THE LOWE FAMILY NEWSLETTER VOLUME131 NOVEMBER 2019

Dear Family and Friends,

I had barely recovered from all the excitement of Kay and Richard's wedding with our entire family together when something I had suspected for a few weeks was confirmed.

                               Emmy Lou is going to be a big sister in early May!

Sean and Sarah had come over for lunch the last weekend in September with Emmy Lou dressed in a shirt that announced her new status but I failed to read what was written on the shirt for ages until Sean insisted I do so! I recall Ava Claire wearing a similar shirt when Owen was expected and failing to read the message that time too!

A few days later I was on my all expenses paid trip to Los Angeles with Sarah ,Sean, and Emmy Lou: I was baby-sitting while they attended Derek Sanchez's wedding (no children) being held at The Terrace Live above the Grammy Museum.

It has been many years since I have needed to check luggage prior to going through security as I always travel with a large purse and one carry on bag that I can pack for a week or month! I am very much into color coordinating my travel wardrobe so that I only need one other pair of shoes other than the ones I wear for the flight, and I pick outfits to mix and match with one basic shade of navy, black , beige or brown. Until the evening before our flight I had forgotten how much paraphernalia it could take to travel with a baby. Sean called and asked if I had any idea how much my bag weighed. Of course not so I put it on the scales and gave him the number – apparently it was low enough to please him as he was worried that we were going to be over the weight limits on the budget friendly Spirit airline, on which he had booked our flights. I was told that we would be consolidating luggage at my house before we drove to the airport the following afternoon. The good news was that we were going to be spared hauling all our luggage out of the car in the long term parking lot, getting it all on to a shuttle bus and then off again at the terminal because Josh texted me the day before to say he was going to be home from his travels to Colorado the next day early enough to drive us to the airport and would pick us up five days later!This was all taking place on a Wednesday – a day I babysit Owen so I had Coryn pick him up an hour early as we needed to get to the airport before the evening rush hour traffic. Of course he was not happy about having to leave after a short reunion with his beloved uncle Josh and not being included on our trip!

Once at the airport we went straight to the baggage check in with our consolidated bags. I was sharing a suitcase with Sean, plus we had two other ones, a stroller, a pac'n'play and a car seat. I remember when I flew to England for a month's stay forty years ago with four month old Marc in a baby sling, a diaper bag and one suitcase! It seemed to take awhile to get all our luggage and ourselves checked in. Then we had to show our boarding passes and ID's again before going through security but thankfully we had time to eat dinner before our flight left to arrive in Los Angeles around ten O'clock..

Emmy Lou was very good on the plane, having a wonderful time interacting with all the passengers and crew who were very good with her. One of the flight attendants was giving the safety spiel by our seats prior to takeoff and was using Emmy Lou as his assistant. She probably paid him the most attention of any passenger ever on a flight! She truly is a happy and beautiful baby! She loved climbing up the back of our seats to interact with the people who were very baby friendly behind us and hanging out over the aisle greeting everyone coming and going to the restrooms. Since we were traveling at her bedtime she also slept some of the time.

Once in LA we took turns holding Emmy Lou and getting our bags collected so that we could hook up with Bryn who was bravely dealing with the chaotic airport traffic to pick us up. There is a lot of construction going on directly outside the terminals so we headed over to a nearby parking lot and hoped Bryn would be able to find us. It took a bit of time due to the traffic congestion but once he pulled up into an illegal parking spot we quickly loaded everything into the car, got Emmy Lou in her car seat and headed off to Marc's work place where he was going to take me home with him while the others stayed at Bryn's place. Sean dumped his stuff out of our shared suitcase , gave it to me and off I trundled behind Marc where his car was parked at least half a mile from our meeting place. I asked why on earth he hadn't just parked closer and he mumbled something about parking restrictions - hard to comprehend as the place was deserted at this hour of the night! However once on the drive back to his Condo in Torrence I mentioned that Sarah, Sean and the baby were planning on meeting up for lunch tomorrow. Marc was so excited that someone wanted to visit him that he insisted on stopping at a grocery store so he could pick up some meats to smoke. I can't say I have ever shopped at was one O'clock in the morning for me before but I helped Marc select fruit, salad, wine, a chicken, bratwurst and steak. I also grabbed some ginger beer, breakfast muffins and yogurt to avoid Marc's high fiber breakfast cereals. As we all know I do not need help with my bowels.

