The Curtis Clan - Winter 2018
Fall Equinox to Winter Solstice
Our 17th Anniversary arrived on Saturday, September 22. Sweatshirt temperatures arrived in the morning with the autumnal Equinox. It's nice when our Anniversary aligns on a Saturday and the Equinox as they doesn't happen often. The change in the temperatures also had a soothing effect.
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Dyeing Cate's hair purple and blue
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Bethany and Randy spent the late afternoon and evening watching movies and eating pizza outdoors on a lovely evening at Union Loafers. Randy s journal entry for the day ended with Welcome Autumn. Welcome cycle of life. Sometimes irony bites when you tempt the fates with such bold statements.
Nancy E. Curtis
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Nancy appeared to be doing pretty good following her operation on Thursday though in moderate pain. Still in her room under observation early Sunday, all appeared fine as Cate and Randy visited after church, though the doctors didn t feel it was time to send her back yet. An hour after we got home, the hospital called as they were moving her to intensive care as it became clear that the leaking dissected vein had resulted in internal blood loss. A couple units of blood at the ICU perked her up for a couple hours but she deteriorated rapidly after a CAT scan that confirmed the development of a hematoma.
Bethany and I were with her when she finally let go just a few weeks shy of her 80th birthday. The end came on Sunday 23 September at 10:30 pm at (St. John s) Mercy Hospital. Nancy would insert that her father passed away there 52 years earlier from emphysema. Nancy had been bed ridden in skilled nursing facilities following a stroke associated with her heart valve replacement surgery in March 2013. She put up a long, hard fight and beating everyone s expectations. While she lost her most of her physical abilities, she stayed the same sharp and caring woman we ve always known. It was such a blessing that the stroke did not damage her mind in the least, even when it took so much of the rest of her.
The following week was filled with details arranging for visitation, memorial service and funeral at J.B. Smith in Maplewood along with the obituary of the paper (Webster Kirkwod Times obit) and the memorial program (
on Google Docs and
J B Smith Memorial version).
Visitation was Friday, September 28, from 2 - 7:30 pm. Despite the melancholy circumstances, visitation was an enjoyable experience for Randy. Upon consideration why not? It was like Nancy Curtis This Your Life, only she didn t get to attend, which was certainly too bad. But still having a steady stream of people you ve know all your life telling you how much they admired your mom, treasured her friendship and simply loved her for four plus hours and it s hard to be too sad. This was especially the case since in many ways she was on borrowed time and everyone recognized that she had a rough go of it the last five years with a deterioration quality of life and growing pain.
On Saturday, Bethany delivered Randy s Memorial tribute as it was clear there was no way he s was going to be able to do it, especially after his experience the previous year trying to choke back tears at Rhonda s Memorial Service, though to be honest the sympathetic audience probably appreciated the tears as much as what was being said. Still there was no chance he going to be able to do it for his mom. Afterwards, the four Curti accompanied the hearse to the Sullivan grave site at Memorial Park Cemetery (Section 9 Lot 769, Grave 3) in North Country. We placed the ashes for Rhonda who was cremated lasted year in the coffin, which is what Nancy wanted.
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Farewell
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That weekend Randy s friends Anthony and Jeff visited while on a road trip, necessitating a trip to Ted Drew s and breakfast outside at the Boardwalk Caf in Old Orchard.
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Jeff, Anthony and Randy studing Concretes along old Route 66
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October
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The girls with the dogs
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Jane and Cate both joined WGHS History Club this year. The club frequently takes a History in Action or civic minded approach to the scope of their mission (a function of the club s Sponsor: Julie Burchett). In early October, they registered 18-year olds at WGHS to vote in the upcoming mid-term elections. While both girls did it, Jane and her friend Sophie got their picture taken for it which got used in the Echo (student paper); the Our Schools (School District newsletter) and
the Webster -Kirkwood Times. Since both had interned for Senator McCaskill s campaign during the summer, perhaps it was karma that gave them more of the credit.
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Jane registering classmates to vote
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The first weekend of October, Jane and Cate participated in a local rally to protest the nomination of Brett Kavanaugh to SCOTUS following allegations of a drunken high school sexual assault. Who one believed in the He said, She said national dialogue seemed primarily a result of one s political persuasion, as the #MeToo movement entered a second year.
