2017 Week 22: Moving on . . .

Starting with Memorial Day, set aside to remember and honor those who passed on in the service of our country, the week was full of memories from the past and the realities of moving on.

Tuesday, I drove up to Grace Village again to help clear out what was left in Mother's former apartment. My first stop was at the local Cracker Barrell to drop off last week's travel entertainment, Rory Feek's This Life I Live: One Man's Extraordinary, Ordinary Life and the Woman Who Changed It Forever and pick up another audio book for the trip. 

I focus on memoir or biography in an effort to learn more about how to write in that genre.

The task of processing material about my family is ongoing with new discoveries almost daily.

My mother and I look forward to our letter-reading times with each visit. I read aloud, she comments. I take notes and ask questions. On this occasion we got as far as May 18, 1946, my second birthday. We came across so many little stories of things I did or said, cute and interesting to imagine myself at that age but also to  envision my parents with a first child and in a foreign land. 

I discovered five of these  pergaminos, parchment or scroll-looking documents, full of signatures, so many names of people from that remote past. When Mother and Dad left Argentina in 1988, each of the congregations where they had served, gave them one. This one is from that fist town we were reading about, La Carlota.

I came back in the evening with another car load of stuff to deal with. Ever since, I continue to sort and give away. I am thrilled when items find the right person or purpose.

Mother didn't have room for these Peruvian paintings, so I emailed and offered them to the cousins who lived in Perú and one responded right away.

I donated a large box of miscellany to the Helping Hand store.
Among the excess was a huge stash of yarn, all types and colors. I invited a young knitting enthusiast, to pick out what she liked. And I learned that yarn is a popular item at Helping Hand. But I still keep finding things not yet allocated.

Mother's new shower curtain came in on Wednesday and she is so very happy with it, "I never thought I'd have something so pretty." she told Ivan.

A little visitor Thursday busied herself watering my plants while her Mama packed up some of the items she wanted from Grandma Hoyt's stash.

My friend Darlene and I don't see one another very often. We try, at least once a year to celebrate birthdays.

This time we went to the practice concert of The King's Brass. The young trombonist we hosted a week ago, a 2016 Taylor grad who grew up in Kenya, was also the recipient of a scholarship in memory of Darlene's husband, Dr. Fred Shulze, a long-time professor in the music department at Taylor University. Check out the tour schedule by clicking on the link and find a concert near you!

Can you believe it, Michael's engineering interests and involvements never cease, only increase! Now he's into a program connected with Near Space Launch. PhyXTGears was asked to work on one ThinSat to send up some 200 Km into space and work in cooperation with Taylor University. Two robotics students are now working full time there on the TU component.

Friday the team had a planning meeting at TU and came over after for lunch. Zip lining entertainment followed.

Readying Moriah for the launch                                                       Thar she goes!

Saturday was Malachi's BIG graduation day, our third grandchild to finish high school. Kayla graduated six years ago. A lot happens in six years. As she put it: "Now I'm married, own a home, and have the best little girl." 

As the nearly 200 graduates made their way across the stage, I sat there calculating how old I'd be when the next grands or greats reached that milestone.

Four open houses over the weekend and more to come!