I expect to pass through life but once. If, therefore, there be any kindness I can show, or any good thing I can do to any fellow-being, let me do it now, and not defer or neglect it, as I shall not pass this way again. (William Penn)

This rang so true for me last week, as two good friends passed away. One, the last Navy Veteran I interviewed for my book Survivors of WWII in the Pacific, passed away in Prescott, Arizona. He was the youngest, the last one alive, and even at an advanced age he was always assisting other Veterans whenever he could. I wished I had called him more often. He was considering a retirement home, but in the end his daughter took care of him in the home they had shared for a couple of years. He gave me a copy of his spiral bound book – only printed for members of his family – about the Atomic Bomb Testing. A fascinating eyewitness account, illustrated with many pictures. A wonderful memory I will treasure.

The other one was a friend here in Waltonwood. Ever since the dining room opened again I would see her on a regular basis. Even Mike remembered her, because she used to sit behind him in Chair exercise before Covid. A few days had passed without seeing her, and then her obituary appeared on the table in front of the dining room. I wished I had talked to her more often.

We do not hear very much about what takes place at the Club – aside from rumors I don’t always trust. But when I walked Lani one night, someone called my name and told me that his wife was coming home the next day. I knew she had fallen and gone to the hospital, but now I heard that she had had back surgery and was paralyzed from her knees down. Her husband, together with a team of nurses three days a week will take care of her; at least she is finally home. Now I could do something to brighten her homecoming. Early the next morning I bought a bouquet of brightly colored flowers at Trader Joe’s, arranged them in a proper vase I found in the Flower room (all my vases are outstanding by now) and dropped them off outside her door before she was expected home.

Another friend here in Waltonwood needed to go in for surgery. When I visited her a week before, dressed in a black A-dress with a Hawaiian design, she said, “Oh, I love that dress! I want it!” I thought for a minute, then went home and came back to her with a very similar Hawaiian maxi dress. “After the war, I still have the habit to buy two of everything I buy, just in case. I liked this dress so much when we visited Hawai’i recently, that I bought one with a blue design of Ulu, breadfruit, and another one with an orange design of rain, and then a third one with a variety of quilting designs, all maxi dresses. I cut two of them to just below the knee and have been wearing them often. But really, what can I do with three similar dresses? This one is for you.” She loved it. On the day before her surgery I gave it to her, after I had hemmed it up, the back a little longer than the front, because of her figure, and when she is better and we can have dinner together at the Club, at a table for four, we will both wear our Hawaiian dresses.

Interesting Pacific History Story

Sometimes in life, the guy with the drunken, so crazy-it-just-might-work ideas hits one out of the park and saves the day. This is clearly what happened in 1942 aboard the HNLMS Abraham Crijnssen, the last Dutch warship standing after the Battle of  Java Sea.

Originally planning to escape to Australia with three other warships, the then-stranded minesweeper had to make the voyage alone and unprotected. The slow-moving vessel could only get up to about 15 knots and had very few guns, boasting only a single 3-inch gun and two Oerlikon 20 mm canons — making it a sitting duck for the Japanese bombers that circled above.

Knowing their only chance of survival was to make it to the Allies Down Under, the Crijnssen‘s 45 crew members frantically brainstormed ways to make the retreat undetected. The winning idea? Turn the ship into an island.

You can almost hear crazy-idea guy anticipating his shipmates’ reluctance: “Now guys, just hear me out…” But lucky for him, the Abraham Crijnssen was strapped for time, resources and alternative means of escape, automatically making the island idea the best idea. Now it was time to put the plan into action.

The crew went ashore to nearby islands and cut down as many trees as they could lug back onto the deck. Then the timber was arranged to look like a jungle canopy, covering as much square footage as possible. Any leftover parts of the ship were painted to look like rocks and cliff faces — these guys weren’t messing around.

Now, a camouflaged ship in deep trouble is better than a completely exposed ship. But there was still the problem of the Japanese noticing a mysterious moving island and wondering what would happen if they shot at it. Because of this, the crew figured the best means of convincing the Axis powers that they were an island was to truly be an island: by not moving at all during daylight hours.

While the sun was up they would anchor the ship near other islands, then cover as much ocean as they could once night fell — praying the Japanese wouldn’t notice a disappearing and reappearing island amongst the nearly 18,000 existing islands in Indonesia. And, as luck would have it, they didn’t.

