2011 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year 2012
Filed under: Christmas Newsletters |
Season’s Greetings to you and yours! We’ve been thinking about the ‘seasons’ of our lives and how thankful we are for all seasons and hopeful for future seasons of world peace. It’s also particularly nice to be living on the Tennessee Cumberland Plateau where the seasons are distinct and, at times, glorious.
WINTER. Bill started off the year in a great way by getting a “hole-in-one” on 1/1/11 while golfing with grandson, Sawyer, in Cleburne, TX. Our volunteer assignment in Texas kept us busy with computer projects Mondays-Fridays but most weekends we had time to explore, travel and see grandkids. During Brynne’s March school break we took her to San Antonio. At other times we went to Sawyer’s FFA goat show, cheered for Luke playing soccer and attended Brynne’s and Luke’s violin concert at school. Sometimes we made ‘airport’ runs for Slumber Falls’ guests and once in a while we helped in the camp kitchen in feeding retreat groups. An unusual Texas treat was having Susy Garcia, our AFS student from 1983-4, and her sons, Vittorio Augusto (11) and Gian Antonio (7), visit for a week from Nicaragua.
SPRING. Thanks to our son-in-law, we had tickets at Ranger stadium to watch our beloved Red Sox play baseball in Texas. When we returned to our home in April, it was like an explosion of things to do as we had lived only 6 weeks in our home before we departed for Texas after Christmas. Easter was upon us (Mary sings in choir), the yard and gardens were needing attention, Habitat for Humanity needed Bill, and we drove to NC to spend time with David’s family. Ashley (7) has stayed with us a few days at a time in April, June and August during school breaks. On Memorial Day we hosted a picnic for 30 neighbors at our home which went very well thanks to ‘perfect’ picnic weather, borrowed tables and chairs and lots of good food provided by guests.
SUMMER. ‘Living’ at Uplands Retirement Village is exactly what we do! Our friends and neighbors are active, creative, and caring people who are also 55 and older, and they manage to practice ‘building community’ every day. This year we participated in a Community Garden and, for the first time since living in Hebron (CT), we planted and harvested tomatoes, squash, green beans and more. When administrators at Uplands asked us to ‘volunteer’ for them (as we do for other non-profits) we gladly agreed to volunteer for 3 months to clean up computer data and expand their technical communication systems.
FALL. Since our summer volunteering for Uplands, Mary has been involved as the URV ‘volunteer’ Volunteer Coordinator in areas of curb appeal, visitor reception, e-news and web photos. In Nashville we went to an Elon tailgate party and then to see Elon play football at Vanderbilt. We continue having a good relationship with Blowing Rock Conference Center (volunteered 2004-5) by attending a fall conference and are now serving on their Board of Directors. Elon’s Homecoming was a special treat this year—our 45th class reunion and Mary’s sorority reunion. Mary continues to play her alto sax in the local Ensemble and the Cumberland County Community Band. Bill serves on a church committee and this year ‘computerized’ all names, hosts, and places for a ‘Mix ‘em Up’ dinner and one night in October had 150 people out socializing with new friends!
‘Seasoned’ grandparents we are now with 5 grandchildren ages 16, 12, 10, 8, and 2 and we enjoy having special relationships with each one.
Thanksgiving 2011 was a ‘season’ all its own and one we’ll not soon forget! Our children, Cindi from TX and David from NC, decided to have a family reunion at our home in TN. It was a big effort to get everyone here and it was the first time some of the cousins met Drew (2). Each family was here 4 nights so we all had good times playing card games, golf, tennis, and ping pong as well as going to the Cumberland County Playhouse, the local Pioneer Hall Museum, Mary’s community band rehearsal and to ‘flex & stretch’ class. Everyone pitched in and we had a delicious turkey dinner with 11 of us around our table(s). Best of all, the cousins got to play together for a few days and their parents had opportunities to visit and reconnect.
Winter 2012 will find us volunteering at Slumber Falls Camp and Retreat Center in New Braunfels, TX, from Mid-January to Mid-March. This is the first time we’ve repeated a Partners In Service volunteer assignment but the director asked us to return and ‘pick up where we left off’ and there will be no time lost in training this time. The Slumber Falls location is very appealing because we enjoy being near (200 miles!) Cindi’s family so we can attend school and sports functions of Sawyer, Brynne and Luke.
Christmas Day we’ll be involved with church choir and church van driving and eating dinner with friends and neighbors. Our plans are to be in Charlotte NC with David’s family on the 27th for a mini-Christmas and bring Ashley back with us to TN for a few days of school vacation.
Pleasant Hill Community Church, where we are active members, is completing a $2 million addition/upgrade and it’s a joy to be part of this progressive, active church. Since the dedication will be Jan 6-7-8, we’ve decided to leave for Texas soon after, have a ‘late’ mini-Christmas with Cindi’s family, and continue on to the San Antonio area to do our volunteering.
Our guest room is being used often and we like it that way. We are an easy stop-over off of Interstate 40 and are welcoming visitors regularly. Just let us know when you can visit!
