Ahhhhhhhh...Retirement

Our journey continues, and when we left the 80's, Marge and Ed were in the throws of becoming grandparents at a pretty rapid rate. Needless to say that continued into the 90's.

Sagan Alyssa Ruby was born February 6, 1990, Jacob Michael Ruby was born July 9, 1992, Austin Ray Kosiewicz was born April 12, 1994, and lastly, Alec Travis Walker was born on May 8, 1994.

Chris and Lynn settled in Virginia, and Mom and Dad split their time between the two states, spending countless hours being the ultimate grandparents to our kids. Every year Mom & Dad would meet Chris or Lynn in Pennsylvania and take the grandkids back to Ohio for a week of spoiling. All the kids loved staying at their house, going to the Dragon playground, the zoo, Geauga Lake, Sea World, or boating, fishing and tubing at Mosquito Lake. Once a year we all vacationed together in Pennsylvania or Nags Head. Holidays were important, but Mom and Dad made Christmas time really special for the kids. Mom always outdid herself with a decorated house, enough food to make you burst (ham anyone??), and of course an assortment of the most delicious cookies you'll ever eat. Making and decorating sugar cookies was always a big family event and the "Skipper Herman" cookie tradition was dutifully passed on to the grandkids. She made each grandchild their own handmade Christmas stocking and filled them with gifts hand-picked just for them. Our parents made each child feel special and loved.


Mom and Dad both had very successful and fulfilling careers, which drew to a close in the 90's. Mom retired from nursing at Geauga Hospital in '91 and a couple years later, Dad retired from teaching at Tri-C. With all the kids out of the house (FINALLY!!!!), they had more time to do things as a couple once again. They enjoyed several Caribbean cruises, and vacationed several times in Bermuda with Lynn and Glenn.

Mom and Dad never stopped doing. They embraced their freedom and started fulfilling many of their own dreams. Dad really got into music and took up the saxophone and harmonica (he even played a few gigs in public), and Mom used her musical talents to help him learn to read music. He experimented with fly fishing (making his own lures), and as always, worked on perfecting his golf game. Mom became an entrepreneur and with her partner, Darlene Jupp, started selling watches. This eventually grew into their "antique" business, where they spent hours finding amazing deals at garage sales and auctions and turned around and sold them for profit at flea markets. Mom, who has always had a talent for sewing, also discovered cross stitch, and her many of her pieces are works of art! Mom also spent time with friends and nursing school classmates, and had many wonderful vacations with Kathy Fazekas, Margaret McNaughton, Karen Rantala, and Pat Eckert.

Boating was still a love for Mom and Dad, and for most of their lives, power boats (Mom's favorite) have been the boat of choice. However, after retirement, Dad purchased a 15' sail boat which he took to LaDue Resevoir to learn the art of sailing. If you know Dad, that took all of a few months to master, and the next thing you know there was a beautiful 35' sailboat by the name of "Playlady II" docked at Mentor Harbor. Mom and Dad spent many peaceful hours sailing on Lake Erie and were always willing and ready to take us out on the boat... to see the excitement in our kids faces (let alone our own) when they got to steer this massive sail boat, was priceless.

While vacationing in Florida, Mom and Dad decided to purchase a condominium, and in 1996 they settled on Punta Gorda, Florida. Their little slice of heaven was located at the Burnt Store Marina which is right on the Gulf of Mexico. It was perfect - the property had a golf course, a boating dock, pool (fully equipped with a pool Nazi)... and most importantly, NO SNOW! Winters would now be spent in their tropical paradise and each time they went, they discovered lovely new friends from their new neighborhood, such as the Bugnos, Jinkins, Dees, Ahrens, Ellie Albert, Barbarinis, Rooneys, and Stewarts. As the years progressed, they met the Hills, Konstanty's, and Carol Bugno's brother, Larry Ek. The Playlady II made it down to Florida too and sailing on Charlotte Harbor was a favorite activity preceded only by golf and fishing.

While this time in their lives was filled with so much joy, it was also a time of great responsibility. Mom being the only child and the loving daughter she is, became the main caretaker of her parents in their time of need. She spent almost every day at their home, and shuttled them to and from doctor's visits and helped nurse them through surgeries. Grandma Kosiewicz, who was also in need of care, eventually moved into a nursing home in Aurora, Ohio - Dad, Uncle Buddy, and Mom were her guardian angels and someone from the family was there on a daily basis to visit and watch over her care. Mom and Dad totally supported each other through these trying times, and their parents received the best possible care due to their loving devotion.

Each and everyone of us knows the difficulties and the joys of life and through this journey we have seen Mom and Dad touched by both and everything in between. We see our parents marriage as the example of unconditional love, support, commitment, and giving of ones self that only true soulmates encompass. They have stayed true to the vows they took on their wedding day 50 years ago.

Please share any memories you have of our parent's from the 1990's by clicking on the comments link below.

The 1980's - Moving On

The 1980's were a great decade for women - Sandra Day O'Connor became the first woman Justice appointed to the Supreme Court, Sally Ride became the first woman in space, and Geraldine Ferraro became the first woman to run for the office of Vice President. However, in the Kosiewicz house, we girls had already learned from our parents that anything was possible if we were willing to work for it. We feel truly blessed that we had such great role models - our parents always encouraged each other's interests, both personal and career wise. And as each of us finished high school and left home, Mom and Dad encouraged us to pursue our passions, whether it meant going off to college or joining the workforce.

As Lynn & Karen finished up high school in the early 80's, Mom and Dad finally had the time to start doing some things for themselves. Mom took some pottery classes and Dad went back to school to take classes toward his PhD. In fact, Mom actually took one of the math classes that Dad taught at Tri-C. As the semester was drawing to a close and Mom was dilly-dallying on taking her final, Dad warned her that if she didn't finish up in time, he would fail her just like any other student - there was no nepotism in his classroom! Needless to say, Mom got it together and ended up with an A on the final and for the class.

In 1984, Ed and Marge also celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and took a trip to Hawaii. Below is a picture of Dad performing with one of the hula dancers - do you think maybe they are doing the coconut polka? Or maybe the chicken dance hula?

While they were in Hawaii, we think that maybe mom made a sacrifice to one of the island fertility gods for grandchildren, because over the next five years, Megan Lynn Schwemmer was born on January 9, 1985, Michael Kenneth Schwemmer was born on May 22, 1987, Ashley Marie Kosiewicz was born on November 1, 1988 and Glenn Edward Walker finished out the decade on September 23, 1989 - the same birthday as Mom. It seems just as they had gotten everyone out (well, maybe with the exception of Lynn's and Karen's collies, Mitzi and Willie), that their house was soon filled up again with the pitter patter of little feet. And as all of our kids can attest, they are wonderful grandparents as well! As parents, we are eternally grateful for all the help Mom and Dad gave us in those early years when our kids were babies.

I don't think we ever appreciated what a special relationship our parents had until we all got married ourselves in the 80's. They made it look so easy, and continue to do so to this day. Although most of us have not been as fortunate in our marriages as our parents are, I think that we have all strived to have what they have and try to be the kind of parents to our children that Mom and Dad were, and still are to us, to this day.

Please share any memories you have of our parent's from the 1980's by clicking on the comments link below.

Party Update

Mom wanted me to pass on some additional information about the party. Dress will be casual, since we are planning on being outside, so dress comfortably! Dinner will be ready around 4.

In addition to our parent's 50th anniversary, we will also be celebrating the marriage of our brother Mike and his wife Missy, who got married this past January.