THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME 121 JUNE 2018

Dear Children, Family, and Friends,

As you may recall in my last missive I mentioned greatly looking forward to my trip to Savannah to warm my arthritic bones suffering through a very chilly Spring here. I am afraid the only warmth I enjoyed was that provided by spending time with my great friends! It was unseasonably cold and rainy there too! However Becky, Evelyn, Sherry and I did not allow this to dampen our spirits at all.

In the early planning stages of this trip we decided Delta airlines was the best option to co-ordinate our arrival in Savannah so that Becky would only need to make one trip to pick us up at the airport. Evelyn and Sherry flew from Peoria and I of course from Kansas City and we met up at the Atlanta airport. Unlike my friends I did not have a very long time between connecting flights so I asked Sherry to text me once she knew which terminal and gate we were leaving from so I could head to it as quickly as possible. There was a slight hitch in our plans as their flight was delayed but they still arrived before me and fortuitously our next flight was from the same terminal as my arrival, just a few gates down. Sherry was waiting at my gate as I got off the plane and after a quick hug, and a much needed potty break for me we headed to our departure gate .After getting my seat assignment at the counter I went to hug Evelyn who was still upright after working the night shift, driving to Peoria and making her way across a few terminals in the massive Atlanta airport! She had just made three recent trips too, sadly her sister in Wichita, Kansas has stage four cancer, in Dallas, Texas her youngest daughter's husband has advanced brain cancer and on a happier note she went to Minnesota for her grandson's First Communion. How she copes with it all I have no idea.

Once we landed in Savannah, Becky met us inside the terminal and escorted us to her car using a cane to help her walk with her hip and back pain – I may be a day older than she but thankfully I am still moving like a gazelle!

All of us were anxious to see how true to the online pictures our Air b&b in downtown historic Savannah would be and were delighted to see that from the outside it was exactly so.. We piled out of the car, having found an empty parking space right outside our house and approached the gate, looking for the lock-box, which was partially hidden under a glorious mound of intoxicating, heavenly perfumed Jasmine which cascaded over the small enclosed garden walls. I had memorized the key code emailed to us by the land- lord so I put it in but nothing happened. The gate did not magically unlock itself as I expected. I hastily looked up the emailed instructions whilst Sherry repeated my actions with no results. We four old friends stood in the drizzle unable to figure out the system. I decided to call for more explicit help just as Sherry exclaimed she thought she had solved the problem. In desperation she gave the box a tug and voila it opened to reveal an actual old fashioned key ring inside! In this high tech world we assumed that the device would work like a garage door opener, key in the code and the door opens. We used one key to successfully unlock the gate and another to gain entry to the house which was true to it's online listing pictures. It was a compact Victorian style row house with plenty of space for us. The staircase reminded me very much of my Grandma's house in the Rhondda Valley, in Wales, it was very steep, with narrow treads and a sharp curve at the bottom. I wondered if Becky would be able to manage the stairs but she did.

It wasn't long before the tea kettle was on the stove as we put our small suitcases away and stored all the snacks, wine and breakfast foods that Becky had so thoughtfully bought for us – including sugar cubes for my tea! That made me smile as it has been years since I have sucked on one! As a child I loved sneaking them out of the sugar bowl when my mother wasn't looking!

Since we had arrived around suppertime we were ready to eat so we decided to walk to a restaurant. Interestingly enough we ended up at the 17hundred90 Inn restaurant which was the place I had stayed on my first visit to Savannah. It was a delicious dinner with us all choosing sea food entrees. We decided to explore downtown Savannah to walk off some of our caloric dinners and to pick up some coffee for the morning. We tried a couple of touristy stores that had teabags in every possible flavor combo but no coffee . We were saved by a Starbucks – but in our haste to ensure our morning coffee fix none of us realized that we had bought decaffeinated coffee. Once we settled in for the night Evelyn decided she was in dire need of coffee-having been awake for twenty four hours- so she went into our minuscule but well equipped kitchen to brew a pot and discovered the grave error on our parts. But luck was with us as she found some coffee beans in one of the cupboards and a grinder!

On Saturday we decided to take one of the open air bus tours around Savannah so we could soak up some local history if not some sun! Unfortunately the later was not an option- I had packed mainly short sleeved tops, shorts and capri's so I was cold enough to purchase a sweat shirt! Since you can get off the bus at any of the frequents stops and board another bus at any time it made exploring the historic district easier for Becky and Evelyn - who is having foot issues. I joked that Sherry, as the youngest of us, would probably have to line us up in our wheelchairs, one behind the other, on our next adventure with Becky in front being pushed by Evelyn who would be pushed by me while Sherry would be pushing the the lot of us!

