I recently had my annual Women’s Wellness Weekend with nine ladies from my family. It was our best weekend ever!
We rented a beautiful home on the St. Croix River in Hudson, Wisconsin. Our age range is 44 to 93, but we are all 21 at heart.
The theme this year became “Birds Up!” as we all, yes all, got a calligraphy bird tattoo on our wrist. This was not planned! And had we asked at breakfast about tattoos I guarantee five of the nine would have said when the devil catches a cold, yet it happened.
I went first, of course. I had no idea tattoos were so quick and relatively painless. Three minutes from start to finish. Then, my two aunts, Donna and Bonnie got theirs and then my cousin Michelle. By then my great-aunt Beverly called her husband to ask permission. Just as she was getting her “ink” my 93-year-old friend Gloria grabbed my mom and said, “Come on LaVonne!”
I have never seen my mom’s face go so white!
She followed Gloria to do the paperwork with a look of panic on her face. Then I had to call my sister cousin’s daughter to beg her permission so Dawn could join the group. The last holdout was my Auntie M. (Marcia). She really didn’t want to do it. So she had hers made very, very tiny. All are awesome!
It is said “Birds of a feather stick together” which is so true when it comes to getting tattoos by Sandy Holthaus and her female relatives. What next? Bungee jumping? Hang gliding? Running with the bulls? Wait and see, said Sandy. Photo courtesy of Sandy Holthaus
The rest of the weekend was spent yelling “Bird’s Up!” with our hands raised in the air. Even the captain on our riverboat cruise joined the fun by announcing “Birds Up!” over the intercom.
We also enjoyed a spa night of massages, facials and foot scrubs. With wine and appetizers of course. A spinach artichoke dip to die for. Breakfasts of sourdough pancakes and cashmere pashminas. We made a handprint art tree with my favorite “Do All That You Can” John Wesley quote. Had gluten-free homemade “Fat Head” pizzas and oatmeal energy balls prepared by my talented aunts.
We played dominos, relaxed in the hot tub, made Lake Superior rock art and just enjoyed the company of being together.
Getting all of us together once a year is not as easy as it sounds. Two fly in from North Carolina, one comes from Las Vegas. My mom drives from the North Shore, and the rest are over an hour away. By the time we get to the house, it is a huge sigh of relief and three days of fun.
We have already booked next year and started planning. I have to tell you, if you don’t plan it, these kind of get-togethers will never happen. And yet, they are so special and memorable, with or without the ink!
Birds Up! My friends and Peace to you.
PS – If you see my mom LaVonne ask her about her ink!
“Do all the good you can. By all the means you can. In all the ways you can. In all the places you can. At all the times you can. To all the people you can. As long as ever you can.”
~ JOHN WESLEY
Taste of Home columnist Sandy (Anderson) Holthaus lives on a farm in South Haven, MN with her husband, Michael, and their children Zoe, Jack and Ben. Her heart remains on the North Shore where she grew up with her parents, Art and LaVonne Anderson of Schroeder. She enjoys writing about her childhood and mixes memories with delicious helpings of home-style recipes.
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