Number Sixty -- That's Amazing!

 

Dear George; 

Katja and I are celebrating our sixtieth wedding anniversary today.  We were married on August 28, 1960, in the Quaker Chapel on the Antioch College campus in Yellow Springs.  I remember that day better than any other day in the past sixty years.  Among other things I went to the local drugstore to see if I could get  some pills to stop sweating.  (There aren’t any pills to stop  sweating.)  Katja looked very beautiful, and we were overjoyed about the occasion.  After a one-night honeymoon in Dayton; we set off for graduate school in Ann Arbor.  

The next sixty years, in hindsight, have passed by much too quickly.  What pops into my mind includes our both getting graduate degrees; my mentor recommending me for a faculty job in Cincinnati; Katja giving birth to our son J (which was to lead to the most meaningful and ; rewarding part of our marriage); buying our house on Ludlow Avenue; Katja teaching French at UC and then getting her Social Work degree and working at the Cincinnati Association for the Blind; lots of tennis; camping trips with Katja and J; J going to Columbia, marrying K, and then off to med school; our annual family reunions at Farm in Birch Creek; Xmas trips to New York City to visit Ami and Bruce; Beach Haven with Buck and Helen in late summer; California expeditions to see Vicki, David, and families; our many dogs (especially sheepdogs Mike and Duffy); rabbits as well (e.g., Thumper); our many good friends over the decades; CCM, the symphony, and Linton concerts; becoming grandparents; and our golden retirement years with classes at OLLI.  

This time around we are sheltering in place, a disappointing restriction given the significance of the occasion.  However, it does provide for a celebration in which our being together is first and foremost.  If I had to pick someone with whom to sit out the pandemic, Katja is the perfect choice.  Yesterday she bought filet mignon at Fresh Market and a chocolate cheesecake at the Cheesecake Factory, so we are due for a feast this evening.  We’ll be thinking of all our beloved family and friends.

Love,

Dave