THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER
VOLUME 114 MAY 2017
Dear Readers,
March ended and April began
on a high note as my treasured friends of so many decades came to see
me and enjoy what has now become our annual tradition, spending time
together catching up on all our family news, enjoying meals together,
endless cups of tea, a glass of wine, shopping and making do on too
little sleep! Becky was the first to arrive on Friday morning at the
Kansas City airport where I picked her up and commended her for
getting up in the middle of the night to leave for her first flight
at five in the morning. It's most unfortunate that it is impossible
to fly directly from Savannah to Kansas City.
Becky had mailed a box ahead
of her arrival containing a present for me so I decided not to open
it until she arrived: it contained a beautiful quilt that she had
been working on for so long, a true labor of love. How she managed to
complete this work of art while taking care of her grandchildren full
time I will never understand. This will certainly become a family
heirloom for generations to come. Amazingly she also has quilts
underway for Evelyn and Sherry! Becky is such a talented quilter,
seamstress and knitter with skills far beyond mine.
Evelyn was working the night
shift as usual on Thursday, then meeting at Sherry's after work
Friday morning to drive here. Thankfully Sherry drove. I thought they
would probably be here by twelve thirty but it was an hour later
before they pulled into my driveway - of course they had made more
than the one stop that I allow! I think we spent the entire rest of
the day talking, except for the time that Coryn and the children
visited with us, then Ava Claire took over- very warmly greeting and
entertaining my three grandma friends. She made a great impression as
she helped lay the dinning room table, clear it , and load the
dishwasher after my Martha Stewart supper : salad, shrimp pasta in
red pepper sauce and an ice-cream cake for dessert! Ava Claire now
looks so much like her mother as a child but she has a completely
extroverted personality! Coryn was reserved around people outside of
the family. Owen of course was into everything and I am sure my
grandchildren were in part responsible for the girls heading upstairs
to sleep at nine in the evening – never mind that one of them had
had no sleep the night before and another only about four hours!
Saturday morning we shopped
for our grandchildren, ourselves, had lunch near the mall (amazingly
all four of us ordered fish taco's) and headed up Quivera to Sarah
and Sean's new home. Unfortunately Sarah was in Pittsburgh that
weekend for work so the girls were disappointed not to meet her but
Sean made a 'nice' cup of tea for us and gave a tour of the house and
explained it's ongoing and upcoming renovations!
Later in the afternoon we
shopped some more and headed home for supper , wine and more
conversation. At some point Becky invited us all to visit her in
Savannah so that is definitely a fun idea!
Sunday came all too soon and
after lunch Evelyn and Sherry headed back to Fort Madison with all
their shopping in the trunk of the car whilst I headed to the airport
with Becky. I truly treasure my friendship with these special
friends.
Next on the agenda came my
birthday and I was thrilled to share pizza and Ava Claire's specially
made for Grandma chocolate cake- with blue “peeps” swimming in
chocolate frosting -with all my Kansas City family. When I opened my
gift from my children I was more excited then when the Chiefs score
a touch down I think: a new Ipad! Ava Claire admonished me to calm
down “you are too excited Grandma. Thanks to all eight of my
children for this wonderful gift – my older Ipad was having trouble
updating and loading my games and causing daily frustration so you
have also helped lower my blood pressure too!
Speaking of health I am now
signed up for Medicare parts A and B, and have supplemental and
prescription drug coverage through AARP and am euphoric about the
financial savings this means for me, plus I am now getting social
security so this has been a wonderful birthday, love turning 65!
Bonnie and Gary Niehaus
arrived the following week to spend a night with me after their
travels to Arizona. It so happened that they were spending a Tuesday
night' which meant that they would be awoken on Wednesday morning,
shortly after seven, when Ava Claire enjoys ringing the doorbell
non-stop until I open the door, after which she and Owen clamor for
breakfast. Once Bonnie and Gary were up and breakfasting with the
kids I suggested that they might want to spend the entire day with me
enjoying my very demanding, non stop talking Ava Claire and my always
flying in the face of danger Owen. They said they would love to spend
time with my grandchildren but they really needed to head back to
Fort Madison : this as I was chasing a naked Owen around the sofa
trying to get him dressed.
The third weekend in April I
flew to Orlando to spend a few days with the Remsburgs. My drive to
the airport during rush hour was only slowed to a crawl on one of
the three interstates on my route. Fortunately I always allow extra
time for these things. I parked in the long term economy lot taking a
picture of my parking location for future reference. Whilst waiting
for the shuttle bus, I got into conversation with a fellow traveler
who just happened to be on the same flight as me and he told a
harrowing tale of having to change a flat tire en route to the
airport. I definitely had not allowed enough time for such a disaster
and worse I was wondering how much earlier he must have left than me
to arrive at the same time despite this mishap. Once in the terminal
I pulled out my driver's license and boarding pass( TSA pre-approved
as usual) and stood in the appropriate security line. I would have
preferred to be in the regular line as this line was much longer!
