Donna

On a visit to a curiosity shop I bought a pad of diner guest checks. I don't know why. The pad became a part of our kitchen countertop for a quarter century. The guest checks were made from heavy card stock and could last through spills and shuffling. We recognized them as notes that should not be ignored. Here is a sample of the notes. The guest checks could be statements about the current state of the home, like a wet floor. Another simple statement. And a very old punchline. Often times, the guest checks would call attention to the necessity of procuring an important item. We couldn't have our weekly Meatball and a Movie if we didn't have meatballs. We had another tradition that we called Cookie Party. Not necessarily cookies, it was an occasion to enjoy a sweet. In this case, brownies. Not written on this note, but understood, the brownies needed to be served with ice cream. And there had to be enough ice cream to spoon up a bit with every bite of brownie. This was ver...

While we enjoyed life in our home - cooking something good to eat, reading aloud, watching Netflix DVDs - we loved to go out and take in everything around us; movies, concerts, plays ... so many special days and nights. Donna saved ticket stubs and memorabilia from our outings. I've collected some of them in this album . Here's a sample of what can be found there.   This was one of our first nights out. Such a wonderful memory. February 17, 1989. Movies were at the top of our list when we decided to go out. This Sunday matinee was a special event. On February 7, 1993, the University of Chicago screened a restored version of D.W. Griffith's 1916 film, "Intolerance." The University Symphony Orchestra provided accompaniment for this silent film. The Chicago Reader's Jonathan Rosenbaum writes about it here Martin Amis was a favorite author. We often read aloud his books to each other. We seldom passed up an opportunity to see him when he visited Chicago. On April ...

I read news that WFMT, Chicago's classical music radio station, was going to discontinue its Do-It-Yourself Messiah, an event they had been presenting since 1976. During one holiday season many years ago Donna and her friend Nancy Sivak were members of the amateur chorus. I asked Nancy to share her memories of that special time: "40- ish years ago…memories of…The Do It Yourself Messiah …with this qualifier: i do not bet my life on all of these details from decades ago… that said, here goes.  Orchestra Hall is what being in a church should feel like…for the diym (do-it-yourself Messiah), only the soloists are paid …  orchestra members are volunteers who have played together- never before…… the orchestra rehearses only three times, prior to the night of performance …. > 2,500 singers, of widely ranging talent, training, experience…. The common / golden thread through all of the event is love of Handel’s Messiah…this chicago diym was directed by the goddess, Margaret ...

A photo album from 2004. Click on the image or link to go to the album.  https://photos.app.goo.gl/CuXDsZQkfbNhxgcv5

Over the decades of our marriage Donna and I shared many traditions. Not anything big, just small things we cherished and made a part of our lives. One such thing was a Sunday afternoon celebration of sorts; we would enjoy Italian food and watch a movie. Donna coined the phrase, 'meatball and a movie.' I've continued that tradition, and I keep a list of all the Sunday afternoon plates and films. Meatball And A Movie

 Claw members (left to right) Mollie (Claw Number Two), Karen (Claw Number One), Teresa (Claw Number Four), Sue (Claw Number Six) Photo submitted by Sue Blomgren What is the Claw? No one will say. The Claw has its origins among Ishpeming High School students, including Donna Michels (Claw Number Seven) and Sue Bussiere Blomgren  (Claw Number Six) , in the mid 1950s. I asked Sue and Donna what the Claw is. It's a secret. As the photo above will attest, the secret has been kept among Claw members for several decades. Is the Claw a benevolent organization, or are its members given to nefarious schemes. Mum's the word.  In addition to those pictured above, Claw members included Beth (Claw Number Three), Gerry (Claw Number Five), Margie (Claw Number Eight), Maddy (Claw Number Nine), Brigie (Claw Number Ten), Chetty (Claw Number Eleven), Jerry (Claw Number Twelve), Barbi (Claw Number ?)

  Donna and Sue Stories Donna Michels and Sue Blomgren shared a lifetime. They were friends from their time as little girls through their years as old women and till the end of Donna's life. Here are some shared memories. There may be many more. Feel free to share your favorite Donna and Sue stories. Conversation With A Farmer We used to visit the two horses that belonged to a small farm in Ishpeming.  We'd bring sugar lumps and apples for them to eat. We were in about Fifth Grade. One day on such an occasion we noticed the old man who owned the horses was in the stable, and we had some questions to ask about the horses, so we approached him and chatted briefly. Then he asked us where we went to school. We answered, ' St. John's Convent School.' 'Catholics, then, eh?', he said. We nodded, then after a slight pause he remarked, 'Well, we can't help what we're born, can we?'       Donna and I were shocked and baffled by his remark. I guess it w...

This is a group email I sent out the day after Donna had her mitral valve repair surgery, performed by Delos Cosgrove, MD at Cleveland Clinic. It's a fond memory now. At the time, I was sitting on pins and needles, hoping everything went alright. This was sent from Donna's Governor's State University email address because we didn't yet have a home email address. I made a modem connection with govst.edu and logged into Donna's Pine account (that was their email client) to send this message to the group. MH From: d-michels1@govst.edu (Donna Michels) Subject: The Day After Hello again everybody.  Donna has moved up in the world - five floors up, to be exact. And she would have a room with a view if her bed were located next to the window. She's now located on the tenth floor, which has a name something like "cardiac rehabilitation facility." There's a phone by her bed. She has asked that no one call her for a while longer. I'll send you an e-mail ...

