Or at least I did earlier this month. There wasn't a lot of fanfare, but Cheryl acting like she was, I didn't expect much. The kids got me cards, and Cheryl and I went out to breakfast. I spent a lot of time thinking about how fast it's gone. When I was 20, I thought I had all the time in the world to get things figured out. As cliché as it sounds, it's true that life is short. Everyday truly is a blessing.

    I neglected to mention I was going on vacation. I was supposed to go with David to a baseball tournament in Tennessee, but due to Cheryl's employment situation, we had to send him without us. I spent the week doing absolutely nothing, and it was everything I hoped it would be.

    I got some work done in the yard that I've been meaning to get to. There was a really old fence and some trees I had to get rid of. Not to mention this nasty wild rose bush that was overgrown, and killing a mulberry tree. I got it all torn out and uprooted. My backyard actually looks bigger now. One thing I didn't realize was that there was a nice little patch of poison ivy growing right in the area I was working. Needless to say, I'm looking pretty bad. I'm oozing all over the place.

    Cheryl and I had a good week together. It was nice to see her less stressed. She seems to be doing better since her last meltdown. She came home from last night rather tired though.

    Please excuse the simple layout. I've dropped my gold membership for the time being. Cable TV and cell phones may be next if Cheryl can't get her employment situation figured out. I've got some pictures of a project I'm working on that I'd really like to post. There's a bit of a story behind it.

    My father had two older sisters: Ruth and Norma. The only one left alive is Norma. She's 87, living in San Clemente California. She's in a home now, and her affairs are managed by my cousin Ron. They were the children of Chauncey and Edna Speaker of Rennerdale Pa. Edna's father (my great grandfather) was a doctor who practiced in Missouri. This was around the time of the Civil War. Back in those days, he ran his practice out of his home, and made house calls. Imagine that. One of the items he used was is call an "upright secretary" This is a piece of furniture that has a desk with a roll top, and a cabinet with shelves on top. Dr. Evans passed this on to my grandmother, and she subsequently passed it to my aunt Ruth.

    After some moving around, she and her husband decided to put it into storage in their barn in the late 1950's. And there it sat until 1987. When my aunt Norma learned of the birth of my son (whom we named Thomas Evans) she immediately made arrangements for the upright secretary to be passed along to us. My sister Susan was moving out to Philadelphia to get her PhD at the University of Pennsylvania, and she had rented a van, and I was helping her move. Since my aunt Ruth lived just north of Philly in Doylestown, it was the perfect opportunity to get it.

    I arrived, and it was the first time I'd seen her in years, and she was a little ill, so my uncle helped me fish it out of the barn. It was in pieces, and not in the greatest of shape. There was some water damage, and mice had made their home in it. After a short visit with their family, I left to come home.

    I started refinishing it in my garage, and shortly into the project my Landlord informed me that he had sold the place, and we had to move shortly. I had no place to keep it, so it got scattered between my self, my brother, and my dad. Then I went into the Navy shortly thereafter, and for the last 17 years it was scattered all over northeast Ohio.

    So my mother was moving, and she wanted to pass some things along to me, and I had to rent a trailer. SO it was the perfect opportunity to get the antique back together. I had it all fully assembled in my garage, and started taking all of the 'before' pictures". If I had hosting, I'd share them with you all. It is really a beautiful piece. Once I get that taken care of I'll be posting them. But this is my project for the summer, and I'm looking forward to it. It's going to be a lot of fun.

    What does something like this typically go for? Well, in mint condition similar items like have sold for around $12,000.

    Here is one that is similar to what I have, except newer:

~Rick