Eventually my bags made it to the Xray machines and I passed through
the metal detector but was promptly pulled aside and told that my bag
was going to have to be hand inspected by a security guard who was
already going through an elderly couple's bag while another senior
citizen was selected for a pat down. Must be pick on Grandparents day
I joked to my fellow passengers. The security guard was not amused
and once he finally started opening my bag I urged him to pull
everything out to speed things up , explaining that I needed to use
the rest room before boarding. I reached my hand into my suitcase to
help out and was promptly told that I was not allowed to touch
anything. He zeroed in on two toys that I had packed – unwrapped-
for baby Ray. One of them contained batteries. Both items were
removed, hand scanned and then placed back in my suitcase which the
security guard informed me would have to be placed back on the
conveyor belt and re-screened. Looking at the by now humongous line I
almost peed my pants on the spot. Fortunately he put my bag on for me
and a few minutes later I was in the ladies room – another line –
and vowing to add at least an hour to my emergency contingency time
in future. Once at the gate it was time to start lining up to be
seated and I was grateful to be in the B section as the flight was
full and they were asking for volunteers to give up their seats for
upgrades and vouchers. After this hassle I was going to sit in my
seat, hopefully with my bag above me and would resist all and any
efforts to budge me! I have been watching the news.
Ray had recently celebrated
his first Birthday and was walking well - providing he had something
to hold on to. Craig was very focused on when Ray would take his
first steps unaided and was constantly asking my opinion on when I
thought this momentous moment might occur – I explained that it
could be within the next hour or even a month away. Unfortunately I
just missed his first steps by hours as he finally let go and walked
alone shortly after I left.
Ray demands attention and
applause every waking moment. For example if he crawls up a step he
expects applause, when he crawls down a step he expects applause and
he is more than happy to lead the applause himself! I was amazed that
Leslee-Ann allowed him to use her clothes as his personal snot rag.
His nose was running constantly; when it bothered him he just
clambered on his mom, and used her shirt to wipe it on! Even I wasn't
that lenient! But she does have very set routines when it comes to
sleep, meal and bath times.
We went out to dinner a
couple of times and Ray was very well behaved save for the occasions
that he decided to drop food over the side of his chair – a habit
that he has from feeding the pugs who plant themselves under his high
chair at every meal to eagerly eat every morsel that Ray drops to
them.
On Sunday morning we went to
a Farmers Market where I found a Ray sized table and bench made by
one of the many artisans peddling their handicrafts: hopefully he
will enjoy using it for his own arts and crafts. They had an area
with water fountains shooting from the ground for children to enjoy
splashing in – Leslee-Ann and I watched as Craig played in it with
Ray.
His sleeping schedule is
clockwork precision. He goes to bed at eight in the evening and wakes
up at eight in the morning and takes a nap for two hours every
afternoon. When he is asleep the television volume in the family
room is turned down so low that I can't even hear it, we all have to
speak in a whisper and Leslee-Ann shushes constantly. They also set
up a baby gate in the hallway to his room and the guest room to keep
the dogs from scratching at his bedroom door and my first night I was
trying to lift my legs high enough to clamber over it fearful of
knocking it over and waking Ray, fortunately Leslee-Ann caught me in
the act, berated me for my stupidity and showed me how to open it. To
add to my trauma both bathrooms in the house were undergoing
renovations so I had to use the sink in their master bathroom to
brush my teeth – I offered to use the bath tub faucet which was
still hooked up in my bathroom but was told that the noise might wake
you know who!
Marc Andrew had visited
shortly before me and he was ordered into the master suite for his
extended stay while they took the guest room because they were afraid
that his numerous runs to the bathroom nightly- due to his over
active bladder- might disturb Ray's slumbers.
In my next newsletter I will
cover the month of May and some of June as I need to catch up after
falling a month behind again – not that one of my children seems
aware of this lapse on my part. I will writing about Joshua's return,
Ava Claire's 4th Birthday, Owen's 2nd
Birthday, Ming-Jon's visit this weekend, Kay's Masters Degree
Graduation Party, Ethan's planned visit and my gardening efforts in
my yard, my neighbors and Sarah and Sean's!
Thanks to the generosity of
family and friends for my birthday this year, my garden has bloomed
with solar lit decorations, wind chimes, bird feeders and even a tea
cup and saucer planted in a pot of morning glories! In almost every
border I can find a reminder of one of my children or friends –
some ornaments have been part of my garden since I first started one
seventeen years ago! I plan to spend most of my summer edging out my
beds, pulling weeds and feeding the wild life . You are all welcome
to invade my habitat and plant your feet in my soil – within reach
of weeds of course! Love Mother
