Beryl

March, 2006

It has been a quiet few months for us. Ernie is now fine: he still has two heart conditions, but the consensus is that his heart muscle strength is above the threshold where he needs a pacemaker and any electric shock treatment for the arrhythmia would require follow-up use of drugs, and he is already taking a bunch. So he is being monitored and insists on working with sharp and heavy tools— not the best hobby for anyone on blood thinners.

There was a family wedding in Chicago in January, which served as a kind of family reunion. Mary Ann is Ernie's younger sister and her daughter Megan was the bride. It will never be possible for all the cousins to get together, but there is always a cross section at events like this and I was happy that four of my children were there.

After a period of very little happening, there are three events scheduled for spring, all around the May 6 period. So I am regretfully not planning to come to the reunion. Rosemary’s offer sounds most tempting, and I think the autumn would be a possibility for me.

I love to hear from everyone. Opening the e-mail every day is always an adventure.

September, 2006

I have a headache. A chronic headache, brought on by too many days and nights spent huddled over this computer. As I explained elsewhere, up-dating this web site will be a cinch. In many cases, however, putting together your prior submissions has been tantamount to reconstructing ancient history and writing a dissertation. And I have no degree to show for it!

I hope that my Christmas newsletters and my correspondence last November after Anne’s visit filled you in a bit about life in Michigan. It has been pretty routine. Since the Christmas 2002 up-date, I have had five new grandchildren. In 2003 Theodore was born to Andrew and Marcie (and there is a new baby due in the middle of October this year.) Caroline was born to Liz and Jeff in January of 2004, followed by Henry in April, 2005. Kate and Ron finally got a girl, Eleanor, born in February of 2004 and Frederick was born to Al and Gody in April of 2004.

Most of you know that we cancelled our plans to come to England because of the postponement and eventual cancellation of my nephew’s wedding. This news coincided with the diagnosis of Ernie’s heart problems. We are still working on getting a second opinion, but in the meantime, the blood thinner that he has been taking resulted in an impressive hematoma after he dropped a board on his hand. We are set for surgery about the time I get this thing unveiled and I will fill you in later.

In the meantime, let me direct you to two websites. This one contains a lot of photos, but needs a bit of up-dating (bookmark it anyway) and this one keeps you up-dated, sorta, on our activities. .

Keep your material rolling in!