2016 Week 5: Celebrating 46, 91, 50 years

January 31st was our 46th wedding anniversary.

 Last week I left you wondering whether we'd have time to celebrate. We did enjoy dinner out at a Teppanyaki Buffet.

My second plate

Meanwhile, our thoughts were very much with Uncle Phil's family after hearing that he passed away early that morning.

Monday night, of course we had dinner and fun at Stephan's. The evening ride there was so beautiful as we watched the sun setting.

Tuesday I informed my students that we would not have class on Thursday as I would be traveling to Pennsylvania to celebrate my uncle's life of 91 years.

My brother Alan and I drove to Pennsylvania and arrived at Aunt Fae's Thursday evening. Other family members were gathering. Such precious reunions!

Aunt Fae and the special rose

The little peuter vase, brought back from Indonesia by Jim and Beth years ago, has a sweet story to tell. Uncle Phil would sneak it out twice a year  to the flower shop (for birthdays and anniversaries) and ask the girls to find a beautiful rose to take back to his wife. It was like a game. Aunt Fae tried to hide the vase so he wouldn't spend the money. He would always find it.
So on this day, family members searched for the vase, one grandson went to the flower shop and brought back a special rose.

Uncle Phil's family has experienced much loss.
The first to go was grandson Shane (Beth and Jim's son), deputy sherrif, who died while on duty some 16 years ago.
Daughter Dawn, the oldest, was next, in 2000.
A few years later, son-in-law Jim, passed away suddenly.

Beth and her new husband, Bud                                               Two brothers, Seth and Jimmy, with Shane's widow, Lynn

Lynn taught us a Dutch word gezellig, which she used to describe how grandson Hirschy looks after his grandmother--makes coffee and popcorn and spends evenings with her.

The memorial service in the Baptist church, where Uncle Phil served faithfully all his life, was well attended. Many shared wonderful, inspiring and some humorous memories of Philip Hirschy--teacher, friend, community servant. . .

As a veteran of WWII, who miraculously survived the Battle of the Bulge, the service included military honors.

A meal was served in the building in the back left, named for Norman Hirschy, my grandfather, who pastored the church for over 30 years.

Evans City Baptist Church    The original church later converted to a home for missionaries.    The old Hirschy homestead

So many childhood memories are wrapped up in these photos. Our family lived in Evans City the year I went to eighth grade.

Three of us cousins wandered the cemetary that afternoon and found the grave markers of several family members. On Uncle Phil's we discovered a strange little gift. Can you guess?

If you'd ever met him, whether you knew him personally or not, you would likely have gotten a kiss from him--a Hershey's kiss! He carried a plastic bag and gave them out freely. Several of the memories shared were of times he'd caught people off guard offering a kiss, before clarifying what kind!

I rode back with cousin Rosie (who then went on to Chicago) and arrived home safely long before Mike was back from his long day at robotics. He's worked there nearly every day.

Sunday, however, was a good day at home. And in the evening, together with Leah's family, we celebrated the 50th Super Bowl and especially the Broncos victory with QB Peyton Manning, who still belongs to us in Indiana!

Watching football intently

. . .not so intently 

A very full week is over. What will the next one hold?