At the end of my last Memory Lane post the family had just completed a two-week vacation at the LeRoy family cottage on Ipperwash Beach in Ontario, Canada. That took us to the end of July 1990. The balance of 1990 was fairly low key but very enjoyable, well within our well-established family groove. Some highlights.
There were the usual end-of-summer rituals including a couple of birthdays. First, Christine's 9th complete with red velvet cake with pink frosting.
Then Ted's 14th, with the more traditional chocolate-on-chocolate offering.
Then there was the final trip to the cottage over Labor Day to close out the season. The girls took their last dip in the lake.
And had their last screened porch lunch with a playmate they wouldn't see until next summer (that's our beach neighbor's daughter Alexis with Christine and Cathy in the previous and next pictures).
It was also the season's last walk on the beach.
And last commune with the local wildlife.
Always a little sadness, that last trip of the summer. But quickly overcome by the excitement of returning to school, and homework.
And the joy of learning new skills.
October unfolded routinely, but based on my search with very little photography. Everyone was deep into work and school routines. We did snap these shots of the girls in their Halloween finery (hand-made by Nancy).
And enjoying the school Halloween parades with their classmates.
Halloween never got old at our house. The urge to dress up as somebody else seemed to linger. Here's a shot of Cathy channeling Goldilocks after a dive into the basement dress-up box (a treasure of retired garments kept at the ready for just such activities).
Our family Thanksgiving celebration also slipped by with very little documentation, but I did find a couple of memorable shots. Here we have the first cousins seated at the typical kids table patiently awaiting something more interesting than me taking their picture. As you can imagine, this scene was relived many times over the years.
This next picture is another scene that often broke out at family gatherings - Nancy's dad Rae grabbing the nearest granddaughter and cutting a rug. I'm guessing there's a Glenn Miller cassette in the tape deck.
At that time we had a custom of having a few friends and co-workers over on the Saturday after Thanksgiving to kick off the holiday season. 1990 was no exception. First up is a shot of me with the west-side contingent of our social circle - Jim and Mary Wyatt, Brian Bauer and Laura Forest. Look at all the hair.
Standing with Nancy and me in this pic are Lydia Villeneuve (Nichols at the time) and Brenda Murphy (my administrative assistant and right arm at work for many years).
And finally me with Gary and Dawn Hill. Nancy and Gary have been friends since elementary school.
It's fun (and a little sobering) to remember what we all looked like 36 years ago. And I would like to note that several of the partygoers shown here would in about six months time form the nucleus of the now 35-year-old Music Night tradition I've often discussed in this blog (for the full Music Night origin story see my post Music Night - An Intro). I guess we were doing something right.
Our 1990 family holidays were typically enjoyable and fulfilling. We cruised through the usual special events and gifting activities and loved watching the kids celebrate the high point of their year. There were fancy duds.
The big moments with the "Big Man".
Preparing one's own charges for the big day.
Some nerve-settling Christmas cheer.
And finally, the best morning of the kid year. That's our first dog Heidi in the foreground, 10 years old at the time.
There was a modest amount of hullabaloo, nothing unreasonable.
The post-Christmas days off were restful and reenergizing for most us, preparing us to return to work and school in the new year. But - there was an exception. As it turned out the Christine Burk Finishing School for the Unruly began classes early. Here's the class of 1991 anxiously waiting fhe opening bell.
And a remembrance. While this blog concentrates on the wonderful life Nancy and I and the kids have had and continue to enjoy, not everything in life is wonderful. So I would like to note here that we lost Nancy's beloved mother, Marjorie Adeline LeRoy, over the 1990 holidays. Her passing was unexpected but mercifully without suffering. We think of her often and remember her as the strong independent woman she was. Last Monday, Marge's 110th birthday, we raised a glass to her memory and her living presence in our lives. Here are a few of our favorite pics of Marge.
Enjoying a cocktail at happy hour. Yes, that's a Manhattan on the table.
Celebrating her 73rd birthday with her granddaughters.
And sharing a Glenn Miller moment on the dance floor with her best beau.
Until next time,
Grosse Pointe Charles