The Crijnssen managed to go undetected by Japanese planes and avoid the destroyer that sank the other Dutch warships, surviving the eight-day journey to Australia and reuniting with Allied forces.

Miracles do happen

The Battle of Java Sea was a disaster for the Allied Forces. A good friend of my mother’s perished on De Ruyter, the flagship of Dutch Admiral Karel Doorman. Laud and Honor to the Crijnssen’s crew members for ingeniously saving their ship and their lives.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

An Invitation I couldn’t resist

The editor of Moesson International, the second edition of which is about to roll off the presses, was so impressed with the story I offered about my friend Hannie Blaauw, that she wants to continue Indo Profiles like that in the Magazine, and she invited me to write mine. It will have to be the same length as Hannie’s, 2500 words, and pictures are a must. Because there is a special edition coming out in July, she wants my copy as soon as possible in April. Together with the AD of my Kirkus Review, this will be a tremendous promotion and publicity for me and I am honored and thankful for this opportunity.

That means that I will have to skip a few weeks of blogging. The good thing is that you will have a break and when I start up again I will have a lot to talk about.

So until next time!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Ronny

Happy News

Monday night, for the first time in a year, we went to see our family without masks, with hugs instead of distance, to celebrate the 16th birthday of our middle grandson. He pooled his Christmas money and birthday money from everyone and bought a beautiful desk, a tower computer with which he can do flight simulations, and a very special leather office chair. His bedroom looks fantastic, and, perhaps you guessed it: he wants to be a pilot. He gave his old, small desk to his younger brother, who was delighted to have a good spot for our old computer. We “catered” dinner for all, picked up at the local Thai restaurant, and everybody was delighted and had a good time.

One Page at a Time

Another of my projects, a long time wish, became a reality. With the help of a cousin, whose existence I had no idea of just a month ago, I published a page for our great-aunt Dina Becht in Wikipedia.nl. Cousin Bob and I had the same grandmother and great-aunt, and he lives in the Netherlands, so he was willing and able to publish the page. I had written Dina’s bio and had a glamour picture ready many years ago, and at the last minute I thought of some sheet music I have, over 100 years old now, that her husband, famous composer Daniël Ruyneman had dedicated to her.  To check out the page of this very special lady, Dina Becht, click on this link:  #https://Lnkd.in/diYEkcD.

The trees are budding and flowering and it is getting warmer outside, so I invite you to spend time outdoors, also because this week’s Blog Post will be very short. I’ve had a very busy week, and am starting on a new project with the help of my newfound cousin in the Netherlands. Something I will tell you about later, because I first want to see that it works!

In the meantime, Kirkus Reviews got busy advertising my book in their digital and hardcopy Magazines, and through emails, so that is exciting, and I don’t have to do anything for that. The preliminary work is done.

We are getting more freedom, although masks will be a fashion statement for a while longer. We are looking forward to celebrating our grandson’s birthday with the family in their home next weekend, without masks and even with real hugs. The CDC says it’s OK. 🙂

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Tax Returns Done!

Our returns were done, e-filed, accepted and approved in the same day! What a relief to have that behind me and what an accomplishment: I did them all by myself!  With Mike’s saved receipts, Schwab’s downloaded forms and the knowledge of having them done together for many years it did not take me too long. I can recommend Turbo Tax to anyone with a computer and some computer skills.

New CDC guidelines

On Monday, the CDC announced that it is safe for fully vaccinated people (us) to visit with unvaccinated family members in the same household, as long as there are no high risk people in that family. How wonderful! It means that we can get together with our family to celebrate our grandson’s birthday next week! We promised to treat the whole family to Thai food and a favorite dessert of the birthday boy. It will be our first unmasked visit with our family in a year and we are so looking forward to it!

The new guidelines may also mean that we can sit with 4 people at a table for 7, so that we can have a decent conversation. Last Friday, we decided to go to Happy Hour at the Club. We found a table with six people around it and without further ado we started the second one, and had the opportunity to meet a nice new couple. Well, they had already been here three months, but because of Covid, we had never met yet.

