Our third
week in Calvert started with our Monday planning session.. We started by
calling the remaining 29 sisters that the Relief Society President had
designated for us to pay special attention to.
We were able to fill out our week with appointments and left many, many
messages for hopefully a return phone call..
Last week I
finished my letter on Friday and sent it on Saturday and so I missed a great
lunch we had with Heather.. She is the sister whose husband is deployed in Afghanistan. She is doing well and this was her morning to
run errands alone without her children.. everyone needs that every once in
awhile.. We loved being able to visit with during lunch..
Our first
visit this week was with Dora.. She is an 83 year old sister who was such a
delight to spend some time with. Her husband died in the last couple years.
She is the mother of 5 girls and they also
raised a set of twins that belonged to her cousin.
They got the twins when they were 11 months
old, so she and her husband really had a house full.. Dora served in the Navy
where she met her husband.. She loves ceramics and has her own kiln and pours
her own molds.. She showed us some beautiful things that she had made.
She and her daughters choose a humanitarian
project each year and work the entire year on it.
This year they are making newborn kits for local
hospitals.. a great lady.
Dora
Cheryl was
our next visit. She is a high school Spanish teacher that is off for the
summer. She and her husband have a son
22 and they have also adopted 3 children from China. They got two girls Adri & Bella when they
were each 11 months old about two years apart. Then they adopted a little 3
year old boy Eli. The girls are 9 and
11 and Eli is 6. Each of the children
had been in orphanages in China
when Cheryl and her husband got them.
Adri was very underweight and withdrawn, Bella was a happy vibrant
baby.. Bella is helping Adri come out of her shell.. Cheryl said that Adri
didn't know how to laugh or to have fun and Bella helped her, by showing her
how to have fun. When they decided to
adopt another child, Cheryl called the adoption agency and said they would love
to adopt a little boy, with a cleft pallet and some emotional issues that they
could help him with.. The lady on the other end of the phone went silent and
when Cheryl asked her what was the matter, she said she had a file right in
front of her that fit the profile exactly.. So they got Eli.. He is a hand full
and has come through a lot, but there is so much love in that family and he is
growing up surrounded with love and care and is a great addition to their
family.
Adri, Bella, Cheryl and Eli
Julie
really needed a visit she said and was so very happy that we were able to come
see her. She is a nurse and is working
in a private hospital, & is having an interview with a large national
hospital this week and is hoping to get a job with them.. She is currently
going through a divorce after 25 years of marriage.. She is a recent convert
and needs the support of all of us in the ward.
She is the mother of 5 and step mother of 2, all grown and out on their
own. She is a hard worker and was really
fun to have a visit with..
Desiree is
the young mom of 2 girls and 2 boys.
Her
husband is the Elders quorum president in the ward and a JAG attorney in the
Air Force. They have lived in all over like most of the military families we
have met.
She has her degree in Physical
Education and loves to run and enjoys all kinds of sports. She is a talented
pianist and teaches as well as plays for the primary at church. While we were
there her 9 year old daughter was having a piano lesson of her own and she was
playing and it was amazing.. a very talented family.
She was so fun to visit with.
.
We were
invited to have lunch with Judy and her husband. They live on a couple acres & have chickens
and a small garden. We had BLT's with their home grown tomatoes..yummy.. They
sent us home with a dozen fresh eggs and some tomatoes.. Everyone is so warm
and giving to us.. Judy & her husband also serve in the temple on Weds.
They serve on the evening shift, so we see them as they are arriving and we are
getting ready to leave. Judy is very
musical, she plays the piano and sings in several choirs in the area.. Her
husband suffers from MS and is in the advanced stages of the disease. He still can walk very slowly using a cane or
his walker, so he can still feel some independence.. What a special couple. So
happy we could spend some time with them and get to know them better.
Peg lives
down by
Chesapeake Bay in a darling beach house that was
built in 1937.
She has lived there for
17 years and when she was having some renovation work done they found a
newspaper under a floorboard that was from 1937..she had the front page
framed.
She suffered for about 20 years
with depression and the fear of leaving her home for longer than a brief time.
