I’m not sure why this photo makes me laugh so much.
This was a day when I had the boys and we went out to the book store. They had gotten books and a couple magazines with gift cards. We went and had lunch at a Coney Island place and they brought all of their loot in when them.
I’m pretty sure I just picked this Scooby Doo Magazine up and started adlibbing silly things about the characters. “Oh, look, Velma lost her glasses again.” “Hi, I’m Fred Jones. Let me tell you how an ascot can make you a hit with the chicks.” “Zoinks! And other crazy one word exclamations for everyday use.”
I don’t recall if my son took this with his camera or if I asked him to take it. Either way, the ridiculousness of it cracks me up.
Today’s Flashback consists of a few photos. 24 years ago tomorrow, I became “Dad” for the first time. My son, Dante, was born. I can remember so many details of that day. It was one of the most chaotic and emotional days of my life.
My mom could not wait for her first grandchild. She was over the moon when he was born. Outside of me, my mom and my then mother in law were the first to see him. I was walking with a nurse and my son down the hall and they spied me.
I love the look of awe in my mom’s eyes. I also love that my grandmother was there to see him, too. It is obvious that I am still processing the whole thing in this photo.
The above must have been first birthday photos. It’s amazing to look at him here. I can hardly remember him being this small.
The above had to be taken just before or just after his first birthday. It has always been one of my favorite photos of him. He was totally zoned in on the TV. If I had to guess, he is probably watching Elmo here.
I remember when the daycare said they were doing photos. At the time I thought it was just a way for them to make money. I’m glad we opted to get the pictures taken. This is Dante a month before his second birthday. Wow.
Tomorrow, he turns 24. He has a great job, a place of his own, a decent car, and he is doing very well for himself. I’m so very proud of him and all that he has accomplished. What a great feeling to see your children thrive!
I stumbled on this photo of Dante’ and Dimitri this week while looking through a flash drive. This was taken in August of 2014.
There was some sort of art fair going on in one of the local parks and we stopped by. I remember the day was extremely hot. I think you can tell that by Dimitri’s face. We were all sweating.
I’m sure the last thing they wanted to do was pose with Big Boy! I remember thinking how cool it was that Dante was holding the burger, too. I truly don’t know why they Big Boy was there – it was next to some stand that was totally unrelated to hamburgers.
Happy 71st Birthday tomorrow to the amazing Reba McEntire! You know that spunk that you see during her live shows and on her TV show? Yeah, that’s how she is in real life. Here is one of my Rena stories:
I had never had the chance to see her live. It never failed. Every time she came to town for a show, I was DJing a wedding or something. I finally had the chance to see her when she played a show at DTE (formerly, Pine Knob). I was lucky enough to go back stage and meet her.
When I walked up to her I told her I had been wanting to meet her for years, and she said (in her wonderful southern accent), “Well, darlin’, here we are and what took you so long?!” Talk about an amazing person – Reba is that person. We talked about her music and a mutual friend that we have. Reba was the reason for that mutual friend.
When I was working at the Moose, I received a letter from a mom who said that her daughter was a big Reba fan. Her daughter had spinal bifada and she had bought tickets to Reba’s show at one of the casinos. She was hoping that she could get back stage so her daughter could meet her. I made a few calls to some record folks I knew and explained that I didn’t need tickets to the show, just two backstage passes. They made it happen. Her daughter was very surprised and that moment led to our friendship which continues to this day.
Anyone who has been to a meet and greet knows that they try to get you in and out pretty quick. There are almost always a line of people waiting to get their turn. When it was time to take our picture together, she pulled me real close and said “let’s make this one look REAL good!”. She hugged me afterward and I was truly in awe of her. She was about as kind and genuine as they come.
If you ever get the chance to see her, do it – she puts on one hell of a show!
I suppose I could have skipped the Friday Photo Flashback this week. I posted quite a few photos yesterday for my anniversary after all. However, I did find one photo worth sharing again. It takes us back to St. Patrick’s Day of 2022.
Ella is two here and Andre is about 5 months old. My wife always does such a good job getting them clothes for holidays. I’m not sure if we got pictures of them this year.
Ella had such natural and beautiful curls here. I love her little smile. It’s had to believe that Andrew ever looked like this. I miss those chubby cheeks.
Oooooh! A new graphic! Pretty cool what AI can do with very little instruction.
Anyway, did you know that today is National Earmuff Day? Honest. Here’s why:
Earmuffs were patented on this day in 1877. In 1873, at age 15, Chester Greenwood devised a solution for cold ears by having his grandmother sew fur onto wire loops. He reportedly came up with the idea while ice skating. He received a patent for his “earmufflers” on March 13, 1877, at age 19.
Greenwood went on to manufacture these protectors for nearly 60 years, with his factory in Farmington, Maine producing them for U.S. soldiers during World War I. Farmington was known as the “Earmuff Capital of the World!” Earmuffs are actually categorized as clothing accessories or(believe it or not) personal protection equipment (P.P.E), specially designed to cup and protect the ears from either cold weather or noise.
