Month: October 2007
Marjorie
Saturday we learned that Marjorie passed away during the night. This news was received with great sadness, but it was also occasion to reflect on a special and remarkable person. Marjorie was a woman who, possibly more than any I’ve known, could not have been faulted for a nihilistic view of life, from the hardships and tragedies it dealt her. But, that was not Marjorie, not at all. She was always buoyant, animated, even exuberant. I can’t recall her complaining about anything; I can recall her enthusiasm about family, golf, cards, everything. She could talk about anything; the breadth of her knowledge and scope of her conversationalism often left me hard pressed to keep up. 
I don’t think anybody could intimidate her; yet she was unpretentious and unassuming. She could cut through any kind of hodge podge and make a point with succinct and incontrovertible insight; yet she was empathetic and open minded. I think above all else she valued and treasured family. In this regard, I feel like I let her down. She would never say so, of course; if somebody sought forgiveness she would insist there was nothing to forgive. So, let me add magnanimous to the list of qualities that made her so special. As so often happens at the loss of a loved one, I wish I had spent more time with her, in person or even just by phone. Any time spent with Marjorie was time well spent. I miss her already; a lot.
You can click on the “thumbnail” images to see larger pictures.
Evelyn’s Birthday 2007
Today marked Evelyn’s 81st birthday. Becky and I drove down to Wellsville with a cake and a shirt Becky made for Evelyn’s birthday present. When we got there, Jeff and Paula were there with Mercedes, Amanda and Justin, and Jenni’s baby, Elliott. Evelyn was enjoying a vanilla shake from Sonic. When you visit Evelyn, the first thing she wants to know is whether you’ve brought her a vanilla shake. This one, sadfully, she downed a little too fast and lost it later. Nevertheless, we had nice little party. The baby, of course, was a center of attention. Click on the thumbnail to see the “Evelyn’s Birthday” collection at Flickr.
Halloween 2007
October 31, 2007
General
1 Comment
John
Becky did some cool decorating! I couldn’t believe she hauled a real hay bale up onto the porch all by herself. Yeah, she did all that before I got home from work.