Once home Marc was marinating and salting his meats while I was pleasantly surprised to see that his bathroom was actually clean enough to use after Josh had made a few upgrades for him. The blue tub still needs to go! Marc was still clanging pans and pounding meat as I decided to crawl into bed – an inflated mattress. Marc assured me that it was new and unlike his old one did not lose air all night.

As I was trying to drift off to sleep, he mentioned that he was going to have to set an alarm for the middle of the night so he could put his meats in the smoker on his patio for the hours it would take for the process to be complete in time for lunch.

Of course I heard him sliding the patio doors, banging around in the kitchen and using words I would never use when he dropped something- just as I had finally fallen asleep of course. I greeted him in the morning by letting him know that my bed had deflated overnight, that I was reduced to pulling out a sleeping bag in his closet to keep warm as a top sheet was not sufficient to ward off the chilly night air and that I was definitely sleep deprived and hoped that there was going to be a lot of coffee brewing.

Marc immediately checked his air mattress and discovered that after inflating it he had failed to replace the plug!

Marc is a coffee snob so I had to suffer through the grinding of beans, something about a French press and the smallest coffee pot I ever seen, which yielded just two cups of coffee. I would have happily drunk several cups of instant coffee but every cup necessitated the repetition of his agonizingly long preparations. I suggested he could use a bigger coffee pot – oh he did have one but he much preferred the results using the small one.

My help was enlisted to help with turning the meats in the Smoker – Marc explained that this had to be done as quickly as possible as apparently once the oven door was open the thermostat would start dropping precipitously. I stood ready on the patio opening and closing the door as fast as I could and Marc was delighted with my skills exclaiming that this was the smallest drop in temperature ever since he had been using a Smoker. I decided not to burst his bubble of happiness by raising the question of how healthy the consumption of smoked meat was for one.

Sean, Sarah and Emmy Lou arrived and they too had apparently had a poor night's sleep. Emmy Lou was completely off her schedule and had hardly slept which meant they hadn't either. But Emmy Lou was very taken with all the decorative pieces Marc has displayed in his living room ( dumpster fodder in my opinion )She was soon grabbing his bobble heads and teething on his hand held back massager! She had a wonderful time slobbering all over the items on his coffee table as Marc looked on, appalled that no-one seen inclined to rescue his treasures. Fortunately he had cleaned up his dump before we came, even washing his walls and cabinets but only as high up as he figured Emmy Lou could reach! You could definitely see the dividing line.

Once his guests had headed back to Bryn's in Korea Town hopefully early enough to avoid the rush hour traffic jams Marc and I decided to get some early evening exercise in by walking to a Hawaiian themed restaurant where we had a very delicious fresh fish dinner and picked up a very tasty bakery dessert to take home with us to enjoy with a glass of wine.

