GREETINGS from Cleveland! Thanks for staying in touch and helping us feel better connected. Your support of our volunteer journey is an important part of this ministry and we are grateful for you and for our many blessings.
BABY RUTH, grandchild #5, will be arriving Feb1 in Charlotte NC! We are delighted to learn that Ashley takes tap, ballet, and gymnastics lessons at a local Little Gym. She seems to like the ballet better and we hear that she follows her instructor very well. Ashley (to be 5 in December) also can’t wait to become a ‘big sister’. We are praying for an especially healthy baby this time for our son, David, and Christy.
VOLUNTEERING is a full time job. This particular assignment has no shortage of computer data entry/clean-up projects. After 2 difficult months of us sharing the same office space, we now have adjoining offices and like it this way much better! Our office colleagues are good about keeping us included in a variety of activities and events.
HOUSING for us in Cleveland continues to be challenging. Wayne and Jane Brass generously hosted us for 5 months and we are grateful for their hospitality. Right now we are house-sitting in Shaker Heights for 6 weeks. Arrangements have just been completed for us to stay at a condo unit in Lakewood from Aug 8 to Nov 21. Our various moves have given us a unique opportunity to get to know various parts of Cleveland quite well.
CLEVELAND and its many good, unique qualities is ‘growing on us’. The summer weather is quite glorious. Once again seeing ‘lightening bugs’ and also hearing the leaves rustle in the wind are treats. Flower gardens are outstandingly beautiful and we are getting to experience some of Cleveland’s rich heritage of culture, theater, and recreation. Since April we’ve been to the Cleveland Zoo, toured the William Mather Cargo ship, visited the Federal Reserve building, took the Lolly Trolley historical tour, and thoroughly enjoyed a “Jersey Boys” (Frankie Valli story and music) production at the Ohio Theater which is restored to its original 1920’s splendor.
OHIO is a big state and we are doing our best to explore much of it! Since our April update letter to you we rode an historic Merry-Go-Round in Sandusky, spent a delightful weekend in Mentor with Elon friends, were very impressed with the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, watched mules pull a barge at an historic site of the Erie Canal, lunched at a quaint spot in Chagrin Falls and shopped at the Shaker Square Farmer’s Market. We now have a GPS and find it an amazing tool for traveling near and far—especially since we always seem to be in ‘new’ territory!
OUT OF STATE travel since April has been unusual for us. In May we flew to Connecticut for a long Memorial Day weekend primarily to attend Mary’s hometown’s 300th anniversary celebration in Hebron. Hebron is also where we lived until 1990 so we enjoyed reuniting with many old friends and also spent time with Mary’s 94 year old step mother. Coinciding with that trip we spoke about volunteerism in New Hampshire and spent time with dear friends there. In June we made our ‘first’ visit to the state of Indiana for a weekend to visit a special Heifer Ranch friend who lives in the small town where Manchester College is located. We also went to Florida (see next paragraph regarding www.usajumprope.org) and also managed to visit Bill’s sister and husband who are now living in the Tampa area.
NATIONAL JUMP ROPE EVENT held in Orlando in June was attended by us to especially see our 8 year old granddaughter, Brynne, compete in the 3 minute speed event. Her mom, daughter Cindi, came along with the team so we spent a lot of time together at the arena and watched lots of jump-roping! Meanwhile, back in Texas, Mike took care of the ‘boys’, Luke (age 6) and Sawyer (12) whose broken leg is healing from a May motor-cross accident.
SMALL WORLD stories continue to provide enjoyment and great entertainment.
- Last week when grocery shopping in Shaker Square, Bill was wearing his ‘Heifer Ranch Volunteer” t-shirt. That shirt prompted a woman in the check-out lane to approach us about Heifer because her brother, from Michigan, sometimes volunteers there. It turns out that her brother, Ken Drenth, was once our housemate at the ranch!
- It turns out that the current pastor at our home church in Elon, NC, grew up in the neighborhood where we are now house-sitting. Daily we see the church where he was ordained while we wait for our commuter train at the Avalon stop here in Shaker Heights, OH!
- Market Street Grill in Wabash, Indiana, is where we took our friend, Joan, to dinner. It so happens that the restaurant owner is the brother of Jane Brass, at that time provider of our Cleveland living quarters!
PERSONAL reading (especially while riding the commuter trains) that we’d recommend includes Three Cups of Tea and The Kite Runner. The movie ‘Nanking’, about Missionaries in China, is heavy but enlightening. Our local church involvement continues to enrich our lives with regular Wednesday night study groups and Sunday worship services. Renewing our participation in a Marriage Encounter community group is refreshing and we’ve made some great new friends. Although sometimes challenging, we are glad when things work out when far away from our primary North Carolina health care services. Recently Mary was able to find a dentist in Cleveland who removed a problem and when Bill’s eye glasses broke, he found a good deal on replacing them.
FUTURE events, trips and opportunities to explore and grow are, God Willing, on the horizon. We hope to get a visit from 12 year old grandson, Sawyer, and take him to Niagara Falls. We’ve yet to fully explore the art museum and botanical gardens in the Cleveland University Circle area and plan to hear the famous Cleveland Orchestra. Bill’s hoping to attend one day at the Firestone golf tournament in Akron. We’re planning a trip home to North Carolina around Labor Day weekend. Hopefully we’ll get a trip in to Texas in November or December. In January we expect to visit Managua, Nicaragua, to visit with our AFS student (1983-4) and her family. Then a new grandbaby in February and off to a new volunteer assignment in March.
OUR WEDDING ANNIVERSARY is to be celebrated this week. And “what a beautiful day” it was on July 16, 1966, at First Congregational Church, Hebron, Connecticut. We’ve shared many special moments and are looking forward to fulfilling even more dreams. You are among our special joys and we are blessed to have you in our lives.
We look forward to hearing from you soon!
