Today Is ...

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

When I was a kid in the 1960s and 1970s, I loved going to the nearby Howard Johnson's restaurant on Long Island, New York, with my parents to get chicken croquettes and mint chocolate chip ice cream, my favorite flavor.

I also like cassis (black currant) ice cream after I tasted it in Paris, France, during the summer of 1984 (age 23) while I was studying for six credits of French Composition and Conversation in three weeks in the nearby town of Massy, France, while attending a Villanova University overseas program. I graduated in December 1984 with a bachelor's degree in communications with a minor (18 credits) in the French language.

In the mid- to late 1980s, my father owned and operated a Steve's ice cream shop in Columbia, Missouri, near the campus of the University of Missouri, where I was studying for my master's degree in journalism. The ice cream was terrific. The location was bad, kind of hidden behind the campus with no traffic (foot or car), next to a Korean grocery store. My dad eventually closed the shop permanently. I was a part-time scooper and later the manager there between classes and homework.

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

Long ago, I would enjoy with friends frozen lime daiquiris made in a blender with ice, rum, and Minute Maid frozen limeade concentrate. We called them Daiqs (pronounced "dahks").

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026

I play games of Words With Friends on my phone with not that many people, unknown and known. These days, I play full games on the app with people I don't know and shorter games on the Facebook version with two of my friends. My username is Wsantos3434.

from husband Bill, July 19, 2026