The next day Marc had to go into work for a few hours so I entertained myself until he returned home about lunchtime. He asked me if I had any idea's about what he could do to his kitchen ceiling to remedy the missing ceiling tiles. His false ceiling featured T-bars and amber plastic tiles that probably dated from the sixties. I saw only two choices, replace all the tiles with new ones as it would be impossible to match the existing ones or better yet take the whole thing down and enjoy the extra ceiling height which would probably make the kitchen appear larger. Marc was nervous about how we would dispose of the ceiling. He said it was absolutely forbidden to put construction material in the condo dumpsters. Mother explained that we would be breaking all the materials into small pieces and throwing them into the dumpster in heavy duty black trash bags. Marc was somewhat appeased by this news. I asked him if he had a step stool and some tools. Much to my amazement he produced a tool box (probably something Josh or Bryn had put together) and a small step-stool that fortunately gave me enough height to climb on the kitchen counters to start my demolition work. I suggested that while I was on the counter Marc might want to get on the step stool and help. Fortunately for him his phone rung at that time with a work call that saved him from two hours of physical work as his phone rang constantly after the initial call. Of course Marc would have been of no help any way as his fear of heights would never let him get above the first rung of a ladder! Removing the tiles was easily done, removing the T-bars was more of a challenge as they were nailed rather than screwed in and so I had to use a flat head screwdriver, needle nose pliers and a hammer claw to get them out of the walls and ceiling. Marc looked at the large rectangular tiles and wondered how we were going to make them small enough to fit in a trash bag. I demonstrated by smashing one on the floor. Marc was horrified claiming that it was much too dangerous for him to tackle. So I broke them and he put them in a bag. Next came the long T-bars. We carried them out to the patio and I demonstrated using my foot that with a little effort they could be bent up into smaller lengths. I left Marc with this task while continuing to clean up the mess inside. When I checked on Marc's progress he was grunting and groaning but had accomplished nothing. I took over berating him for spending a hundred and seventy dollars a month for a gym membership to stay in shape when he couldn't even bend metal like his sixty seven year old mother who has never worked out in a gym in her life! What a waste of money!

Later that afternoon Marc took me to Redondo Beach where we dined at a seafood restaurant on the pier and then walked along taking in the view of the sea and numerous house boats moored to the pier which Marc suggested might be perfect for me in my old age. Since Marc gets sea sick just looking at a boat I guess he would have a great excuse for never visiting me! Afterwards we stopped in the town for coffee at some place filled with couches and chairs, books, laptops and students. Marc shared that this had been one of Bryn's favorite places to hang after he had moved to LA, moved in with Marc, quit his job and taken a few months to find something he thought he might find interesting. For part of that time Josh and Sean were also staying with Marc. Nothing like brotherly love!

On Saturday we drove to Bryn's and what a drive that was. I had made Marc remove an old ladies looking macrame beaded car seat back rest that he thought was massaging his back as he drove. In reality it was not comfortable to lean against so he was constantly grabbing onto the steering wheel and lurching back and forth. It reminded me of his head banging days rocking out to Metallica and Gun's and Roses. I said it was a miracle that someone hadn't shot him as he looked possessed, like a rabid dog that needed to be put down. I was amazed that no-one had called 911 on watching his bizarre behavior behind the wheel – I am his mother and was tempted to do so myself.

Without his back rest to distract him Marc was focused on his GPS which he accused of deliberately taking him on the most circuitous and complicated route as he berated every other driver on the road for their driving skills! I calmly explained that he should either follow the system or switch it off and take the route he was familiar with – after all he must have driven into down town Los Angeles hundreds of time over the years. But apparently he was not familiar with Bryn's area so he decided to follow the GPS and all was well for a while until it directed him to get off one freeway onto another when he thought he was going to be driving up a city street. I offered to drive several times but …... somehow we eventually made it into a parking garage suggested by Bryn and had to walk some distance to his place which he refers to as the penthouse suite

Bryn had just moved three flights up from his previous apartment in the same building when one became available on the top floor offering a panoramic view of down town Los Angeles -when it is not shrouded in smog. Bryn met us at the building's gates and led us to a tiny elevator which took us up to his apartment. I asked how he had managed to move his furniture – perhaps there was a freight elevator? No there wasn't, he had paid for movers to carry his possessions up the stairs as he had put his back out – at the gym! Seems both my boys would be healthier without their gym memberships!

I have to say his place is very nice, furnished in mid century modern style and very spacious. His living room has lots of windows, exposed brick, hard wood floors and plenty of space for a dining table. He has added a bar from a British pub since my visit and is planning on building a window seat for lounging on while admiring the view. The kitchen has been completely redone with European style cabinets, in two tones, solid surface counters and stainless steel appliances. The bedroom has two walk in closets and is large enough for a big bed, sofa and more ! He also has two other walk in closets off the living room. The bathroom is a great size too, quite the find!

