Bye, Guy....

I closed every conversation with him with those words. Even the last.

My stepfather since I was 11 years old, Guy offered me unconditional love, support and guidance. He was a calm influence and he instilled a quiet confidence that everything would be alright, no matter what. One of the most influential things he told me over and over was that "nothing is cast in concrete" and whenever I found myself in a tough situation, he encouraged me to consider my options and to make a change. He was an easily satisfied, content man, very similar to my dear Eric and his late father, Bud. All three, gentle souls. Guy died quietly, in his sleep at the age of 95, after a lengthy, gradual decline in mobility and health, while supported constantly by the vigilant ministry of my devoted mother, Judy.

Go in peace, Guy. Say hello to Marion for me.

November 2003

November 2003

November 2004

April 2004

November 2004

November 2007

November 2007

April 2010- 94th Birthday

April 2010- 94th Birthday

November 2010

May Update

May was another busy month, BLINK and it's GONE!

We had Mother's day celebrations at Megan Ling's school and at home with our family, various school field trips for the kids and the general everyday "busyness".

A highlight of the month was the one year anniversary of Megan Ling's adoption and the wonderful celebration that we had with family and friends. We invited folks to stop in anytime during an open house from afternoon to evening and asked guests to bring fabric for her 100 Wishes Quilt that I will be making her. We received so many exciting, beautiful and adorable fabrics. I can't wait to start sewing it. In lieu of gifts we asked for donations to Chaoyang SWI and collected almost $200 which Eric and I will match for a total of $400! The Chaoyang Mission Group will be going to China July 2-13, 2009 and they will take our donation and put it towards washing machines and playground equipment for the children.

Another highlight was our trip to Florida to visit my mom and stepfather.
Guy celebrated his "90 something" birthday last month and I really wanted Megan Ling to meet him. The girls and I went to see them while the boys went camping with Eric's parents. We had a great time in Florida. It was a quick visit, down Friday AM and return late on Sunday PM, but we fit in a lot of quality time, swimming in the pool and even went to the ocean, which both Megan Ling and Mary Alice loved.









The boys discovered a large patch of Lady Slippers, apparently a rare sighting.

And the weekend included a workshop displaying these beautiful birds.




This week was Megan's last dance class. She LOVES her teacher, Miss Elizabeth. She has enjoyed Kinderdance so much. Here is a video of her dance recital.




And this picture was just so darn cute, I had to include it. :)

Guy

Last night, my mother called me and said Guy was not feeling well. He had been up the previous night with a stomach bug or something and had not eaten or even gotten out of bed all day. Several years ago this happened and he narrowly escaped severe dehydration, so needless to say, she was worried. In anyone, this would be a problem, but Guy is extra vulnerable as he will celebrate his 93rd birthday in April. Later in the evening we spoke again and Mom said that he felt a little better and was going to get up and have coffee and tea, so that was a relief.

Guy is my stepfather and they have been married since I was about 10, which is over 30 years! He has been a wonderful part of my life and I love him dearly. He has 7 children of his previous marriage and I have always enjoyed my relationships with them very much. We are particularly close to Billy & Janis, who visited with us at Christmas time and are pictured in that post.

Here we are in 2004 with some of "the girls". I have no idea why that box is there, but it cannot be removed. Too bad.


Megan loves to "see" Grandpa Guy on the webcam through Skype, which she calls "online". Mom never thought he would be interested in this, but he is and he comes happily to the computer to see her, send her kisses and sing her songs.

Here is Guy jamming with Marty, Thanksgiving 2003

And our most recent trip to see them in Florida, April 2007.