Hello Facebook friends. I haven't posted in over a month. I have been a bit overwhelmed with all the happenings in my life and, oddly for me, I have not been eager to share them all. But this rainy afternoon seemed like a good time for an update, so here it is. It is long, so feel free just to cruise through the pictures! No quizzes coming!
We ended the old year with a new great-grandson, Aroon, who is now a month old and, of course, a sweetheart. At that time, we knew my sister, Barbara, was in the hospital and not doing very well.
We also celebrated some January birthdays...Claire's 17th with a family party...Aroon's first family event. 🙂
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| A very yummy chocolate layer cake with homemade ice cream! |
The flower
centerpieces for the table were in a beautiful wooden tray that Simeon
made for Stephanie for her birthday which is a couple of days before
Claire's.
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| Stephanie holding Aroon, a week and a day old. |
We actually have 4 January birthdays and we were waiting for the 5th one to make his appearance. Simeon and Jordynn share a January birthday, but it came and went before Lazaro Alex, our 4th great-grandson was born on Jan. 20. Phil and I went over to the hospital to see him and then had a chance to visit him at home. So precious! 8 lbs. 9 oz.; 19.5 in. long.
Lazaro on the day he was born. 
A few days old with his great-grandpa.
The day before Lazaro was born, my sister, Barbara Joan Warner Coolidge, died at 92 1/2 exactly. At the funeral of a friend the week before, the minister said, "Death is a gift of mercy from the Father." Barbara longed for and accepted that gift. When I was there to visit her in late September/early October, she wasn't feeling well, and not long after spend some time in the hospital and rehab with Covid. She told me that she "finally felt old." She had faced and conquered a very serious bout of cancer a few years before and, at first, the oncologist was not encouraging. But he hadn't had a senior patient quite like her before and told her family that she had changed his practice in how he dealt with his older patients. She was an amazing woman, always looking for ways to help others.
At 90 with friends out to lunch for her birthday!
My Grands can tell you she always took them to Sheetz for a hot dog and a smoothie. Hot Dogs 2/$1.00 with her Sheetz card!
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| At 89 she went touring downtown DC with Elizabeth and I. Here they are taking a breather at Mount Vernon! It was so hot and muggy, and then a huge thunderstorm as we drove back into town on the George Washington Parkway. |
Phil and I flew back to spend be a part of the Memorial Service and spend time with my family. On Friday, January 26, we experienced record breaking warm weather for January...one DC area local spot had the highest temperature of 80 degrees! On our way to Thurmont we stopped at a park that highlights the C&O Canal which ran 184 miles between DC and Cumberland, MD alongside the Potomac River. Phil went to stand on the only snow around (slid in the mud as you can see). It was shirt sleeve weather.
Every year for 30+ years I have spent at least two weeks there in the little town of Thurmont, MD visiting Mom until she died in 1998, and then continuing to go to visit Barbara. I feel like a part of the Thurmont Church of the Brethren and have gotten to know the folks there along with her neighbors and friends. We talked on the phone often and sometimes Barbara would say, "Hi, I don't have anything to say, but thought I'd call you anyway." Then we would talk for an hour!
The service was on Saturday. It was everything she wanted it to be. Being with the family and celebrating together her well lived life of faith was such a special time. The reality of losing her will keep hitting me for many months to come, I'm sure, but I am thankful that while she is "absent from the body, she is present with the Lord." (2 Cor. 5:8) You can read about her life here in the obituary if you'd like to know her better. And here's the link to her service: Barbara's Memorial
After church on Sunday morning, Phil and I traveled north 20 miles to Gettysburg. I have been multiple times taking both children and grandchildren who went with me to Thurmont over the years, but Phil had never been. The tragedy of the loss of life hurts my heart. Here's Phil with Abe 😀
On Monday we went down to Harrisonburg, VA to have lunch with my sister-in-law, Lorraine, her daughter, son and her daughter-in-law. Such a joy to visit for the morning and enjoy sharing lunch together.
Lorraine and I; Her daughter Valerie and Phil
Before we headed back to the motel in Winchester, we drove around the downtown Courthouse Square of Harrisonburg. Phil reminded me that this was were be had a civil marriage ceremony on the Tuesday before our Saturday wedding on Feb. 15, 1975--almost 49 years ago. We parked and asked a security person to take our photo.😍
We then drove to the communal house we were married in and where we began our married life, Gemeinschaft. That is a German word for community-individuals bound together by a common thread, in our case our Christian faith and interest in a common life with other Christians. Our household was made up of college students, so we had a limited time together. It is no longer a church community, but still know as Gemeinschaft, and is a halfway house "serving those who have recently exited incarceration." We were married there in the living room on a snowy February day. Again a kindly person took pictures for us: in the living room and on the front porch.
And one last stop before dark...a visit to the grave of Civil War martyr, John Kline, a minister and elder in the German Baptist Brethren Church who crossed the lines to give add to all. He was shot and killed during one of those trips in 1864.
The next morning we headed for Dulles and our flight home via the Antietam Battlefield where the Dunker Church (part of our Church of the Brethren/Dunkard Brethren/German Baptist heritage) found itself in the middle of the bloodiest single day of the Civil War...23,000 dead, injured or missing. So sad.
The travel day on Tuesday was long and tiring. We pulled into our driveway right at midnight. Just before we left to travel east, another good friend and Modesto Peace Life Center supporter died. Yesterday we went to yet another memorial service for a friend from our younger years. I feel like Eternity has been close...kind of a swinging door for our family this month. Babies being born and dear ones stepping though to leave this life. I am so thankful for the comfort of God and the Holy Spirit. It has been a bit of a solemn time for me. Maybe that was my hesitation to share it--somehow it all feels a bit holy, rather than common everyday news. So thankful that God walks with me through it all, present as only God can be and also through all those here in this life who walk with us, rejoicing in our blessings and helping to carry our sadness. God is good and I am blessed.
