2023: OUR NEW YEAR'S NEWSLETTER

 
Dear George, 

It’s time once again to wrap up another year. I’d say 2023 has to be an outstanding year because, to our happy surprise, we’re still hanging in there. We got an e-mail from the Cincinnati Art Museum which listed the year’s highlights month by month. The seemed a good way to organize stuff so I did the same for Katja and myself. Here is our 2023 story. 

Love, 

Dave 

JANUARY. Katja came down with Covid but recovered in time to begin our winter quarter OLLI courses. Katja did literature and history; David, poetry writing. We bought a giant TV for the den and watched the Bengals lose to the Chiefs in the AFC Championship game. 

FEBRUARY. We enjoyed Greek and Roman Mythology at OLLI and “Beyond Bollywood” at the Art Museum. At my annual wellness exam the doctor said I am “85 young,” and he actually agreed to give me an Rx for 24 Lorazepam to help sleep. 

MARCH. We celebrated the arrival of spring with fish dinners at Bonefish Grill, the Oakley Fish Market, and Red Lobster. We got the very sad news that our daughter-in-law K’s mom Linda died. 

APRIL. I was the only student at my Zumba class for the third week in a row and decided it was time to discontinue. Katja loved King Charles’ coronation on TV, and we enjoyed Rachmaninoff and Shoshtakovich at the Symphony. The cardiologist said I was doing fine and added, “Don’t screw it up.”

    

MAY. I did terribly on my first hearing test in several years but got some new hearing aids which did help a lot. J sent flowers for Mother’s day and urged me to get a Covid test (which turned out positive, much to my surprise). Because of Covid, we cancelled our flight to New Orleans to attend our grandkids’ graduation. 

JUNE. The visiting nurse tested me for dementia and I remembered all three words perfectly (chair, banana, sunrise). We watched a lot of French Open tennis, including finals victories by Swiatek and Djokovic. We went to East Lansing for Linda’s memorial service and hung out with our sweet family. Having experienced severe jaw pain, Katja had oral surgery to extract an under-the-gum wisdom tooth. 

JULY. Lots of Wimbledon this month. My dentist moved her office from next door to our house to a half mile away, good for walking and exercise. I started exploring Bard, Google’s artificial intelligence chatbox, asking Bard to write poems about this and that (only so-so as a poet). We celebrated my 86th birthday at the Chart House, enjoying the Cincinnati skyline view across the Ohio River. Our son J cancelled his planned trip to Cincinnati because of family sickness. 

AUGUST. On her way from Richmond to Albequerque, our friend Jennifer stopped by for a get-together. The retinal specialist said my left eye was doing o.k., didn’t need surgery. Katja and I celebrated our 63rd anniversary (amazing) at La Bar A Boeuf. 

SEPTEMBER. We were happy that our favorites, Gauff and Djokovic, won their U.S. Open Finals. Pianist Sara Daneshpour was wonderful at Matinee Musicale. We saw an excellent women’s photography show at the Taft Museum. Quarterback Joe Burrow, who missed the preseason with an injury, was rocky in his first few games with the Bengals. 

OCTOBER. The plasterer fixed our living room wall. J came for a visit, and we ate at Skyline Chili twice, did multiple thrift shops, and saw art shows at the Art Museum, the Miller Gallery, and Hebrew Union’s Skirball Museum. Katja had a second oral surgery (the first one was botched), and, because of a paperwork screw-up, our insurance wouldn’t cover anything and we wound up paying a huge amount out of pocket. 

NOVEMBER. Big election victories for the Democrats. After months of terrible pain, the insurance company finally approved Katja’s epidural, and she is a new woman. Joe Burrow injured his wrist and is out for the season. J, K, A, and L flew up from New Orleans for a Thanksgiving visit, and we had a great time. I discovered jazz singer Andrea Motis on YouTube. 

DECEMBER. We celebrated Katja’s birthday at La Bar a Boeuf. J sent beautiful flowers. The furnace guy found that the raccoons had done a lot of damage to our ducts. Backup quarterback Jake Browning led the Bengals to three victories in a row before a Steelers collapse. Ami and Bruce sent Zabar’s delicacies, and David and Susan sent See’s Candy for Christmas. We enjoyed the Charles White exhibition at the Art Museum and made New Year’s dinner reservations at La Bar a Boeuf to celebrate a very good year.

