Otis time

 Going through a series of highs and lows

    A visit from my cousin Bob and second cousin Jim was a highlight.  The lowlight is they are here for my brother's memorial service tomorrow.

    Visitation is from 12 to 1, with the service at 1.  I am not looking forward to it, because it makes his death to real for me.  To final.

    But we had a great time talking and revisiting the past.  Bob and Sally grew up a little over 3 blocks away from us in Chicago.  Bob and Carl were close in age and hung out a lot together.  Denny often was with them.  Sally and I hung out together, even though she was a couple of years older than me.

    True:  They had a dog and sometimes we would eat the Milk Bone dog treats!  I liked them, and my hair was always so shiny.

    Also true:  I would bring soldiers over to her house and Sally would play with my soldiers while I played with her dolls. 

    But I digress.

    It has been 7 years since I saw Bob and maybe 15 since I have seen Jim.  Too many years.  Too many.

    Another highlight of the day was going to the Christmas market in Aurora.

    I went last year and thought it needed more food booths.  This year they had a lot of food booths but didn't seem to have as many "goods" for sale. 

    Jackie had a pretzel and hot chocolate for lunch, I had a schnitzel and some mulled wine.  

    I have lots of mugs from the market in downtown Chicago, but I don't think I will get one this year.  Not sure if I can go.  The mugs in Aurora were specific to Aurora, so my collection of Chicago mugs will not have one from 2023.

    Oh well, there are worse things.

    And tomorrow marks one of those worse things.

Peace and Love

Johanna was there with Oberon and the dog drew lots of attention

    Oberon remembered Jackie and went right up to her and nuzzled her ear.  He's a big dog.