2023

1 Jan 2023
Uneventful New Year’s. We stayed home. Went to church in the morning, and then Ruth and Mélodie droved to Chicago to visit her sister and family.

2 Jan 2023
Ruth and Mélodie arrived safely home from their Chicago trip. Her sister is still able to do chemo for her cancer. Her husband is still in the hospital waiting to get stable enough for a lung transplant.

24 Jan 2023
Ruth back from another trip to Chicago to visit her sister. She was able to stay 5 days and helped out a bit. She even got to visit with her sister’s husband in the hospital. She came back a day early because a snow storm is on the way.

7 Mar 2023
Great news! Ruth went to Chicago for another visit and was greeted at the door by her sister’s husband. Circumstances came about that allowed him to come home while waiting for his lung transplant. An answer to prayer!!

3 May 2023
Picked up the rental van (Chrysler Pacifica) and headed for BJU in Greeneville SC for Sean’s graduation and to bring the kids home for the summer.

5 May 2023
Sean graduated cum laude with a bachelors degree in biology!! After the graduation ceremony we finished up with getting the kids moved out of their dorm packed for the trip home.

7 May 2023
Arrived back home safely from our BJU trip. Very exhausted. It was a busy “vacation”.

9 May 2023
Ruth, and I and the kids went to visit our parent’s gravesites for the first time since their funerals. Ruth put the marker with a picture of both her parents on the grave in Highland and then we drove to my dad’s gravesite in Jefferson Barracks.

15 May 2023
Sean had a 3rd interview for a Lab Assistant job at the University of Chicago. He was notified today that he was accepted and a job offer letter will be emailed to him. Mélodie already started working at the CDC at FBC Fairview Heights.

24 June 2023
About a month ago, on Memorial Day, we were all going to go to David and Ashley’s house for BBQ. I decided to go for a quick walk at Bellevue Park next to Memorial Hospital before we left. There was a man and woman with 2 big dogs on the trail. I got off the trail to pass them and as I went by the Rottweiller grabbed me on the right forearm. My brain kind of shut down. I just stared at the dog’s head and all sound became muffled. I’ve never had that happened before. The dog quickly released me at the owner’s command, but there was already a lot of damage. I had several puncture wounds from the dog’s teeth – most were little but 2 were deep and 3/4 inch long and needed stitches. I couldn’t move my fingers or wrist without great effort and pain. The first two days after the attack I took off work and slept all day. My forearm was swollen and numb for a couple of weeks, and as of today it is still a little numb, stiff and sore. I don’t have the flexibility back in my hand and wrist, so I have been doing stretches. I believe everything happens for a reason, and that God is in control. This may be one of those times where I won’t find out until I get to heaven.

On a happy note. Sean and Ruth went to Chicago a couple of days ago to get him moved into Ruth’s sister’s house and do some dry runs taking the EL train. He is working for Charles River contractor who provides the University of Chicago with lab animals for research. He will be taking care of and breeding rats!

21 August 2023
Got back home from dropping Mélodie off at BJU. She starts her Junior year! Unbelievable! I brought a foldable cart and that made quite a difference! We used it to pull our stuff back and forth at the hotels (especially the cooler), and to get Mélodie’s stuff out of the storage shed into her dorm. While moving her in, we never saw any of Mélodie’s roommates, so we didn’t have to work around anyone.

2 September 2023
Mélodie called. She was excited to tell us she has a part in the Romeo and Juliet play coming up in November – her part is TBD for now. Some of the things she might be asked to do are combat, singing, aid transition, dancing, spoken lines, and understudy for main roles. Ruth and I plan to go down and watch her perform, and then take her to Crystal’s for Thanksgiving.

27 November 2023
We made it back from our vacation to the Carolina’s. Mélodie’s performance on 14 November for Romeo and Juliet was outstanding! She put her all into the play, and even injured herself in the fight scene at the beginning. “The show must go on” and she continued despite her injury. She had 2 parts: a Montegue girl and a boy who worked for the Friar, and was tasked to deliver a message to Romeo but was detained. The play had a western theme and was a comedy/tragedy.

Ruth and I spent a lot of time walking around Greenville while Mélodie finished up her classes and got ready for Thanksgiving break. We found some new trails at the Falls park. On Sunday, we went to Mélodie’s church, Bible Baptist. On Monday we left BJU to spend Thanksgiving with the Acker family. We were, once again, allowed to stay at the Mission House which is just behind their house and the church Jon pastor’s. We had a wonderful Thanksgiving meal and a great visit with the grandkids. Sadly, we finally had to leave, and took Mélodie back to BJU. We went to her church again on Sunday and then headed for home.

25 December 2023
Ruth, Mélodie, and I spent Christmas at Amber’s house with David and his family. We even took Lilly along, and she got along great with Amber’s two dogs. A wonderful Christmas this year: I got a Roku from Sean, a hardback The Hobbit from Mélodie, an LED hurrican lantern from the Bradley’s, a Barnes and Noble gift card from the Conklin’s, and a non-stick frying pan from Ruth. For lunch we had a Taco Bar with pulled pork.