Happy Mother's Day

I had hoped to write Dateline Boston on this letter, but I couldn't squeeze in the time to write when we were in Boston. So, we're back in Pittsfield.

First things first. Happy birthday Sean! Wonderful photos of Kiernan serenading you and helping make your cake!  And belated happy birthday to Elliot out in Colorado.  Everyone's growing up too fast, including you Sean!

Next up, in order of importance, Luisa has graduated to a bed, no longer in a crib, and I think she's feeling pretty chuffed about it.  Congratulations!

And not a moment too soon, because the other big news is that Joe and his family are moving to London this summer. Actually, Leonor will be heading over in a few weeks to start a new job with the same bank (EBRD) where she worked when she and Joe first met. A major move like this means many moving pieces, most importantly with the young ones. But they are very organized and have worked out a logical plan. Joe is still unsure about what his work situation will be.  TBD. But we are excited about going to the mother country over the next few years. It has been nice to have them closer, but we figured that it may be quicker to fly over there than to drive down to DC.

And, of course, we will continue to drive to DC as well. In fact, we are going there this weekend to see them all, staying with Margaret, Andrew and Simon.

Speaking of children, did someone say Mother's Day? We saw a lot of pictures across various platforms which were wonderful. We celebrated here as well, with phone calls and a fancy dinner and all the pampering which takes place on this one day. After mothers work their tails off all year long, they get one day. This, of course, means Father's Day is right around the corner. Never too soon ….

In the wild west of Illinois, we heard that Claire came down to celebrate the day, and possibly to inspect Andrew's new car. Actually, old car, but new to them. And it's a Volvo! Hope to see it in the Poconos! And them.

Speaking of cars, John and Marilyn have given up on their Mercedes. Too many bells and whistles and screens and voice commands, and not enough buttons. They are doing well, but still perplexed by Marilyn's slow recovery. Colleen had emergency back surgery, but is out and on her own path to recovery. And, Timmy is heading down there this week to scout housing for his next move.

David is busy with the second phase of his housing project, important giving the nationwide problem of insufficient housing. He also sent a story citing Fairport as the "hottest" place to live – of course they live there.

We talked with Annie and Sankar, and they are still out near their new property in Kodaikanal. They are looking at various types of structures to put on their land so they can occupy it and work from there.

Back to Boston. Thanks to Kathleen who works at Dana Farber, we had a couple of appointments with doctors there, and left feeling encouraged at the non-surgical options. One of the doctors was excellent, in both his manner and information-sharing. We learned a lot. The next day, we had an appointment here in Pittsfield with another radiologist, who we also liked. So, now we're faced with a decision where to do the treatment. No clear path, but the good news is that it looks like I can't go wrong either way.

Lastly, I found a box with stuff from Mom/Grandma, that somehow I had just tucked away and never looked at. It seems she had saved many, if not all, of our letters, including our childrens'.  Many memories, all good. I also found the photo I was looking for of Pop painting shutters. I had wanted this for the cover of the weekly letter book, but couldn't put my hands on it. Now we have it.

With that, love from up here.