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The girls with thier sign for the #StopKavanaugh Rally
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Meanwhile Randy got away for the weekend partially by planned events and following the adage of the Big Band classic Enjoy yourself, it's later than you think and the death of his mother. Taking Friday off, he road tripped to Columbia to hang out with Anthony: picking grapes for an hour and a half followed by a trifecta of Columbia seafood restaurants: Katfish Katies, Cajun Crab House and Jazz.
| Gofus eats the grapes right on the vine |
Gallant picks them first before ensuring the qualtiy of the fruit |
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| It's not playing with your food if you've already sucked the heads. |
Terrorizing Lesha (or Anthony's idea of foreplay?) |
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On Saturday morning they got up at 6:15 am to crush the grapes picked the night before and then headed south on Highway 63 to Rolla for the 50th Anniversary of the charting of Pi Kappa Phi at UMR/MS&T. They enjoyed a nice evening reminiscing about old times, staying overnight at the old Drury Inn. Sunday offered a leisurely drive north on Highway 63 visiting the Vichy Fire Tower, Snodgrass Cemetery on old Highway 63 at the Gasconade River; Jefferson City for a soul food lunch at the Blue Skillet, a $3 pint of ice cream at Central Dairy, and a walk across the Highway 63 Missouri River Bridge. The weekend vacation was easier since Monday was a Federal Holiday - Discovery Day / Indigenous Peoples Day.
| Bear, Anthony and Randy outside Gamma Lambda Chapter for the 50th Anniversary of it's chartering |
At the Vichy Fire tower |
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On Thursday, October 11, we had a Tribute Concert for Nancy at the Ozark Theatre in Webster Groves with Pat Joyce playing and her friends singing Nancy s favorites. We projected the slide show from the visitation on the big screen of the old movie theatre. It was nice but, in some ways, it was like ripping open a wound that had just begun to scab over. There would be sporadic moments of sadness over her passing in the weeks and months that followed, like on what would have been her 80th birthday or on Tuesday nights and Saturdays during mass at Holy Redeemer that had become the ritual times of planned visits with her over the past 5 years. On the whole, the family had time to prepare and her death wasn t a tragedy but her spirt and kind smile was missed often.
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Jane and Cate singing at the Ozark
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| The girls helping out Cousin Lucy |
The presance of the young really help the older folks at the passing of loved ones |
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The Great Illinois River Road Camping Road Trip
On the third weekend of October, Randy took the girls camping making up for missing the annual Fall camping trip due to Nancy s funeral. Trying to reserve a single night tent site in Missouri with two-day lead didn t work, so we headed to Giant City State Park outside of Carbondale traveling Route 3 and other two-lane roads on a couple beautiful fall days.
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Saying goodbye to the dogs (who stayed home to "protect" Bethany)
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Cate and Gussie
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Our stops included: Fort de Chartres State Historic Site, Primo s Pizza outside SIUC dorm land, Giant City State Park, Wal-Mart for food (and later first aid supplies), and Dungeons and Dragons Park (Castle Park) in Carbondale. Jane drove the whole way there and back through the fields of Illinois just prior to the peak leaf peeping colors. A good road trip
| Hanging out of one of the ports at Fort de Chartres |
No!! Now go away, or I shall taunt you a second time! |
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But when do we get to see the basement?
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How do you pick a pizza in a college town? Choose the non-chain one nearest to the dorms. Great pizza, a fantastic oven baked veggie sandwich (The Mediterranean) and Randy's name sake cola, RC.
| To ensure everyone enjoys the camping experiance, make to have good hearty meals to fill the hungry souls. |
A Primo sandwich indeed |
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| Jane and Cate relaxing around the SECOND campfire...after putting out the first one for a WalMart run for burn cream |
...after Dad demonstrated what happens when you adjust the burning logs without the leather gloves (i.e., 2nd degree burn) |
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| Warming day-old glazed doughnuts over the fire with toasting forks |
Just the way they would do it on the frontier along the Oregon Trail |
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| Responcible posing at the Devil s Stand Table |
...and Dad goofing on the edge of the cliff |
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At Carbondale's Castle Park
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The final weekend of October was a beautiful weekend, with temperatures in the 60s and the trees in their autumnal finery all saying look at me. So, what did the Curti do? We painted. The exterior of Randy s grandmother's / mother's / sister's house needed some refreshing and with the help of dear family friend Britt Kennedy we knocked it out. A couple days of hours standing on a ladder makes you appreciate sitting down a whole lot more than normal.
| Britt and Cate painting the trim |
Jane painting the screen door |
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A driveway picnic of fast food takeout tasted especially good.
