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Jeffrey and Melodie came up to see Mom last weekend and tell her about the wedding, and they and Mom and David and Paula and Janet and I had dinner in a conference room!  And Johanna went to see her grandmother on Saturday.  All very sweet.

News

Mom: many thanks especially to Paula for staying a week with Mom and helping her with her daily nutrition and physical therapy requirements, but also David and John.  Paula left yesterday with a sore throat which we hope heals quickly.  Mom seems to making progress, although it is slow.  She will be moving to a new apartment which is configured exactly as her current one, because Meadow Lakes is tearing down her building and two others because of pervasive mold contamination.  The move should take place just about any time because the new apartment is empty.  All of you grandchildren, a get well card and maybe a phone call would help Mom to speed up her getting well.  She sees her pulmonologist again this week.

John stopped by on Saturday to watch the Yale football and soccer games on a somewhat chilly but glorious fall afternoon, exactly the kind of day you envision for a football game.  While Princeton lost both games, there is hope for the future as the football team has some very promising freshman – one of them set an Ivy record for rushing for 1,000 yards in his first year.

Want to know how much admired is our family name?  I have a case in Federal court before a judge named Joseph A. Dickson.  He announced in the first hearing that he knows he's not related to me because his father changed the family name from Digovich.

I have recently discovered a lovely podcast called The Writer's Almanac:
writersalmanac.publicradio.org/
It's read by Garrison Keillor seven days a week, about five minutes or so; he tells a story or two about those writers whose birthday it is, then reads a poem which is posted on the website.  I listen every morning.

Happy Halloween

Snow in October?  Say it ain't so!  But it was.  In Pittsfield, in Hightstown and Princeton and even in Maryland! 

 

Peter and Janet (and Dasha) had come up to Pittsfield for a late fall foliage weekend, and it's too bad they weren't there the weekend before when it was almost an Indian summer moment.  Instead, we got socked with well over a foot of very wet snow.  Fortunately, the plow guy came early Sunday morning and a quick shoveling out job meant they could get on the road to go home.  Unfortunately, they had an unpleasant surprise when they got home as the power was out and their basement had flooded again.  

 

Did it dampen the weekend though?  (Pun intended.)  Not so much, we hope.  We had a great time, with a pre-snow hike in the woods and a delicious pot roast dinner and our first fire in the fireplace!!  John and Marilyn came over and helped regulate our new heating system.  We saw them again on Sunday and checked up on their new bathroom renovation project.  Looks great.

 

The weekend started with a mad dash (is there any other kind) up to Boston to pay back taxes on the car so we could renew registration.  I was able to combine that trip with a taxi ride (I was the taxi) taking Joe to the airport.  He was on his way to Michigan for a football weekend with Tamara.  Then, it was a rough ride over to Pittsfield in, you guessed it, a pre-blizzard snow storm.

 

We checked in on Grandma several times over the past few weeks.  She is in the nursing care facitility, trying to get back her strength to return to her apartment.  She is feeling better but is still pretty weak.  She has started walking again.  She loves all the calls from everyone, even if they're short!

 

Mary and I had gone up the previous weekend to see her.  We decided, on a lark, to go to NYC and see if we couldn't catch a play.  We parked the car and five minutes later we were in the matinee for Memphis, which is a wonderful song and dance musical about the R&B beginnings of rock 'n roll in that segregated southern city.  We headed downtown to lend our moral support to the Occupy Wall Street protests and after a dinner in Little Italy, went back to Meadow Lakes for the night.  We hadn't been to New York in a few years and were reminded how much fun (and how expensive) the city is.

 

We saw a number of photos of next generation'ers in Halloween get-up.  Looks like a fun weekend for everyone.  Margaret's dog D was dressed as Steve Jobs. 

 

We talked with David and Paula a few times; they are now in Hightstown after their own trip to the city.  Andrew and Lur are slowling getting better, and we hear big news on Daniel and his volleyball team (seems like they won state championships) and Claire and her oboe performances.  

 

The last entry for PWL was Melodie and Jeffrey's wedding.  Hard to put in words how wonderful that grand event was for us, but the pictures say a lot.  It was so nice to see everyone - Matthew and Tina and Oliver from NY and Jen and Bill from Illinois, whom we don't get to see as often.  Congratulations to the wedding couple for putting together such a memorable ceremony and party!

