Life's Rollercoaster

The last iris

Stephan's 2020 birthday gift--the Indy 500 with Dad--was postponed due to Covid. But 5/30/21 found them enjoying the event on a perfectly beautiful day--a wonderful break from all the work on the house.

Of course they were back at it on Monday, even though it was a holiday. While they worked all day on the siding, I prepared a lot of food for a family Memorial Day/Monday Night Dinner.

Grandpa gave the younger boys a ride in the bucket of the boom lift.

My friend Petey arranged an outing with our two girls, her granddaughter Edna (4) and my great granddaughter Rebecca (6). Our plans changed a couple times due to closings and the rain, but we ended up at the Muncie Children's Museum and had a fun time. Rebecca's favorite is to pretend to shop in the grocery store or be at the cash register. In the end we almost had to drag her out of there.

The staff also prepared a magnet-coloring activity for the young visitors. On the way home the tired girls were happy to play games on their iPads.

These photos Petey captured of Rebecca are my favorites.

I still get out for a walk every day, through our woods one day, but most of the time out on the road. Only I do not like the amount of traffic.

The evenings we watch television together, sometimes I color or knit. My latest coloring speaks to a very difficult situation we faced this week. Life is like that--a mix of beauty and pain. 

 

2017 Week 39: Life is fleeting

 

Beautiful warm autumn weather lingers and Michael has been out almost every day chopping and splitting wood. The supply grows steadily. I remembered that last year Skye did most of that work.

I visited Mother on Tuesday. We read letters most of the afternoon and finished the treasured folder (9/10/1945 - 3/20/1947). We also went back to the earlier ones to piece together the months before our little family left for Argentina. I am currently trying to write that chapter. 

Ivan surprised us when he joined us in the dining room.

Ivan reading the chapter so far and waiting for his dinner. Mother looking so cute.

We lingered at the table so long that by the time we left, the monthly jam session had begun. We thoroughly enjoyed an hour of good music by the Singing Fossils. I suppose it was especially interesting to me because Dr. John Davis, the lead "fossil" (smile) was one of my professors in Seminary, oh so many years ago. He later became the fourth president of Grace Schools. I found a very interesting article that attempts to describe this renaissance man Guardian of Grace.

He introduced himself as an archeologist (one of his many interests), and went on to explain "as you know, my life is in ruins." He went on to categorize different old age groups: "70s are old; 80s are antiques; 90s are fossils; and beyond that they are really old fossils." 

He and his wife have recently moved in to Grace Village with this assortment of oldies, and as he stated in his humorous song they are having the time of their life.

We also really enjoy sharing a meal with the older crowd at the senior center on Wednesdays. 

I love asking questions and hearing stories from their lives.

Birthdays of the month

Some five years ago, at a writers' conference, I had opened a Twitter account. I never did much with it after that. A random notification popped up this week. I opened it, scrolled down and found a photo posted during an open mic session of me reading a poem I wrote after my mother-in-law died--"The lingering years. . ."

A couple days later, looking through a folder of correspondence from a Argentine pastor-writer- friend, I came across his translation of my poem,  which he titled "Aquellos largos años". Eduardo passed away last month. His wife died almost twenty years ago after long years of early-onset Alzheimers. 

We get old and our young grow older. 

Elijah (12) after soccer victory Friday. Memory of the same kid (5) playing with my Spanish club student's piñata

Friday we enjoyed Elijah's last soccer game of the season; he had an assist and a goal, maybe more. Kristie and I were busy chatting, getting caught up. The little guys played in the park. Oh, Jude informed us, "I want to be a paleontologist." And, don't you just love his tie?

Saturday,  a dear friend died. I rejoice at the thought of her body set free from the ravages of polio.

Today, Sunday, heaven welcomed another suffering saint.

I was reminded of an unchanging truth: God's love never changes, never ends, never quits.

2017 Week 36: Many Mixed Emotions

Typical week for us: very full and varied!

Sunday, Leah's family and friends came to bury her pet cat in one of our burial plots.

After sunset we enjoyed a beutiful fireworks display in celebrration of our town's sesquicentennial.

