THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 94 AUGUST 2014

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

This has been the most difficult month. My close friend of many decades, Becky Clay, lost her daughter, Gretchen, to a massive stroke: she was thirty four weeks pregnant at the time of this tragedy. Thanks to Becky's timely arrival in Savannah she was able to summon help so that the baby could be saved. As you may recall Becky had put her Fort Madison home on the market in the spring, retired from work and decided that she would possibly move to Savannah to be closer to Gretchen and her husband David and grandchildren.

Becky had driven down to stay with Gretchen and Lysander because David was working in Atlanta that week and having a high risk pregnancy it was deemed wise to have someone with Gretchen just in case of a problem. Gretchen had not had an easy first pregnancy and had been confined to bed rest for the last couple of months of it but this time the doctors were trying to manage her situation without keeping her in bed. Becky was able to spend part of a day with Gretchen before she was lost to her. How precious that time will be in Becky's memories.

Merovy Juniper was born prematurely but after a few weeks in the hospital she is now now home with her father, big brother and Grammy. I am flying to Savannah on Tuesday to be with them as we drive back to Fort Madison for Gretchen's Memorial Service which is set for Saturday, September 13^th .It may take a few days as we are driving two vehicles back with David's mother's help too and our young passengers will need potty stops, diaper changes and feeding – it will be a challenge but I am so glad that I can be of some help in this very difficult, painful and stressful time.

Here at home things have been stressful too but not on the same devastating scale. The morning I learned of Becky's loss contractors were in my house tearing out my kitchen floor. I felt as though I should be flying to Savannah but quickly realized that Becky and David's family members were on their way and that this should be a private family time. I spent the day at various home improvement stores trying to concentrate on picking out new bathroom vanities, counter-tops, tile and accessories. I had never expected my project to start so soon but the contractor had called the night before and said he had a delay in the start of another job so he could squeeze me in sooner. I found it difficult to think of anything but the awful news as I shopped in a daze.

I must say that on my recent visit to Ming-Lee and Lori's home I was very impressed with their latest bathroom remodels. I loved the new higher vanities and all the tile work which Ming did himself. The only feature I wasn't anxious to incorporate into my new master bathroom was the timer on Claudia's shower which is also used by guests. Lori warned me that I had eight minutes to beat the clock otherwise I would be showering in cold water. Apparently Ming-Lee had added the timer device after he noted that Claudia was spending more time showering than he thought necessary. I had assured Lori that this was not going to be an issue as I am not into long showers - only hours soaking in the tub. However I felt I wasted at least a precious minute of my time just waiting for a trickle of hot water so I could get under the shower. Once my hair was wet I reached for the shampoo bottle but without my glasses I couldn't figure out which of the many bottles was what so I had to dash out, grab my glasses from the vanity and try to read the labels through my steamed up glasses. I didn't dare to turn off the water in case I had to waste another minute waiting for hot water again. I finally found the shampoo and decided to just wash everything with it to save time reading labels in hopes of finding bodywash. I scrambled out of the shower feeling as though I had run a four minute mile. Later I wondered if turning off the shower would actually reset the timer but I guess Claudia will have to figure that one out!

The last four weeks of construction have been long, noisy, dusty and dirty. I have to say that I will no longer believe in HGTV and their month long whole house remodels. I had a porcelain tile floor laid in my kitchen, laundry room, guest bathroom off the kitchen and my master bathroom. I had a large vanity with a make up area outside of the bathroom removed and had a closet built in the space so that now I have two closets in my bedroom. The existing single vanity in the main bathroom area was removed along with a linen closet which made room for a double vanity in the bathroom. Two other bathrooms got new vanities too. Now there is a lot of painting to do but as luck would have it Sean and Josh are both home and may be able to help with this project whilst I am away. Of course now the kitchen cabinets look worse than ever so they will have to be redone, maybe I can refinish them over the winter. Once you spruce up one area of the house you suddenly seem aware of all the projects needed through out the rest of the house. I escape to my garden so I don't rashly commit myself to more projects. Unfortunately while painting trim to try and hurry the contractors crew I started slapping paint on doors and thus am committed to giving them a second coat plus repainting all the others to match.

Unfortunately my kitchen floor proved quite a challenge as they had to tear out two layers of sub-floor before they could install the concrete board to lay the tile down. The lead tiler was Hispanic and unfortunately had very little English language ability so I resorted to playing charades in order to communicate with him. I was very concerned when I realized it had taken him hours to set a dozen tiles and I had chosen large 12x24 ones! The boss showed up and assured me that the worker had lots of experience. He urged him to move things along but unfortunately increasing his output led to a decline in the quality of the work. I was not pleased when the boss showed up the next day and started ripping tile out that was poorly laid. Glad that the problem was rectified but not happy that the kitchen floor alone was turning into a full weeks project I suggested that more workers were needed. Another crew showed up to complete the job. Everything looks great but unfortunately I had water running over the pipes instead of into them the first time I used my master bath sinks. The contractor had a plumber there within ten minutes of my late night phone call - doubtless terrified that the water damage to the inside of my cabinet was going to cost him a replacement double vanity. Since the project had run twice as long as expected and involved a lot of overtime, even Sundays the contractor probably (as he claims) lost money on this job.

