Day 9 - Clare Wichman, Avon lake, Ohio

Clare Wichman is one of the few grade school/high school classmates that Joe still keeps in touch with. This trip gave us an opportunity to visit with her at her home instead of occasional class reunions. To our surprise, she lives within blocks of Lake Erie, marking the second Great Lake we were able to walk along on this tour.

Clare lives in Avon Lake, Ohio, close to her son and daughter and their families. She has recently retired from teaching 4th Grade and her daughter has followed in her footsteps but doesn’t admit that it was her mother that motivated her to go into teaching. We got to meet two of her grandkids, Cara and Dominic, such delightful kids!

We felt right at home immediately – she has a beautiful home in a neighborhood that reminded us of our own – only with bigger front lawns. She is friends with all her neighbors (no surprise there!) and is totally immersed in many service and social activities that go on in her town. She has a wide circle of friends and does a lot of traveling – a woman after our own heart! In fact this morning, a couple of hours after we left her, she was heading to Las Vegas for a week.

Clare gave us a tour of the town, we walked out on the pier at Lake Erie, and we went to dinner at a Cheesecake Factory that is located in a new upscale outdoor concept mall, with some friends of hers from church. Paul and Lynne are special friends and we are so glad we got to meet them.

This trip gave Joe an opportunity to talk to Clare about their common background of growing up at Angel Guardian Orphanage, catching up on other classmates and nuns that each of them keep in touch with. Clare said that one of the best things Joe did was marry Sandy, which was interesting considering that today is our 36th wedding anniversary.

Day 9 - Jamil Ali, Ann Arbor, Michigan

After leaving the Currey’s we drove into Ann Arbor to meet our nephew Jamil for breakfast. Jamil is working on his Masters of Business Administration at the University of Michigan. We met at the Boken Egg Restaurant in downtown Ann Arbor. The Currey’s had also suggested that place, so we were excited when Jamil picked that same place. We can see why they both like it. It’s comfortable and more importantly, the food was excellent.

If you ever want to find out about the economy, talk to an MBA student. We were impressed with Jamil’s understanding of the current market and it’s implication on not only the USA market, but the International market as well. We’re certain that the employer that hires Jamil will be fortunate to have him. Jamil graduates the end of April. He will take a couple of months off before he starts work with CitiBank in NYC and will start his new career with a 10 week corporate training program.

Even though we saw Jamil when we visited Rashid in Chicago, it was nice to have some one-on-one with him on his own turf.

Day 8 - Joanne and Don Currey, Chelsea, Michigan

We left Donaldson after going to Mass with Sr. Johnilda and headed off to the Ann Arbor, Michigan area where the Currey’s and our nephew Jamil live. We arrived at the Currey’s around 2:30ish and felt like we had arrived home. We were welcomed with open arms. The Currey’s lived in Huxley, and moved to Michigan about 3-4 years ago. Their house is beautiful (Rita: the walls are painted and decorations are up and “appropriate”).

We started our visit with wine and appetizers, and much conversation and updates. I think Joanne knew more about what was happening in Huxley than we did! LOL! She talks to our mutual friend Rita frequently and Rita keeps her up to date.

Then they took us on a driving tour of their town Chelsea. What a nice nice town! We hope some day to be able to visit in the summer when the town has a lot of outdoor activities going on. Actor Jeff Daniels lives in Chelsea and even has his own theater there. Currey’s said there are a lot of good plays there. Chelsea is also the hope of Jiffy – biscuit, corn bread, cake mixes. I understand they give tours, and throw boxes of their mixes out at parades (think candy – only boxes!). There are also several beautiful lakes in the area, so in some regards it reminded us of Clear Lake, Iowa.

We continued our conversations over dinner (NY strip steaks, green bean casserole, a baked home-fries type of dish, and salad. And then there was dessert: a mixed berry pie with ice cream– yummie!) I’m afraid we’re going to be gaining weight on this trip and we just can’t let that happen! We will need to find more time to get in some walks!

We hit the sack around 10 p.m., and for the first time in months (not just this trip), Sandy slept all through the night without getting up even once. We said our goodbyes as the Curreys prepared to leave for their jobs: Don in a management position with the Michigan Farm Bureau, and Joanne as the Executive Assistant to the President of an area retirement facility. Everyone goes to work on Monday except us! And we love it!

Day 7 - Sr. M. Johnilda Mannhard, Donaldson, Indiana

We did it again. This time it wasn’t Daylight Savings Time, it was a time zone change. When we arrived Sr. Johnilda asked what took us so long, we didn’t think much of it until we realized all their clocks were an hour later than ours. Duh. We shouldn’t have a problem with time again until the last week, somewhere around Louisiana or Texas.


