Today is a big day for several reasons – but it’s also a day to be grateful/blessed for growing up in a loving environment. I don’t take that for granted, I am thankful every single day. This is my family on our sailboat many (many, many) years ago. I vividly remember the curtains my mom made for the boat, they were a very cool purple/gold/off white stripe. I ran across this photo of a photo and LOVE IT!

As I mentioned, today is a special day for several reasons. It’s my sister’s birthday 🎉🥳🎂

🎶Happy birthday, Bridget! 🎶

You’re awesome, keep up the good work on everything! (Hey, check out her website, she’s an artist when she’s not working)

It’s also my parents 63rd anniversary ❤️❌⭕️🧡❣️

What a great example they’ve been all their lives. Thankful for a cool family! Love y’all!

PS, Fiddle Faddle (C&C 27 for those of you who sail) brings back the best memories ever. On Wednesday nights my parents raced the boat, many times Bridget and I were down below in the V-berth with our comic books and little boxes of cheese crackers with fancy string handles (like old fashioned animal cookies, remember those?) – If the lake was rough and the sails would get wet, I remember those aboard switching sails and jamming the old sail down the hatch – we learned quickly to get out of the way, ha ha. I have memories of a cool heater that was placed on the floor (for the times we would stay overnight, not while racing or underway) – it glowed an orangy-red and would get very warm. I also remember the stove was an alcohol stove which was interesting to light, and the “refrigerator” was an ice box. We would get a block of ice to keep food cold. This is the same boat we used to sail for about 3 weeks along the Canadian coast (Georgian Bay) as I look at the map, the places that sound familiar to me are: Kincardine, Tobermorey, Killarney, French River, Little Current, Sturgeon Bay and of course Sarnia (where my dad would race on the Port Huron to Mackinac Race every year) on the Canadian side and Presque Isle, Alpena and Pinconning on the United States side. So many good memories! The memories may be a little jumbled, not sure I’ve been to all of those places (mom? dad?) or if I just remember them from different sailboat races that my parents may have participated in. A cool childhood – Thank you, thank you! 🙏🙏

✍️ Until next time…