Here's a photo of my bride (and best friend) and me at Lauritzen Gardens. Diane and I will celebrate our anniversary September 13; we were married on Friday the 13th, at 7:13 PM, with 13 family members attending; all but the date were coincidental, but 13 appears to be a lucky number for us! Diane (Krebs) lived in the Miller Park neighborhood and hung out with the younger siblings of our classmates that lived around 28th & Bauman Ave., before the UPRR moved her family to North Platte in 1970. We share a lot of common interests – photography, travel, lazy Sunday mornings, cooking, merlot & cabernet, and high explosives. I suppose I should explain the explosives thing…. For the past 20 years, we've spent well over 150 weekends setting up and detonating spectacular air show pyrotechnics displays at airports and military bases all over North America as members of the Tora Bomb Squad. Not wimpy fireworks – we use C4, dynamite, TNT, and hundreds of gallons of jet fuel ! (Surf www.ToraToraTora.com for some photos of our handiwork.) Besides the adrenaline rush of setting off a couple of sticks of dynamite from just 80 feet away, with airplanes 50 feet over head, this crazy-sounding hobby has allowed us to travel to Moosejaw SK, Monterrey MX, and every State in the union except Hawaii – all on somebody else's nickel ! We've had the honor of drinking beer with fighter aces, astronauts, German and Japanese pilots from WWII, enjoyed a lobster dinner with Gene Krantz (of Apollo 13 fame), confirmed that RAF pilots ARE “commando” under their kilts, and a hundred other truly priceless experiences.
Diane and I live in my childhood home just 300 feet south of the Vennelyst Park gate and are active members in (too) many community organizations: Florence Arts Council, Florence Historical Foundation, and the Florentine Players theater group (where we met 25 years ago). Diane's a retired nurse from UNMC and now sells fine jewelry – my 30-year watch from Motorola is 2 years old.