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Well I first have to apologize as this blog is going to take a bit to write as I am behind and a lot of things have happened this trip. So many in fact they have left me no time to write but once I get back on the road I will get caught up.
But I do have time to announce ….
I GOT THE BOOK FINISHED AND READY TO SELL!!!!! :) :) :) Look out, Oprah here we come!!
Many things have happened on this trip and since I am a little behind I am going to summarize mostly.
The first day into Cincinnati area we were headed to have dinner with our good friend Trish. On the way our rear brake caliper failed and seized up :( I had to have Trish give us a ride home and my mom to take me back to my car where I got it fixed in under 20 minutes. I had time to drive around Loveland, where I grew up, with my mom. It was an emotional ride as we went by our house where I spent my entire childhood at and my mom last year was forced to sell. I had to hold back tears and be strong for my mom as she was on the verge of breaking down. It would not have been so hard had I not been with her. There are so many good times in that happened in that house along with some hard ones, but the good ones are the ones I hold on to. I plan to sometime in the future write a book about all the great stories from my childhood growing up with Skippy, Jason and others. And if anyone has been around me before, they will know I love to tell those stories, just hope I can do them justice in writing them down.
The day ended by having lunch at Skyline Chili. If you are from Cincinnati, you understand what role Skyline plays in your life, and if it doesn’t, that must mean you are one of those Gold Star people :) :) :)
We did a side day trip to Lebanon, Ohio and were pleasantly surprised by its charm. It is a great small midwestern town. The Golden Lamb is its famous landmark but there are many other sites to check out. A place you should go to if there is the Wild Bill Cafe. The decor of the place does not portray what the menu is like. It is gourmet and fabulous! And the beer selection is not bad either.
We had our One Shoe Diaries exhibition at Depot Square Frame and Art courtesy of our good friends Dave and Beth Magella. It was a great success, but once again not much traffic other than friends and family, but most of them showed up and it was so fun to see everyone. It was a great moment to be able to sell the first copy of our book to my older brother Doug. I wish there was a way we could reconnect as we are so busy it seems to find time :( We would like to thank all those that came out. Pat and Vicky Costello, Trish and her mother and friend. My mom, sister Vicky, Skippy, Becky, Wayne, Randy, Jen, my nephew and Niece, along with Juanita, Mike and any others I may have failed to mention. I had my first interview with a reporter and will be posting the article as soon as it is published.
The next day my cousin Terry, whom I wish I was closer to and my Uncle Junior stopped by with his friend Mary Ann. I got to hear a great story about my grandfather from him I have never heard before…
My grandfather, Henry Geisner and his two brothers came over on a ship from Germany together years ago when they were just young men. So what do young men who have no job or life do when they get off the ship do? They get drunk, and get drunk they did. They ended up getting into a fight, over what he never said. But they were so furious after the fight they decided to part ways. One brother was so angry he said he was changing his last name to Geesner. The other brother, not to be outdone said he was changing his last name to Gessner. The third was so mad he decided he could not live in the same country with them and went back to Germany! And still to this day the two families have not spoken. You can even see the two families names, Geesner and Gessner in the Cincinnati phone book.
My father never knew his father, and I never met his mother Hazel. My grandmother died when I was young and grandfather Henry Geesner died before I was born. Therefore I know very litle about my history and I am hungry to learn all I can when I get the chance. I hope to have more time with Uncle Junior some time, along with cousins Ron and Terry.
Before our last day in town we were able to meet up with Randy, Jen and Trish at the Valley Vineyards. You know we cant go anywhere without finding a winery :) This was nice as they have a dinner function on the weekends where you get a table and pay a certain price. And for that you get either steak or salmon. The twist being you grill it yourself on their outdoor grills. ALong with the main course they have prepared corn, potatos, salad and desserts for you. And oh yeah, you get a bottle of their wine. The wine was nothing special, but it was good and they grow all the grapes there. The best part was sharing more time with our friends. It was a perfect evening.
