December 2023
Dear Family and Friends,
It seems that another year has flown by. This afternoon I looked back over the photos on my phone to review the blur of activities. Much of our time was spent travelling or having beloved visitors. In February I flew to Denver to visit our dear friend Margaret, then continued for a few days of time with our grandson Julian and family in Austin. Beth and Julian visited us several times over the year as she worked in California – and in fact Beth, Nathan, Julian are here or soon will be for the remainder of the year. They were here to celebrate Marc’s 41st birthday, though I was at that time in the hospital for one of my two stays there over the summer.
In August Jenk and I left on a long-planned trip to meet Sheila and Mike Garrett and Maria and Margarito Uribe in Southampton for a British Isles Cruise. We visited ports in England, Scotland, Ireland and Northern Ireland. It was not a trip for sissies as we saw amazing sites nearly daily on our 12-day cruise. After some time for reflection Jenk and I both agreed that the Orkney Islands were the best but it was all wonderful. (Rumors that we spent lots of time drinking adult beverages are exaggerated but we did check out many local brews…) At the end of the cruise four of us spent several days in Paris with tour services provided by my French “sister” Claude, and then all three couples spent 4 days in Berlin where we were able to spend the day with my sister Nancy’s son Chris and his family. At the end of our days in Berlin the Uribes and Garretts flew home, while Jenk and I rented a car for the more restful part of our time in Europe. I really needed the down time!
Jenk and I drove to northern Germany where we spent a few days with my German sister, Margit and her husband, Christian. We are still “soul sisters” after meeting in the fall of 1968 when Margit lived with our family for a year. Next we headed back to France where we spent a few days in the village of Montreal with Claude, then down to Lyon where we reconnected with my mom’s first cousin Armine, and her lovely children, Frederic, Sonia and Astrid and their families. On one evening we were able to talk to my Aunt Peggy by phone so the cousins could hear each other’s voices.
We spent the last part of our 7 weeks in Europe in and around the scenic village of Collioure with our friends Jean-Marc and Michele Durieux and their/our family. (Michele and I met in college in 1970 and have shared our lives and children ever since.) While there we saw “our son” Greg and his family, then traveled back to Paris where we stayed with “our daughter” Delphine and her daughter, Anna before heading home. While the flight over had been a trial due to space and breathing issues, the flight home on Air France was much better!
We had planned a month or more home, but things changed, luckily not before having time to visit with Marc and Leslie, before we drove back to Austin. We stayed with our “grand-dog” Monte while Beth, Nathan and Julian traveled to Portugal, visited other members of Jenk’s family and then were there when the rest of the family flew in to celebrate Julian’s 2nd birthday on November 22. The next day we celebrated Thanksgiving. It was a non-stop party!
We got home in time for me to have a medical procedure from which I am recovering, and to welcome the joy of celebrating Christmas with a curious 2 year-old. Julian keeps us busy. The school holidays will also give us more time to spend with Marc, Leslie and their family, though sharing a rental in Austin was also a good time to be together!
The hardest part of this year was losing people very dear to us. My brother Jim’s wife, Michele died from a fast-moving cancer at the end of August, my Aunt Peggy died last week (though at the age of 101) and Jenk’s cousin, Jerry, died on Thanksgiving. All of these people have left a mark on our lives that will live on.
Daily we hear about bad things happening around the world, but we remain thankful for our many blessings of family, friends and opportunities. We have shared joys and concerns with friends and learned how to appreciate even small amounts of time together.
May 2024 bring you all a sense of wonder at what we do share.
Jenk and Patty