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A work trip to DC to review 26 linear feet of records on NAS Hilo during WWII allowed Randy to connect with old college friends: Kent (and Greg) in DC and Brad and Jay in Ellicott City.
| Randy and Kent with Greg taking the pictue |
Four Zombies on Halloween |
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November
On the first Saturday of November, both Jane and Cate joined friends in going to the WGHS Homecoming Dance. It s actually called the Friendship Dance as it has been held with neighboring rival Kirkwood HS in a spirit of cooperation since 1939, following years when the rivalry boiled over in bad natured pranks and conflicts. Jane and her friends Kristen and Zo got together for some pre-dance pictures.
| Friends posing at Deer Creek Park |
Jane on the WG/Maplewood Friendship? Bridge |
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We picked up the happy girls (including Kenny) at 11 pm from KHS, all having had a better time than expected (they had really low expectations) having avoided the main part of the dance.
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After the dance pickup at KHS
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As per tradition, Bethany took Jane along to vote
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The fall definitely offered Randy multiple opportunities to reconnect with old friends and on the second weekend in November, he left for ANOTHER road trip with his college buddies. This time it was for their every couple years Wild Man Weekend (the 8th WMW dating back to 1992). Anthony, Steve, Jake and Randy turned the 4 hour drive to Nashville into a day and a half road trip adventure of the 2 lane highways between St. Louis and Music City, before joining up with a half dozen other friends in a log cabin lodge outside of town. Lots of immaturity ensued limited by age and the need to retain security clearances by half the crowd.
| At the LAST Mister Donut in America |
WMW2018 and the Nashville skyline |
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The Ides of November 2018 were a snow day off for the kids and Randy took off as well as we received half a foot of snow overnight but it was to warm to cause too many hassles beyond one day. We made sure Jane got in some poor weather driving experience but it had already melted to the point that it didn t offer much skill improvement. She also got in some sledding with her pals later in the afternoon.
| Cate shoveling the front walk (to regain her confiscated cell phone) |
Jane on a sledding break |
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WGHS History Club serves as the feeder to WGHS s Model UN team which both Jane and Cate participated in. Cate and McKenna served as the Ireland delegation and Jane and Kristen represented Belgium.
| WGHS at the Model UN |
Jane with the 10th Grade contigent |
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Cate and McKenna as Ireland
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Jane and Bethany attending the St. Rose Philippine Duchesne Bicentenial mass at the Cathedral Basilica of St. Louis on the 18th
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I don't need a Rug Doctor, I just need a freind with one (Thanks Britt).
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Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving falls on the 4th Thursday in November and in 2018, it fell as early in the month as possible. The Curti celebrated by donning Webster Turkey day t-shirts and all going to the 117th Webster-Kirkwood High School Turkey Day Football Game for the first time as a family. It was a gorgeous day with 61-degree temps, the sun shinning and the Statesmen winning through the first Quarter. The Kirkwood tide quickly turned, as expected, the game ended with a score of 75 to 34 (the time keeper mercifully forgot to stop the clock in the final minutes of the game as the Statemen completely fell apart). We sat with the Lisses and Hendricks as there was plenty of seating on the Webster side for a game they were expected to lose by a lot. At half time and 3rd quarter, Randy met with former Statesmen Todd Hammond near the end zone as he came to support his son plying trumpet for the Kirkwood HS Band and provide some good-natured rivalry abuse along with four-decade old end zones memories of shouting Show no Quarter on the extra-point kicks (we were so pretentious in our nerdy display of school spirit).
