Birthday Palooza

Back in Boston. And in the middle of birthday-palooza. Happy greetings go out to Paula and Tina for September birthdays, and then to Auden and Johanna for next weekbirthdays and onward to Janet, Billy and Kathleen. I'm sure I'm missing someone but it's hard to keep track. And a couple of anniversaries, including one memorable one in Lisbon with an equally memorable side-trip afterwards. That's a super fun memory.

It's also hard to keep track of family movements. Melodie and Jeff went back to Minnesota, and judging from the Facebook photos, I'm assuming it was for a wedding. Annie and Sankar are in a place called Gurukula Sanctuary in Kerala that looks very idyllic. They're taking another class, this time on conservation. Andrew Siddons was in the Big Apple for a bachelor party, I believe.  Everett and Tina went to the Buffalo zoo. Mary went to Rhode Island for a quick visit with Marj and Lew who then came up to Pittsfield for the weekend. Doesn't anyone stay home?

I managed the week here by myself. It was easy but a little boring. Over the weekend, though, the side effects of the radiation kicked in, and I find myself in a new space. While the last two weeks here have been full of activities exploring Boston, it looks like the next few months will be more of the staying close to home variety. In fact, today, we had arranged with Sooz Pratt to do a day trip to the Vineyard to see her, Fernando and Janie. I had to call it off though.

I got projects though to get me through this homebody stretch. One involves John Shields. Our great grandfather from Oklahoma, or should I say Iowa, Nebraska, Oklahoma and Kansas. One little tidbit to share: Mom/Grandma used to talk about his being involved with the capture of Dalton gang. Our cousin Jay Dean even told me that he believes he was a Pinkerton agent at some point. I've found no evidence of that yet, in all my reading and scouring of obituaries and other Ancestry.com hints. Just last week I came upon the Oklahoma Historical Society, and I emailed them with a query. After a couple of days, I assumed my message went into the folder labeled "I'm not going to do his work."  But guess what? I opened my email today and found a response which read in part, "We do have a 4 vol set of books with bios of Marshals and Deputies in Indian Terr. I looked for John Shields and he was not in there…. Also looked in the Gateway to Oklahoma History (their database) for him. Got 72 hits in Logan County.  It looked like he was in real estate, so he was in the paper a lot." I started going through them, and they're not all him, but I did find one newspaper item from 1900 connected to the deed that hangs on my wall, and maybe yours too. So, I'm on a trail, this time not of Herman Melville, but of John Shields, "in real estate."

The news from London appears to be Lake Woebegone good stuff. The young ones are settling in to their new schools, which appear to be enjoying little Yanks in their ranks. Here's one – Thomas, all of 8 years old, has started playing rugby. That was a turn-around- and-run-away kind of sport for me. But he's enjoying it, or maybe he's enjoying the post-practice meal afterwards (see the photo).  By the way, have I written that Chicago Daniel will be London Daniel for several months for a class? He's getting excited and his cousins are too. He's leaving in October and will be there over Christmas and into the new year.

I close on a sad note. I didn't mention one other anniversary above. It was John and Marilyn's 63^rd wedding anniversary.

Love from home away from home.

 

 

Remembering Johnny

Dateline Boston. 

Let's start with an homage to John Boyle. By now, most of you know that he passed away suddenly on Tuesday night. Just sitting in his chair, almost sleeping.

One of Mary's first comments was, "It's hard to imagine a world without Johnny."  We did a lot together, whether it was home and away hostings (in South Africa, Mexico, Canada, Florida, Pittsfield) or regular phone calls, or travel together in Portugal, we, to put it simpkly, had fun.

When we look around our house in Pittsfield, we see a lot of Grandma and Pop, but there's a lot of Johnny too. He was the one who told us it was on the market, but he thought we were crazy when we went ahead and bought it. When we couldn't get insurance or a home equity loan to start work on it (because it had no working bathroom), he jumped in and contacted his insurance friend, and then put in a bathroom, hot water heater and furnace, drilling through petrified wood for hours to get a pipe out to release fumes.  