Marc volunteered to stay for dinner with me and Emmy Lou while they all went to the wedding, Bryn had to make an emergency run to his tailors as his pants were not ready the day before. Bryn says the prices of tailoring is so reasonable that he has virtually everything he buys tailored because it looks so much better! I can only think that maybe all those years I used him as a child model for my store must have had an undue influence.

Bryn was in a grey suit for this wedding, with the same hipster length pants that look like high waters to me or capri's. He had a polka dot bow-tie and a man bun to complete the look. I suggested adding a pair of chopsticks to his bun for an ethnic touch! His date for the evening was Sydney, with whom Emmy Lou instantly fell in love . She was smitten by her silky smoky gray dress, stiletto heels and her highly decorative finger nails. I of course was delighted when I heard that Bryn was taking a plus one with him but Marc assured me that he had known her for years and that they were just great friends. She is a beautiful girl with a fun personality!

Emmy Lou soon had Uncle Marc pushing her around the apartment in her stroller and everytime he would take her out she would insist on getting right back in. I suggested that we could take her for a stroller ride around the neighborhood but Marc was not keen on this idea at all so he kept wheeling her around until he decided to hide the stroller in one of the closets. It didn't take Emmy Lou very long to find it at all and she was so thrilled with her self that Marc felt duty bound to push her around again. She had Uncle Marc enslaved !

Marc left when Emmy Lou was ready for bed to meet up with a friend and I was intrigued to look out of Bryn's windows to see all the people still walking out in the streets despite the late hour. Unfortunately Emmy Lou woke up shortly before her parents and Uncle Bryn arrived home close to midnight and it took awhile to get her back to sleep. Bryn graciously offered his bed to me for the night and I was too tired to care if the sheets were changed or not! He slept on the sofa while Sean and Sarah used his blow up mattress which was much nicer than Marcs!

I heard Emmy Lou fussing before the crack of dawn so I got up to take her hoping her pregnant mommy would be able to get some sleep! I fed her a bottle and ended up pushing her around in the stroller just like Marc. Eventually we were all up and ready to fly home. It took a couple of trips to get us and our stuff down in the tiny elevator and of course Bryn had to get his car from wherever he had parked it. Once again the airport traffic was a nightmare but eventually Bryn was able to drop us off at our terminal! He actually put his car up for sale that day as he decided Ubering everywhere was much easier! He was tired of constantly searching for a parking space and then having to move his car from one street to another to comply with city ordinances. Life is so much easier in the Midwest!

On October 22^nd Bonnie and Gary Neihaus spent a night at my house on their way back from Colorado, I was so happy to see them as they have had a very difficult year with their health issues, Gary had spent three months in the hospital previously this year. They are hoping to be able to travel to California to spend Christmas with their girls.

Within a short time of their leaving my house I got a phone call from Ming-Lee with news I was not remotely expecting: a routine brain scan revealed a new tumor. I was feeling so positive about Ming's chances of beating this terrible disease as he has been so active, eating well, exercising like a fiend that I was totally convinced he had conquered his mountain. It was a shock but fortunately the surgery to remove the tumor went well – he was only in ICU for one night afterwards and then moved to a regular room from which he was discharged within a day and was home for the weekend with his family! He even posted pictures of them playing family board games! I swear Ming-Lee is invincible!

Ming-Lee happy to be home after his second surgery!

I remember how he used to scare me to death by climbing into the big drainage pipes near Melody Terrace to explore and of course telling him not to had no effect! I was convinced he was going to end up being sucked into the water treatment plant covered in raw sewage. Then I had another panic attack when I found out that he was riding a bike across the Mississippi river bridge to visit a girl in Niota. The bridge is narrow – too narrow for bikes and cars in my opinion! I was convinced that he would come to a nasty end but Ming-Lee has always been fearless and always succeeds

I am driving out to Indy later this week to celebrate Ming's 50^th birthday – how can my children be approaching senior discounts? I will also be proudly watching Claudia perform in her school play “Radiation Girls”. And children you have something to be very thankful for this season as I will be writing another letter very soon detailing this trip and my previous visit to the Remsburgs earlier this month! So thankful to have you all in my life! Love Mother