Because you are reading this, we can only assume that you like reading Christmas letters. I like them, but they seem to be frowned upon in some quarters, so we figured if you took the time to type in the URL, you too enjoy these missives.
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The major event in our lives this year was Mom passing away the Monday before Thanksgiving. She suffered a heart attack two weeks prior and was in the hospital for a week before being transferred into hospice care at the Kroontje Healthcare Center (part of the Warm Hearth life care campus where she lived in assisted living). I drove down Wednesday/Thursday after the heart attack from Saint Paul to offer what support I could to her and my sister Cindy who handled Mom’s accounts and healthcare. My brother Howie flew in from San Diego when Mom made the decision to enter hospice.
Other family members came to see her in the hospital including her surviving brother and sister-in-law, Olen Ray and Martha Sue Thomas, who were driven up from Charlotte by my cousin Dru Quarles. My nephews H.P. and Robert also visited; H.P. with two of his children Zachary and Savannah, Robert with his spouse Adrena. Our ‘other-siblings’ – Mary, Wave, and Ed Evans – were there and provided indispensable support and love.
Like Dad, Mom’s memorial will be a graveside service on the Saturday of Fathers’ Day weekend 20 June 2020.
It was time and she was ready, but we will miss her.
=== The chronological topics ===
We visited the Lubin clan in the Oakland area last holiday season, getting there in time for the holiday family dinner hosted by Jonathan’s nephew and wife, James and Dorothy Lubin. Jonathan’s niece and husband, Beth and James Hughes, arranged an overnight trip to Carmel CA where we browsed the galleries and shops and visited the Monterey Bay Aquarium — one of the best in the world. We also got to have dinner with Cindy and husband Mike (they had been in Oregon visiting their son Mason and fiancé Claire in Eugene for Christmas) at Greens Restaurant in San Francisco along with brother and sister-in-law, Mike and Mary Lubin, and Beth and Jim.
Sadly, Mary Lubin passed away a couple months later after a long struggle with Parkinson’s disease. We flew out to Oakland in April to be with family and attend her memorial held at Piedmont Gardens senior living community.
Left: Mike and Mary Lubin before Christmas dinner; center: jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium; right: Jim Hughes in Carmel CA
In April, we flew to Rhode Island to see a stage reading of the play Madison authored – Daughters of Lavinia – which juxtaposed the fight for women’s suffrage to the Shakespeare play Titus Andronicus. Harris performed the role of Lavinia – she was the only cast member who had her part memorized, even though it wasn’t required for a stage reading. From there, we made our usual swing through Blacksburg VA in April to visit Mom, as we made a point to visit Mom and Dad around the time of their anniversary (April 7).
After the play, L-R: me, Diane, Harris, Madison, M'lyn, and Jonathan.
The Thomas Family Reunion was held on the traditional date of the Sunday after Fathers’ Day. I had hoped that we could swing through Louisville again to visit my cousin Trudy Littlejohn and the rest of her clan, but the remodeling going on in the bathroom at home kept our visit to just the typical Saturday through Monday.
Below: After the annual reunion photograph, Olen Ray provided family reminisces before the meal.
In mid-July, we drove to Pine Point by way of Lindsay ON to visit Káča Henley, with whom Jonathan celebrated 70 years of friendship. We also were lucky that Káča’s daughter Betka was also there, adding to a lovely visit. Once in Pine Point our time was spent in the usual festivities of beach and sandbar walking, tide supervision, and eating. Cindy and Mike were already there, and we were joined, schedules permitting, by our daughters Madison and Harris, and their mothers M’lyn and Diane, and Diane’s sister-in-law Brenda. (Daughter Devlin was spending the summer in the republic of Georgia on a Russian language program.)
One day we drove down to Boston to visit Jonathan’s thesis advisor and wife, John and Carol Tate. On another, we drove up to Brunswick to see Betsy Grobe, Jonathan’s colleague from his Bowdoin days, and dropped by Ray Giroux and Dave Petrie’s in Portland to catch up on their doings. We were fortunate that cousin Ann and Cleve Tidwell were able to stop by on their motorcycle tour through New England on their way to Boston. On our drive back, we stopped off in West Lafayette IN to have breakfast with Barb Gibbs, a colleague of mine at RepliGen.
