Nana

Losing a loved one is never easy, and I am sure especially a parent... It reminds a lot of us just how much we love our friends and family and how short life is...There is just so much that everyone wants to accomplish in life. And many of times we just let opportunities move on right by us. My Dad is always in my prayers, but especially during this time of losing his Mom. I can't imagine losing my Mom, nor do I ever want to. I love you Dad. Nana is in a much better place now, pain free, with our Lord and Savior.

Memorial for Aileen Toerne Born in Ft. Wayne, IN on Feb. 26, 1927 Departed on Jun. 1, 2012 and resided in Maumee, OH. Visitation: Thursday, Jun. 7, 2012 Service: Friday, Jun. 8, 2012 Cemetery: St. Joseph Cemetery   Aileen Toerne died at the age of 85 on Friday, June 1, 2012, surrounded by loving family. She was born in Fort Wayne, Indiana, she was youngest child of Kenneth and Genevieve Betts. She had eleven children, the oldest was a girl, then a boy, then a girl, then a boy, then a girl, then a boy, then a girl, then a boy, then a girl, then twin boys. She called it quits when they started coming in pairs. She was an extraordinary mother. It was her claim to fame, and she loved it! Shortly after their wedding, Richard and Aileen moved from Fort Wayne to Ohio and the family called Maumee home for over fifty years. She was a proud stay at home mom who created many lasting memories for her children. She was a great cook, and holiday dinners were her specialty. She and Richard loved the Holidays and the Toerne home in Maumee was the site of huge family gatherings on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, Memorial Day, July 4th, birthdays, graduations, you name it! She embraced her role as mother, (and mother in law), grandmother, and great grandmother, and the parties just kept getting bigger and bigger. There was always room for another plate at Aileen's table, and you better save room for dessert! She lived her life to serve others and family always came first with Aileen. She and Richard had a love for travel and new experiences that started when they visited Cuba in the fifties. It continued with many cross country drives in later years as they visited their children and grandchildren across the country. A talented seamstress and a member of the Maumee Sewing Club, Aileen enjoyed sitting at her sewing machine and was known for lovely prom, bridesmaid and wedding dresses. (As well as lots of fashionable doll clothes!) She was also a proud member and officer of the Maumee Mother's Club. She was an active member of St Joseph's Catholic Church during her years in Maumee, and had served as president of their Altar and Rosary society. Aileen also served the church as a Lector and Eucharistic Minister. Aileen loved to dance with her husband Richard and she spent many a Saturday dancing the night away with friends from the Cadence Club which she and Richard helped to establish. She is survived by her children, Lynne Toerne of Santa Cruz CA, Rick (Snow) of Scottsdale AZ, Suzen Toerne, Steve (Cindy), Beth Basilius (Dwight) of Santa Cruz CA, Kevin (Sara), Lisa Basting (Chris), David (Lynne), Judy Fitzgibbons (James) of Trumbull CT, Thomas (Kelly), and Tim (Laurie). She is also survived by thirty one grandchildren, and twenty one great grandchildren! She was preceded in death by her loving husband Richard; her parents, and her brother Neal Betts; and sister Marion Thome. Family and friends may call at the Maison-Dardenne-Walker Funeral Home, 501 Conant St. Maumee, on Thursday June 7, 2012 from 3-8 pm with a scripture service at 7:00 pm. Funeral services will begin in the funeral home on Friday at 9:00 am followed by the Funeral Mass at 9:30 am at St. Joseph's Catholic Church, Maumee. The family would like to thank all the caregivers at Perrysburg Care and Rehab Center for their years of kindness and gentle compassion and suggests that in lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Aileen's memory to the Alzheimer's Association of Northwest Ohio, St. Joseph's Catholic Church Campus Improvement Campaign or any charity of the donor's choice.

Boston Boys!

I cannot believe that my niece is almost 15!! I remember the day she was born, being so excited to become an Auntie for the first time! And now here we are almost 15 years later and she just graduated 8th grade to embark on high school! Gosh, talk about time seriously flying!!!! It was fun to watch her up on stage with her friends as she reached this milestone in her life.

My brother Kevin (her Dad) and my nephews Sam & Ben came in from Boston to celebrate this day with her too. It was a short visit for them but still good to see them and watch Lilly and her cousins play together. We don't get to see them often, maybe once a year, so watching them all play and interact with one another was really funny. Lilly adapted pretty well to going along with the boys when they were chasing each other, shooting and making all those "fun" machine gun sounds. But, after a while of that Lilly kinda  gave up and was trying to get them to play more of her style. You gotta give credit where it's due, she was like, "Boys lets play Princesses AND prince. You can be the prince!" Good thing she emphasized on that because it used to be her trying to make them be princesses. lol So we only got to see them for a day, but i was nice. They got to meet Rosie, see our new home and see how much Van has grown. Last time they saw him was at Christmas, and that was for the 1st time ever. Sam loves babies. He had a really good time entertaining Van, which of course I had no complaints about! Van was dying to chase those boys all over the place. We went to a picnic for Lilly's school where they all had a blast. It was the longest 3 hours of my life, mainly due to the fact that Van was confined to his wagon in which I walked him around this loop of the park pretty much forever! Oh did I mention it was 100 degrees out! We had to stay there so my brother could then catch his ride a cabin where him and his kids were headed next.

                                Dad & Mom with all grand kids! Emma, Sam, Lilly, Ben & Van

Van isn't walking yet, well I guess I should say he isn't fully walking yet. We can get him to walk back and forth from Antho to me- with nothing else but a food bribe for my porker. Yesterday he walked almost the entire length of our kitchen, so about 8 feet he walked I am guessing. We were so excited! You can tell he is sick of crawling though. He wants us to walk him EVERYWHERE. He will hold onto our fingers and just want to go every which way for what seems like endless hours. My mom told me that when we were his age she and my dad would make us hold onto like a drumstick instead of our hands. That way we couldn't feel the warmth of her hands and we would learn to really balance then before we knew it she had let go of the drumstick and we were walking on our own but just not realizing it cuz we still had the stick in our hands. I though that was pretty smart, so we are trying that out on him. He isn't to keen on it just yet, but soon enough I hope. I wouldn't say I am anxious for him to walk, just ready. Lilly was walking at 10 months so I am not used to carrying around a 14 month old. It makes things a bit more of a hassle, especially when we are outside. I will put him down and he does his best to get around, but since he hates the grass and hates for his knees to touch any cement it's pretty funny watch him maneuver everywhere. But there are times when he wants to just get up and walk over to a toy outside or whatever and just whines because he "can't." So although they get into everything under the sun when the start to walk, I am okay with that. I would rather deal with that than having to lug him in my arms. Good for my arms, that's what I keep telling myself :)