I slept upstairs for weeks as my bedroom and bathroom were filled with dry wall dust , saw dust and of course all the dust I had done nothing about in the days before my remodel seeing no point in cleaning what would be a demolition site. It will certainly be awhile before I have the energy to cope with all the mess and disruption of another home improvement project but I do love the end result.

This is Labor Day Weekend and once again my children are scattered. Coryn, Jeremy and Ava Claire are in Florida with Leslee (who has a birthday on Monday) and Craig, Kay is in Boston visiting friends, Josh is in Omaha with plans to visit friends in Des Moines. Sean is dog sitting in Lee's Summit. I expect that Bryn and Marc are on a beach near LA, Ming-Jon is probably spending the holiday in DC and Ming-Lee and family are at their lake house.

Ava Claire was not bothered by all the noise and mess of my renovation at all, she seemed very pleased with all the male attention as she toddled about swinging her sippy cup in one hand and a snack in the other.I did manage to sew another outfit or two for her and kept up with my watering of the garden but found the construction quite wearing. As we all know I love quiet days filled with classical music, a good book , my garden and and a few hunks of cheese and chocolate with a glass of wine. Hasn't happened in months!

I was able to spend a couple of afternoons helping Kay set up her classroom – the principal asked if I was a teacher because she said I looked like one! I confessed that I had taught high school in England and been a preschool teacher here. I do enjoy spending time with Kay's class and look forward to meeting the new one.

I'm off to dust my suitcase for my long trip to Savannah and back to Fort Madison. I know that Gretchen will be with us on this journey in spirit and I promise not to rock the heavens with my language when Lysander wails every thirty minutes that he wants to get out of the car seat, Merovy develops colic as we drive through a major city or Becky reminds me of the speed limit which I always exceed.

Love from your running on empty but gassed up for the trip Mother.

THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER: VOLUME 94 AUGUST 2014

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

This has been the most difficult month. My close friend of many decades, Becky Clay, lost her daughter, Gretchen, to a massive stroke: she was thirty four weeks pregnant at the time of this tragedy. Thanks to Becky's timely arrival in Savannah she was able to summon help so that the baby could be saved. As you may recall Becky had put her Fort Madison home on the market in the spring, retired from work and decided that she would possibly move to Savannah to be closer to Gretchen and her husband David and grandchildren.

Becky had driven down to stay with Gretchen and Lysander because David was working in Atlanta that week and having a high risk pregnancy it was deemed wise to have someone with Gretchen just in case of a problem. Gretchen had not had an easy first pregnancy and had been confined to bed rest for the last couple of months of it but this time the doctors were trying to manage her situation without keeping her in bed. Becky was able to spend part of a day with Gretchen before she was lost to her. How precious that time will be in Becky's memories.

Merovy Juniper was born prematurely but after a few weeks in the hospital she is now now home with her father, big brother and Grammy. I am flying to Savannah on Tuesday to be with them as we drive back to Fort Madison for Gretchen's Memorial Service which is set for Saturday, September 13^th .It may take a few days as we are driving two vehicles back with David's mother's help too and our young passengers will need potty stops, diaper changes and feeding – it will be a challenge but I am so glad that I can be of some help in this very difficult, painful and stressful time.

Here at home things have been stressful too but not on the same devastating scale. The morning I learned of Becky's loss contractors were in my house tearing out my kitchen floor. I felt as though I should be flying to Savannah but quickly realized that Becky and David's family members were on their way and that this should be a private family time. I spent the day at various home improvement stores trying to concentrate on picking out new bathroom vanities, counter-tops, tile and accessories. I had never expected my project to start so soon but the contractor had called the night before and said he had a delay in the start of another job so he could squeeze me in sooner. I found it difficult to think of anything but the awful news as I shopped in a daze.

