These are my good friends Kristin and Coleman Smith as they set off on a motorcycle adventure to Charleston, SC. They are leaving from Fayetteville, NC where they live. I am here to stay with Kris' mom, Margaret (aka Mama and Gigi). Margaret has been like a mom to me over the past 21 years. She is an incredibly wonderful woman and I am so glad to be closer to her since I retired. Margaret, who is now 93, has had a quite a life. She has wonderful memories to share and I enjoy listening. Traveling to NYC after she finished college at Virginia Tech, Margaret worked at the YWCA headquarters. She met her husband, Don, at the First Presbyterian Church in Newark, NJ where she attended church. The choir director introduced them and they were married there. Don had a wonderful singing voice and they were both in a variety of theater productions that the church had. After living in a variety of locations for Don's career in civil service with the Air Force they moved to Fayetteville. They became a part of Holy Trinity Episcopal Church where Don sang in the choir. Two little girls in tow, they came each Sunday becoming part of the strong foundation of families in the church. Margaret and Don were foster parents for babies and older children who came their way via Child Protective Services. Don died just after he retired and Margaret remained in the house they had built in Fayetteville, surrounded by family and many wonderful friends.
I got to know Margaret in 1993 when I became the Associate Rector at Holy Trinity. I loved her bright and inquisitive mind; we had lots of stirring conversations. When I left Fayetteville in 2000 to go to work at the Cathedral in Albuquerque, she included me in her Sunday routine of writing letters to her daughter Sharon (who lives near St. Louis). Margaret came to visit me in Albuquerque and in Indiana. At 90 she came to visit me in Sparta where I live now and together with her daughters and other family we took a trip to visit Margaret's family homes in Virginia. Over the time I have known her she has learned to use a computer for communication and began "web camera" visits with her daughter Sharon. What a joy she is in my life and the lives of all who know her.
Bella with her passion: a stick
Another snow last week (perhaps the last?). This is such a good picture of what Bella loves to do. She loves to find STICKS! And, bring them home...and chew on them. Actually, she chips the sticks off in little bites and spits the chips out. She is like a little machine with them. She occasionally tackles sticks that are too big to bring home and I have see her get caught between two trees when a stick won't fit between them. Now if I can just get her to help with the yard work.
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