On the way home I stopped at the grocery story. At the checkout counter I noticed a display for Topps Baseball Cards, 20 cards and a stick of gum on sale for $2.99. What a deal! Back in 1963, when I was seven years old, a pack of five baseball cards and that same stick of gum only cost 5 cents. Why do I remember this fact? My allowance was 10 cents per week, and I was allowed to buy one, and only one, pack of baseball cards per week.  The rest was supposed to go in my piggy bank! Thus, forty-five years of inflation has yielded … a 1500% inflation by the baseball card index!

• Cost per card in 1963: 1 cent per card
• Cost per card in 2008: 15 cents per card

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Ah … the good old days … back in the Fall of 1976. I took a term off from Dartmouth, and backpacked through Europe. Now my son Carl will do the same … he leaves tonight. However, Carl will blog about the subject.  My parents we're lucky to hear anything from me. The only way to contact me was to mail a letter to an American Express office in the hopes I might travel through that locale. Carl will have Skype, his blog, etc.

Thus, follow a college student's experiences as he backpacks through Europe via Carl's Travel Blog (or subscribe via RSS). I posted this comment on my son's blog:

"Back in 1976, during my own backpacking trip through Europe, my experiences ranged from hiking up to the edge of an active volcano (Mt. Etna in Sicily) to serving as a guest DJ for an underground communist radio station. Thankfully I'm still alive, and did not ever get arrested! Have fun … Dad"

One week from tomorrow I will run in Grandma's Marathon in Duluth, Minnesota. I just designed and bought myself a new T-shirt for the race. If you don't get it (see images), you probably shouldn't be reading this blog! (click for an expanded view)

I wasn't certain if I had this post in me. My two prior posts about Google Sites were a welcome, and needed diversion.

Last week I posted about my own 25th Wedding Anniversary. Given this is a technical blog, I felt it was time to refocus on hard content. God had other plans for me. Wednesday night, my Mom died. Perhaps I can pass along some learnings.

I have discovered that hospice care is truly a phenomenal service. My Mom and Dad, whose love dates back to 1950, made a promise to each other years ago that they would not let each other die in a hospital. Hospice care and Rosie allowed Dad to keep that promise. By the grace of God I had planned to be in Florida on Wednesday, and was present at my parent's Winter home when Mom died Wednesday night at 11:00 p.m. The hospice care nurse (thanks Sara) was with us within 30 minutes, and took care of everything. By 2:00 a.m. the funeral folks had come and gone. Early the next morning, both Pastor Mike and Nurse Gayle from the hospice group called to make certain we were okay (thanks to both of you during this difficult time). Pastor Mike also visited us later that day.

The service we used was Hospice of the Comforter. Their name rings true.

Finally, I give my thanks to God who allowed me to insure my Dad was not alone Wednesday night. We watched old home movies early Wednesday evening. These films dated back to the 1930's and showed my Mom as a young girl growing up in Sudbury, Ontario. Mom was still with us as we watched. (click upon any thumbnail image for an expanded view)

This will be my only post this week … no engineering stuff … no Web 2.0 information, because Molly and I have achieved Wedding 25.0 ! This new love sharing application will be released to the general public on Wednesday, May 21st (our 25th Wedding Anniversary)!

How does one define Wedding 25.0? Here is my answer …

In 25 years of marriage I have only worn one piece of jewelry, my wedding ring. In those 25 years I’ve only taken off my ring three times. Once on my wedding night, to read the inscriptions with my bride … once on my 15th wedding anniversary when Molly and I renewed our vows and wanted to show our children the inscriptions … and once with my wife at a jewelry store to have the ring shined up. The final occasion was a mistake … as this banged up ring has never ceased to glow.  It did not need buffing!

Our celebration starts this evening when our children take us out to dinner, and tomorrow Molly and I are escaping to our beloved North Shore of Lake Superior.

I invite you to watch this short four minute video which I created for my bride, Molly. It takes the Hoeg family quickly through 25 years of life! If you are so inclined, please leave Molly and me a comment. Molly will not be aware of this blog post till after I preview the video for her and the kids at dinner!

• Rich and Molly – 25 Years of Love – 4 minute video
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An addendum … the kids fooled us! The restaurant was full of friends reaching back to grade school!

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