  At age seven, while visiting her Aunt Lonnie, Donna wrote three stories. These stories have been scanned and saved as PDFs. Links to the PDFs are given below this message. The PDFs are fairly large, 25 megabytes or more. The best way to enjoy these stories is to download them onto your computer or other device and then open them. -- The Farm -- The Little Fawn -- Miss Kitty: A Cat Story

 

 

While she was growing up, Donna often visited the Ishpeming Carnegie Public Library to check out books and to hang out in the Teen Loft with her friend Sue Blomgren. We asked those interested to make a donation to the Library in memory of Donna Michels. The latest edition of the Friends of the Library Newsletter included this article. Here is a link to the Friends of the Library webpage. https://ishpeminglibrary.info/friends/ Here is the Winter 2021 edition of Friends of the Library Newsletter

 

 

 Donna Michels joins Roberto Andreini's cousin, Silvano, for a trip to the Andreini family burial plot. Afterward Donna and Silvano visit the Andreini Family Home. October 14, 2004. A Day With Silvano Andreini

  Donna Michels meets her Second Cousin Roberto Andreini for dinner and a discussion of Andreini genealogy. At Il Borghetto del Castello Trattoria - Pizzeria, Lucca, Italy. Dinner with Donna Michels and Roberto Andreini: Part One Dinner with Donna Michels and Roberto Andreini: Part Two Dinner with Donna Michels and Roberto Andreini: Part Three Days later the group gathered again for another dinner, this time at Trattoria da checco, Lucca, Italy. Roberto had some history with this restaurant. Many years earlier his band, Piera, played here. Dinner at Trattoria da checco with Lara and Roberto Andreini Dinner at Roberto Andreini's Home

 

 

 

 

 To Mike Shannon, 1953 - 1999, from Donna Michels.

  Download as PDF

Our friendship is seagulls, A dark, moonlit night with crisp, cool breezes, Sun shining on the bark of gnarled, old trees Tanned boys' hands And green apples and stories in a huge maple tree. Our friendship is street corners, Psychology at a basketball game,  Scraps of paper with scribbled notes, Signs and wonders, And dreams told over the telephone. Our friendship is the Barnum Bridge, A treasure-box filled with valuables, Notes of a harmonica piercing the air, Pilate's Knob, The treehouse, the theater, and walking home after a dance. Our friendship is singing, Frozen fingers clutching a whiskey bottle Walking along a dusty road, bicycles, books, And a shining white dam bordering deep, clear waters. Our friendship is campfires, A man and woman dancing to sultry music, A cigarette glowing on North Slope, A slinking wolf, And Rachmaninoff's 3rd movement on a scratchy record. Our friendship is knives, And ocean waves pounding on rocky shores, Standing on a cliff, hair wet wit...

Click on the post title to open the message and download the PDFs. Notes On D. H. Lawrence, Part One Notes On D. H. Lawrence, Part Two Identification With Characters in Novels Notes On St Mawr Wordsworth and Coleridge: The Language of Poetry A Collection of Poems by Charlie Hooks A Story by Charlie Hooks Durufle Requiem Romantic, Barring Romance A Poem titled Rhonda A Poem titled The Difficult Thing A Poem titled Arena Prose titled P. R. From Thayer's Life of Beethoven Stuart Gallahger's Folklore Course Three Provinces of Philosophy A Jelly-fish A Poem by J. Patrick Lewis Planh For The Death Of Ted Hughes WFMT Pledge Drive Notes On Religion One Size Fits All: A Critical Essay After My Suicide, by Henry Allen One Night Between Sunset and River A List Hands Relationships Untitled Poem by Donna Michels Significative. A Poem by Donna Michels Untitled Poem by Donna Michels Untitled Poem by Donna Michels Untitled Poem by Donna Michels Untitled Poem by Donna Michels Strawberries, Suga...

 Sue Blomgren, Donna's lifelong friend, shared this scrap of conversation with me. Donna said she had great reverence for food. Anyone fortunate enough to have shared a meal prepared by Donna will recognize the validity of this statement. During our years together she used her expertise and enthusiasm to bring the very best recipes to our table. Sometimes I would assist her in the procurement and preparation of the ingredients. On other occasions, Donna worked as the sole chef in the kitchen. In either case, one would find Donna's reverence in each dish. In celebration of her reverence for food, I am sharing Donna's recipe books: -- The Orange Binder . --  The Spiral Notebook . --  The Blank Book . -- The Black Binder . -- The Zipper Document Folder . -- The Green Metal Index Card Box . Here are some recipes that were missed during the original blog post: -- Don Curto's Tomato Basil Cream Soup . Thanks to Sue Blomgren for sharing this recipe. Also, we often turned to...

 Tony was the family dog when Donna was a young girl. Donna shared several Tony stories with me (I'd ask her to tell them to me again and again. She was a great storyteller). Here's one of my favorites. During a visit to her grandfather's home, Tony went into the barn and got into a fight with a rat. Donna ran to her grandfather and urgently told him about this terrible thing. Her grandfather said, "He knows what he's doing." This is Donna's favorite photo of Tony because her grandfather's beautiful gardens are visible in the background. She loved walking around these gardens with her Grandfather Peter Michels. He would tell her about each plant as they strolled along. This is a color tinted black & white photo of Tony. Some of the tinting has faded away. Some of the spots are Tony's. Some of the spots are splashes of spaghetti sauce accidentally placed there by one of Donna's children. For this photo Fred Michels, Donna's father, pl...

What a fascinating, wonderful human. I remember often, and always with a smile, a moment at work. As I walked past Donna, she exploded with [her headphones on and] that beautiful, musical laugh. She explained, loudly [in a voice that indicated she was SO enjoying WFMT at good volume] that the host had just announced the next recording they were playing: a work by Pachelbel.."NO" he had said, "not THAT one."  no more words.

This was our first photo shoot. Click here for the album .