I'm still laughing!

Dear Cousins (and their parents)

I remember a time when we were living in the city of Chicago... a neighbor, who was Jewish, couldn't find a rabbi to bless the chicken that was on tv as a prop that morning, gave the chicken to my parents. So, with a very dull axe, my dad (Ken)took the chicken to the alley, brutally chopped and chopped and chopped until the chicken probably died of a heart attack. Then, took the chicken into the house so my mom (Ione) could clean the chicken and tell my sister Jackie and I about all the body parts of the chicken. I still buy boneless, skinless chicken breasts.

I can also relate to having a pastor as a father and the order of service. Of course, dad usually preached somewhere else, but when he did preach at our church, I remember sitting as close to the front as possible with mom and siblings and trying very hard to make dad laugh during the sermon.

We just had a family reunion, Jackie (oldest sibling) from Cincinnati who works for the Archdiocese of Cincinnati,

John and Ruth (Oakland CA) john is the principal, Ruth teaches 4th grade at Zion Lutheran School, they have been there for 25 years or so. Two of their daughters were there: Rachel and Sarah, Beth works on a cruise ship and couldn't get off work -how sad to work on a cruise ship...

Mark and Liz (Springfield VA) Mark is a CPA, works out of his basement. Liz does a lot of volunteer work and raises their two girls Natalie (9th grade) and Michelle (7th grade or 8th grade).

I teach at COncordia University in Wisconsin. My daughter Rebecca will be a senior this year and hoping to attend the Naval Academy or another college that has a NROTC program - Iowa State is on her list of colleges... maybe all the younger cousins could get an apartment together!
My other daughter CHristina will be a sophomore this year and is at a speciality arts school with a major in orchestral music... she still needs to take all the regular stuff (math, science, etc.) but has an emphasis in music.

Great to hear from all of you! Wonderful to hear what you have to say!