan for new living room furniture and a sleeper sofa for the den. All the photos and blueprints were sent beforehand and he knew our general likes. Half of the furniture arrived in November, and the rest finally arrived last week. What’s interesting is the information attached under the cushions of the two couches and chair - signatures of all the people who touched that particular piece of furniture. It’s a QA process of sorts. Anyway, for the most part we are finally set barring a matching sofa ottoman due in April, and some final rearranging and the space. It’s finally starting to feel like home.