This has been a dizzying, weird, very sad and yet very uplifting year.
The year, or rather that part of the year when the snow and cold had receded to other venues, began with quite a bang for us: q rail journey through France and Spain. But by now that is very old news indeed.
And while not as exciting perhaps, the good news that spring was the return of the cranes (and I don't mean Frazier and Lilith) for another season.
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| Jen, her husband Scott, Scott's Gordon and Scott's sister Alicia |
We also had the opportunity for experience southern-style biscuits at Joe Hafner's tiny shop oddly named Irregardless (I know) in Providence, RI. The shop is owned and operated by Joe and his long-time friend James Dean, partners in culinary adventures. Joe and Susie worked together many years ago at Gracie's in Providence and he was pleasantly surprised to see her (us) having breakfast! The two of them spent some time catching up. . .
Needless to say we had yet another grand old family time, accompanied by wonderful meals at D & D's, followed by lunch at the Matunuck Oyster Bar in Matunuck, RI.
Susie, Dick and Dorothy and I had a scrumptious supper at The Beamhouse in Glastonbury before the graduation ceremonies.
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| inside the covered patio |
The pleasantries of summer took a darker tun in early autumn.
Susan's mom had a rough trip to the Emergency Room where we all spent the better part of a full day trying to discern (1) what was wrong with her followed by (2) what to do next. The long and short of it was Bernice was placed under hospice care.
Although she returned to her room at Medilodge (still a dumb name) her need for more attentive care required a move to a room closer to staff.
Amidst all this my old friend friend Ed Evans died in Louisiana. And since Susan was increasingly wrapped up in overseeing her mother's medical and physical needs I headed off by myself to Natchitoches, LA to attend Ed's memorial service in early October. Ed's wife Chris and her family kindly invited me over to their house to join the family for a dinner the night before the service.
(You can read Ed's obituary and the many lovely comments right here.)
After a quiet morning in my hotel room staying out of the heat, I made my way to the church for the service.
Maybe it was because I knew Ed longer than anyone else there or perhaps because I was there the night Ed and Chris first met (we were on a double date together). Whatever the reason I was deeply moved when Chris asked me to sit with the family.
After some fifty years think you know someone. But it's when you sit in a large room full of strangers who shared a much longer relationship with Ed and hear about what he did for so many years, who he was, all of which pretty much confirmed what I already knew of course -- but God it was fascinating to hear all those lovely stories.
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| 1st Presbyterian Church |
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| fellowship after the service |
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| Chris (right) |
Notwithstanding the 100+ degree heat it was a short but oh so sweet visit to say goodbye to an old friend.
In a rather dramatic shift of tone, later that same month Susie and I attended the wedding of James Ten Have-Chapman just outside of Zeeland, MI. (James is the son of Susie's cousins Garret and Laurie Ten Have-Chapman.)
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| friends and family |
To help ease the pain of 5 November Susie and I drove north to Traverse City to spend a couple of nights with friends Patty and Paul. Lunch at the Farm Club was as usual superb and dinner that evening turned into something of a very curious surprise.
Many, many years ago when we lived in Grand Rapids we belonged to a food and wine group called, unsurprisingly, The Taster's Guild. Often at dinners were would sit next to Peg and Erwin Sporte. The Sportes were quite nice and always a pleasure to sit with and share a meal and glass or two of wine. We would often talk of traveling and they recounted how they loved going to Traverse City but couldn't get up there much since they were in Grand Rapids to take care of their mothers.
Over the years since, and particularly, since returning to Grand Rapids to in effect take care of Susie's mom -- or at least help her out when she needed it -- we would often think of the Sportes and wonder what ever became of them.
Anyway, back to our trip to TC. We were searching for a place to have dinner on a chilly Friday night and after two failed attempts we settled on Harrington by the Bay. Our waitress led us to a booth near the front window and Susan quickly spied a small plaque placed against the wall in the booth
The Sportes, as we soon learned, eventually moved to Traverse City and Erwin came into the restaurant and sat in this same booth every Tuesday for years. . . . One final dinner shared, I suppose.
I probably should have played the lottery that day.
It was barely a week later that my mother-in-law Bernice Audrey VandenBerg died. But you probably already know about that story. . .
In early December we joined several of our neighbors for the second annual Eaglecrest Broadway Bar Christmas Luncheon.
On December 7 we joined with the family to say a final goodbye to Bernice Audrey VandenBerg. A truly lovely soul.
After the recent events celebrating lives both past and present we joined a few acquaintances from our gym at Meijer Gardens for their festive light show.
We were planning to end the year with an overnight stay on New Year's Eve at the Amway Grand Hotel in Grand Rapids. At the last minute we cancelled and that night, New year's Eve I had a cardiac arrest.
