Elise Sereni Patkotak

I’ve been away fro my brood for a week and I miss their furry and feathered little faces. The night before I left, after the suitcases came out, they were so freaked they all slept in bed with me curled up so close I couldn’t move.  Snowy was so worried that even after he got out of bed to barf on the carpet next to my bed and loudly eat what he’d barfed up, he jumped back into bed to share the rest of my night with me. You can’t find that kind of love everywhere.

Today marks the 41st year of my life in Alaska. It’s hard to believe so much time has gone by. But what a great life Alaska gave me. What an amazing life Barrow gave me. How lucky am I that I answered that ad in the back of the American Journal of Nursing and then made myself get on that plane in NYC to fly into what seemed to be an unknown land holding unknown adventures. Who would have ever imagined that the adventures would be so darn wonderful. Thanks everyone. Thanks Alaska.

Oh who am I kidding. I’m not going to prepare for Cuba today. I’m going to visit my old friends in Atlantic City. You might know them. There name is The Penny Slots.

The wedding is over. The bride was beautiful. The groom was handsome. The parents were appropriately sentimental. The dogs did not attend. Bummer.

Based on my own experience, one would expect me to not be very enthused about weddings. One would be wrong. I am not enthused about marriage but family weddings are always welcomed because in my family, everyone shows up. We may not pay a lot of attention to the bride and groom because, after all, we see them all the time anyway. But oh what fun to reconnect with those far flung members of the clan who seem to appear only for weddings and funerals due to distance and time. The big question is, as it always is when the

I arrive on the East Coast for a wedding and the temps are in the 70s. I realize when I go to Cuba next week it will be even hotter. I maybe should have rethought this whole thing.

A suggestion to all members of my family who are contemplating the idea of marriage sometime before I die and who also think they might want to invite me… think January or February. Lovely months. And I have clothes that work in those temps.

Heading East for a family wedding and then a trip to Cuba. Yep. Cuba. My sister and I are determined to visit all remaining communist countries on earth before their inevitable demise. Because things are really cheap right before the fall.

The first snow of winter is always my cue that it’s time to put the summer flowers away and enjoy the whiteness of the next nine months. For those of us who hate summer, mosquitoes, other bugs and too much sun, we can only say YAY!