Pressure and Relief

Jolyn has had a stressful year (as you might imagine). Her selfless service to others has been a blessing to many at church, work and at home. On a global scale, difficult situations abound with wars, natural disasters, etc. Closer to home, we’ve been affected by loss, conflict and relational disasters. The opportunity to help out takes its toll so we are grateful for family time: celebrating Herc’s 75th on the coast, a week in Whislter (just us) and simply relaxing at home with a fire in the stove.

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Melikalikimaka II

We ended 2008 with a wonderful gathering of Jolyn's entire family on the Big Island of Hawaii. Prior to celebrating Christmas in paradise with a wacky gift exchange (nice girly scarf, Brendan), we endured the Pacific NW's record-breaking Snowpacolypse or Snowmaggedon, (as described by the press), along with canceled flights and horrendous driving conditions to Portland. But we all (15 of us) finally made it and delighted in just being together in that beautiful, warm place!

He's All Thumbs...

You've heard the expression, "He's all thumbs!" Well in this case, he has no thumbs. That's the only explanation we can come up with. If it happened only once, we could chalk it up to chance. But this story has been played out not just twice but at least five times. We're talking about deep seeded acts of rebellion driven by inner frustration or feelings of inferiority that most of us can't comprehend. It must be buried down in his subconscious. Something so traumatic and troubling that these acts... these cries for help are not only difficult to express but so complex and mysterious as to defy understanding. You see... It all began (as the theory goes) as an infant... Yep, when Lido was very young and very small (which is not difficult to imagine), his dewclaws were removed. We're talking elective (not by Lido mind you), cosmetic (his legs do look quite shapely) surgery. What's puzzling (and perhaps at the root of Lido's psychological issues...

Fourth of July Celebration

It's been a while but we made the trip back to New York over the fourth. It was largely a spontaneous decision to go on our part. Mike learned from his sister that Uncle Gus and his neighbors would be throwing a big (~70 people) 4th of July party and all the cousins and their families would be there. We also wanted to surprise Mike's mom who is doing ok but recovering from hernia surgery. After traveling on the fourth and arriving at my sister's quite late, we managed to get over to Longview just before lunch time. The four of us wandered into the cafeteria and found mom patiently waiting for her meal. Unfortunately, we were not early enough to take her out for lunch but the surprise was worth the trip. For many reasons, it was a good trip. We caught up with family and friends, visited old haunts, made a trip to Cooperstown , did a little hiking and just had a fairly relaxing time together. New York weather didn't disappoint us either... There was no shortage of ...

Merrifield Times

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