More Memories from Cleveland Clinic...

Cleveland clinic is a HUGE place, specializing in heart health. the people who work there are trained to give not only fantastic health care but are especially trained to be compassionate and very caring. If a new worker does not pass that test after three weeks, they are dismissed.

Cleveland is also a city of beautiful architectural buildings...unfortunately, I did not take pictures. our hotel room was six stories up and the view, both day and night was 'city beautiful!' In the daytime, we could see the lake off in the distance and a  variety of lovely roof and building designs...but it was the night lighting that was so fascinating...different shadings, different heights...

We were only several blocks away from the Cleveland State University with its variety of building silhouettes which was especially pretty with night time lighting. Friday evening the Indians had a home game and with every homegame win they celebrate with fire works...gorgeous! 

And of course, our 'night life' at the hotel was 'sister fun!' We had a cot brought in so we each had our own bed (at our age, this works best!). So...me being the youngest, volunteered to sleep on it. the first night, between the thin cot mattress and the noisy ac (and a few other sounds!), my sleep was a little lacking...
(to be fair, my sisters volunteered their turn for the cot!)

The second night's sleep was much better...

And of course, we each brought snacks along...why not?!
Talked about anything and everything...
slept late...
watched a movie...
fun stuff!

Then the brothers came...
Paul was there both days...he won the prize for mischief!

After we ate lunch in the hospital cafeteria we chatted and...
remember my sleep-deprived night?...
I fell asleep at the table...
woke up and no one was around...
my FAMILY walked away from me!
his idea...
but I had a refreshing nap! :)

Saturday morning we were laughing as we were watching a movie...
the inhouse phone rang...
I was the closest so iIpicked it up...
it was the front desk asking if everything was ok...
I was 'missing' some lotion from where I thought I had placed it-
'impossible' said the front desk, we don't hire people like that-
well...it wasn't 'there' anymore-
too much for Paul...he was the 'front desk...'

I WAS 'CAHOOTED'...(a movie phrase)!
I do love my brother! :)

I looked high and low for the lotion...in my suitcase and any other place...no lotion...
Monday morning I cleaned out my suitcase...
the VERY LAST THING that came to light?
my lotion!!
I apologize for all my 'jumping to conclusions'...

Thursday evening we ate in the inhouse dinning room...interesting experience!  The food was a mix of American and mostly Chinese with a Japanese server who talked barely passable english but was all smiles and service. It wasn't the star buffet but it was a good conversation subject... :)

Saturday afternoon sista Rhoda got a call from home that her husband had collapsed and was hospitalized. We immediately left for home, empowered by Ed's prayer of protection and hugs from everyone. God blessed us with a safe drive home even though it rained all the way.

sista lil, this is for you...

In our pleasure to be together you were in our thoughts and conversations...constantly! We wished you didn't have to have this surgery but we did not want the other alternative, either. We want you in our lives for many years! Sometime, I hope you can read this little bit of journaling and 'live' this piece of our lives while we waited as your heart was being repaired. You had a small army of people surround you that day...people who love you and cared so much for you they took the time to come to Cleveland and wait with you those days. I love you!

ox

Sista Lil...

sista Lil

This post is for my sister....

I'm going waaay back to our genetic family history so this post makes sense to you. My mother grew up in Belleville, PA and my father grew up in Lancaster, PA, which, back then was approx three hours distant - they married in Dec of 1940.

Both had the gene sitosterolemia in which six out of thirteen siblings inherited a double gene, causing major health issues, especially heart related. In 1958 at age thirteen my oldest brother died from this disease at which time Johns Hopkins began a study. Unfortunately, the funding was not there until after the death of my oldest sister who died at age thirty-nine in 1981 from the same disease. After years of tests and studies Dr Pete discovered it's the natural oils such as olive, soy, corn, butter, etc and choclate that need to be eliminated from the diet. There are only a few handfulls of persons world-wide who have this disease. 

Which brings me to sista...

About six weeks ago she had heart attack symptoms but was diagnosed with indigestion without the Dr really listening to her medical history. She contacted Dr Pete from Johns Hopkins who really fast-tracked things along and got her into the Cleveland Clinic. On Friday she had open-heart surgery at age 53, replacing the valve and doing one bypass.

It was a week of tears and fears and uncertainties...

because everyday she became weaker...

and the thought of death was close...

plus knowing there was going to be a lot of pain.

*************

 Sista Rhoda and I left thur morning - we were very grateful for the gps to show us the way...

We were REALLY out of our comfort zone! 

...but God traveled with us!

