60 Years of Marriage

Family get together celebrating 60th wedding anniversary.

Sixty years ago today, my Uncle Woody (left front) married my Aunt Ann (second from the right) at the All Saints Church in Buffalo, New York, on 205 Esser Avenue. To celebrate this special day their friend Boyd joined my Aunt Jean, cousin Nancy, and Nancy’s children Theresa and Daniel, Caroline, and me to wish them the very best.

Ann Burns in Santa Barbara, California

We started out with me making breakfast for everyone, and later on, we grilled Ted’s hotdogs for lunch. Daniel brought a pinata, and for the first time in their combined 150-or-so years, my aunt and uncle tried to break open the candy-stuffed pinata. All of us took a whack and had a great laugh.

Woody Burns and Caroline Wise in Santa Barbara, California

For dinner, we warmed homemade chicken corn chowder – a summertime favorite in Buffalo. On Sunday morning at Saint Raphael’s Church, the pastor offered a blessing and acknowledged the reaffirmation of their vows, a suggestion by Nancy – we were touched.

The Knezetic Family

My Aunt Jean Knezetic visiting family in Santa Barbara, California

This is my aunt Jean Knezetic, whom I have not seen in almost 24 years. She and her daughter (my cousin) Nancy, whom I had met last about that same time, too, came to Santa Barbara to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of my uncle Woody and Aunt Ann. Aunt Jean was married to my aunt Ann’s older brother Frank, who passed away at age 80 just five years ago. Nancy also brought her two wonderful kids, Theresa, aged 16, and Daniel, aged 7, for the festivities.

Nancy Knezetic visiting family in Santa Barbara, California

My cousin Nancy Knezetic was my co-conspirator in planning and surprising my aunt and uncle on their anniversary. I was surprised, too. After not having a word of communication with my cousin in 24 years, I re-met a family member who has grown up to have two great children, a sense of adventure, and a caring for a family not often seen anymore. I can only imagine her husband Sam is as great a guy as reflected in her happiness and the kids’ wellbeing. Unfortunately, we didn’t have the opportunity to meet him on this visit as work stood in the way, but we look forward to visiting them in their California desert home soon.

Jean Knezetic, Nancy Knezetic, and John Wise in Santa Barbara, California

I think I neglected to know my family for a long time, too long. Such is the damage a parent can cause when the brutality that emerges from their own upbringing leaves a lot of harm in its wake. I missed so much during the years I needed to keep my distance while trying to find my own happiness. Now, as I reflect on these moments when I’m so much older in 2023, I can only cherish what I finally got and smile at those I never really knew as an adult.

Great Aunt Ann Burns (née Knezetic)

Great-aunt Ann Burns of Goleta, California

My great aunt, Ann Burns (née Knezetic), was not an easy woman to photograph and was the embodiment of the phrase, “Get outta here you’s guys with your pictures.” She liked having her picture taken as much as my uncle liked others paying the bill at a restaurant. Still, we need memories of our families that will outlive them, and for me, my aunt will forever be the woman who couldn’t pass up a bargain at the store, kept things for way too long, got her hair done the same way for decades, and never once did I see her wearing closed toe shoes. More than all of that, she was a tough woman who never quit.

Wet grass at local park in Goleta, California

This post has been modified in 2023 due to sloppiness in my blogging habits back when I started this thing; as I said at the beginning of this series of days, I’m now rectifying my mistakes. So why am I including wet grass in this post? It’s because I’ve got nothing else, and I like the way the water drops sit on the leaves here at the park we were visiting.

Rosie the Dalmatian looks intently at my great aunt Ann Burns

A part of the routine of visiting my family in Santa Barbara is going to the local park to walk the dog. On any given day, a number of local dogs make their appearance, stopping by for a rub and a scratch from my aunt and uncle, who are quite accommodating. This Dalmatian above is Rosie. I don’t see her often, but on occasion, this gentle, easy-going dog slowly makes her way over for a moment of attention. Today, her biggest interest was getting up close and personal with my great-aunt.

