The adventure of family

 A preacher that I know and love says often "Friends are God's apology for family."  We have been so blessed with good close friends over the years who have become family to us, and we are most grateful for that experience.  I have never lived close to family - growing up my grandparents and all my cousins were a half-a-continent apart, and a once a year visit was the best we could manage.  My brother moved to Phoenix in 1972 and has stayed there, while we have been in Mo and Tex, so we never lived close.  But God fills in the gaps for us, doesn't he?  Today I am thinking especially of these "brothers" and "sisters":

Above is Wayne Tallant, Bill Hilton and Jerry Hilton.  Bill and Jerry have been friends since birth, growing up across the street from one another...Their parents were good friends..Bill was Best Man at our wedding 50 years ago.  (They are related some way, but even tho they share the same last name, it is not on that side of the family that they are related!  Don't ask--they are both from Crane MO!) Wayne and Bill have been together for 41 years, so he has been in our family that long.  None of them had blood brothers...but now they have one another and are probably closer than many brothers.

Here are the sisters - Judy McGuirk, Pat Mundy and Mary Hilton.  Pat and I have been friends since 1985, when we moved to Enid OK.  We started traveling together in our RVs a number of years ago, and now, since Pat has retired, we make most of our travels together.  (One day we will make a Texan out of her!)  Judy entered our lives as a close friend of Bill & Wayne's in El Paso...and since none of us has a blood sister, we readily adopted one another.

Family reunions are great with the six of us.  We have just been in El Paso together, now Judy will be joining us in Mesa AZ while we celebrate Bill's birthday...and as we return through El Paso in mid-February, we will celebrate sister Judy's birthday.

Thank you, God, for brothers and sisters you have put in our lives!

The New Year

It does seem like a good idea, doesn't it, when a New Year rolls around...a new beginning...new opportunities..clean slate..and all that.  I am no different-I see the possibilities in the upcoming year, and I think "YES, I CAN" take on some new challenges.  This year, its a continuation of an online class called "One Little Word" - where I select a word and focus on it all through the year--and so I will.  (I know I can do better than I did last year--when I would grade myself with an "F", so perhaps this year is a do-over!) You'll learn more about my word through my blogs this year.

 In addition I have a wonderful new book entitled "The Happiness Project" by Gretchen Rubin, which has caught my imagination.  I'm not unhappy.  I am basically a happy person, and surrounded by  a husband and daughters who are also happy people..so maybe its in our genes!  But I don't ever want to forget how fortunate I have been in my walk, and I always want to appreciate it. So why not join Gretchen as we work our way through the year focusing on the Happiness Project.

For January the challenge will be energy - and this involves lots of things - making sure I get enough sleep every night and developing new habits that will contribute to that; exercising better and more consistently (and I am so looking forward to heading towards AZ tomorrow where the walking is really great!).  Creating more energy for myself means getting myself better organized as well - working harder at simplifying my life and our life (living in a 24' RV is definitely simplifying--I'll concern myself with the house when I get back home!)

And the 365 Project - a picture a day beginning tomorrow (I know, I'm already two weeks late, but I didn't learn about this until this past week, so that makes it OK!)  These will be posted on FB  -- surely I can manage one pic a day!  Some days it will be the challenge to select WHICH of the pics best speaks of the day.

  These are my three challenges for the rest of January - there's a fourth one being added in February, but I'll get to that in a February blog.  Meanwhile, it will be enough to concentrate on these 3.  I think they all fit together rather well - and I am excited by the challenge of pursuing them.

Stay tuned!

Epiphany-2013

Epiphany is here...the visit of the Wise Men to the babe...and in our family, that means its time to put away the Christmas decorations for another year.  There are some treasures in our home--ones that carry a lot of sentimental value, and I love to think about them as I unpack and pack them away.  Now I want to share the story of this Holy Family set.  This is white porcelain created by Goebel in West Germany.  It belonged to Jerry's parents, and when his Mom died in 1981, we inherited it for our Christmas decorations--but we only had Mary and Joseph--no babe in a manger.  However, we faithfully set out Mary & Joseph each year, hoping some day the babe would reappear!  Jerry's Dad died in 1996, and we returned to Crane MO to clear out the family home and have an estate auction.  I told the auctioneer and his wife about the missing baby Jesus, what it looked like and asked them to keep an eye out for it during the sale, but I wasn't very optimistic because there was a LOT of stuff on those tables.  When we returned at the end of the sale, the auctioneer's wife said "I have something for you" and handed me the babe in the manger!  Oh joy!  Jerry's Mom was a china painter with her own kiln, and for some reason, the Babe was in the file drawer with other pieces of china and greenware his Mom had accumulated. We rejoice that the Holy Family is together again!  May you have a blessed Epiphany!