And we arrived safely and in good time...

...the wait was long...

...Janita kept everyone updated on Caringbridge.org...

The budget was passed around...

We played games...

And we ate, of course...!

The Zook gang...

 In between the waiting moments it was pure pleasure to be together!

***************

Our favorite food in the driving time to and from was quiznos...

...yummy!

To sista Lil, may your recovery be swift and wishing you many, many long and happy years to come!

To sista Rhoda, you were a wonderful driving companion - between God, the gps and 'us' -

...we found our way to cleveland and back!

To sista Marie, because we live hours apart, it was an extra pleasure to spend this time with you...

Together, we make memories happen!

ox

ode to summer

Today is the first day of autumn...

thruthfully?

I AM NEVER READY FOR THIS!

Yes, i know autumn is a pretty season...

but still!

Ode (od) n. song > to sing...

I want to give summer a lovely good-bye...

and here is my 'ode to summer!'

'Gardens and flowers have a way of bringing people together,

drawing them from their homes.'

-Clare Ansberry-

'All of us tend to put off living. We are all dreaming of some magical

rose garden over the horizon - instead of enjoying the roses

that are blooming outside our windows today.'

-Dale Carnegie-

Our Day of Worship...

'Jesus - Bread of Life'

...the theme for our communion...

...so meaningful...!

...keeping communion gives us three reminders...

...that Jesus died for us...

...that Jesus is ALIVE...!

...that we will eat & drink with Him in eternity...

'...this do in remembrance of ME...'

'The Cross'

So I'll cherish the Old Rugged Cross,

till my trophies at last I lay down.

I will cling to the Old Rugged Cross

and exchange it someday for a crown!

nuggets from the day...

...God takes our messes and turns them into something beautiful...

...am i willing to 'stand in the gap' for others...?

...do i give grace to others...?

...do i give grace to myself...?

He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities...

ox

the boy in the man...

i was seventeen & Dave was eighteen when we started dating. later in his eighteenth year, his parents gave him a brand new Ford '66 LTD two door car...

HOT STUFF!

anyway...

this car took us through our dating years...

on our honeymoon...

and through the birth of our first three children...

...it even took us all the way to the west coast and back...

alas...

it became necessary to switch to a larger vehicle with the addition of our fourth child...

so we sold this car because, back then, we were really pinching pennies...

...this was the days before minivans...

...and because we were pinching pennies...

...we bought a clunker of a used station wagon that didn't serve us very well...

(which is another story!)

anyway...

...even though we were penny-pinching folks...

...and it would have been in storage for many years...

...there was always a lingering regret that we sold it and we even went on a kind of useless hunt for it.

...no luck...

four years ago we went to a local benefit auction...

...and lo and behold, there was this...

...not a '66 LTD Ford...

...but a fully restored '67 mustang...

...close enough...!

''The Baby!'

...and the new owner...

...only on sunny days this Baby gets to see daylight...

...this sunday was one of them...

...i feel like a queen in it...

...and hubs? well...he feels like a young teenager again...

...and i just smile inside myself when he occasionally steps on the gas and those mufflers make those macho sounds!

ox

Week End Musings

Thursday evening we enjoyed our 'once-a-month-meal' (a christmas present) at Lins...the table was set for more people than we are so we knew more were coming.

Asking who else was coming didn't get us anywhere and to our surprise,

the rest of our local children were invited to celebrate Grandparents Day.

What a special treat!

Lin and Mart - our hosts

Loren and Bev and son Bryant

Anthony

Patrick

Serena (foreground)

Wayne and Julia

    Martha is a fabulous cook, of which I've concluded is genetic as her mother was a caterer. 

We love being the 'guinea pig!'

Bean soup and snitz pie is a Pennsylvania Dutch food. Snitz pie filling ingredients consist of dried apples that are ground up and most times mixed w/ applesause. It's delicious with ham and bean soup! She also made chicken corn soup for the kiddo's.

We had freshly baked rolls with 'melt-in-you-mouth' peanut butter spread.

DEVINE!
Julia brought vegies dip, Bev brought the pies and Shawn (12) baked the choc chip cookies...

Thank you, girls!

****************

We have a tradition that when the grandchildren turn five we take them to Village Greens, a beautiful local  mini golf course. We've had some interesting moments but there's improvement with age!

Saturday evening we celebrated Andre's 14th birthday

It was a fun evening and the best part?

I WON!

Five under par!

I celebrated with this...

and the men consoled themselves with this! :)

Fun evening!

weekend musings

Amazing grace! how sweet the sound

that saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost, but now I'm found, was blind, but now I see.