Introduction Newcomers

Three couples, a single lady and a little dog have entered our Independent Living Community. My first encounter was with the little white dog, four years old, about the size of Lani, 23 pounds. They have an outside entrance and a tiny yard, and they really made it cute. With the help of a sister, they installed a tiled path from the walkway to the door, with a solar paneled light on either side of the entrance. There are four decorative little rabbits in their yard and a drinking fountain for the birds, and they created a dog run that has a six feet high fence around it. “She is a jumper,” they told me. Oh, I am so glad that Lani is not! We close the sunroom when she goes to bed at night with a 2 feet high gate, and a similar two feet high gate provides an unsurmountable barrier between the patio and the pine-needle-covered pee area. Although she does not dig in the dirt anymore like she used to as a puppy, you’ll never know, so we keep the gate closed when she is on the patio by herself.

When we came to live here in Waltonwood, there were strict health restrictions in place. I was not even sure I would be admitted, because I had hypertension. Well, there are so many vacancies now, that Management seems to turn a blind eye to almost every ailment people have, in order to fill as many apartments as possible. One couple coming into the dining room last night was a pitiful sight: the man, completely bent over, pushed his wife in a wheelchair to the table. They must have been in their nineties. Even though we love to meet new people and help them to get settled, there is so little valuable communication possible to enrich our lives. While it is true that we lose friends because they die physically, we also lose them when they fade away mentally. One good friend we often had dinner with moved to Assisted Living because he had rheumatoid arthritis. I was so happy to discover that the window of his room was facing the path where I walk daily. Thinking he would be happy to see a familiar face, I waved a few times, then dropped off a card for him at the desk with my phone number. When nothing happened, I asked one of the caregivers why he would not call me. She said, “He does not know who you are. He saw you, but forgot who you are. That’s how it goes here.” That’s indeed how it goes. And it is difficult to realize that it happens all around us and we lose friends even when they disappear behind the doors of Assisted Living, physically still there, but often fast declining and moving behind the next door.

So I am focusing on the wonderful things we have together and the many things we can still do. I am thankful for family close by and far away, and looking forward to this summer, when, hopefully, we can have another all-family reunion on the beach, a celebration of our 60th wedding anniversary. The temperatures are rising, we are having spring weather already and the time change is coming up this Sunday. We’ve had tulips, and Trader Joe’s is selling daffodils – irresistible! Yesterday, I had a decent haircut in the salon. I keep showing the stylist pictures of how I really want it cut, but she only glances at them and then does her own thing. After I wash and style it myself will I know if it is a good cut. Since I did not have a regular hair stylist before Covid, going out will be a gamble, so for now I will stay. And I must say that it is very convenient to have an in-house salon! “Life is what you make it” one resident told us when we first arrived. I do believe that, but life sometimes throws you curveballs that you can’t avoid. Yet…

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Exciting Projects

Very often I can’t wait to start my day. So many things take priority over the projects that I am excited about. When we get up, I dress in something warm, we have a cup of coffee, then I walk the dog, take a shower, dry my hair and get dressed again. Then I need to get in the car to get breakfast at the Club (granted, I do not have to make it), we have breakfast, I feed the dog, clean up the kitchen, then back to the bathroom to dole out our morning vitamins and brush my teeth, and then it is finally time to start my day. Unless, on Monday and Thursday, I dive into the laundry, or we have to get ready for a trip to a doctor or the like.

I have a 93-year-old Indo friend, Hannie Blaauw. If you have my 2014 book Survivors of WWII in the Pacific, you know his story. He lives alone since his little puppy died, with only a cleaning lady to come once a week. I asked his permission to publish his story in one of the Indo magazines. The first one is a website, The Indo Project (theindoproject.org) or TIP. On it, they post stories and pictures, mostly black and white pictures of “Tempo Dulu”. The other one is a magazine, Moesson International, that just came out in January. I subscribed and accidentally received two copies, so I sent one to Hannie. He was so excited to read all these Indo stories in English. And when I proposed to try to get his story published, he was delighted. I had two pictures of him, at 86 and 89 years old, but he had no old pictures left of himself. Except…he called me back: “I have one picture of me in uniform, in New Guinea, after the war, with the KNIL (Netherlands Dutch-East Indies Army).” I asked him if he could get it to me. Five days later, he sent it to me on my iPad. He had taken it out of the frame and his cleaning lady had sent it from his iPad to mine. “Great job Hannie!” The picture is back on the wall and I sent it to both Indo publications. I had not known about his New Guinea time, and the most important part, that he was the assistant of the Commander Sjoerd Lapré for three years. I happened to know Sjoerd Lapré RMWO personally. He gave me permission in 1990 to use historical information for the Historical Setting in my first book In the Shadow of the Sun (and subsequently in Rising from the Shadow of the Sun).

