Happy 50th Anniversary Mom and Dad

This is a picture of my parents that I took tonight.
We went out to dinner for my mom's birthday tonight.
They are leaving for 3 weeks......flying to Italy on Tuesday then going on a cruise to the Holy Lands....then they end up in Athens Greece....they will spend 3 days there then fly home...just in time for Halloween.
Have a great trip!!
I hope you enjoy the poem that Mark wrote for you below.
We love you!!!!
Michele



for Fran and Clay on their 50th Anniversary
by markk

they say the first 50 years
are the hardest, so it’s all
downhill from here (not to
say you’re going downhill.)
satchel paige said don’t look
back, because something
might be gaining on you,
but we’ll look back anyway:

you can look back and say
you hit a home run with a
daughter like michele, not
to mention three grandchildren
like mira, macy & marko,
you can look back & say you
got to see places like africa,
china, & australia, not to
mention caribbean islands,
continents & countries,
oceans & deserts, mountains,
& rivers, you can look back & say
you’ve gone to a thousand
baseball games, because
after all, like clay’s t-shirt says,
baseball is life, you can look back
& say that you’ve enjoyed
the company of relatives & friends,
worked hard & played hard, helped
people in need, had fun, you can
look back & say you did your
very best, you went the extra mile,
you stopped to smell the roses,
you can look back all day long --

but the next 50 years are
going to be where the rubber
meets the road, because you
have a family who needs
you, not to mention a cock-a-poo
named dusty, & places to go & people
to see, so set off your journey
& go where you will, we will
all be coming along for the ride.

Small voice within

I took this picture on my phone yesterday at "All Fired Up" a paint your own pottery place. I love that quote.....It is one of my favorites.


Today is our 19th wedding anniversary.
We are going out to dinner at Mustard Seed......my favorite.


In honor of our anniversary, I will post a poem that Mark wrote for me 7 years ago for
our anniversary....and yes..the motorcycle part is true.
have a great day!!
Namaste,
Michele


anniversary poem (for michele)

by Markk



once a guy in a bar full of drunks offered

me his motorcycle in exchange for you,

& for a second there i gave it some thought.



there's nothing like

the feel of the wind

full against the face

roaring 80 mph down

the asphalt ribbons

of america, the sunset

behind, a two-wheeled

shadow passing over

hard pavement, broken

white lines shooting past

like blurry bullets.



but then again, there's

nothing like a barbados sunset

a maui morning, the salty

san francisco waterfront,

melrose street in l.a., the

solitary tropical islands of

the bahamas, grand florida

palatial hotels, great silent

national forest campsites,

the utter madness of a

put-in-bay weekend, the

energy of lake chatauqua,

even the casa linda, with

hookers & junkies or a

tacky las vegas italian

restaurant with bad wine

& an accordian player.



there are three tiny comedians still asleep

upstairs while you're

downstairs looking for

your keys & shoes,



yeah, once a drunk guy offered up his

harley in exchange for you, but i turned

him down, & in the long run no doubt

i got the better end of that crazy deal

200 perfect fishing rods

This is a picture of one of my friend Leslie's dad.....His name is Mr. Ott.
We saw him last weekend at Leslie's house.
and below is a poem about his fishing rods.
I have been going up to their cottage on Lake Chautauqua since like 8th grade.
Mr. Ott always is at home by the water.......it is a magical place.
Mark needs to up date the poem below....I think he told us that he is up to about 250 fishing rods now.
Peace,
Michele



200 perfect fishing rods
by markk

admiral ken
owns 200 perfect fishing rods
i ask him why
he has so many
he answers, i dunno,
i just like fishing rods.
cast
plop
ripples
no more to it
than that

Poem about Macy

Melanie Uttech took this picture at the Hessler Street Fair last year.....it was the last street fair there will ever be.


poem about macy macy (on the first day of school)
By Markk

i drop macy off on the first day of school.
she looks over where the tree used to be.
i’m still mad they cut down that tree, she says,
but she smiles again,
for it is the first day of school.


i hear the bright lines
of a grateful dead song:
“ah, child of countless trees,
ah, child of boundless seas.”

she dances down the driveway
& dances right back. asks me to
make her spaghetti (just butter,
no sauce). tells me there is a
spider in bathroom, begs me to
take it outside, not kill it. wonders
out loud if she would like it in
new york, tells me she’s mad that
mira gets to go to the movies & not her.

macy talks about skunks like
they are her pets. calls them
her “fellow friends.” sits for
an hour practicing a cello
in squeaks & melodious notes
without ever having a lesson.

macy –

asks me to help her find her shoes,
her ipod, her pencil case, loses
everything, cries, and finds it again.
cries when her guinea pig needs more food,
laughs like a maniac about a line
in some song. cries when she sees
a homeless man on cleveland’s
bleak streets, laughs again when
she sees the face of a tiny dog.

macy & cassie take pictures
of each other, backflips on the
lawn, making ridiculous faces,
hanging upside down from
the swing set. they sit in the
grass, planning to save all the
animals, & i’m certain they will.

it is the first day of school. macy races
up the sidewalk, always looks back &
waves a second time just to be sure.

macy calls me on my cell phone
as i sit in a hotel near chicago,
tells me i have to get carry out
for dinner, & eat it in the room,
because it makes her sad to think
of me in a restaurant eating alone.

macy says if she meets george bush
she will tell him a thing or two.

a family of five & macy is the conscience,
in many ways, she is older than anyone,
an indigo child in a world of dark shadows.

all five of us in the car heading off
somewhere. macy is barefoot, says
she doesn’t need to wear shoes.

but she wears her dance shoes
tight on her feet, dressed in taffeta
& lace, smiling as the song comes to
end, smiling with wide eyes. all of
the animals are there in front row,
& clap their paws with a beautiful thud.

first day of school & the world belongs to macy