35 Years Later

Back on 29 October 1984, the restaurant pictured below was a fondue restaurant where I proposed to my (future) wife.  The table we sat at was located at the column just to the left of the door in the picture (between the two awnings).  The current restaurant is named: “Opa!” and serves Greek food.
The table in the following picture sits almost exactly where we sat back in 1984.  The floor-plan / table layout is completely different from back then.  Our table was a four-place table back then and there was another four-place table directly behind me (where the lady is sitting at the bar).  My wife would have been slightly to the left (her right) of where she is currently sitting and where I am is almost exactly where I got down on one knee to propose (in the aisle, between tables).
My wife has had Greek food before.  This was my first time…  We both enjoyed the starter and our main courses, and we loved our desserts!
Hil had the Baklava Sundae for her afters…  (We told the waitress about Hil’s birthday and it being the anniversary of our engagement and they put a candle on her ice cream!)
I enjoyed the Banana Bread Pudding for my afters…
All in all, mid-week (Tuesday) at 3:15pm was the perfect time to dine there.  When we entered, we were literally the only customers in the place.  Service was prompt, friendly and helpful with the waitress offering suggestions.  The food taste was new (to me), just different enough to seem “exotic”, and the meal / experience another unique memory for us to add to our list of happy events together.
There is an axiom that you can never go home again.  Sometimes, “going back” doesn’t have to mean “being the same” to still be “great”…
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On This Day In:
2018	Forever
2017	Too Good To Be True
	Plain Speaking
2016	She Is Still Singing
2015	Don’t Complain
2014	Nothing Is The Same
	Orange October (XII) – Giants Win Game 7 (3 To 2) And World Series (4 To 3)
2013	Hours, Days, And Years
2012	In Kev Are In Hil
2011	No Game, Didn’t Really Happen
	A Good Post

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Mixing Business And Pleasure

Over the weekend, my cousin Tony (from Arizona) dropped in for a little business (on Monday) and a quick weekend visit with friends and family (us).  I hadn’t seen my cousin since 1971!  (That’s 48-odd years!! for you math challenged readers.)  Anyway, we went out to lunch and to support my brother-in-law who was playing in a “teachers” band at a charity event (and beer tasting).  He teaches music in one of the local school districts and he’s part of a orchestra of teachers from the various school districts in the Oakland, California area.
In the group photo you see (L to R): me, my wife (Hilary), my cousin (Tony), my mother (Carmen), my nephew (Kyle) and my sister (Carmen).
In this photo are: me, Hil and Kelly (a friend of my nephew).
The music was good and lively.  The beer and wine tasting was excellent.  (I was told…  I was driving.)  And, a great time was had by all.  I made my cousin promise not to wait another 48 years to visit us again and he promised he wouldn’t.
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On This Day In:
2018	Intensity Doesn’t Make It Correct
	HF2: 1940’s Grapes
2017	Proof Sits In The Oval Office
2016	Tragic Determinism
2015	Maybe It Should Be Clearer
2014	Make It Your Strength
2013	Four Score
2012	The Ruler
2011	Forever
2010	Just Cuz
	How Do You Mend A Broken Heart?
	It’s Alive!! (3rd Pair Shoe Review)

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And Miles To Go Before She Sleeps

Hil at SFO before flight to Liverpool
Today I drove my wife to San Francisco International (SFO) Airport to catch a flight to Manchester so she can be with her family (in Liverpool).  Hil flew back earlier in the year to spend time with her mum before her passing.  Her mum’s health has been poorly for some time and has recently taken a turn for the worse.  She has just been released from hospital to hospice care.  It is a time of mixed emotion for us as while we will miss her mum, she will be joining her husband (George) who has been waiting on her some 20 years now.  I guess “Papa’s” calling her home is finally getting too much for “Nana” to ignore.
Here is a photo of Hil’s mum and dad (“Nana & Papa” to our kids) in happier times:
Hil’s Mum and Dad with Big Smiles
And here is a post of mine from back in 2011:   Things I’ve Learned From Life – Nana Carter
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On This Day In:
2018	What I Tell You Three Times Is True
2017	And So On
2016	Kept
2015	Envy * 2
2014	Destiny For The Talented
2013	I Do Not Fear It
2012	Until Found
2011	Reducing Goods To Data
	The Fog Of Civilization Building