 

Love from down here.   

 

October 16

Congratulations, Melodie and Jeffrey!

It's October, Must Be Jeff and Melodie's Wedding

Just got back from a run.  A sunny, brisk October morning, perfect for college soccer, tailgating, leaf-blowing.  Perfect for wedding eve!

 

David and Paula came down on Thursday evening and I had lunch with the father of the groom yesterday.  There's a Prell story in there, if you care to ask.  I spoke with Jeffrey briefly outside their hotel; they had gotten a limo the night before to do up the town.  All seems set.  Rehearsal yesterday afternoon, dinner in the evening and more fun today, with Matthew and Tina and Oliver coming down yesterday, Joe last night, Peter and Janet and Johanna and Janie today and then Bill and Jen tomorrow.  Looks like there is a big contingent from Minnesota as well.  Big day.   

 

Unfortunately, we'll miss Grandma's presence for the event.  Last week, she had a long night of coughing and to be safe, she checked in to the hospital the next day.  Good thing, because she came down with a pneumonia that kind of knocked her flat.  She had some rough days, and sounded very weak.  Peter has been checking in on her, and I saw her on Wednesday.  She looked a little better, but progress is in very small increments.  She did go back to Meadow Lakes yesterday but will be in the rehab section, not in her apartment. 

 

I had seen her the day before she checked in to the hospital and she had no symptons at all.  I was on my way up to Maine for a few days to see Cliff, a friend from Peace Corps days.  I helped (kind of) with some of his work building an addition on his cabin.  Fortunately, it was not the roof work he originally anticipated  You know me and heights.  

 

I stopped in to see Joe on the way up as well.  We had a lunch in a Boston sports deli, near his apartment.  Lots of good photos and headlines!  None from this September though.  Sigh.  Joe is good, but busy, studying long hours. 

 

The Dundee Dicksons also had to make a tough decision to stay home this weekend.  Andrew hurt his back, Lur is still not 100 percent and Claire and Danny have a million things in school, sports and music events.  Just seemed like too much to get in a car and try to drive the distance and then hustle back for Claire's school obligations, among other things.

 

Mary is busy at school and slowly, slowly on the mend from her back.  She caught up with friends while I was away, from Peru and Gabon.  Heard from Annie whose company moved offices this past week.  A little disruptive but she likes it.  We hope to hear the stories of her recent road trip!  Margaret is well, still working on trying to tie down a new job.

 

Other big events - Patriots beat the Jets.  Baseball looks to be going to two of my least favorite teams in the World Series.  What could have been.  We finished the next season of Breaking Bad.  Yikes. 

 

More tomorrow.  Love from wedding central, down here. 

 

 

End of the season

For some of us anyway.  The Yankees and the Brewers are in the playoffs.  It was a memorable season, though, adding to baseball lore for years to come.  Okay, after being philosophical, I can now scream.  AAAAAAGGGHHH!

 

Oh well.  Life goes on and it's how you play the game or root for your team.  Put away the Reds and Red Sox hats.  What is it about that color?

 

It's also the end of other seasons.  Like summer.  I could scream about that as well, except we all like fall and the foliage colors.  Still, there's little like green.

 

I am hoping I mowed the lawn for the last time in Pittsfield last week.  With all the rain, though, in some spots I was mowing puddles.  Still, there's progress on the house, as the brick on the chimney is almost done (and may be done by now.)   I had gone up to attend a history conference at UMass which turned out to be very interesting.  One speaker was the director of the 9/11 museum which will open up next year.  Also, on my history meanderings, I went to the new Martin Luther King memorial in DC, a talk at the National Archives on James Madison, and the birthplace of Susan B Anthony in Adams, Massachusetts.  And, at Arlington last Sunday, Mary and I attended a Peace Corps 50th anniversary ceremony commemorating the 280 volunteers who had died during their service, including one friend we knew in Gabon.  If anyone's interested, I have another blog recounting these random history jaunts. 