Monday was the last day of the grand celebration and the popular annual Labor Day parade, preceded by a 5K race. Even though I haven't run in a long time, I attempted to run/WALK and once again had no competition in my age group. I placed same as my age! Does that mean each year I'll be worse? Anyway I'm grateful for the opportunity, the 45' 53" time, and my daughter coming out to cheer me on as I passed her house!

We usually park our chairs by Leah's house for the parade and then visit others stationed nearby.

Family members present; Rebecca already enjoying "parade loot."

I planned to visit Mother Tuesday so made arrangements to see Malachi while in Winona Lake. We met at an ice cream shop by the lake. We decided it does not quite meet Ivanhoe's standards. ;-)

However, from the comparison of Malachi's selfie with Mike's high school picture, we all agree there is a strong family resemblance!

Mike felt I should visit my brother Lynn in Pennsylvania, and was willing to take off a couple days to go with me. Wednesday morning we set off on the nine hour journey. When we realized that evenings are not good visiting hours, we decided to stop not far off our route to visit Aunt Fae in Evans City.

With Aunt Fae and cousin Kae; lovely new framed photo--Phil's senior prom, Fae a sophomore.

We had such a fun time sharing memories and discoveries from old letters. We had to laugh at the memory about Mother (Kate) and her pet peeve--smacking and loud eating sounds. Her brothers teased her mercilessly and she would often leave the table.

12 year-old Phil's letter to his traveling preacher-dad

The back story to this letter is told in the following article that appeared in an American Family Association and Uncle Phil's response years after the incident.

We enjoyed reading these and other memories with Lynn Thursday morning. He and I shared some mates together, wonderful nostalgic fellowship.
Lynn has lost weight and is very limited by  the ravages of liver disease and LBD, but his spirit is alive and well. Our time together was precious.

Our Friday evening fun was at the Delta vs Burris soccer game. We're grateful for the opportunity Elijah has to be on Delta's first soccer team. BTW, Delta defeated Karen's Burris students 6 to 2. (Sorry, Karen.)

Elijah, Delta's #25

Saturday's excitement was a wedding. The bride rode in two Circle Tours of the Basque Country with Mike. And, after being pronounced Mrs. Sean Richardson, rode off on a tandem with her new husband, side saddle in her wedding dress, down the lane lined with bicycles!

Sara Hemmick's outdoor wedding and Circle Tour reunion with Dane & Laurie Davenport and Tate and Chelsea Gaines

This week's travels afforded the opportunity to listen to an audio book and finish two colorings!

2017 Week 31: Slowing down

New  bloom on the block

As I sit down to reflect over the past week, I notice a little critter staring at me, and underneath a notebook open to "Writing Goals."

I look back over the few representative photos for this week and it feels rather soon to be posting again considering last week's Meemaw Moments came out on Tuesday. However, it's good to get back into a timely rythm.

Wednesday, my work was finished in record time. Michael was going to go for a bike ride. I begged to go along. Can you guess where we ended up?

The two afternoons Michael was at robotics, I paid Leah a short visit. Thursday we decided to go for a walk and invited Kayla. Little Rebecca warned us, "It's s'pposed to rain." We went anyway. By the time we reached the park where Skye was shooting baskets with a couple friends, the clouds look ominous and the wind was picking up.

We nearly ran all the way back to safety, just in time!  

Later Kayla posted this photo of Rebecca reading to Oreo the cat, a book I had just given her. 

(Does Oreo understand Spanish?)

Stephan posted this amazing after-storm scene looking out the front of his house.

Friday and Saturday, Karen and I attended an excellent writer's conference at Taylor University. 

It was her birthday outing.

Friend Rachael Phillips after her humor writing workshop 

I am so privileged to be in a local critique group. However, to whom much is given much is required. Will I put in the hard work to follow through with what I learned and the advice I was given for the next steps in my writing project?

This week I scanned  a group of old photos found among my parents things. One bunch related to my brother Lynn and his family. Among them many cute photos like this one.

