This month brought two especially joyful occasions. The first was the wedding, in Columbus, of a man I've known since we were at Wolverine Boys' State together in June, 1952 (I was editor of the daily paper; Tim, who hailed from the Detroit area, was sports editor). We became fast friends, and went to Washington, D.C. together one Spring vacation (we're both politics junkies, although Tim has stayed a Republican!) Tim was the one who actually went into journalism as a profession; he is now retired and living near Traverse City. After his wife's death, he reconnected with a woman he had dated in college . . . and the rest is history.

The second "occasion" was a visit to my two older sons, both of whom live in Minneapolis. It had been several years since I had been up there, but we reconnected Big Time this year (three visits so far). I drove to Muskegon, Michigan, and took the Lake Express (a high-speed car and people ferry) across to Milwaukee, and then drove up to Minneapolis. It was two easy five-hour trips with a 2½-hour boat ride in the middle!

The visit afforded me a chance to meet both boys' "significant others" and they were wise to wait! More will be revealed in subsequent months (see July and October).

Me, with Tim and Claudia after the ceremony.

During the summers of 1959 and 1960, I tended bar on the S.S. Milwaukee Clipper, a passenger and car ferry which ran between Milwaukee and Muskegon (it took six hours back then!). No in "mothballs," the Clipper sits in Muskegon Harbor.

At one time, there was a proposal to open the boat as a floating restaurant, but I don't think anything has come of that idea. She still looks pretty seaworthy for having been built in 1905!

On the deck of the Lake Express.

The Lake Express is leaving the Muskegon harbor and preparing to "pour on the coal" to reach her cruising speed of around 30 kts. (around 35 mph). The Michigan side, with its sloping, sandy beaches, is a little more inviting than the rocky coast of Wisconsin, but Lake Michigan is beautiful everywhere!

Also beautiful: the iris in Jeff's front yard!

Jeffrey (# 2 son) and CeCe. I was overjoyed to see them so happy together; they are so good for each other!

Caitlin, CeCe's daughter, is (like most adolescent girls) an experimenter with hair styles. Unlike most adolescents, she is also an accomplished photographer.

Carly Razidlo, Christopher's fiancée.

Christopher, left and right, has played bass guitar for a number of rock bands in the Milwaukee area over the years he has lived there. He is at present with the band, "The Hostages," which performs in local venues. He also has a day job in the construction industry.

He helped Carly move back (from California) to Minneapolis early in the year. They have subsequently become engaged. Carly's a massage therapist.

CeCe, also a sometime Minneapolis resident, grew up in Sand Point, Idaho and has lived in San Francisco and in Gretna, Manitoba. She's an accountant for a wholesale fabric company in Minneapolis.