Things have been pretty quiet in our corner of the planet this summer.
We have kept a fairly low profile since returning from our swing through Northern Europe this past spring. Susie has given a couple of presentations at several of the local library branches and is scheduled to do three demos at the Forest Hills Adult Enrichment Center later this autumn. I'm on tap to do a travelogue of our 2022 trip at OLLI at Aquinas College in December.
The one dark side to the summer was hearing of Lena's death in Vermont. She and Susie were good friends and spent many an hour handcrafting when not working together in the Rutland ER. Susie flew to Vermont for the funeral and on her way back to Burlington to catch a plane home stopped for lunch in Warren, VT with Dick and Dorothy who just happened to be in the area celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary!
Early August was spent preparing for and enjoying the "holidays" as we call them: Susie's birthday on 2 August, our anniversary on 6 August and Bern's 95th birthday on the 9th, the last event to include celebrations at Pilgrim Manor, her church and a family get-together at Clear Lake. Dick and Dorothy drove out from MA and helped us make Bern's day truly memorable.
Lastly, there was a small reunion of several VH cousins here in Grand Rapids. The California and Chicago contingents were in town and after dropping by to see their aunt at Pilgrim Manor joined several local cousins for dinner at Maru on Cherry Street. Lots of catching up to do among these folks who have known each other all their lives. A shared meal is always better when sharing memories and that night was exceptional in the recollections of years past. . .
Be well and be safe!
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| Eaglecrest offices and condos |
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| Reed's Lake in East Grand Rapids, home of the rich and sketchy |
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| fishing by the not-so-sketchy in Reed's Lake, East Grand Rapids |
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| a street in Paris (just this past June!) |
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| Comstock Park branch of the Kent district Library |
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| Cranes and geese coexisting, our summer neighbors in Eaglecrest |
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| Susie, Dick and Dorothy outside a pub in Warren, Vermont |
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| Susie and her baked goods for her mom's 95th celebration at Beckwith Hills Church |
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| Dorothy, Dick, Bern, Susie and yours truly |
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| Barb DeKorne and Ben Schaap at Clear Lake |
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| Melissa Loaney |
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| Dick and cousin Brenda |
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| Steve Schaap, Dorothy, Susie and Dave DeKorne |
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| Dave and Barb DeKorne and Susie |
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| father and son |
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| Me, Clark, Susie, Mark and Tess, Scott, Jen, Sharon, Lisa and Brenda outside Maru |
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| Jen, Lisa and Sharon |
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| Scott, Jen, Brenda, Lisa and Sharon |
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| Cousins: Susie, Tess, Jen, Brenda, Lisa and Sharon |