First day of school

I gathered the photos in an album on Facebook and soon learned that Lynn's health had sadly deteriorated. The very next day he was in the ER. The diagnosis is grim--final stages of a liver disease.

We are cast upon God's unfailing love.

2017 Week 29: A quieter week

The Basque students were at camp all week. It rained off and on between hot spells. Robotics and work on the satellite has slowed down to two days. However, thinking about the project and the design issues is ongoing. Sort of like my writing projects, always there, slowly percolating. 

This week we discovered a nest in the wreath. Don't know how long it'd been there. We first saw two small eggs and yesterday there were four. Sometimes the mama bird is there, brooding.

I walked for only the second time this season with the little group that meets Wedensdays at 8:a.m.--beautiful weather, interesting sights.

Thursday I was very eager to find out whether the article I submitted had been published. It was!

Every day this week I checked the Miracle Camp website for glimpses of our Basque kids. This first-day photo of the three guys cracked me up!

So did the photo Krisite posted earlier in the week of the young'uns with their array of fluffy friends firmly planted in their shoes! Notice that the honored one got to wear a tie! What amazing imaginations!

Saturday afternoon after the campers returned, I drove Unai back to his "home" for the month, at Sam and Kristie's. The little guys were still playing with their "shoed" friends.

Photo credit: Kristie Koch

Here's another favorite photo of the last week--Rebecca wearing an original Life skateboard's design shirt and showing off one of Sam's skateboards.

Photo credit: Leah Koch-Sower

Sunday we had a Kochout for the Basque students. First some played around with the zipline and the segway. And later we stuffed ourselves with wonderful food.

The students leave next Friday, the 28th. The month is almost up. May it end well!

2017 Week 10: Full Week

Ha! As soon as I wrote the title for the week, I thought, aren't they all?!

So the old coloring I found, felt very fitting, and once again is proving true--God is faithful!

Monday, after a painful bout of food poisoning (probably some of the leftovers I ate) and hardly any food throughout the day, I felt greatly helped as I taught for four hours.

Tuesday, I decided to go to Mother's as planned. We had a good time and uncovered many more treasured family memories. It was also my "little" brother's birthday.

My lovely mother calling Alan to wish him a happy birthday.

Among the files I found this old photo of Alan. Another birthday, perhaps?

Couldn't resist borrowing a picture of cutiepie as she arrived at Nanna's.

This last week before the first competition, Mike has been working on the robot every day. Thursday was the big day when they had six hours to "unbag" it and restore the 30 lbs. of parts allowed to be kept out for continued improvement and practice. And after that they had to pack the trailer with everything--robot, a whole pit-worth of tools and team accouterments. So, that was a late night.

Meanwhile, I enjoyed Malachi's theater performance, maybe his last with the Delta Troupers. He was Mr. DePinna, a hilarious role, and Lexi was Mrs. Sycamore. It was fun to watch the play together with Stephan, Karen, Sam and Kristie.

Friday noon at Writers' Bloc we critiqued Karen's novel and enjoyed the time with our writer-friends.
Shortly after that it was time to head up to Mishawaka for the St. Joseph District FIRST competition.

Notice the fun spirit gear

Members of the drive team in various roles: waiting in the queue; checking out Spitfire; prepping for alliance selection

We were proud, excited and grateful as we watched our team climb the ranks from 17th to 4th seed. The drivers and Spitfire performed beyond our expectations. Though we were eliminated in quarterfinals, it was a great learning experience. Already improvements to the robot and game strategy are in the works. The next district competition is in two weeks.

In addition, our team won the Engineering Excellence award. And Michael Koch was nominated for the prestigious Woodie Flowers Award, quite an honor in itself!

Finally, our highest privilege and honor is to work with these young people and watch them grow from giggly immature teens into amazing youth and outstanding young engineers.

We were glad to be home again Sunday night after two very long tiring days--Mike on his feet the entire time and me mostly sitting on the hard bleachers for hours.
I must confess that I was worried about all I had to do when I got back and very concerned about my friend Viola whose daughter died unexpectedly while I was away. But am encouraged remembering that God is in control!