Oh what a difference a year makes!

Happy Halloween all!  I am reflecting on Halloween, 2011.  We were in Kansas City to visit our daughter Carla, and to meet her "significant other" that we had been hearing about for several months.
What a fun evening!  Delvin even brought me a bouquet of roses on the occasion!  (We were off to a GREAT start!)

And now it is February, 2012,  when he popped the Big question during a carriage ride around the Plaza, and we celebrated the official beginning of this relationship.

August 25, 2012 - the four of us once again - dressed a bit differently now - as we celebrated the marriage of Carla & Delvin, ten months after our first meeting on Halloween of 2011.  What a great year it has been for all of us, but especially the bride and groom. 

And once again, it is Halloween..and the trick-or-treaters will be greeted at the Rowlett address by the Master of the House, while the Mistress of the House shares some sister-time in St. Louis.  Happy Halloween to our kids, the biggest treat in our lives!

The Gift of a Kidney

Earlier this month, our eldest daughter Jo posted this blog:

Sometime this year (and I can't recall exactly when), I found out that our dear family friend needed a kidney.  He was diagnosed with Alports syndrome and while he is maintaining... his kidney function is dramatically reduced. His brother has the same syndrome and received a new kidney almost 2 years ago.  A new kidney means a new life.  I had thought about being tested over 2 years ago... but didn't. Looking back, I'm not sure I can figure out why I didn't... just, that I didn't.  But when I found out that another kidney would be needed, I felt a strong "calling" that I needed to be tested.

What started as a call to my doctor turned into calls to the South Texas Blood and Tissue Center, which turned into a call to Texas Organ Sharing Alliance, who finally told me that in order to find out if I was a match, I would need to contact the hospital in St. Louis, contacting the recipients doctors.
They sent me a packet and instructed me to find a lab that would do a courtesy blood draw and then I would fed-ex the package back to BJH.  After being told "no, we don't do that"... I contacted a friend who worked for University Hospital. My friend put me in touch with exactly the right people! Not only did they do the courtesy blood draw, but they also did the second round of tests as well.

I received a call on a Wednesday that I was a match for my friend. The nurse told me that our blood "lives in harmony together" and that I was a 2 out of 6 match.  I remember crying and feeling so happy! Second only to that news was being able to call my friend and tell him.  The best part was that we were all planning to be together in two weeks for my sister's wedding.

I have described this "calling" as something like this:  Women who give birth, have children, give OF themselves and MORE than themselves constantly.  It becomes part of who they are... this giving of more... something beyond themselves.  Not having had children, I haven't HAD to do that.  I feel like in some small way, this is a chance for me to experience that level of giving.  Even if it actually doesn't happen for some reason... I have a small taste of giving something bigger than myself.  This opportunity makes warms my soul and touches something deep.

stay tuned...



Back to Mary writing:
Now we are past the middle of the month of October and the next step will soon be taking place.  I wanted to share some family photos from Carla's wedding, when almost all of the entire family gathered in support of Carla & Delvin.  Kelly's wife, Elizabeth, was on call that weekend and couldn't come..but the 3 sons, 2 of their wives, and their 6 children, as well as their parents, Mike and  Phyllis.  Uncle Mike officiated at the wedding,  and Aunt Phyllis contributed gift bags for the out-of-town guests staying overnight at the camp.  It was a family gathering, indeed, and it was a very special time for Pat and Jo to talk about what was ahead of them.


On the left is Pat, who needs a new kidney, holding the youngest person at the wedding, his niece, Alice (who belongs to the youngest brother, Tim, seated at the right.  Tim received a new kidney nearly two years ago this December and is thriving. In the middle is the eldest, Kelly, with one of his sons.

As the end of the month approaches, Jo flies to St. Louis to undergo the final battery of tests at Barnes-Jewish Hospital.  Carla (aka Mrs. Rowlett!) will be with Jo,  as well as Aunt Phyllis.  We covet your prayers for everyone involved and you will be hearing more.