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The Curti decked out for their 1st Turkey Day Game (for 3 of us anyway)
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| Curti Women collectively hoping there will still be some seats on the Webster side still with 15 minutes before the kick-off |
In the stands while WG was ahead |
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Following lasagna dinner, Randy and the girls decided to do some Black Friday shopping at the Shrewsbury Walmart to get a 65-inch Sharp Roku TV. It was surprisingly relaxed with well-organized lines inside for the big-ticket items people wanted. We were out a half hour after the sale started with time enough left to come home, unload the car, and then head off to see Fantastic Beasts 2: Crimes of Grindelwald (a bit disappointing but Bethany thought Jude Law made a nice Y-umbaldore). We also did some on line shopping for a new laptop and two Chrome books for the girls. So much easier than actually fighting the crowds at the store.
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Turkey Day veggie lasagna
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On the actual Black Friday, there was a casual outing at 7:45 am for some clothes shopping with Randy and the girls visiting Kohl s, Old Navy, Walmart and the afterthought Sam s to get some cheap hot and ready pizza for the girls. On a whim, Cate spent $250 to buy a Roomba vacuum robot to do her weekly vacuuming chore for her. She named him "Dobby" as it was acting as her own personal House Elf (and it required her picking up her dirty socks, a lifelong issue, since that would clog the vacuum (and theoretically free Dobby from his servitude). The dogs were not sure what to make of it. Pepper kept trying to bite it at first.
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Doby vacuming for Cate
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Thanksgiving Friday is Sagegiving for the Curti. Randy and Van fried turkeys for the family for the 6th year in a row with cold beers, warm laughs and no politics. Following a terrific feast of bounty, we made the 2-hour slide show of Amy and Alvan s trip to Rome and Barcelona a drinking game which helped make it less painful, yet not painless as before the end we all felt that we couldn t know much more about the Gaudi Basilica Sagrada Fam lia unless we were there helping to finish it ourselves.
| Randy and Van with the first fried turkey |
Randy dropping the 2nd turkey |
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December
We started December celebrating neighbor Lisa Liss s 50th Birthday party at the Mead Youth & Community Center across from WGHS (old Christian Scientist church). After quickly enjoying a few Solo cups of Dead Guy Rogue Beer, RnB texted Jane to come pick them up (modeling responsible drinking behavior?). After some coercing, Jane and Cate begrudgingly joined the party of old fogies for the last 20 minutes of 1980s music to their utter embarrassment.
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The Curti at Lisa Liss's B-day Party
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On Sunday, the family enjoyed the Rep s well-done adaptation of A Christmas Story. There were no surprises to oft seen story but it was still laugh out loud funny in multiple places. Cate remarked liking the play better after seeing the movie again a couple weeks later with friends.
| FRA-GI-LE. Must be Italian. |
Jane and Cate enjoying the great seats of the Student Rush tickets |
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The first Tuesday in December was the WGHS Orchestra concert with the girls both playing cello.
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The girls in their orchestra finery
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As dictated by tradition; afterwards we went to Dairy Queen, making everyone happy (because orchestra concerts of less familiar pieces don t necessarily do so).
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Dairy Queen Celebration with the family and guests
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Jane swimming the 200M Freestyle relay at a WGHS home meet
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| RnB at Junniper |
and at Chevy's with Magartias for Friday |
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Filling up at Murdoch BP off I-44, Randy was struck by how inexpensive gas was at $1.89 a gallon. That equates to $0.62 a gallon in 1980 $ when he started driving his 1968 Ford Torino GT, which was lucky to get double digit mpg, and he was making $3.10 an hour at the DQ. He got a lot of millage the following weeks lecturing Jane when she whined about having to pay for gas when gas costs half now than when he was a kid and she s using a car that gets twice the gas mileage, getting her 4 times a far per $ than what he was a new driver (and she didn t have to pay for the car or make and pay for the repairs which were considerable on that $200 bargain mobile).
Film watching as a family slowed a bit this quarter as we only took in a few as a group: including classics Chicago and the Life of Brian and the new release oft Fantastic Beasts 2: The Crimes of Grindelwald (with Jude Law as Yumabledore). Without Jane (who hates horror films), we watch Stanley Kubrick s The Shinning.