Now I am keeping my fingers crossed. I have asked both publications to try to publish his story before April 1, when Hannie will celebrate his 94th birthday. Just imagine it will appear on a website AND in a magazine! What a surprise that would be. And a birthday gift coming his way in the form of a subscription to Moesson International will make his day extra special.

Facebook encounter

On Facebook, recently, I found the name of my first piano teacher in Soerabaja: Tino Kerdijk. I messaged him and got to know the whole family. This Tino happened to be the old Tino’s grandson, and his Dad, the baby that was born when I was taking lessons, is now 71. They all live in the Netherlands and have families of their own, and one lady lives in Den Pasar on Bali. What a small world this is! Exchanging news and pictures was exciting and though I could only understand a few words in Indonesian, I could guess what they were talking about with the family on Bali. When I retire, I would like to refresh my knowledge of Indonesian. I now have three Facebook friends on Bali and one in Soerabaja, so I can practice with them. It is so comforting to know what happened to Tino and his family after I left Indonesia for the Netherlands.

Another encounter

From the Contact page on my website came an email from a long lost cousin, the son of my dad’s younger brother. He is doing genealogy about his family and came across my first book In the Shadow of the Sun, which he had had since 1993. He mentioned some names and places, so that I would know it was him. How interesting. He is some twenty years younger than I but we have the same grandmother! I am waiting to hear the “long story” he promised me in his following email; which, he asked nicely, he will write in Dutch. Even though his English was very good.

Musings

And so it happens, I thought the other day, that some people come into your life and others leave. From the Survivors of WWII in the Pacific that I interviewed, only two are still alive; two passed away last year, one with heart problems and old age, one from dementia. Two of them passed away when we still lived in Prescott, Arizona: one committed suicide and one, a Pearl Harbor survivor, fell out of bed, broke his hip and passed away soon after that. But then, through website and Facebook and LinkedIn, new friends appear, who hopefully will stay awhile. Especially after a whole year without communicating in person with people because of Covid, I feel it is so important to connect again, throughout generations, all over the world. People need people.

Another project

And the most exciting project I am working on is to get, for Kirkus Reviews, a Bio and information about my books with sample chapters together, for their Website for Movie Producers. Kirkus Reviews is offering this, since they are going to do the ad campaign for my book Rising from the Shadow of the Sun from March 15 until June 4. How exciting is that?!

The last-but-not-least project

Our tax return project has been moved to the back burner because of all those other fun things to do, but I now got the forms in the mail with which we should be able to continue our return. I just need time! And all these happenings are the reason that I am not ready to really, really, fully retire.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

The hawk

On the one sunny day after two weeks of rain, when I walked with Lani around the building in the afternoon, she suddenly stood stock still and looked up. I heard the sound of an airplane, so I said, that’s an airplane, and looked up as well. I did see the airplane, but closer, right above my head, on the street sign that read Kirkshire Circle, I saw Larry. I don’t really know if it was Larry, the Waltonwood hawk, who lives in the Divide and surrounding forest, because I never saw Larry from so close by. We stared at each other, the three of us. I couldn’t help admiring how beautiful he was, and how big, compared to the ravens I see around all the time. And just when I started thinking about the capture of my big bullfrog on the beach of the pond, and the threats to the ravens’ nest every year, Lani barked. I think she shared my feelings that went from admiration to loathing. And Larry felt it too. With formidable hauteur he lifted off the street sign, made a half circle and soared into the Divide, where I saw him descend on a tree branch in Wimbledon. The Divide is completely see-through in winter, because all deciduous trees are bare and the pines and firs are tall. How is it possible, I thought, that Lani noticed the hawk while she walks face down most of the time? Was it instinct? A sense of threat?  And of course birds of prey need prey to stay alive, so I should not despise Larry.

The dining room is open!