Then about 18 months ago she said that one day she decided to run an errand and
later that afternoon discovered that she had been out of her house all day. She
said she felt like she had been freed from the fear that had gripped her for so
many years.. She is such a delight and so happy and so involved with the people
at church and in her neighborhood.
She
loves to travel now and does often.
She
was such a fun lady to visit.. we had a great time.. You would never know she
once suffered from depression.
Peg
When we
arrived for our next appointment the large gate was closed, we rang the bell
that was by the gate and called her on the phone to no avail.. so it was a lost
visit..
When we
arrived at the next location we discovered we had the wrong address.. The lady
who answered the door said she wasn't Bonnie and didn't know her.
We called Bonnie to find out her address and
she said we had the right one.. She was asking us if we crossed a certain road
or turned at a certain corner.... I told her I have no idea.. I don't know this
area and I really have no idea how I got here, I just followed the GPS.. So we
are making another appointment and getting directions to her home.. Weird to
think that there are 2 address's just the same..
Shauna is
the mother of 9
(8 girls and 1 boy) ages
30 to 4, and what a wonderful visit we had with her. Her 3 oldest girls are out
of the house 2 are married and one in college. We got to meet all the kids who
are still home.. Such a delightful family.. Shauna's husband is a contract IT
consultant with the government.
We had a
wonderful visit with Shauna and her wonderful family.
Megan is a
26 year old young woman with such a hard life.
When we arrived at her mobile home she was such a gracious hostess.. As
we sat and talked to her, she started crying and said she was having such a
hard time in her life..she was looking for another job because the one she had
didn't pay much and she really needed to get another one that was better
paying. She then told us she was 3 months pregnant
and she had kicked the baby's father out,
because of his drug habit.
She is really
trying to get her life back on track and thinking about her future.. with or
without the baby.
She said her mother
lives near by but really isn't much help because of her own health issues.. We
promised we would talk to the Bishop and see what could be done to help
her.
She was so thankful that we came to
visit her, we assured we would be back again.. While we were there she received
a phone call about a new job she had applied for and was told the training was
going to be next week.
We were so happy
that we called Megan and got to visit with her.
Such a sweet girl.
I am now at
home in
Phoenix.. after a l-o-n-g
day traveling .. I left BWI airport at
12:30
and landed in
Atlanta at
2:30 and took off for
Phoenix
finally at
4:45.. anticipating a 4
1/2 hour flight to
Phoenix.
As we neared the
Phoenix
airport we were put into a holding pattern for an hour due to the giant Haboob
dust storm.
The only two places in the
world that this phenomenon happens is the
Gobi desert
and The
Phoenix area.
So our plane headed for
Las
Vegas.. At arriving at the
LV
airport we were told that as soon as we were gassed up we would head back to
Phoenix..
No such luck... They then informed us that the plane was having mechanical
problem.. so we waited and they were going to have us get off the plane then
they changed their minds and decided that the plane could take off.. then when
we were about to take off we headed back to the gate and told to all get off..
they gave us each a voucher for a meal and we waited for the plane to be
repaired.. We were then told that we were changing gates and planes.. we all
got on the new plane and headed to
Phoenix..
arrived and got my rental car and headed to my son Steve's home.. I arrived at
1:45 a.m. (which is
4:45 a.m. Maryland
time) , so I had been up 22 1/2 hours.. but was so happy to be there and we
talked and talked..
I discovered that my
whole family had been at the airport to surprise me and waited for 5 hours,
thinking my plane would be there any minute.. What a great family I have..
The "Haboob" giant dust storm
It was so much fun to walk into my own ward
today at church, got a lot of hugs, saw lots of friends and I loved seeing the
4 year olds that I taught in church before I left for my mission. When they saw me today they were so excited
and happy to see me. What a fun
day. After church my whole family met
for a fun dinner and evening together.. What a joy to spend the day with my
family. Everyone is going to the airport with signs and banners to welcome him home. Then he will have his homecoming at church on Sunday.. My granddaughter
from Chicago will come home on
Weds. so my entire family will be here except my grandson Kelly who is on our
mission in South Carolina.. So we
are having a week of family fun..
I am in
Phoenix
until August 2nd... will keep you updated..
No comments:
Post a Comment