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Yellow Signs Of Spring

My wife’s favorite flower is the daffodil.  Before I met her, I never thought much about flowers.  I knew what a rose was (is) and I knew they came in different colors.  I didn’t know the variations had different names or much of anything else.  I used to buy my wife roses several times a year.  Not for any particular reason.  Just to make her smile.  This stopped after a few years because she said she didn’t really like flowers – except daffodils.  When we moved back to Liverpool in the early 1990’s, I found out why.  They (Liverpool city) have fields and fields of daffodils and they all bloom at roughly the same time each year – in February / March.  Here are some of the photos from my Hil’s trip home last year (2018).
2018 Liverpool Daffodils (1)
2018 Liverpool Daffodils (2)
2018 Liverpool Daffodils (3)
2018 Hil w/ Daffodils
2018 Liverpool Daffodils
2018 Hil’s sister Lynn w/ Daffodils
Several years ago, Hil began planting bulbs in front of our house.  They never seemed to take.  They would pop up (bud), but never bloom.  Then about 2016, the “miracle of Spring” began.  (Unfortunately, we had to remove the tree shown in the first picture.)  For whatever reason, we seem to get a few more each year…
2016 Feb Daffodils
2018 Feb Daffodils
2019 Feb Daffodils (Thur)
2019 Feb Daffodils (Sat)
On Monday of this week, they were just buds.  On Thursday, the first five blossomed.  The final photo is from this morning…
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On This Day In:
2018	But Take Heart
	Poetic Marker
2017	The Few, The Many, The Most
2016	To My Brother
2015	For Junior
	A Roman Rome
2014	Hmmm
2013	What’s A Motto With You?
2012	Worthy Companions
2011	Bourne Again
	Which Ten Are You In?

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Easter In Liverpool

Because one can never have enough pictures of your spouse on the internet, here are a few pics of my Hil visiting her mum over Easter during her visit to Liverpool in March / April…
Hil in her Easter hat
Hil in her Easter hat (2)
Hil and Lynn with mum on her mum’s Birthday
It is kind of a tradition for the staff and visitors to don “Easter hats” to give the “old dears” a bit of a chuckle…
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On This Day In:
2017	Decisions
2016	Along The Path
2015	Make Mine Rare, Please
2014	Passion Flooding
2013	On Purpose
2012	Sans Gall Bladder, Day 4
	How Did You Spend Your Day?
2011	It’s Hammerin’ Time!!
	Convenient Auxiliaries

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Happy 32nd Anniversary, Hil!!

Hil & me on our wedding day at City Hall in San Francisco, CA (3 Dec 1984)
Chains do not hold a marriage together. It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads, which sew people together through the years.
—  Simone Signoret
[Happy 32th Anniversary, Hil
You are the roots for the life-tree we have lived and, this year, just another ring in our life-tree…
Love Always,
Your Kev
XXX
00
X
— KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2015	Happy Anniversary Hil!!
2014	30th Wedding Anniversary
2013	Number 29 (And Counting)
2012	Hammer ‘N Roses
	Happy Anniversary
2011	I Can Hear It Now

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Happy 21st Birthday!

Sarah Through The Years
Hil & Sarah In Liverpool	Sarah in pre-school	Sarah’s school photo in Saudi Arabia
Close-up of Sarah	Sarah In L’pool Reds kit w/ LOTR sword

There’s no point in being grown up if you can’t act a little childish sometimes.
—    Doctor Who
[Hi Sarah,Your mother and I would like you to know how much we’ve enjoyed your being with us as the last child at home.  We look forward to your going away to college in the Fall only because we understand how these first tentative steps away from home will help you become the beautiful young woman you are meant to be.
Happy Birthday!!
Love Always,
Mum & Dad
—    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2013	Expectations
2012	Trust Him Smile
2011	Why Change?

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Hours, Days, And Years

He who has not spent hours, days, or years with someone he loves cannot know what happiness is, for he is unable to imagine a protracted miracle like this – one which makes out of ordinary sights and events the most enchanted existence.
—     André Maurois
Hil’s Birthday 1984 and our Pre-engagement Photo (Hil in her little black dress)
[I don’t believe the above quote is an absolute, but I do feel it would be fairly difficult to imagine such a miracle without having shared such a “protracted” period.  As of today, my wife Hilary will have spent over half of her life with me passionately in love with her.
On this date, in 1984, on bended knee, Hil sitting at a candle lit table, in a (not too) crowded restaurant, I proposed.  —  And she said, “Yes.”
Happy Birthday, Hil!!
All my love,
Always,
Your Kev
—    KMAB]
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On This Day In:
2012	In Kev Are In Hil
2011	No Game, Didn’t Really Happen
	A Good Post