 

On the way up and back, I stopped in to see Grandma.  She is feeling well, but has trouble walking and seeing.  She has an aide come in once a day to help with her morning routines, and she needs to have someone wheel he down to the cafeteria for the meals she takes there.  I have also started transcribing the interviews which some of us did last summer.  Some of the stories are familiar, but some are new, like the way Grandma found out she had an older brother!  (step-brother)  In my Old Testament class this week, I came across the name Abiathar, which was our grandfather's middle name.  I always thought it was a strange name.   Turns out Abiathar in 1 Samuel was the only priest to escape the wrath of the first king of Israel, Saul, who put to death all the priests in a town called Nob.  Still sounds like a strange name to give your little baby in 1899, which was when Gramps was born.    

 

It was Paula's birthday, and it sounded like a good one, from Facebook.  They both recommend the movie "Moneyball", by the way, even if you're not a baseball fan, or a Brad Pitt fan.  They are also going down lists getting ready for the big wedding.  I bet Jeff and Melodie are as well.  Margaret accompanied Melodie to her final fitting for the dress.  She says both Jeff and Melodie have been very good on their diets.  Sadly, I have not.  Why don't they ban chocolate chip cookies, or soft serve ice cream?

 

Our back cases (Mary and Lur) seem to be showing slight improvements, with emphasis on slight.  We got a Miles August Jones birth announcement in the mail this week!  We hear good news from Dundee about Claire's studies!  They are in the midst of checking out and thinking about colleges.  Speaking of college, Joe seems real busy with his course work, exams and teaching load.  Annie talked about some possible job changes, working on crisis communications for companies in China.  Margaret's company lost their bid to continue their Fulbright teacher exchange for next year, so she is hot on the trail of other job possibilities.

 

Other than that, we will fill the void of baseball with Netflix episodes of "Breaking Bad," football, exercise and maybe even reading! 

 

Hope you all are well.  Love from down here!  And, happy birthday Johanna (Saturday!)

 

Ides of September

Kind of catchy?  6 months after the Ides of March.

We start with remembering Arthur and with our condolences to Janet, Peter, Johanna and Sean for the loss of their father, grandfather and friend.  Janet gave an inspiring eulogy of her father at his service, and Sean and Johanna read from Ecclesiastes.  Janet ended by quoting from Winnie the Pooh: "How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard."   I am not sure how you got through saying that Janet, but it sure was fitting.

Mary and I had driven over from Meadow Lakes.  Grandma had thought about going but was worried that it would be too hard for her.  We continued on to Pittsfield where we spent the night and met up with Annie the next day.  

Wait, I should have mentioned that Annie came home last week.  For a short visit.  She flew in on Wednesday and then flew up to Vermont the next day to join a wedding celebration of two of her friends from Hamilton.   So we met Annie, drove back to Meadow Lakes for Sunday night, and then I took Annie to Newark for her flight back home the next day.  Afterwards, I stopped back at Meadow Lakes and wheeled Grandma down for her haircut.  No trip to the dump or to Spags though.

Peter came over for dinner on Sunday night, bringing delicious soup and stories from Arthur's wake, service and reception.

Earlier, Margaret came over for dinner and an overnight to spend time with Annie, and we talked to Joe on the phone.  He has started classes and was able to get the program he wanted.  This week he also starts his teaching assistant duties.  

Speaking of classes, Sean is into his third week of law school, and says he has worked harder in those three weeks than he did in the three months of work at his last job.  First year of law school!

Our days here have been dominated by Mary's bad back and related other problems.  This week, she started getting stomach problems, so the doctor told her to stop taking the pain medication.  That means that she is now feeling her sciatica for the first time since July 30 when the pain medication first kicked in.  She is an excellent patient, doing all her stretching and physical therapy, but is contemplating surgery.  Next up: an MRI.

We hear that Lur is feeling better, but is also doing her back exercises.  

We also hear that Johnny is recovering from his cracked ribs.  Marilyn and Kara and three granddaughters had a full trip to Lancaster and Hershey Pennsylvania.  One of those places has a chocolate factory and one has Amish farms.  Can you guess which is which?

A month from today, many of us will descend on these southern parts for Jeffrey and Melodie's wedding.  Wonderful.

Love from down here.