Great Uncle Woody Burns

Great Uncle Woody Burns of Goleta, California

This is my great uncle Woody Burns, my hero and one of my greatest mentors. This man landed on Omaha Beach during World War II and marched across France to Germany, then back to Belgium to participate in the Battle of the Bulge and lived to share his story. Over time, we learned of him being hit by a train in Buffalo, New York, when he was eight years old. While in Europe at war, a grenade went off in his foxhole. The concussion tossed him just above the surface, where he remembered looking around and realizing this was not a place he wanted to be. When he fell back into the foxhole, the man next to him was dead. He felt that he had cheated death and it wouldn’t be the last time. For me, my uncle was a mix of Humphry Bogart with a side of James Cagney; he had many jobs and could seemingly do anything in my eyes, and this all came out of an 8th-grade education as that’s as far as he went in school. When he bought his home north of Santa Barbara in Goleta, employers had a difficult time attracting people to live so far away from Los Angeles, where the good jobs were, but something attracted him and my aunt to coastal living, and so this is where they’ve been for nearly 40 years.

Caroline’s Birthday

Near Seacliff south of Santa Barbara we stopped at dawn along the Pacific coast for this gorgeous orange slice of sunrise sandwiched between a light blue sky and the still dark ocean

Attention: This post had a few extra images added to it in 2022 to offer a better overview of what was seen on this day.

Today is Caroline’s birthday. Our original plan was to go to Disneyland yesterday, as today is Monday, and Caroline should be at work, but family is a higher priority, so we tended to that.

Near Seacliff south of Santa Barbara we stopped at dawn along the Pacific coast for this gorgeous orange slice of sunrise sandwiched between a light blue sky and the still dark ocean

These moments on the coast are not about an early morning respite from Tata and Woody; I’m taking Caroline home today and turning around tomorrow to come back. With my uncle in the hospital, there’s not a lot to be done, and family friend Boyd has agreed to get Tata to and from the hospital to visit him, so these duties are covered.

Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in Ventura, California

So, as much as possible, we’ll take our time getting back to Phoenix, as after today, it looks like I’ll be away for about a week or so. This is the Mission Basilica San Buenaventura in Ventura.

Sunrise at beach in Ventura, California

We spent about an hour along the ocean watching the sunrise.

General Patton Memorial Museum at Chiriaco Summit, California

Now it’s birthday time with a visit to the General Patton Memorial Museum at Chiriaco Summit because what’s better than sharing with Caroline some history of the guy who helped kick the Huns’ ass.

General Patton Memorial Museum at Chiriaco Summit, California

Where was this when I started dating Caroline?

General Patton Memorial Museum at Chiriaco Summit, California

It’s kind of strange that you can see more swastikas in America than in all of Germany.

General Patton Memorial Museum at Chiriaco Summit, California

…and this, Caroline, was the tank that blew Hitler’s head off. From Caroline, “John, just what kind of idiot are you?”

No time to linger as we are now trying to reach Phoenix before 6:30 when Caroline has a final in her Visual Basic class at Paradise Valley Community College.

Tula, the Golden Retriever

Tula, the Golden Retriever, is the new puppy of a friend of our aunt and uncle in Santa Barbara, California

Attention: This post had a few extra images added to it in 2022 to offer a better overview of what was seen on this day.

After visiting Uncle Woody this morning, who was sitting up and ready to get walking, we took his German Shepherd Sophie to the park for a chance to run around and chase a tennis ball with a dog friend named Chester. Chester is a Retriever who hangs out with Gail, a friend of my aunt and uncle. Gail recently lost an older Retriever, and so last night, she and her husband picked up their new puppy, Tula – a Golden Retriever.

Hospital in Santa Barbara, California

Back to the hospital in the afternoon, but with my uncle exhausted and my aunt too, we got her home and made plans to head down to Los Angeles for a few hours.

Mark Shimer, Caroline Wise, and John Wise in Little Tokyo Los Angeles, California

Met up with Mark Shimer at Shabu Shabu in Little Tokyo before returning to Santa Barbara for another night.