It has been quite a week on the shore of Lake Superior, in my hometown. On both sides of our family we have lost loved ones. On the Krogsgaard side, Sue rushed home from Zambia on the occasion of her mother's passing out in BC. On the Ulrich side, we lost the last of my mother's generation as her sister, my beloved Auntie, passed on in her 97th year.
Aunt Mary has always just been Auntie to me. As a child, I guess I didn't realize there were other people who were aunts and uncles. She was always a special person in my youth (while we grew up just a few miles away), and I'll never forget how she could make frikadeller (meatballs) with new potatoes and parsley gravy!
After mom's passing, just over thirty-six years ago, Auntie kind of took her place. Not just the physical resemblance, but also the character traits allowed her to take that role for me. So, I doted on her a bit, and was able to give and receive the love that I was missing from my mother. We tried to take in a stop in Moose Jaw every time we were in Saskatchewan, and I shall miss our visits. We would always make her guess who we were, and she would complain about how she couldn't see, and we would drop hints. Finally she would figure it out, oh, the one from Thunder Bay (I should have written that with the h missing, as she said it!), and then she would greet us and tell us our birthdates and anniversary and the names and birthdates of all our children, and ask how they were.
She was spectacularly interested in other people, but for herself, she just wanted to go home. So, for her, this is a blessing. But for us, it is an inestimable loss.
Otherwise things have continued with pretty much the same routines. Investments have been scary as the stock market thinks it's a roller coaster! I made good money in the first three days, and lost most of it in the last two! In the end, I was up 0.1% to 10.4% total. I have continued work with lawn and garden. This week, I got my rain barrel installed with a diverter to collect water from the roof just in time for a shower on Thursday to fill it up! The seed is starting to germinate on the front lawn. The back lawn is lush and demanding regular cutting. On Friday evening, we had a special treat as Dave, Heather and Ariadne arrived from southern Ontario. Ariadne is a new friend from Mexico where she is an English prof at the University. Dave & Heather are old friends since our childhood. It was great to spend some time with them, and send them on their way on Saturday.
Wendy keeps busy. This week provided encouraging news as her hospitalized friend has rallied, and, it now appears, will be released from the hospital. We don't know whether she will return home, or to a care facility. She still must return to the hospital three times per week for dialysis and blood work. Today was very special for me, as Wendy came out and practiced golf along with me at a local course.
Erin and Kristian have continued with work and school, respectively. Both are doing well. Kristian enjoyed getting his first set of golf clubs this week. We enjoy his attempts to use them in the school yard across the street.
Trav continues as per usual with work, and is also concentrating a lot of time on a new friend.
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