Christmas Newsletter 2015
The year 2015 was a big one for us. Our 50th wedding anniversary was on September 18th and we celebrated in style! Our dear friends, Dan and Dolores Otte, joined us on the Royal Caribbean’s Vision of the Seas as we cruised to Spain (Barcelona), Italy (Florence, Venice, Rome, Ravenna, and Pompeii), France (Nice, Monaco, Eze), and Montenegro (Kotor). Beautiful countries, tours, weather, food and lots of fun and laughter. A perfect way to celebrate!
After we returned, Michael, David, John, and Rebecca honored us with a dinner party at an Italian restaurant in Champlin called Buona Sera. Along with our immediate family of kids, spouses and grandsons, our extended families and friends from our childhood and our cruising friends were able to join us. A limo picked us up and our children each toasted us with memories from their childhood! This party was truly the highlight of our year!
We started the new year off with me subbing for the office manager at our church. I so enjoyed “working” again and learning new software and office procedures.
Thankfully, a new office manager was hired just before we flew to Ft. Myers, Florida for the month of March. Two of Norm’s sisters – Norrine and Betsy - joined us to see the sights and enjoy the beach, pools, good eating and, of course, the great weather! Within 18 hours of our arrival, however, Norm ended up in the hospital after falling by the pool. That sure is one way to meet all our new neighbors! Our son, John, his wife, Aida, and our grandson, Johan (age 8) also joined us for a week. We attended a TWINS game (the new stadium was only about 4 miles from our condo) and even though they lost, we had a fun day.
This December will mark the 15th time that I’ve been privileged to sing in two performances of Handel’s Messiah at St. John’s Lutheran Church at 4842 Nicollet in Minneapolis (Saturday, December 12 at 7pm and Sunday, December 13 at 4pm). This is such a joy for me and I look forward to all the rehearsals. On the first day it snows every year, I continue my tradition of making beef vegetable soup and while preparing the vegetables, I listen to a CD of the Messiah!
As most of you know, my brother, Steve, has been diagnosed with a frozen gait-type of Parkinson’s called PSP. In May, we were able to find a wonderful advanced-care facility for him in Andover – just five miles from our home! This makes it so much easier to visit and supply him with a huge supply of Orange Crush! A movie theater, restaurants, and WalMart are only a couple of blocks away from him so we are able to take him on outings.
Steve’s younger son, Matt, lives in Hopkins and his older son, Brian lives in Arizona. Brian had not been able to visit Steve for quite some time; however, last month, he arranged to take time off from work to fly to Minneapolis and spend two days with him. After Brian’s visit, Steve’s care attendant told me this story.
On Saturday, the day before Brian’s arrival, Steve had a bad day. I won’t go into details – let’s just say it was “not good.” But….. Sunday morning at 8:00am, Steve was alert and anxious to have breakfast. He told the attendant that he wanted a bath and shampoo right away. He also picked out his “good” clothes to wear. Everyone was surprised since this is not normal for Steve. When he was asked why he was so happy and anxious to start the day, Steve said, “My son is coming. My son is coming.” Steve was preparing for his son to arrive. This was certainly an Advent time for him.
God’s son arrives on Christmas. Our wish for you is that your Advent time be one of joy – good food – family time – good health - laughter – and peace. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Mary and Norm McGraw
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