Last Tuesday, the dining room opened for breakfast. We have a choice of “dining in” or picking up. For now, because we don’t get up at 5:50 anymore, after a year of laziness, I am picking up breakfast every day. It stands ready, with many other breakfasts in white plastic bags, on the table and bar in the Café. On Sunday, there was a long line, from the dining room entrance all the way to the Players Club Room; every body wearing masks, but not spaced 6 feet apart. A sign at the entrance said We are understaffed today, breakfast will be served from 8:15 a.m. They are struggling in the kitchen: with lack of trained workers and workers who just don’t show up or quit. I think that this is by far the lowest point we have reached in the Covid year, with many vacant apartments and lack of variety in the menu. But then, the end is in sight! We are all vaccinated, visitation is allowed again, as long as we make a reservation at the front desk. The dining room was open for dinner on Monday, even allowing tables of three. So we are hanging in there, and…I made a wonderful discovery.

Thai Lotus

A Facebook friend recommended a Thai Restaurant close by, with very good reviews, and they deliver within a 4.5 mile radius. We are just over that at 4.8 miles, but they made an exception! So on Monday we ordered Thai dinner. It came 40 minutes after my phone call and it was wonderful. It was warm upon arrival, so did not need re-heating in the microwave, and it was fragrant and delicious, with just the right spiciness. (to compare, think of the special Valentine’s treat from the kitchen: steak and lobster – heated in the microwave!) So we decided that we would order Thai food every time the kitchen menu does not sound delectable.

Poem

An Indo friend posted a nice poem on Facebook in Dutch and Indonesian. I could not resist translating it into English so that more English speaking Indo’s and other people can enjoy it. Perhaps they will post it in The Indo Project (TIP) as well.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Life savers

Two life savers brightened my days last week! One is a set of two fast wireless charging stands for my cell phone; one for the desk in my office, one for the kitchen counter. Now my phone is always charged, and I can always find it, that is, if I remember to put it on the stand and not somewhere on the table or in a coat pocket. The other one is a set of Lock Laces. Hallelujah! What a wonderful discovery that was. For years, because I have been walking so much, I had the best hiking shoes I could find. They had round laces, and I had to tie them and then tie them again, otherwise they would come undone in no time at all. What a pain in the neck, or rather, more and more, what a problem for my aging hands! It was not good for my nails and it took extra long before the dog and I were finally out the door. Last week, I remembered seeing kids with funny shoe laces and I went to Amazon to see what was available. Bingo! Lock Laces! I received them in two days and now I don’t have to tie my running shoes again but I can slide right into them. An afterthought: in December, when I decided to take it easy, I walked on my regular Sketchers; and after a little while I got the problem with my Acetabulum. I am happy to say that I healed the rear ligament, but now the front ligament is hurting (there are three). So I will continue with my treatments, and I must say that rest and walking less were definitely important factors in the healing process. I even got daily notifications on my cellphone that I had reached my goal in reading! I did not even know I had a goal for reading! But reading I did!

More healing

Mike’s shingles are healing as well – thankfully, and probably because of the fact that we got shingles shots years ago. He is off the medication and Tylenol and we both sleep tight every night; for me it was an exhausting week.

Leadership change 

The Regional Director sent us all a notice of the departure of the current Executive Director, who had been here for only 14 months. We have gone through three EDs since we moved here. There was one good one, and he got promoted to Regional Director at Headquarters in Michigan. However, to his credit, the ED we had (who we think was fired, because it was such an abrupt leave) led us safely through a year of Covid threats, with only a few positive cases and only one or two deaths. We are still being tested bi-weekly, but there have not been any positive cases lately, so this week the dining room will be open for breakfast, and next week also for dinner: with a maximum of three people to a round table for seven. The salon will open again, still with only two people present at a time, but we will have to remain vigilant. And, since we feel a little bit safer, Mike went to the barber and the audiologist and I to the masseuse for my hip. The world is slowly opening up again. When I picked up breakfast Tuesday morning, the dining room was full and buzzing; the chef was preparing what looked like Eggs Benedict, and it was wonderful to see so many people again.

Valentine’s Day

For Valentine’s Day, I dropped off six boxes of girl scout cookies “from your secret Valentine”, and only one lady guessed it was me. And then we could order “love drops” consisting of a long stemmed red rose, a box of chocolates and a hand written note, to benefit the American Heart Association. They would be delivered for us, and all “from your secret Valentine”. What fun! I selected 37 men, women and couples as recipients, and nobody had any inkling who their secret Valentine was; 37 lonely people were pleasantly surprised on Valentine’s tine’s Day! And to make the day perfect: we received a box of  See’s Candy from one of the neighbors in the afternoon.