'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,

And grace my fears relieved:

How precious did that grace appear the hour I first believed.

*************

this song kept ringing in my mind over the week end...

God's amazing grace!

so undeserved...

given so freely!

how much i need it...

...EVERY MOMENT OF EVERY DAY!

*************

our week end was very quiet and restful...

hubs and s-i-l wayne did a quick trip to fl to buy a pickup truck for wayne. they left thur noon and were back early Sat morning...

hubs was lacking sleep...majorly!

we decided to simply stay at home and he had an early night...

the weather was still gray and rainy...

*************

sunday morning gave promise of a beautiful day...

...so refreshing after two gray, rainy days!

(i'm NOT complaining!)

our SS discussion was on Wisdom from Proverbs...

'...incline your ear to wisdom...apply your heart to understanding...'

sound advice!

equally sound teaching in the sermon on keeping Sunday as a 'day of rest...'

four things happen when we do...

1. we worship God

2. relaxes the body from the stresses of everyday living

3. refreshes the mind

4. restores the soul...

i hope you were as relaxed, refreshed and restored as i was...

*************

lunch was served at church, then we came home and napped...

spent the evening with wayne and julia...

*************

today is an absolutely beautiful day...

i will enjoy the sunshine!

*************

When we've been there ten thousand years,

Bright shinning as the sun;

We've no less days to sing God's praise 

 than when we've first begun!

Rain, candle burning and 9-11 memories

today is 9-11...eight years since our 'taken-for-granted' security in this country was changed...

forever.

the first i heard about it was an hour after the first plane flew into the towers. i heard it from my dad who didn't always have his facts correct, so my first response was with mostly disbelief but...

 it was all too true.

 i went over to my brother's house as we do not have tv...it was with total disbelief that i watched what was happening.

i remember what a beautiful day 9-11 was, it was a clear typical late-summer day but it changed our lives forever, even those of us who know that we are... 

'...so-journerers and only passing through here...' 

today, i feel a weepiness for that loss...

not just for our national security but the pain of all those deaths and the thousands of children who lost their parents, families who are affected today yet...

today, i am grateful for the faithfulness of God...

that my security is in Him...

that changes in life are most times, not easy...but His faithfulness NEVER changes!

today is a very rainy day...a day to snuggle in the house...

the front and back of the house

it's a wonderful day to burn candles...

...to read...

...watch a movie...

...take a nap...

...but i really need to do the laundry and cleaning!

ox

week end musings

where has the summer gone?!

...something i say every labor-day week end...

but here we are...

thursday evening we had Loren & Bev at our house for her birthday, an event when pizza is on the menu...

several pictures...

adorable Bryant @ seven weeks

love this!

...safe in daddy's hands...

we tried to play sequence but got interrupted by a fire call...

Loren is a voluteer fire fighter & hubs is a volunteer fire police...

the call didn't amount to much...just enough to put a stop to game playing...

Bryant was ready for his night time comforts.

nice evening....

friday noon we left for Ohio to spend time at the Haiti benefit auction and my sister Marie in Holmes Co Friday evening & Saturday...

a few pictures....

 

sista Marie & myself...

at our favorite spot...

...the food tent!

where delicious food was served...

Haitian meals, Lancaster Co. soft pretzels, fry pies...a local specialty, a salad bar served out of a canoe...

...all of it de-lic-ious!!

then there was a child's delight...

...cotton candy!

the Haiti auction is held annually in approx six states at different times of the year...this is the biggest w/ several thousand attendees...a fun event! 

we spent the rest of the week end w/ our daught, Judith and her family, about an hour south of Holmes Co.

...it was catch-up time for the boys birthdays...

                        Brandon - 7                              Sheldon - 6                           Carlin - 2

busy boys....

who love to play ball....

...be pushed on the swings, esp by grandpa...

...picture shy Carlin...

...and play in the sandbox.

sunday evening we enjoyed a campfire with our outdoor meal of burgers, salad, dessert and marshmellows... 

a lovely, lovely evening!

monday morning we drove to a train to trails that is open to the public for biking or walking...

...the bikers...

Judith and i walked...

...three miles - a lovely walk...

Titus and Judith have a beautiful view and it's quiet, quiet!

a few pics of her artistic touches...

grandpa posing...

...feeling a little left out?

not really! 

he makes sure everyone stays sweet by supplying lolipops and smarties...

hides them upstairs in the boy's bedroom...

they have fun looking for them but soon find them...

...a lovely, lovely week end!

  

ox