Greenwood received other patents, too. Those included a tea kettle, a variation of the steel-toothed rake, an advertising matchbox, and a machine used to produce wooden spools for wire and thread. He also invented, but did not patent, an umbrella holder for mail carriers.
Celebrate today by wearing your earmuffs (or as Greenwood called them, “Greenwood’s Champion Ear Protectors”).
My flashback photo takes us back only a week or two when my wife snapped this photo of my son in the backseat.
Earmuffs and an X-Box controller (with no X-Box in the car!) – only my kid!
This month my wife and I will be celebrating our eighth wedding anniversary. So much has happened over eight years and I wouldn’t change a thing. She continues to be the pillar of our house. She keeps everything in line, including me.
Before our kids came along, we actually had time to go out and have time together. Today’s Friday Photo Flashback is from one of our first dates.
Back in 2017, Sam took me to a place in Lansing called the Claddagh Irish Pub. She raved about the fish and chips there and took me there for my birthday. It was about an hour from our house. She had told me that the inside looked like an Irish castle. When we pulled up, I wasn’t sure what to think. It was in a sort of strip mall.
Sure enough, though, when we walked in, it looked like a castle.
Naturally, I had to try the fish and chips. It was absolutely delicious. When we left I mentioned that we should make sure to visit again soon. We never got around to it. Sadly, in 2020, it closed permanently thanks to Covid.
This picture was a selfie we took that day:
It’s funny to look at that picture now. Sam really hasn’t changed at all. She still is as beautiful as ever. However, a lot of things changed for me. Now I shave my head. I also have a full beard. This was also back before I had to go and get glasses, too. Oh, and I’m probably 40 pounds lighter here.
I remember that date. This was a time were we hadn’t been together that long, but she treated me like I had never been treated before. She actually treated me like I meant something to her. I cannot begin to tell you what a difference she made in my life.
I’m looking forward to celebrating our anniversary with her.
This week, my wife and I were going through the many photos that we have of our kids. We have a wall lined with various pictures already, but in the past few months we’ve talked of adding more to another wall.
We just received Ella’s cheerleading photo. The Daddy Daughter Dance photos should be arriving very soon. Both kids will be playing T-ball in the summer. Those photos alone will get us a good start, but my wife said that she wanted to make sure some of the kid’s younger pictures that never made it to the wall get a place there.
As we revisited those early photos, there were a lot of smiles between the two of us. There are plenty of photos to choose from. The biggest challenge in creating the new “Wall of Smiles” is making sure there are (1) an equal number of photos for each kid and (2) and equal number of horizontal and vertical photos.
Rest assured that I will have my tape measure and level out to be sure the photos line up correctly.
During our search through photos, we came across one of our daughter taken for her first birthday. Five years ago this month, we got a look at the future “sassiness” of Ella with this one:
This will forever be one of our favorite photos of her. It is currently a canvas that is hanging up in its own special place in the living room.
It’s been a pretty cold and miserable winter here in the mitten. When I went looking for a Flashback photo, I found one that brings back memories of a warm Ohio day.
My folks took us down to King’s Island one summer. If I had to guess I would imagine this was 1975 or 1976. I look about 5 or 6 here.
This is one of those trips that I can only recall bits and pieces of. Most of the memories of the trip come from photos. I do not recall posing for this picture. I don’t really remember anything about it. I cannot remember seeing the flower Fred Flintstone and I’m not sure which parent decided this was a good photo opportunity. I also don’t remember owning a Great Gazoo tank top, but obviously I did.
This is one of the reasons we haven’t taken the kids to somewhere like Disney. We want them to be old enough to remember the trip. They shouldn’t have to look at pictures as their only memory of their time there.
I remember that we rode on a water ride that took us through a tunnel. There were various characters all around as we floated through. I remember there were two skeletons dancing together and thinking it was hilarious. I asked one of my parents to take a picture of it. That photo is lost, along with other photos from that trip, sadly.
That was the one and only time we went to King’s Island. Honestly, I don’t know if it is even still open. If it is, I would imagine the things that were in place 50 years ago are long gone. I even did a Google search to see if I could find a picture of the skeletons, but nothing came up. I wish I could find that picture.
Oh, and another reason I like this picture – I have a lot of hair!
Tomorrow night, I’m going on a date. I will have a beautiful girl on my arm once more! It is a day that my daughter and I look forward to every year! It is time for the annual Daddy/Daughter Dance. As soon as she heard tickets were on sale, she made sure I knew to get them!
Our first one was in February of 2023. It was close to her birthday, so she always knows when her birthday is near, so is the dance. We have copied our pictures every year.
Here is 2003, 2004, and 2005.
This year, I’m not sure I’ll be able to pick her up! She’s getting so big. I hope that she is never too old to recreate these pictures, especially the kiss on the cheek pose.
Various Ramblings of a Nostalgic Italian 