Welcome Home!

I hope you had a wonderful trip.

Thank you so much for the thoughtful Mother's Day gift and card.  The
pitcher is beautiful and the colors are perfect, as you know!  The shape
reminds me very much of one that Mother had at home.  When Janet saw it,
the first thing she said was that the shape was reminiscent of earlier
days.  I really like it.  Thank you so much!  Dad went out and bought a
rose that matched the one on the card almost perfectly.  Unfortunately,
the real one only lasted one day before it drooped.

Our trip to MD was quick, but nice.  Our flights were uneventful--the
best kind.  Tim and Elena were at National Airport to meet us.  They came
on the Metro so we were able to scope that out in case we take it from
their house to the airport some morning in the future.  Since Comair has
discontinued their Weekender Program, we will have to take regular
flights and can go on Fri. night and fly into National.  The Metro
doesn't go all the way to Dulles.  Elena has grown 1 1/2 inches since
Christmas, according to Sharon.  It wasn't immediately apparent to us,
but she does communicate better each time we see her and she amuses
herself better this time than when we were there in October.  They are in
the process of deciding whether to adopt a baby boy from Russia.

I have about 30 herbs in the back yard waiting to be planted.  I am quite
frustrated because I haven't had time to do it.  It is time to put the
flowers in as well and I don't have them purchased yet.  The man finished
with our deck yesterday so I can put the planters on the deck now too
anytime.  This week I wish I weren't working.  This happens to me nearly
every year.  There is a big push after May 15 (the frost date) and I
can't work fast enough.  I can't exactly put my finger on what I have
been doing to take up the time except that there are three birthdays to
shop for and two parties for which I at least bake cakes.  Emily's dinner
was at their house, Nick's was here last Monday.  He wanted goldenrod
eggs, so that was simple.  I hadn't make them in years and years.

One thing that has taken time is Dr. and dentist appointments.  I had my
six month dentist checkup and decided that I might as well have a tooth
extracted that has been giving me trouble.  The dentist says it can't be
saved.  The endodontist was not able to clear out one of the roots
because it was calcified, and the root looks questionable.  I have an
appointment for the extraction sometime in June.  Then later I will have
a bridge put in on that side.  The day after Easter I awoke with my left
eyelid drooping more than usual.  It has been quite uncomfortable ever
since, some days aching all day.  It doesn't quite interfere with my
vision, but is certainly not normal.  I saw our ophthalmologist two weeks
ago and a specialist this past week.  He has scheduled a CT scan for
Tuesday.  He thinks is it may be a result of the thyroid Graves Disease I
had in '99.  The scan is to rule out anything else.  If it is from the
thyroid, he says it may eventually correct itself but may take one or two
YEARS!   I am grateful these things are not really serious problems.  We
learned this week that a good friend from church (our piano tuner) has
Alzheimer's Disease.  That was a real shocker.

Did we tell you that our minister is retiring?  He is moving most of his
household this weekend.  He isn't leaving till the end of June, but his
sons were free this weekend to help him move so Dad arranged for six or
seven men to help them load the rental truck yesterday and another man
from the church who drives for Krogers, drove the truck to Lancaster,
Ohio where they have bought a house.  Dad took a load in our van and
helped them unload both van and truck in Lancaster. He had to detour to
our car dealer because the sliding door window of the van fell out when
he closed it at the parsonage.  They just put it back in with duct tape
and referred him to a glass place tomorrow.

Yesterday afternoon I helped prepare, serve, and clean up after a wedding
reception at the church.  One of our most active members has been a widow
for 30 years.  Her husband died when their children were small and she
raised them alone.  She was remarried yesterday to the husband of her
cousin who died last year.  I am happy for her.  Each of them has sold
their house and together they have bought a cottage at Otterbein
Retirement Center in Lebanon--just up the road a piece.  She is 78, I
don't know how old he is--comparable I believe.

Dad preached in church today and I played the organ--like old times!  I
wish you could have heard our bell choir arrangement of "Dry Bones."  It
was amusing and a lot of fun to play.  It almost reminded us of the old
Spike Jones Band arrangements.  Dad tied it in with his sermon and the
scripture from Elijah.

The new minister that has been assigned to our church is a woman--a first
for our church.  That will be interesting.  Her husband is also ordained
and will be serving a church in Cleves--the next community down the road
from Saylor Park where Eden Chapel is located.  They will be living in
our parsonage so he will have quite a commute.  This is a second career
for each of them.  She has been serving churches for 12 years.

Well, I really have been rambling on.  I hope you saved this for when you
had some time!  You probably had tons of messages waiting for you.

Love, Mother




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