Love,

Dave 

LOST MENOMINEE

               

Dear George, 

According to Thomas Wolfe, “You can’t go home again” — truly a paradox since we tend to regard home as the safe place we can always return to. Wolfe reminds us that change is an ever-present feature of reality. In effect, the world we return to is never the same as it used to be and we ourselves have inevitably changed as well. Still, “going home” remains emotionally powerful because it involves reconnection with one’s past, if only through one’s memories. 

I left my home town for college when I turned 18. While I wasn’t to be a full-time resident again, I’ve visited regularly over the years. In certain ways Menominee is exactly the same as it was in the 1950’s. The magnificent natural environment is unchanged, with the town’s southern border stretching along the Menominee River and its eastern border along the Green Bay shoreline. The three auto bridges to Wisconsin are in place. The layout of streets is identical, and virtually all of the buildings are the same. And many of the important landmarks remain, e.g., the courthouse, the library, the marina, the Presbyterian Church. I made a list of 70 important places in my youth. About a third of them are still there. Ten have relocated to other parts of town or to Marinette across the river, e.g., the hospital, the newspaper, my high school. But over half of the significant places of my youth are gone. Thinking about these losses, I decided to poetically commemorate some of Menominee’s places that no longer exist. Here are some of them. 

Love, 

Dave

THE OFFICE SUPPLY STORE 

Age four, Mom took me to the store 

A pencil, an eraser, sometimes more 

Ogden Ave, a long walk 

I don’t think we’d talk 

Talk or not, this trip made my heart soar 

BOSWELL GRADE SCHOOL 

Boswell kindergarten, my very first job 

A nervous twit, I was scared of the mob 

I walked there with Sally 

My five-year old pally 

Temp zero, we peanuts would sob 

WASHINGTON GRADE SCHOOL 

First grade, begin Washington, downtown 

Thrilling times there on the playground 

Playing boys chase the girls 

All racing in whirls 

When the bell rang, Teach said to calm down 

THE LLOYD THEATER 

The Lloyd, my very first movie at night 

“Meet Me in St. Louis” — such delight 

Margaret O’Brien, so swell 

Judy Garland, a sweet belle 

I now was a big kid all right 

THE A&P GROCERY 

The A&P carried yummy things to eat 

Creamy pastries, avocados, fatty hamburger meat 

We were often low on cash 

So my mom would make hash 

But some days she’d buy me a treat 

G.I. SURPLUS 

G.I. Surplus was my favorite store 

Selling gas masks, machetes, and more 

I’d buy camping gear there 

Khaki mittens to wear 

And the gadgets we used to play war 

THE IDEAL DAIRY 

The Ideal on the west edge of town 

Open daily from dawn to sundown 

Two dips for a nickel 

Cheaper than a pickle 

Their lemon flake cones, we’d melt down 

THE MENOMINEE HOTEL 

The hotel was right on the Bay 

Known by travelers as a fine place to stay 

Our glee club sang there 

For the Lions Club’s fare 

I can still hum those tunes to this day 

ST. JOHN’S CATHOLIC CHURCH 

The O’s would take me to Sunday mass 

A ritual, for sure, of high class 

Our family weren’t Catholics 

At best Lutheran mavericks 

But I hoped for a heavenly pass 

THE FIVE AND DIME STORE 

The Five and Dime if you wanted a deal 

My Christmas gifts, they were a steal 

Red ribbons for my mother 

A cap gun for my brother 

And the Topps baseball cards were surreal 

THE SMELT RUN 

The smelt run arrived every spring 

Huge nets our fishermen would bring 

We would wade in the river 

Though the cold made us shiver 

Then we voted for the queen and the king 

THE MENOMINEE THEATER 

The Menominee was near to the Bay 

Saturdays, the kids’ matinee 

They charged just one dime 

For a rowdy fun time 

Charlie Chan was the best, I would say 

THE D.A.R. BOYS CLUB 

I’d go to the DAR after school 

Pick and I played a few games of pool 

Then basketball with Jack 

Who could dribble behind his back 

For aspiring pros it was cool 

ST. JOSEPH-LLOYD HOSPITAL 

We started life at St. Joseph-Lloyd Hospital 

And returned once or twice when still little 