I must say that on my recent visit to Ming-Lee and Lori's home I was very impressed with their latest bathroom remodels. I loved the new higher vanities and all the tile work which Ming did himself. The only feature I wasn't anxious to incorporate into my new master bathroom was the timer on Claudia's shower which is also used by guests. Lori warned me that I had eight minutes to beat the clock otherwise I would be showering in cold water. Apparently Ming-Lee had added the timer device after he noted that Claudia was spending more time showering than he thought necessary. I had assured Lori that this was not going to be an issue as I am not into long showers - only hours soaking in the tub. However I felt I wasted at least a precious minute of my time just waiting for a trickle of hot water so I could get under the shower. Once my hair was wet I reached for the shampoo bottle but without my glasses I couldn't figure out which of the many bottles was what so I had to dash out, grab my glasses from the vanity and try to read the labels through my steamed up glasses. I didn't dare to turn off the water in case I had to waste another minute waiting for hot water again. I finally found the shampoo and decided to just wash everything with it to save time reading labels in hopes of finding bodywash. I scrambled out of the shower feeling as though I had run a four minute mile. Later I wondered if turning off the shower would actually reset the timer but I guess Claudia will have to figure that one out!

The last four weeks of construction have been long, noisy, dusty and dirty. I have to say that I will no longer believe in HGTV and their month long whole house remodels. I had a porcelain tile floor laid in my kitchen, laundry room, guest bathroom off the kitchen and my master bathroom. I had a large vanity with a make up area outside of the bathroom removed and had a closet built in the space so that now I have two closets in my bedroom. The existing single vanity in the main bathroom area was removed along with a linen closet which made room for a double vanity in the bathroom. Two other bathrooms got new vanities too. Now there is a lot of painting to do but as luck would have it Sean and Josh are both home and may be able to help with this project whilst I am away. Of course now the kitchen cabinets look worse than ever so they will have to be redone, maybe I can refinish them over the winter. Once you spruce up one area of the house you suddenly seem aware of all the projects needed through out the rest of the house. I escape to my garden so I don't rashly commit myself to more

projects. Unfortunately while painting trim to try and hurry the contractors crew I started slapping paint on doors and thus am committed to giving them a second coat plus repainting all the others to match.

Unfortunately my kitchen floor proved quite a challenge as they had to tear out two layers of sub-floor before they could install the concrete board to lay the tile down. The lead tiler was Hispanic and unfortunately had very little English language ability so I resorted to playing charades in order to communicate with him. I was very concerned when I realized it had taken him hours to set a dozen tiles and I had chosen large 12x24 ones! The boss showed up and assured me that the worker had lots of experience. He urged him to move things along but unfortunately increasing his output led to a decline in the quality of the work. I was not pleased when the boss showed up the next day and started ripping tile out that was poorly laid. Glad that the problem was rectified but not happy that the kitchen floor alone was turning into a full weeks project I suggested that more workers were needed. Another crew showed up to complete the job. Everything looks great but unfortunately I had water running over the pipes instead of into them the first time I used my master bath sinks. The contractor had a plumber there within ten minutes of my late night phone call - doubtless terrified that the water damage to the inside of my cabinet was going to cost him a replacement double vanity. Since the project had run twice as long as expected and involved a lot of overtime, even Sundays the contractor probably (as he claims) lost money on this job.

I slept upstairs for weeks as my bedroom and bathroom were filled with dry wall dust , saw dust and of course all the dust I had done nothing about in the days before my remodel seeing no point in cleaning what would be a demolition site. It will certainly be awhile before I have the energy to cope with all the mess and disruption of another home improvement project but I do love the end result.

This is Labor Day Weekend and once again my children are scattered. Coryn, Jeremy and Ava Claire are in Florida with Leslee (who has a birthday on Monday) and Craig, Kay is in Boston visiting friends, Josh is in Omaha with plans to visit friends in Des Moines. Sean is dog sitting in Lee's Summit. I expect that Bryn and Marc are on a beach near LA, Ming-Jon is probably spending the holiday in DC and Ming-Lee and family are at their lake house.

Ava Claire was not bothered by all the noise and mess of my renovation at all, she seemed very pleased with all the male attention as she toddled about swinging her sippy cup in one hand and a snack in the other.I did manage to sew another outfit or two for her and kept up with my watering of the garden but found the construction quite wearing. As we all know I love quiet days filled with classical music, a good book , my garden and and a few hunks of cheese and chocolate with a glass of wine. Hasn't happened in months!

I was able to spend a couple of afternoons helping Kay set up her classroom – the principal asked if I was a teacher because she said I looked like one! I confessed that I had taught high school in England and been a preschool teacher here. I do enjoy spending time with Kay's class and look forward to meeting the new one.

I'm off to dust my suitcase for my long trip to Savannah and back to Fort Madison. I know that Gretchen will be with us on this journey in spirit and I promise not to rock the heavens with my language when Lysander wails every thirty minutes that he wants to get out of the car seat, Merovy develops colic as we drive through a major city or Becky reminds me of the speed limit which I always exceed.

Love from your running on empty but gassed up for the trip Mother.