We have an especially friendly neighbor, Jim Wilkey, who, along with his wife Inez, has spent quite a bit of time with us. He is a bigger than life kind of person, who has succeeded in uniting our neighborhood through his outgoing personality and friendly ways. Whenever Layne is on the phone laughing I know he is talking to Jim. He is always there whenever activities take us outside as well. He laughs with us and helps with all sorts of projects. Until now. After a couple of weeks of not feeling well, he went to the doctor's and discovered that he had leukemia and HAD ONLY WEEKS TO LIVE! Wow. We were stunned. Sure enough, he was gone in just that time. It happened so fast that we have not had time to adjust. I can't imagine life here without his happy presence. We have been spending extra time with Inez as we all try and regroup. She will no doubt have a time adjusting to life without him. That is the sorrow of this time of life. People we love are beginning to leave. Jim is the third good friend we have lost just within the past few months.
Here's Jim.
With our grandchildren living with us there is less time for trips. Fortunately for me, Layne does not mind if I make a few trips and leave him with the kids. So that's what I've been doing. It has been a long time since I've been to Utah to visit my sister. I remedied that several weeks ago, when my friend Pat Green and I drove to Salt Lake, right after Jim's funeral. Pat spent time with her son and I spent it with Bob and Maryanne. Maryanne is a genealogical genius. She works on her art every day and is rewarded with new information so quickly that I cannot keep up. It was she that pointed out to me that we have at least 15 great grandfathers who fought in the Revolutionary War. I'm so inspired by that. So I wrote about them and put it into a little book for the family for Christmas. I'm so hoping that they will be inspired too.
Here's Maryanne and Bob in their 50th anniversary picture.
Pat and I had a lovely time driving to and from Utah together. She is the kind of friend that I can visit with endlessly. So we talked, non-stop. Once I arrived home on Tuesday (Nov 6), my good friend Margie Thomas met me and we made plans to drive to Richland, WA, the next day to visit good friends Gary and Nora Jacobson. They are dear people that won our hearts when we lived in Fremont. Nora is having lots of health issues these days, so we decided that visiting them would be a good idea. Margie is one of my recent widows. Her husband and dear friend David died just two months ago. We talked and talked about that and many other things during our drives to and from Richland.
Here's Margie and me, at our house.
Gary and Nora were in better condition that we thought they might be. We enjoyed a day of visiting, spent the night and left the next morning, early, for the drive back to our house. Margie drove the rest of the way to her home in Salt Lake City. Now that she is a widow, I feel even more urgings to keep close to her. It must be very hard to do without your sweetheart after so many happy years together.
Gary Jacobson looks just about the same as we remembered him.
Nora is struggling a little with health issues but is her same sweet self.
After our return from Richland, Audrey flew in from California. She arrived at 1 AM Friday morning. She spent the weekend with us. I always love it when my girl is here with me. She and Angelica bonded over finger nail polish and make-up. We shopped of course. Audrey and I also shopped for Seth, who is growing so fast that he needs new cloths every other month or so. Yup, its hard to believe but true. We didn't realize how picky he would be. We returned most of what we chose for him, but we did score on a few things. After that experience I will not shop for him again. Next time he's coming with me!
Audrey and Angelica, with fresh nail polish.
This week Reed and Dorothy are coming with their kids to spend Thanksgiving with us. I'm so excited to have family to celebrate with! Gerald comes on Tuesday and my college kids, Allegra and Isaiah, are coming too. Wow. Family. Here. That is something to rejoice over.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