Tax Returns

We have started preparation for our tax returns, and since we hope to finish this project quickly, like last year, I am eagerly waiting for the final tax information to come in so we can finish and file! And guess what? This will be a short post again becauseI’m running out of time!

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny

Calamities

The dog barked all night because she heard the owl. I had noticed a bloody feather in the border by the front door that day and thought that we had not heard the owl all year. But he was back. And I could not get Lani to be quiet for a long time, so we lost some sleep. Why do owls keep sounding their call if they are out to surprise a prey? I have wondered about that forever. If any of you know the answer, please leave it in the Comments below.

Then Mike got Shingles. He thought the pain in his side and back for the last week was due to exercises with the therapists, but the doctor made the diagnosis: You have Shingles. After we had been vaccinated in 2010, I thought we would not get shingles, but here it is. As one of our friends once said, One’s health is a fragile thing that can change in a moment’s time. 

So I am cutting this post very short. Medications, TLC, companionship, I am focused. I want to take care of my man, my buddy, my love.

Stay healthy!

Until next time

Ronny

The aftermath of Moderna #2

We had hoped for the best and prepared for the worst. The second vaccine clinic at the Club was even better organized than the first and we were done quickly on Thursday afternoon. We had no commitments on Friday, so that we could just relax. Mike did not have any after effects, but I felt achy all day Friday. It was like I had a temperature, but frequent checking did not show anything abnormal. We were warned not to take any Tylenol within six hours of the shot, because it would diminish the effect of the drug, so we were careful not to, and on Saturday I felt fine again. The feeling of security is great and makes it all worth it. Two weeks from last Thursday, on February 10, the effect of the drug will have reached 100%. Of course distancing and a mask are still necessary, but the feeling of freedom after 11 months of severe restrictions is fantastic.

Girl Scout Cookies

It’s that time of year again: girl scouts are selling cookies. Our granddaughter in California now has a digital cookie website through which we can order cookies and her goal is to sell 150 boxes of cookies. In previous years we have either just made a donation, or we ordered cookies and asked her to save them for us in the freezer until the next family reunion in the summer, but this year the girl scout council offered to ship them. A minimum of four boxes would be shipped for a fee. What to do? We love especially the Samoas, but to eat four boxes of Samoas in February would definitely mean I would have to buy a new bathing suit for our summer reunion. I had an idea. To the great surprise and delight of our granddaughter I ordered fourteen boxes of a variety of cookies. Six of them were to be delivered to the military in my granddaughter’s area as a donation, and eight boxes will come here. I will save 2 boxes of Samoas for ourselves and, since they will arrive just before Valentine’s day, I will drop them off at the doors of six people at the Club the night before. There are single people who have no family, or are deep in their nineties, or whom we just love for the way they have braved these eleven months in lockdown. For that purpose I went to Amazon and found a box of miniature Valentine’s cards, the old fashioned style, very cute, and on each card I will write With love from your secret Valentine. Our granddaughter’s  troop has great plans: there are eight of them, and they are planing a trip to one of the Hawaiian Islands in the summer of 2022. They will learn how to plan the trip, lodging, food, entertainment and everything else. A true learning experience with lots of fun.

And I? Well, I have to dig up my beautiful bathing suit and see how many pounds I have to lose to fit it again and then judge if I can eat any cookies at all when they come. But then, in four months I can easily lose five pounds if I have to, so no worries. And Mike can eat any amount of cookies without any problem: his speedo will always fit! Lucky guy!

First snow and cold, dark, rainy days

The snow really only held on the roof tops, very pretty, and the bushes and trees, but had disappeared the next morning. And because walking other than with the dog is not attractive, it was the perfect time to start working on taxes. We have the TurboTax in the house, a CD, because that’s how we have always done it, and in anticipation of all necessary documents to come in I started it up. Last year it was so easy that we did it in one day. We don’t own property anymore, and that makes it easy. I do the computer part and Mike backs me up with all the documentation he has collected in his “active file” during the year.

It’s a Wonderful Life!

Until next time,

Ronny