A little history: Joe met Sr. Johnilda at Angel Guardian Orphanage while he was in grade school. A bond developed and he continued to keep in touch with her, through High School, College and beyond. We’ve been to the Mother House several times over the years. Joe’s first visit to the Mother House was when he was in the AGO grade school band and they took a field trip there to play a concert.

We spent the night at Lindenwood, a retreat area that is part of the Ancilla Domini Convent center. Sr. Johnilda’s order is the Poor Handmaids of Jesus Christ (Ancilla Domini in Latin), and she has been a nun for 73 years. She will celebrate her 93rd birthday on May 24 this year. She is an incredible lady.

We also ran into Sr. Kenneth who spent a couple of years in Ames Iowa at our home parrish. She is back at the Mother House now. And we had a brief visit with Sr. Leandra, who was Percy Thompson’s cottage mother (we’ll visit Percy later in this trip). And Sr. Leandra was also known to Clare Wichman, who we will visit tomorrow.

Day 7 - Rashid Ali, Chicago, Illinois

Before we left Chicago, we met our nephew Rashid Ali for an early breakfast at his downtown condo. We were pleasantly surprised to see his brother Jamil there also. He was in town for the St. Patrick’s Day celebrations. Rashid fixed us “Mommy McMuffins” as his mother called them when she would make for them when they were growing up.

Rashid works for Hildebrandt International as a Consultant. He spends most of his week in New York City working with clients. He is a Manager in Hildebrandt’s Infrastructure and Business Process Practice. I’m not sure what that all entails, but it sounds like it keeps him very busy.

It was a very short visit, but a very enjoyable one. Then we hit the road again, heading off for Donaldson, Indiana. On the way to Donaldson we thought we had some time to kill (see Sr. Johnilda’s blog for THAT story), so we stopped at Dunes National Park in Indiana. WOW! It was almost like being at the ocean – except for the lack of waves. We went for a short walk on the beach, picked up some stones and then continued our journey.

Day 6 - Edelmann/Hernandez/Pedersen, Chicago, Ilinois

This will be our last night with Chris and Lorelle. We spent the day getting ready to go out with Mary Lou, her children Meg and Jerry, and their families.

Joe met Mary Lou and her husband at the time, Pete, when they would volunteer at Angel Guardian Orphanage. He often thought of them as “step-parents” and lived with them during the summers when he was in college. He was even staying at their house when Meg was born (he was at college when Jerry was born).

Now Meg and Jerry have their own families and we try to see them when we can. Meg and Murillo Hernandez have three children: Elena, Jacob and Matthew. Jerry and Mary Ann Pedersen have two children: Francesca and Peter. They are all gifted children. One would think they came from Lake Wobegon because they are all above average (and that’s NOT a joke!).

We all met for dinner at Marcello Father and Son Restaurant for pizza, then Mary Lou and Meg’s family went back to Chris and Lorelle’s condo for a cup of coffee. It was fun to see the littlest, Matthew (age 3ish), interact with Sarge, C/L’s dog.

This was a great ending to four days in Chicago with Chris and Lorelle.

Day 5 - Chris Ellis & Lorelle Lindo, Chicago, Illinois

Today was a laid back day. We went to Trader Joe’s in the morning to stock up on wine to share with the people who would be putting us up (or is that putting up with us??). Trader Joe’s has gotten to be a regular stop for us every time we go to Chicago – but it’s appeal came long before Chris moved to Chicago – Sandy’s mother use to bring and send us treats from Trader Joe’s in California. We’re just keeping the tradition going. And we really really need a Trader Joe’s in the Des Moines area.

That evening we had tickets for the four of us to go see the NPR radio show taping of “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me.” This is an oddly informative quiz show, humorously focusing on the news and events of the week. We laughed for two hours. The most notable person on the panel this week was the comedian Paula Poundstone, and she is so very funny. You might also have heard of Peter Sagal, the host or Carl Kasell, the announcer, who is also the host of NPR’s Morning Edition. It was a great show.

After “Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me”, Chris had a gig at Cubby Bear’s, a popular bar across the street from Wrigley Field. The band was “Divebar”, and they have plenty of CD’s, so if you’re interested in one contact Chris at falsenorth@gmail.com.

When we got home, we started another game of Trivial Pursuit, seeking redemption for our thrashing the previous night. Sadly it wasn’t to be and they gloated all the way to bed.