To Sunny California

The '67 Chevy had died on the way to work, and young bride Jen had no cell phone back in 1976, to call for help. Snow pelted the face and boots trudged in the snow; making it back home, Jennifer and husband Tom laid out a plan. Packing up the orange van, the couple headed west. Family remarked, "Ah, the land of milk and honey, eh?" And a new life began, with better weather indeed, in sunny California.

Flash to 1985. With young son in tow, The New Deli Sandwich Shop is hopping with action. Customers are shocked to find Vege-burgers north of Berkeley. Where's the mortadella?! But a niche was found. Over twenty years later, Tom and Jennifer Cote are still at it, flipping those vege-burgers, making soup from scratch. Second son Tyler works the counter, and the grandkids might drop by, developing culinary interests of their own. Could it be that so much time has passed?!

From a Wedding to a Baptism

Circa 1976- The hippie-style wedding vows are handwritten, about peace and love. Flowers are in the hair, and the bridal march is to a Miles Davis record. The Reverend say, "I'll have to mention Jesus too". The couple doesn't know what that's all about, but in the eyes of God they are married.

By 1983, family life kicks in. Two lovely sons are home-birthed with the midwife at hand; hippie days aren't over yet. A vegetarian burrito business in the home lets the couple include the growing kids in their work-life, and new-age answers are sought to resolve any general malaise.

Twenty years pass, from that wedding on a stormy night in Michigan, to a wonderful afternoon in California, in a pastor friend's backyard. The music wafting through the air is a guitar playing old southern hymns, and a water tank, though rather cool, serves as a baptismal. The whole family of four is baptized, and a life of following Christ commences. To God be the glory.