Left: Moonrise over Prouts Neck on 15 July; center: Cindy took this shot of Jonathan and me with our cameras mounted on tripods on 15 July — on both evenings there was a bank of clouds that obscured the moon clearing the horizon; right: Moonrise over Prouts Neck on 16 July
We drove down to Bloomington IN for Indiana University Parents’ Weekend with Devlin. One of her moms, M’lyn, flew in from Rhode Island and we spent the weekend together including attending a football game. The highlight was a trip up to Indianapolis to hear Devlin sing in the Jewish singing group Hooshir A Capella at a local synagogue.
At a restaurant in Bloomington IN, L-R: me, M'lyn, Devlin, and Jonathan.
Hooshir A Capella performance (3:58, 142MB)
We flew to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of my friend/former colleague Dar Rosario and Sue Masters on the beach at Ventura. It was a sweet ceremony full of love and humor. We then spent a few days in the Pasadena area to visit with our friends there.
At the wedding dinner, L-R: Jonathan, Sue, Dar, and me.
Thanksgiving was bittersweet coming shortly after Mom died, but being with family was tonic.
At the Summit restaurant in Christiansburg VA, L-R: M'lyn, me, Devlin, Madison, Jonathan, Mike, Cindy, Harris, and Diane.
We plan on returning to the Bay area to visit the Lubin clan, again departing on Christmas morning, hoping to be on-time for Christmas dinner.
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In less chronological topics, I continue to sing in the 60+ member White Bear Unitarian-Universalist church choir (tenor). My voice lessons at the MacPhail Music Center in Minneapolis are taught Dennis Peterson, an operatic tenor. Choir and voice continue to be the highlight of my week.
In other church related activities, I’m off the church Board of Directors after three years. I still run the fundraiser Dining for Dollars, and serve on the pre-fellowship committee of one of our assistant ministers.
I established my consultancy, Sand Dollar Consulting LLC, and even had a client, although I've been ‘practicing retirement’ most of the time this past year. I'm kinda liking it, but I am still seeking clients.
Jonathan continues to serve on the Endowment Committee at church. He also has been tutoring at Central High School, and is now working with three classes.
The cats report no changes, and Tillie would still prefer to be an “only cat.”
Cheers, Mark (with back-seat editing by Jonathan)
Sunrise over Scarborough town pier on 22 July, Pine Point ME
The major event in our lives this year was Mom passing away the Monday before Thanksgiving. She suffered a heart attack two weeks prior and was in the hospital for a week before being transferred into hospice care at the Kroontje Healthcare Center (part of the Warm Hearth life care campus where she lived in assisted living). I drove down Wednesday/Thursday after the heart attack from Saint Paul to offer what support I could to her and my sister Cindy who handled Mom’s accounts and healthcare. My brother Howie flew in from San Diego when Mom made the decision to enter hospice.
In mid-July, we drove to Pine Point by way of Lindsay ON to visit Káča Henley, with whom Jonathan celebrated 70 years of friendship. We also were lucky that Káča’s daughter Betka was also there, adding to a lovely visit. Once in Pine Point our time was spent in the usual festivities of beach and sandbar walking, tide supervision, and eating. Cindy and Mike were already there, and we were joined, schedules permitting, by our daughters Madison and Harris, and their mothers M’lyn and Diane, and Diane’s sister-in-law Brenda. (Daughter Devlin was spending the summer in the republic of Georgia on a Russian language program.)
One day we drove down to Boston to visit Jonathan’s thesis advisor and wife, John and Carol Tate. On another, we drove up to Brunswick to see Betsy Grobe, Jonathan’s colleague from his Bowdoin days, and dropped by Ray Giroux and Dave Petrie’s in Portland to catch up on their doings. We were fortunate that cousin Ann and Cleve Tidwell were able to stop by on their motorcycle tour through New England on their way to Boston. On our drive back, we stopped off in West Lafayette IN to have breakfast with Barb Gibbs, a colleague of mine at RepliGen.
We flew to Los Angeles to attend the wedding of my friend/former colleague Dar Rosario and Sue Masters on the beach at Ventura. It was a sweet ceremony full of love and humor. We then spent a few days in the Pasadena area to visit with our friends there.
