April 2013 Erie Report

I guess I didn't share my "Erie Report" from our recent visit out there so here you go!  Unfortunately we could only stay overnight but luckily Paula was available to go with us.  The weather wasn't wonderful, but I'm pretty sure that's not news to you.  We were surprised to see so much snow still on the ground as we headed east on Route 17. 

Upon arrival, we took Paula directly over to Tim and Pam's house--a really cute house on a very nice street. You may know they have a dog.  A kind of big dog.  You may know that dogs often seem attracted to me.  Sigh. 

Amy was working until later so Tim was strong-armed into taking us on a tour of his station.  It was great fun to listen to Tim and watch his obvious pride in his work.  We got onto one of the boats (that's probably not the right word) that Tim explained is 100% watertight so that if it capsizes it will upright itself within a short time.  He knew every single nook and cranny of that vessel.  It was built to withstand 30 foot waves which is hard to even imagine.

You can see the boat here.  Great picture Paula!

We picked Amy up from work and went off to a very nice dinner.

Jim's looking a little shell shocked here because the bartender felt the need to come out from behind his bar to come over to our table and chatise Jim for moving chairs.  None of us has any idea where that came from and it was very odd.  But they had very yummy lemonade martini type drinks.  Yummmmmm.  Just noticed it looks like some kind of ancient bird is rising from the top of Jim's head.  HAHAHA.  Phoenix rising!

Then we went to one of their favorite bars and watched the rest of the NCAA game.  Mike was able to join us there after he was done work so it was nice for us all to be together. 

On Sunday we were able to take a tour of the zoo with Amy.  This is always really interesting!  We even got to see a little bit of real live nature when Mr. Duck mounted Mrs. Duck for a little Sunday morning you-know-what.

It was a short visit but lots of fun.  It does our hearts good to see Tim and Amy spending time together along with Pam and Mike!

Along the way, we got into a discussion about what invention would we find it hard to live without--I said "access to the internet" and Paula said "my glasses" so now we have a running joke about living without glasses.  What invention do you think it would be difficult to live without?  That's a tough question!

A gift from Mary Jane

I was looking for a way to pay Mary Jane a tribute for her birthday this year so I started looking through some journals and letters.  I haven't looked at these in a long time and for good reason.  They usually make me cry.  But this time I found something that spoke to me a little differently than before. 

This is part of a letter I got from Mary Jane the summer before she died.

 I thought you might like to see the summer report on the girls.

"I feel as though there is something waiting out there for me to do.  I just have to find out what it is." are the words that struck me differently this time.  After Mary Jane died, it was a difficult time for all of us.  Recovery was a long long road and it was on that journey that I made a promise to do what I could to help others in little ways through tough times. 

In the years that followed I tried to pay special attention to colleagues and friends who might be struggling with illness or difficulties.  I felt it important to try and support them at times that perhaps others were not.  For example, people generally get lots of support and attention in the days immediately surrounding a funeral or accident, but not always in the long term leading up or following.  So I did what I could.  I believe those efforts were appreciated but not in ways that I hoped might make a difference.  In ways that I wished I'd had available to me throughout the tough days. 

But recently I've had an experience that I think might have accomplished a little bit of what I was aiming for.  A friend's mother was suffering from terminal cancer and she was not only the closest geographically (two doors down) but also the only surviving child so she carried a very heavy burden.  This time, I felt like maybe I did help in ways that eased the load for her just a little.  Finally after all this time, I felt I'd made a little difference for someone else who faced the unimaginable. 

This is part of an article written by columnist Dinah Eng who used to appear in the USA Today.  I had cut it out and tucked it into my "Mary Jane things".  Today I think it speaks to Mary Jane wanting to find that something out there that was hers to do.

Yet it is in that act of being there for another that we truly find ourselves. 

I can't say I've found myself but I can say with certainty that Mary Jane taught me a great deal in a short time.

In the illness or death of another, each of us has the opportunity to learn more about ourselves.  Perhaps that is a small part of what Mary Jane was meant to do.  I'd like to think she'd be pleased with that.

So Happy Birthday Mary Jane and thank you for the gift.

North by Northwest

And now with your Gloucester Report from Easter 2013, here's your sister........and her pictures!  We had another lovely visit with the Ryan side of the family this past weekend.  We arrived at dinner time on Good Friday and went right down to the Seaport Grille to meet up with Cathy and Chris.  And this is how we were greeted:

And immediately my heart was full.  And remained so for the rest of the trip.

Despite most everyone being struck by some kind of cold or flu, we were able to spend lots of time hugging babies and celebrating newfound talents.  Jim found a flute for Julia, bought it and presented it to her for Easter.  She loves it!  He gave her some initial tips for playing it and of course the flute got passed around to see who else can make any kind of noise come from it:

No lilting notes were to be heard.

We joined Tim at the Elks and found Uncle Peter as well!  Twice!  He couldn't get over that his birthday was on Easter Sunday.  Didn't remember that every happening before.  He's 73 now and looking pretty good.  The two of them drew some of the old Elks over to the table for intros and stories.  Oh, the stories!  It was hard for me to draw my eyes away from the spectacular view to pay appropriate attention to the conversation, but I think I faked it well enough.  We enjoyed the famous lobster roll for lunch on Monday.  Yummmm.  Really the best.  

It was decided that we'd go to the Bradford Tavern in Rowley for Easter dinner and it was GREAT!  I'd been thinking I'd like to suggest going out rather than preparing a holiday dinner so I was glad someone else came up with the idea.  It was very nice.  The kids were great.

Cathy enjoyed a Jelly Bean martini which was blue and we teased her about going red white and blue for her holiday drink selection.

Almost immediately Emmy asked when could we go to Ireland together and I said, "I don't know, when are we going Emmy?"  Looks like Galway in Setember!!!!  Can't believe it.  Still in the very early planning stages but I can't forget that Mom had just begun to plan her own trip when she discovered her cancer.  I don't want to wait. 

We stayed at the Cape Ann Marina where some of the Wicked Tuna boats dock.  Sure enough, we soon saw the owners working on

Of course, Jim stopped to talk and tell the captain he enjoyed the show.  I, on the other hand, paid homage to the Good Morning Gloucester bloggers by going into Bodin's Historic Photos and thanking Fred for his contributions to the blog.  We also went into an art show the blog was promoting that showed the photography of some of the bloggers so we could vote for our favorite.  

The weather was very pretty so I did get a few scenic shots in.  

We also did some cemetery stomping and I was able to get quite a bit of library research done.  It was a great visit.  When we spoke with Peter on Monday at the Elks Club, he kept going on about how the weather was going to be changing:  that the next day, the wind would be coming from the "Nawth Nawthwest--the worst.  I hate wind from the Nawth Nawthwest.  It's so COLD."  (Imagine it with the rough Gloucester accent) Man, he was right.  The wind was freakin' cold the next morning on our way out of town.  From now on, the Hitchcock movie will never be the same for me!