Hah! - 2023 - still here

 Posting like a mad man.


Sam and George - in action on the STL streets.







My people




Ummm...2022

 Hilarious that I do a post for 2022 that follows a 'Almost missed 2021' post.

I was prodded by an e-mail from my website provider that the site was auto-renewed.

I cannot really comment on the state of the world or my family or really much. Nothing that a simple WTH happened in 2022 google search won't take care of. I can post some recent images of the year and hope that it brings some interest to anyone who stumbles on to the site.

As the title of the blog suggests... I miss my dad. I wish he were in every one of the pictures below. I'm glad for the people who appear in the pictures below and love them all.

Happy 2022



















Seriously? 2021

 It would seem that I almost let an entire year pass on without posting here. That's crazy. If you are scrolling back in time and it is WAY past 2021 you will probably know why. The fact that there was something still around killing people and it's name is based on a 2019 discovery....means 2021 is just a mess still.

Here are some photographic 2021 items to save in this vault of all emotions and memories.

P.S. - We will love Larry and miss him every day.















The first of everything...

I've seen or heard people do this in the past, but I don't think I've really experienced it at this level. "The first time since..."

This is my first Father's day since I lost my dad.

I think of him a lot. I miss him a lot. I cry a lot. More than people know. I want him back.

I'm scared of losing this blog about everything that is my family and started with being scared about losing my dad all those years ago. I came here looking for something. I think it was a picture, but now I'm just rambling on and on about things.

I love you dad.

I will always love Larry - Dad

I've put this off for over a month. I really have no idea what to say.

I started this blog over 10 years ago to provide people updates on my Dad and how his battle with cancer was going. Assume that every sentence that I type here is paused for me to fight back my tears. Larry is gone. My father, my role model, one of the top people I had on the entire planet died on September 19th, 2019.

I made a vow to myself when I started this blog to remember to tell everyone about him and to tell him that I loved him every chance I could. Larry wasn't much of a "I love you" kind of guy. He was much more like me. A, let me show you how much I love you by washing your car, or offering to drive you to the store, type. He was also polite, so every time I told him I loved him, he would repeat it back. We did this for the past 10 years. I spent some of his last days with him and I knew that I didn't have very many chances left. I slipped some extras in when I could. I think he knew.

At this point I still can't get through a Beatles song without getting upset. There are a thousand country songs that will cause the same thing. There is a song that recently became a hit that started playing around the time Dad was diagnosed again with cancer. I just recently made it through that one. I have no idea how.

Ok. Less rambling.

I love you dad. I will do my best to be the husband, father, and man you were. I will tell my people that I love them and I will wash their cars. I miss you.

Your son,
Jon

Even though I'm leaving

Family photo time

So it seems we managed to get one of these taken in some consecutive years. I would be remiss if I didn't post it here.... since this blog lives in perpetuity, or until I stop paying for it.


Obligatory 2018 entry...

Hilarious that I post once a year about posting more often. I've sifted through bookmarks of blogs I've followed over the years and found that most of them are now offline. I guess the blog isn't the cool kid on the block any more.



This will give you some perspective of how long this blog has been limping along.

Love both of these guys. Hard to believe this all started when the Larry part of this duo was battling a life threatening disease. Lucky to have both of them.

Catch up - November 2015 - A trip that will live in infamy...

So back to the travel stories...

In 2015 we (Jen) finally talked my parents into travelling with us. "We are travel experts" Famous last words.

I cannot even begin to do this story justice 14 months later, but don't ask Larry about it, he has blocked it from his memory. He will tell you that Naples is the New Jersey of Europe if you push him.

Here's how it was supposed to go down. Two flights. One from St. Louis, one from the Quad Cities, meeting in Chicago for a glorious start to a quick trip to Barcelona and a cruise of the Med. It went bad right away. The flight out of Moline was delayed and Chicago was getting icy. We arrived from Saint Louis with no issues. We're experts remember? Rather than type the whole thing out let me see if a list of bullet points can suffice.


  • Missed flight out of Chicago for London. (We took the flight since we had no idea what was going to happen)
  • Offered a flight out of Miami and luggage was handed over.
  • Flight to Miami was delayed, so back to the terminal.
  • New flight to London booked, but luggage already headed to Miami.
  • Late to London, flight to Barcelona missed..... Cruise start also missed.
  • Overnight in London to catch another flight to Naples, Italy to catch up with us.
  • Overnight stay in Naples starts with a late night rainy cab ride to a hotel that the cab driver had never heard of .... and he only really spoke Italian.
So recap of above.

Larry and Wilma have spent 72 hours (or more) flying and waiting in various airports, hotels and cabs, all without any luggage. They arrive in Naples minus 2 days of our cruise in the only clothes they've had for 3 days. They will NEVER go beyond the borders of the U.S. again.

Here are some eventual highlights:

The Vatican - We took a whirlwind tour of Rome. Our last cab had us digging furiously for Euros.


The Trevi fountain - of course Sam found ice cream across the street and I think that was the highlight for him.


A small sandwich shop around the corner from the Tower of Pisa. 


Palma, Majorca Cathedral






Pisa


An amazing dinner for Jen's birthday - Ask Larry about this ham dinner.



Family photo


You wouldn't believe what a chore it was to get this picture. The camera is propped up on the inside of a lampshade. This is picture #8 due to ... well see this next one.


2017 - Still here

Still no sweatshirts...

You can't make it die....

This is the blog that really wants to fade into oblivion, but since I own a calendar and have it listed as a "favorite"....it simply won't go.

First person to comment or send me an e-mail will receive a gift in the mail from me.

This paragraph is intended to disguise the above offer. Maybe you won't see it because there is more writing and you simply don't have time. More likely I will receive a request from a Liberian king for compensation.

Happy 2016!!

2015

- New house in St. Louis

- Broken arm = Sam

- Blog entry = Complete

- Check engine light on 2008 Elantra = still on

Seriously this seems to be the update so far. More later. No really.