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Updates On Life

Christmas is once again sneaking up on us…

Anniversary Lunch:

Last weekend (Saturday), was Hil and my 27th wedding anniversary.  We started off by giving each other the same cards.  We bought them on different days, at different stores, and she got hers under husbands, while I got mine under wives – but they were the exact same card!  When I opened mine, I started laughing and Hil was hurt looking thinking she’d accidentally bought me one she’s already given me.  I told her to open hers and she understood why I laughed.

To celebrate, we went to the Cliff House in San Francisco for lunch.  We had our reception there (way back when).  It’s changed quite a bit.  There is a modern, new addition called “The Sutro”, where we ate.  The food was fantastic!  (Expensive, but fantastic.)  We had a lovely drive into town.  The sky was incredibly clear and visibility was “unlimited”.  Popping out of the Caldecott Tunnel, you could easily see both bridges and passed them out to sea.  We briefly debated driving around all the old neighborhoods, but settled on simply driving through Golden Gate Park.  GG Park is still as beautiful as ever.

When we got to the restaurant, there was several close parking spaces so we didn’t have to walk far up or down the hill.  The Cliff House is located about half-way up a pretty fair hill.  It’s not that steep from the bottom of the hill, but it’s long.  It’s not that long from the top of the hill, but it’s steep.

When we got inside and asked for a table, we were advised the restaurant did not normally take walk-ins, but they would check.  I looked over the balcony and saw several empty tables including one (a table for two) right by the windows.  We were advised there was sitting available and so we asked for the table I’d seen.  We had a terrific view.  I was facing north towards the old Sutro Baths ruins and Hil was facing Seal Rock, the ocean and Ocean Beach.

Sutro Baths Ruins (1) Sutro Baths Ruins (2) Sutro Baths Ruins (3)

In these photos, the pool (1) is where the baths were located.    Photos (2) and (3) are the paths leading down to the ruins.

Believe it or not, even the drive home was beautiful as we watched the sun setting over the bay/City/Golden Gate.  Traffic was normal, but not stop-n-go and we decided to take I-80 up to CA-4 instead of going back through the tunnels.

Hil at our anniversary lunch Hil sipping tea Hil in front of the Cliff House Hil at the Cliff House

Tree Traditions:

We have a tradition of always getting our Christmas tree on the first full weekend in December, so on Sunday we went out to get the tree.  Sarah, Hil and I picked it out and after getting it on the stand, I sat back while they decorated it.

2011 Christmas Tree (fuzzy)

Stoned:

And, of course, I’ve also got my health update – stoned again.  Kidney stones that is.  And they’re killing me!!  This last Tuesday, I went and got an ultrasound on them to see where they are and how big they are.  Hopefully, I can get them blasted or lasered before too long.  They are an almost constant pain now.  Sometimes, almost unbearable.

Still, life goes on…

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Tootsie-Roll Day

One weekend each year, the Knights of Columbus give away Tootsie-Rolls at local stores and collect funds for local charities.  This was the weekend for my chapter and today was the day I agreed to give two hours of my day to this worthy cause.  Hilary (my wife) agreed to keep me company.
Together, we stood outside our local Safeway store (on Willow Pass Road in Concord, CA) and gave away candy.  There is no obligation to give to receive the candy.  We are NOT selling the Tootsie-Rolls, and we make no mention of any obligation to give.  If a passer-by chooses to give, we thank them.  If they don’t, we still wish them a good day and offer a smile.
The variety of folks who come by (some give and some don’t) and the generosity of those who are able to give (and do) continues to surprise me.   God bless you all…  Those who gave us funds AND those who only gave us smiles.
Below are a couple of snapshots of Hil giving away the Tootsie-Rolls…
Hil handing out candy A closer shot of Hil in her fetching KofC bib/vest.
There are thousands of worthy causes in your local community.  Find one that matters to you.  If you have the funds, donate.  If all you have is time, share it.  Find a problem (big or small) and be a part of the solution…
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Pictures from UCLA trip…

Here are some pictures from our recent drive to UCLA to drop off our daughter (Rebecca).
Bec, Hil and me at the UCLA sign
Bec, Hil and me
Bec posing
Hil, Bec and her best friend Sarah
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