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Aged but Mellow
I found this card in the museum's gift shop. The
cover caught my eye. See? A young couple sitting on a front porch at dusk,
somewhere in farm country. The woman looks like my Loretta, all those years ago.
On her folks' porch. And that guy could be me. That's why I bought the card for
our 60th anniversary. Reminds me so much of the evening I popped two questions.
First question: "Will you be my wife? I'll stay in the US and say au revoir to
France."
She said, "yes".
And then I asked the second question: "Will you help me start a winery? I can't
grow beans, cherie. I'm a vintner."
Sacre bleu, she agreed.
She'll recognize that scene. And she'll be amazed that I remembered 'cause I'm
so forgetful these days. But this card brought those times all back into focus -
our years of joy and hard work, building up a winery ... and our family.
Y'see, first we had lotsa long talks with her folks, and my family, in France,
long-distance, and then the banks and the wine co-op farmers. Pere and Mere
weren't sure I could run my own winery, but Loretta's father was a cool, old
guy.
He said, "Let's try it. Your family grows grapes. If that's what you know, and
you're ready to make it work, I'll back you, Jules."
Then Loretta and I studied up the best ways to grow grapes here in California. I
asked my parents and uncles to send cuttings, and talked to lotsa local guys who
grew grapes. Loretta's Dad bought our winery vats and machines. Said it was his
wedding gift to us. His treat.
And so we started. Wow. We were in for years of hard work. And, mon dieu,
- the droughts, the bugs, the blights, the frosts. Lots of stress. My Loretta
stuck it out with me. And talked her old man into a big loan when we needed to
expand and buy the farm next door. Along the way we found time to bring up a
family. Lots of joy in that department, I can tell ya.
And now? We have a first class winery, a hundred employees, five grown kids, and
beaucoup grandkids … lots of wine under the bridge.
So ... can I borrow your pen? I'm gonna write:
Happy 60th, Loretta, mon amour.
Remember when we started our "partnership" on your folks' front porch?
Meet you there tonight. Bring our best champagne.
Love, Jules
Ballerina Alicia Alonso in Arabesque Position
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Mili, Gjon
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