Merry Christmas…!
Posted on December 25, 2007
Filed Under All, Photos, New Life |
Linda set a beautiful table and our friends, the Bostocks, were gracious enough to join us (it was Sara’s birthday, as well) and John, Julie and Grace rounded out our Christmas Eve. We exchanged gifts and later enjoyed Sara’s very chocolate birthday cake.
Julie , John and Grace got a new big-screen TV, Chris got a new lens for his Leica and Linda got to do all the work of putting up Christmas (and cleaning up afterwards - sorry, dear).
Granddaughter Grace is becoming more vocal, and she was very interested in the goings on at church - her little eyes were very active.
Today we’re off to friends for more family Christmas: much to do!…
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Hi Chris and Linda, Greetings from your Morristown family. I guess we share a common love of wonderful Christmas trees. Ours went up early this year in time for the annual League of Women Voter holiday party and a nasty ice and snow storm on the 13th. Wendell and i patted ourselves on the back for finally after 50 Christmas trees, we’ve figured out how do do it. Picked the right height and fullness in minutes, hauled it home on the roof of the old Volvo wagon and got it in the house and up in about 20 minutes! Past stories of falling trees and special tricks to hide the broken limbs are history. Takes some of us a bit longer to figure things out I guess.
Wendell planned the lights better as well. The full sized white were wrapped around the trunk, surrounded by miniture white lights on the branches. Those are on a dimmer to reduce their intensity. The surface of the tree was covered with tiny blues, creating a heavenly. I get a kick out of peoples reaction to all our old fashioned decorations without a designer bulb in sight. So many memories of dear freinds and family gatherings so long ago, and they all contribute to the magical effect that has come to brighten the holidays for so many members of our family and community over the years. Its hard to hate or get angry in a setting refelcting so much love.
It was good the tree and decroations were up early because by “Brady Christmas” on the 22nd, I left instructions on the table to light the candles and where things were kept and went to the hospital to be with Wendell, not quite recovered from gall baldder surgery than went awry (the gall baldder not the surgeon). Our son Mark and his wife, Janet took over our duties with help from Wendell’s sisters and all 30 relatives had a good time and took lots of pictures to share with Wendell later. I brought a tiny version of our tree to his hospital room to remind him that he would get home soon.Karen and her new husband Paul, drove down from MA. to spend Christmas Eve. and share a quiet homecoming dinner and Christmas morning, prepared again by Mark. What a blessing it is for this kitchen phobic mom to have a son who cooks. God compensates in mysterious ways for our shortcomings.
Wendell was feeling much better by our neighborhood open house on the 28th when he shared hospital war stories with so amny neighbors, who had suffered similar fates. Another neighbors wine tasting of samplings from his travels abroad, helped add to the warm glow as much as that from the wood stove. By New years day Wendell was back in the hospital and discovered that he did not have a heart attack, blood clots or kidney failure, as feared by his doctors and the 7 that followed, but had simply reacted to all the perscribed medicaiton that he was taking for his blood pressure and not taking the daily aspirin which was all that the doctors had discontinued. The lesson here is to be your own advocate and question, question question the reasons for everything that is done or perscribed.
Its harder with cancer, as Karen can tell you as she struggles to keep her chemo, radiation and blood transfusions in check. The options seem to change from week to week. All in all, after 11 years, she still enjoys a decent quality of life in spite of the fact that she had to give up some of the active sports she enjoyed so much. She’s still teaching her Wachusetts High School special Ed. program and interacting with he students in a positive way. At least most of the time. Just when her kids seem OK another ADD activity creates more chaos.
Our good news is that Jason Teeple, our best friends son, who underwent a risky full body radiation treatment to stop the spread of his brain tumors, has stopped thier growth for 18months now. Every other month when he goes to Bethesda for his scans, we all hold our breath and pray. This is the first time he has gone so long since his tumors began to appear. His sister Elissa has done much of the research and helped make treatment choices more informed. They are a wonderful family and I’m sure would share any insights with you. Its amazing how many ways there are to treat everything and how often something simple can help.
Karen claims that her favorite aid to comfort is aloe, which relieves the dry or burning caused by the radiation. Best wishes from the east to all of you out west, Your cousin, Margret