Soon we will be around the table at the historic Giant City Lodge. MJ picked the venue…after all, it is her day. A little bird told us that they have Pappy Van Winkle. MJ says that she wants a shot. I will take a photo! When I think of all that MJ gives to our family I realize that I would be just a husk of a person without her. She has been by my side since I was 20.

My carer at Southern Illinois University @ Carbondale was over 32 years. Of that 32+ years, nearly 20 were either on the evening or night shift. MJ taught Aaron and Jonathon at home for many of those years in order that I might have time with them. MJ is a certified school teacher.

When my step-father passed away in 2001 I was in a quandary on what to do with my mother who was already in the progression of Alzheimer’s Disease. MJ told me that we would take her into our home. She resigned from her job at the University to care for her. We had her for a little over 3 years and finally had to place her in a nursing home when it was painfully obvious that we no longer had the skills to care for her. No one did more for my mom than MJ!

MJ loves a good detective show. She and I watch what we call our Programs in the evening and they are primarily found on BritBox or Acorn TV. We are currently watching Brokenwood which is filmed in New Zealand.

When we first married in 1978 I had nothing. It took some time to get into the ballgame…as I often say. Yet, MJ was there and acted as happy as a clam and sharpened her pencil for budget…almost daily. When I first returned from our Honeymoon which consisted of a weekend off work and a night in a hotel in Benton, Illinois that Margo and Jeff gave us as a wedding gift…I noticed that my lunch sack had two wonderful cheeseburgers in it. The same occurred the next night and I could not help but comment on how wonderful they were. MJ warned that I should not expect them every night…as we did not have the money for ground beef on a regular basis…