Christmas Letter 2008

Christmas 2008

Christmas Greetings to Family and Friends!

We have had a full year, filled with the blessings of family, friends, and travel. We are ever aware of God’s gifts around us, and mindful of the concerns of our life together. Our five adult children are all well, out and about in the world, and we give thanks for their lives and their gifts.

You may remember that Beth’s father, Hugh Ashby, died in July 2007; on March 6, this year, her mom died following a short illness. It was sudden, but not unexpected; June lost her heart when Hugh died. They had been married more than 60 years.

On December 7, Dick’s mother celebrated her 89th birthday. Although she is mostly housebound, she stays in touch with family and friends by phone and with a special service that allows her to receive family emails, without owning a computer.

Our family is larger by two wonderful children. On March 14, Skylar Aiyana Reigel arrived, Dick’s granddaughter and is today growing into a lovely toddler. We spend one day a week with Skylar so that her mom and dad can cover their work assignments. Then on October 22, Jack Bowie Wardlaw was born, Beth’s grandson, in far away Burbank. He is a handsome infant, still very small, but with a smile to warm every heart.

2008 has been Dick’s first full year of retirement, and we have taken advantage by regular travel. We went to Charleston, S.C., in January, and then in spring, we visited the Shenandoah Valley. In July we took off on an extensive, 7,000-mile automobile trip, which included celebrating the Fourth of July with Missie and Jeff in Cripple Creek, visiting the Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks in Wyoming, where we got up with niece Grace who was working on a guest ranch. We moved on to spend time in Montana, North Dakota, and Iowa. We were gone for four weeks, visiting with various friends and family and enjoying the wonders of our nation.

In September, we joined 22 others, many of them friends for many years, for a two-week tour of Tuscany in central Italy, enjoying wonderful wines, food, and history. We added a week in Rome, where we tried to see all the sights. On Sunday we worshiped at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church and then attended an audience with the Pope on Wednesday. Our photo this year is from the top of a turret atop a medieval fortress in a Tuscan hilltown.

In late October, during the color of autumn, we traveled to the West Virginia mountains, to ride a regional train, and to see deer, bald eagles and black bear.

At Thanksgiving we flew off to Burbank, to meet Jack and spend time with his busy parents. We saw Hollywood, “beautiful downtown Burbank,” and Claremont, where our nephew Alan attends college. We thoroughly enjoyed the warm weather and warmth of family and friends.

Dick’s regular running came to an abrupt halt early in the year, when surgery for a torn meniscus (right knee) kept him sidelined; he is only now beginning some running. In January, he became a regular docent at Washington National Cathedral; he is down there on the Monday team, helping to greet visitors and offer tours of that remarkable structure. Come see the Cathedral!

Beth continues to enjoy the freedom of her freelance editing and substitute library work. She was able to continue editing on the trip west thanks to the availability of WiFi in so many places. She left the computer at home for the Italy trip and took 1,400 photographs instead. She occasionally posts to her blog—cctraveler.blogspot.com

We remain committed to our faith community. When we are in town on Sunday, we are at St. Mark's Highland, and we regularly attend the parish's Wednesday evening adult education program; Beth is active in several mission programs. We are regulars at two weekly Bible studies and remain active in the Cursillo fellowship, where Dick serves as treasurer. And Dick shows up from time to time on active Episcopal blogs.

We send our prayers to each of you for a most blessed New Year.

Holiday Musings

This morning I wrote a letter to one of my mother's life-long friends in California, who doesn't know that Mom died this year.
As I wrote the letter, I realized again what kinds of legacies my mother left us. This is the legacy of friendships.
In 1945, Mom graduated from a small college for Methodist deaconesses in Kansas City, MO. Her friendships from those four years in KC lasted her lifetime.
I was named for her favorite teacher, Elizabeth Cooling. At Thanksgiving, I got to visit with the school librarian, Frances Bray. Her good friend Barbara Steele taught education at a college in South Dakota and was an inspiration for Mom's own teaching, as was Aunt Elizabeth.
Following graduation, Mom and several of her friends started a Round Robin that usually took a year to make the rounds, but getting and sending those Round Robin letters were highlights for Mom, especially in Masontown and New Florence. I have found a few of the letters Mom contributed to the RR, and they add pieces to my own story as Mom recounted the events of our lives.

Thanksgiving 2008--Burbank, CA

November 25, Dick and I headed out to California for Thanksgiving and for our introduction to grandson, Jack Bowie Wardlaw, born Oct. 22, 2008

we flew from Baltimore to San Francisco to Burbank. The trip got interesting when our flight from BWI landed at an International gate and we had 45 mins to get to the domestic terminal, go through security again, and catch the next plane. We had passed security in Baltimore with no problems, but Dick's titanium shoulder set off the alarms in Frisco. He was detained, frisked, and delayed by a second screening of his meds and his belt. We made the connection with 3 mins to spare, and the United ground staff were not very sympathetic to our plight.

From there on it was smooth sailing or flying if you will. Amy and Jack met us at the airport, and the vacation was on.

Andy was able to take off Weds. and Friday so we had a long weekend with all three family members. I am in love--my grandson is everything a grandchild is meant to be [even if he does have colic; that just gave me more excuses to hold him].

Thursday Dick and Andy drove over to Claremont to pick up our nephew Alan, who is in college there. He joined us for Thanksgiving dinner and stayed over till Friday. I think he enjoyed his time off campus. A&A had a delightful mix of people over for dinner on Thursday, so there was plenty of conversation for everyone.

On Friday, I went back to Claremont with the guys. While Dick and Alan toured campus, Andy and I visited one of my mother's longtime friends, Frances Bray who lives in a retirement community made up of clergy and missionaries. Frances and her husband, Bill, were missionaries to Japan. I've been able to get over to see Frances each time I've been in California, and I consider it a very special treat.

Saturday evening, Dick and I gave A&A an evening off for a date. They did dinner and a movie.

Sunday morning, Dick and I got up and went to church at St. Judes in Burbank, a small, charismatic Episcopal church. It was a most interesting experience for us. After church, we took Jack on an extended outing; we had lunch with A&A&Jack at A&A's favorite restaurant in downtown Burbank. The young man did very well with his travels.

Sunday evening was a wonderful time for Andy, Dick, and me. Andy took us up to the famous Griffith Park Observatory. Other than the Christmas light display nearby, the observatory seemed to be the place to be on a sultry November evening. While we were waiting to go into the planetarium program, a staff member pointed out the conjunction of the moon, Jupiter and Venus. He told us that it would not occur again until 2040. Monday night was the closest point of the conjunction. So we tried to get photos Monday evening right after sunset. Our little point and shoot cameras didn't get a very good shots, but we know what they are.

Monday my longtime friend and editor, Mike Block, came over from Fullerton and we visited for a couple of hours. Mike and I have stayed in touch via email every week as we pass articles for the ACS web site back and forth. It was great to see him again.

Tuesday was the return home day. It was so hard to say goodbye to A&A and especially Jack. I am already looking at flights for perhaps February.

We had a most blessed Thanksgiving surrounded by family and friends--old and new. It is right and good to give God thanks and praise.

I am going to be very lazy this time around and just post the photos in one place. It is rather tedious to insert them one by one.

May you all have most blessed Christmases and New Years.