Happy 61st Birthday Steve and the Decade part two

Brother Steve would have been 61 today.  We still miss him and think of him often.  Rest easy brother.

The Decade continued, Part Two


2003

The year started with a New Years trip to Garmisch to meet Gabe and TJ (they were working at the ski hill there) for the turn of the year. We enjoyed seeing them again and on European soil. Then year turned with the death of my dad, just 60 days after my mom died. We joined my dad’s brothers, Jim and Charlie, at Judy’s in Cincinnati where we all agreed what a tough ole bugger dad was. It was hard returning to Germany in January after these losses.

Suzy and I visited Stonehenge in February, a place we had always been interested in seeing. Meg and Tate joined us for spring break in the Provence where we really enjoyed the rural French life. The key success of the trip was making it back to Wiesbaden with the BMW which was on its last legs. Tate and I had a great trip to Stockholm in May. Good to get away just the two of us before she went back to the states in June.

Suzy and I visited Normandy in July where the American cemetery told the story of that sad history. The French were still paying respects to the American war dead. Suzy and I went to Paris in July for the 100th Tour de France. It was spectacular with all the old winners parading the streets. Lance won another, was it the sixth or fifth? Meg, Suzy and I went to eastern Italy in late July and stayed on an olive farm and toured the countryside before going south to Rome. The three of us also went to Poland for a week in September and stayed in a farmhouse with a family that spoke four languages but English was not one of them, such fun. Our time was drawing short in Europe so we wound down our travels before returning to Seattle on Halloween 2003.

2004

After three months in Seattle, Tom and Suzy decided to relocate to Boise, ID, where Tom was spending most of his work time. Suzy quickly got a job as a middle school counselor and we moved into our new home overlooking town in July. We loved the small town atmosphere, the outdoor hiking and biking and Tom really loved the skiing. Suzy quickly turned her job into a high school counseling job at Meridian High School. Tom and Tate started training for the Olympia marathon by running the Sunflower run in Mazama and Twisp. Steve Walls joined Les and I for this run also. Les and I made our way to Anchorage to hike and bike with Steve in June. We burned our candle at both ends and covered a big patch of Alaska. Tragically after we returned, Steve was killed in an automobile accident. We still miss him as he was the smile on our faces as we ran. And he still causes us to smile. October saw us traveling to Ironwood, MI for nephew Jason and Linda’s wedding and then later to Phoenix for nephew Bob’s nuptials.

2005

We were settling in nicely in Boise as the year began. Family visiting loved our new digs and the recreation including skiing, tubing the river, running the foothills and biking the parks and riverside. Tom and Suzy made a relaxing trip to Boston to visit Meghan who working her grad studies at Tufts. Niece Caitlin and Aaron were married in San Francisco and the whole family gathered to enjoy their happy day. Tom’s ankle finally gave out and he had it fused in July. So much for that month, but the results were good and he was up and at them in the fall. Tate and Jeff bought their first house in September and got engaged too. Tom returned to the UP in the fall to join the family as we interned the ashes of mom and dad in a small creek behind our old hunting camp in the Tula forest. Their passing finally seemed to come into focus as we accomplished their last wishes in the Michigan forest.

to be continued.....