On another visit with Leslee-Ann I had enjoyed the ambiance of the riverfront district so we decided to explore the shopping and seafood options there for lunch – fresh soft shell crab, shrimp, and scallops!Evelyn was much more of a sea food lover than I had realized – being a farmer's wife with cows and pigs right outside her kitchen door I assumed she loved her meat!

We spent part of the afternoon touring a historic house comparing the primitive living conditions of the slaves with the privileged existence of their owners, such an awful time in our history. We had hoped to squeeze in another tour but ran out of time.

We visited Leopolds, famous for it's ice-cream and ranked one of the best in the country! So popular is their ice-cream that a queue forms for blocks at certain times throughout the day but luckily we found ourselves in a relatively short line! It certainly was delicious and came in an amazing array of flavors!

On Sunday morning we headed out to Tybee Island and despite the cool weather Evelyn, Sherry and I rolled our pants up and headed into the Atlantic Ocean. I can now say that I have had my toes in both sides of the Atlantic! Only took forty plus years! Becky watched us from the safety of the sandy beach. Once we had finished with wading in the water we started collecting sea shells with as much enthusiasm as any child! Upon my return I gave them to Ava Claire and Owen to arrange in the fairy garden.

Evelyn and Sherry wading in the ocean despite the cool temperature!Add caption

After the beach experience we headed to Becky's new home to meet up with David, Crystal, Lysander, Lily and Merovy. Their new home is probably about six times the size of their former home and offers everybody their own space. Becky is thrilled to have her own bedroom, bathroom and a bonus sewing room which doubles as a sitting room. Becky is hoping that she can get her health issues resolved so that she can get back to gardening which she loves so much.

We enjoyed a late lunch at Love's Seafood restaurant with picturesque river views and stuffed to the gills we decided to explore the botanical gardens in hopes of pounding the trails to work off some of the poundage surely gained while enjoying Savannah's southern style cooking.

That night we readied ourselves for the flight home the next day and read through the instructions for leaving the house. I must say these Air b&b people must be very trusting as no-one checked to see if we were exceeding occupancy, tearing up the place or throwing a party. I would definitely do this again as we really enjoyed having a living room, dinning room and kitchen for our just hanging out time! Too bad the weather didn't allow us to enjoy morning coffee or evening wine on the patio but we did inhale the intoxicating Jasmine scent every chance we got!

The next morning Becky dropped us off at the airport for our return flight to Atlanta which we were lucky to catch as they had a last minute gate change which we didn't realize until dangerously close to boarding! In Atlanta we said our goodbyes and hustled off to catch our flights. This time I had to make my way to another terminal so I squeezed onto the airport terminal transportation system, clinging to a strap tethered to the ceiling, while trying to avoid bodily contact with my fellow passengers pressed in around me! I fought my way off at my departure terminal, raced up a flight of stairs and rushed to the gate to get an assigned seat. Now being frugal senior citizens we had all booked the lowest priced tickets Delta offered - not realizing that if our flight was overbooked we would be the first group to be denied a seat and this is what happened when I joined the crowd of passengers milling around the counter. I was informed that at least five people needed to accept five hundred dollars and a confirmed seat on a much later flight for me to board. I am sure many of my children would have volunteered but mother wanted to be home with a nice cup of tea as quickly as possible. Thankfully enough people volunteered for the deal so I did not get bumped. It was a very tense wait for me!

Once home I had two weeks before my next trip to Orlando so I was determined to have my deck and patio pressure washed, painted and sealed beforehand, which I miraculously accomplished over a couple of very hot days – Sean called about something and when he heard that I was working outside in the broiling heat he warned me to take care as someone at his work place had died in the parking lot the day before, probably of heat related causes. Alas he did not suggest I stay indoors, in the air conditioning, sipping iced tea while he crawled around my expansive deck with a paint brush!

Upon my return from Orlando, Coryn and Jeremy announced that they were going to put their house on the market and sold it within days of doing so. Their buyers plan to take possession on the 27^th of this month so they are now scrambling to find a new home, and preparing to move into a rental property if they cannot find anything in time! Coryn and Bryn have also sold their flip home in Kansas City so I am sure that Josh and Sean will be happy to no longer have the responsibility of maintaining that property for their siblings.

Josh is currently in Portugal I believe, Ming-Lee, Lori, Blake and Claudia will be visiting Ireland and Scotland and Sean and Sarah will be returning to England for a visit this summer also. Europe is definitely a popular destination for many of my children!

My very enjoyable time spent with Ray and his mommy and daddy will be documented in my next newsletter which I hope to post within the next couple of weeks. Yard work and baby sitting Ava Claire and Owen have taken up much of my time! Love your busy as a bee Mother!