There's more, and he deserves more, but I'll put a link to his obituary when it gets released. He wanted no service, no get together, and the family is respecting his wishes. Mom, I remembered, took a different approach. After Pop passed away with instructions for no service, she said, "Too bad; you're not around. I'll make the decision."

Mary went down to Florida on Thursday and joined their three girls, grandchildren and spouses to help out, to help each other out. He and Marilyn were inseparable since their youth, so it has to be unimaginably hard for her.

I should have gone too. Instead, I hung out and then drove to Boston on Sunday to start my treatments. After one day, I consider myself an expert.  I am awed at how easy it seems, which means I am awed at how far cancer medicine has come, this, in the face of the Sunday Times Magazine cover declaring the "war on cancer" over. There are a few medieval indignities it seems that have mostly to do with going to the bathroom, but it could be a lot worse. If the worst part so far is the incessant blood draws, then you'll understand it's pretty easy.

What hasn't advanced is hospital cafeteria food. After treatment, Mary arrived in an Uber from the airport after a couple of unforgettable anecdotes (ask her about her phone and the Uber directions), and we "enjoyed" lunch in the cafeteria. I'm not supposed to have cold cuts, so I opted for tuna salad on a soggy croissant bun. Needless to say, the soggy part was not advertised.

One other advance is the accommodation, Hope Lodge, a fifteen-minute walk from the hospital. It's a lodge managed and operated through the hospital for people who live far away.  All free. There are communal kitchens, living areas and small suites. Very nice. My recommendation, buy Necco wafers, Valentine heart candy, and Fluff, because they seem to be the big donors.In the midst of this, Andrew and Lur came to Pittsfield. They stopped in Fairport on the way out to check in with David and Paula where they had dinner with Matthew and his family. Can you believe Donald is in 6^th grade?  They then continued on to our pad where we enjoyed steak, salads, walks, Melville talks, and long chats that seemed to cover all the subjects. I had unearthed a couple of old Far Hills yearbooks, some honor cards and a few Camp Falcon photos as prompts for reminiscing.

Thanks to everyone for checking in. We'll keep you too well informed. Home to Pittsfield on Friday!  Love from over here.

See you in September

Dateline. Canadian border 

In Vermont, the Northeast Kingdom, in particular. At our friend Charlie's lake cabin. It's a bit chilly but quiet and beautiful. We're on vacation. 

We're nearing a week with old Peace Corps friends so that means reminiscing and telling tall tales and sharing photos. Pretty amazing the ties that still bind after 45 years. 

The only bummer was we couldn't get together with Matthew and Tina who had decided to spend a long Labor Day weekend at Lake Taghanic State Park. Only a hour away. Too bad but you can always come back. 

Before that we enjoyed a week with Margaret and Simon. Simon went and conquered the same day camp that his cousins attended in July. Andrew had to work so his wife and son flew up for the week. They got back home in time for his kindergarten orientation session. 

Over in London, Thomas started his new school and John starts tomorrow. Everyone will remember the nerves on first day in a new school. Pretty sure they'll conquer their schools. 

They came back from a couple of weeks with their grandparents in Portugal  They moved into their new house with all their stuff thanks to Leonor. Joe is now able to do his job search and get ready to roll out the red carpet for Daniel who's heading there for a couple of months for a class, I believe. 

Out in Illinois, Jen and the kids returned for a quick visit. They must have been happy to see Andrew and Lur. Claire had been out to Denver as well. 

We caught up with John and Marilyn, one of whom had a nasty fall playing pickleball. Who says it's not a full contact sport?

We also talked to Annie a couple of times. She is knee deep in paperwork, trying to regularize her status.  That meant getting her parents' birth certificates. We found them but mine was a Cincinnati Hospital certificate that had Donald and Georgianna's name on it but not mine. So the question I'm asking is how long did it take them to give me a name?

Over in NJ we saw Johanna sporting a new, cute hairdo. 

Back here in Vermont, we saw a shirt today that said "Elbows Up'. I heard that's a hockey expression to defend yourself. Makes sense. 

Happy September everyone!!