Steven busted his arm 

Which we viewed with alarm 

But they sculpted his cast, made him fittle 

UNCLE KENT’S REXALL DRUGSTORE 

Uncle Kent’s store was right on the Square 

School days, my brother and I would lunch there 

Read the new comic books 

Batman battling the crooks 

The tuna fish sandwiches, just fair 

COONEY’S GAS STATION 

Harry Cooney’s was also on the Square 

We filled up the Lincoln right there 

But they forgot to check the oil 

Caused the engine to boil 

Cost my dad a major repair 

CITY BUS 

The city bus circled the Loop 

Friday nights for Rick and his group 

They’d flirt with the gals 

Fool around with their pals 

Tell the driver the latest teen scoop 

 

PRODUCERS DAIRY 

Producers Dairy on Sheridan Road 

Three blocks from our family abode 

I’d stop by from school 

Chocolate chip made me drool 

But butterscotch, I would explode 

M&M BREWERY 

The Brewery made Silver Cream beer 

A golden brew that fostered much cheer 

I knew guys who drank Silver Cream 

Mostly dudes on the football team 

But myself and my group had beer fear 

THE VOGUE 

The Vogue was my mother’s favorite store 

For dresses and hats and much more 

Not as fancy as Green Bay 

But it didn’t take all day 

Plus she always found something she wore 

THE GATEWAY CAFE 

The Gateway. our teenage hangout 

Near the hospital, right on our route 

A grilled cheese and French fries 

Chocolate malts for the guys 

Football nights, we would give out a shout 

GARBELL’S SODA SHOP 

Garbell’s, across from M.H.S. 

A retreat from academic stress 

Pinball in the rear 

We would gather round and cheer 

Earl Powell, pinball king, such finesse 

FOUND MENOMINEE 

True, my world’s no longer there 

But change is a curious affair 

New restaurants, new shops 

Many interesting stops 

Menominee still has its flair

BUREAUCRATIC NIGHTMARE DEPARTMENT

Dear George, 

All this medical stuff puts us at the mercy of huge impersonal bureaucracies, and it’s starting to drive me crazy. A few months ago Katja was diagnosed with a cracked wisdom tooth under her gum that needed to be extracted. While this sounded unpleasant, we were pleased that the operation would be performed by the head of the oral surgery department. He apparently was on vacation though, and the surgery was actually done by a resident. A month or two later Katja started having severe pain in the location of the surgery. An X-ray revealed a bunch of small bone fragments scattered around the now-healed area of her gum. The new doctor said he’d never seen anything like it, seeming to imply that the original operation had been badly botched. In any case, Katja needed to have another operation, more intrusive and difficult than the first. The hospital double-checked with our insurance company to make sure that the operation would be covered by insurance, and, after receiving an affirmative response, Katja underwent a second procedure. Six weeks later we got an e-mailed bill from the hospital for $13,000. Katja called the hospital, and they advised us to call our insurance company since the latter hadn’t paid the bill. When Katja called, the insurance person said they hadn’t paid the bill because the hospital had used the wrong code in sending the bill, classifying the operation as medical rather than dental. They told Katja to contact the hospital and ask them to change the code from medical to dental and resubmit the bill. Then they would pay it. Katja called, but the hospital said they were not able to change the code from medical to dental because that would involve breaking the law. (What law remains obscure.) The insurance company then said that nothing could be done and that we would need to pay the bill out of pocket. The situation, of course, seemed totally ridiculous. Katja called the hospital back, and, after some haggling, they agreed to reduce the bill if we would pay the full sum immediately. It was still many thousands of dollars, but there seemed to be no other choice. I brought up the idea of hiring a lawyer, but Katja gritted her teeth and gave the hospital our credit card number. The most positive thing I can say is that I’ve stopped losing sleep (though I have been having bad dreams). 

Love, 

Dave