Category: Family
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A ceramic Christmas tree from Nana taught me I was an adult
Nana was an old-fashioned woman. She was devoutly God-fearing, believed divorce was a sin, and had definite ideas of gender roles. She also had a strong tendency to see her grandchildren as small children no matter how old we got. Birthday cards from Nana were often ones more appropriate for a 7-year-old, but she sent…
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Sammy Gardner: February 24, 2012 – July 4, 2017
Sammy Gardner was born in Chicago on February 24, 2012. He was one of three kittens, two boys and a girl, born that day to a mom I’ve never known anything about. When he and his siblings were found by volunteers from the Illinois Animal Rescue within a few days of their birth, their mom…
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Hey! Hey! What do you say! The Cubs are gonna win today!
Today is Opening Day for the 2017 Major League Baseball Season and it finds the World Series Championship Cubs playing against their perennial rival the St. Louis Cardinals. The truth is that I have no idea whether the Cubs will win tonight. I certainly hope they do because like any good lifelong Cubs fan, I…
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The Gardner Family Cookbook: The best Christmas gift I’ve ever given
I love Christmas. I love the traditions. I love going to church at Christmas. I love the family time. I love the holiday parties. I love sending Christmas cards. I love receiving Christmas cards. I love picking out the perfect gifts for the people I love. And I love receiving gifts. When it comes to…
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Happy birthday Dave!
Happy birthday to Dave, the greatest brother in the world! I love being your big sister and having you as my best friend. Please join me wishing Dave a very happy birthday in the comments. Want to know more about Dave? Check out these posts: Dad, can I have herpes?, April 2009 Happy birthday Dave!,…
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My childhood walked out the door at our garage sale
As I discussed earlier this week, my mom and I recently held a garage sale. It was fairly successful, but a bit difficult in ways that previous garage sales haven’t been. Prior garage sales have been about getting rid of excess items. With this sale, however, my mom, brother, and I decided to purge items…
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What are your family traditions?
My dad is the second of five children born to Giff and Peggy Gardner – Giff, John (my dad), Jeff, Kathy, and Ray. When we moved to Chicago from Ft. Myers, Florida in 1975, the entire extended family lived in the Chicago Area and we got together regularly. I have vivid memories of family dinners…
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Mortgage savings for you or a way for the bank to make money?
Three and one-half years ago I purchased my first home. I bought a modest condo in Lake County and took out a mortgage that was 48% of what I’d pre-qualified for. I put down 20% of the purchase price, which was 70% of the asking price. Ya, I’m a kick-ass negotiator, when backed by the…
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RIP Feline Companion Fred Gardner, Unknown – March 11, 2015
It is with a heavy heart that I share that my dad, John, just said good-bye to his faithful feline companion, Fred. Fred was a very loving kitty who my dad rescued in the early 2000s. He was all black and loved his belly rubs. He also enjoyed long walks through the neighborhood on his…
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Livingston Gifford Gardner, June 8, 1916 – January 11, 1995
Twenty years ago today, my paternal grandfather, Livingston Gifford Gardner, died. It wasn’t unexpected. Grandpa had been sick for as long as I could remember and we’d gotten a call in early December 1994 saying that doctors gave him about a month to live. Although he’d been sick for close to 20 years, I can’t…
Jessica L Gardner 