Islands, Mountains and Our Own Backyard

Blogging is a new hobby that I started this week (January 26, 2009). I have a lot of interest to share with you like travelling and taking pictures. My husband C. and I retired from our jobs February 2007. We have taken a few trips and plan more. Here are some pictures to share with you.
Grace

Truly, there is no place like home and your own backyard!

This cardinal loves the tree next to our deck and he frequently pecks on our back door. This is him during icy weather. The picture at the upper right is a lovely sunset view from our deck.

Blowing Rock, North Carolina
C. and I took our Fall wedding trip to Blowing Rock, NC some years ago. At the time, it was very rainy, cold and cloudy. We left Blowing Rock and headed for Gatlinburg, TN
During the Summer of 2008, we returned to Blowing Rock and really enjoyed the people, the weather and the ambiance of the mountain.



Jan Karon, my favorite author, lives at Blowing Rock. The Eiscopal priest at this church may have been her inspiration for her delightful character, Father Tim in her "Mitford Series".









Annapolis, Maryland - Home of the U.S. Naval Academy (no picture available)
Picture here is the Harbor at Annapolis. The town is very quaint and still has a colonial type atmosphere.




Mounty Vernon - Home of the first United States President - George Washington (located outside of Washington D.C.)
The Potomic River runs behind the home and the moonlight shining on the river at night is beautiful and quite romantic, I might add.



While in the area, we found Elk Run, VA just outside of Washington D.C. This is were my ancestors on my father's side lived when they first came to this country. They were French Hugenots that were being persecuted in France for their religious beliefs. They first went to the Island of Martinique, then came on to the Virginia area where they helped start the first Anglican Church in this country. They also participated in the American Revolutionary War. Later they migrated to Mississippi and Alabama where they were farmers.
This road trip was especially meaningful for me and my husband since we have become enthusiastic about our family history and tracing our genealogy.



Monticello - Home of Thomas Jefferson. The grounds are as lovely as the home.









Durango, Colorado
The Aspen trees were beginning to turn a golden color. It started sleeting at 12,000 feet as we drove from Durango to Silverton, CO. The road over the mountain was icy and did not have guard rails.
The Catholic Priest in Durango often hikes in the mountains and asks his parishners to go along with him.
The town of Ouray, CO (Switzerland of America) was not far from Silverton, but there was a mud and rock slide that closed the road and prevented us from traveling on to Ouray.
Pictured here is the Steam Train that goes on a very narrow track up and over the mountains from Durango to Silverton, CO.




Silverton, Colorado
We had lunch at a small cafe. C. had a Moose burger or was Elk?
We were told there are only about 150 people that stay in the town during the winter months. A physician visits once a week.
They do have an emergency squad.

Bocca Grande, FL (south of Venice, Florida)

Beautiful Island! Our friends L. and E. took us there when we visited them. We saw people driving golf carts to church. We also saw huge Banyon trees. Right is a residential home at Bocca Grande. Above is the Bocca Grande Lighthouse.

Cape May, New Jersey
We took the ferry over from Deleware to Cape May and stayed there a few days. Enjoyed the Atlantic Ocean, the park around the lighthouse and all of the Victorian homes. Cape May is reported to be the first Sea Shore town in the United States. There are many great restaurants. If you like excitement, Atlantic City and the Boardwalk are about 60-80 miles north of Cape May.

We watched the activities of Pope Benedict on the TV at our hotel. He was visiting New York and

Washington DC while we were in Washington and Cape May. Would loved to have had tickets to see the Pope. Our friend SJ did have tickets. We happened to see her at breakfast in Washington one morning.

Cape May Home

Victorian Architecture, Bed and Breakfast capital of the country located at the Southern most point of N.J.

The first surgeon in the United States lived at Cape May, N.J.

St. Simon Island, Georgia
We love St. Simon Island as well as Jekyll Island. If it is an Island, and it is in Georgia, WE LOVE IT! other examples: Tybee Island close to Savannah

Safe and Happy Travel to You,

My Best,

Grace

Jamie Graduated!

My niece, graduated from Trevecca! Our entire family is so proud of her. She received a Master's Degree in education December 2008. She is now teaching kindergarten and loving her job. She and her husband P. are very happy.
Kudos to Jamie,
Grace

Jenny's Birthday

Tonight my brother telephoned to ask if this was the month of my birthday or our sister Jenny's birthday. I told him he'd missed my birthday, it was last Tuesday, January 13th. He then remembered, "Oh yes, you were born on Friday the thirteenth, that was a lucky day".
Our beautiful sister Jenny would have been 47 this Thursday, January 29th, if she had lived.
We miss her terribly and her story is very sad.
Jenny was the youngest of the four children in our family. We all adored the blond, blue- eyed little girl. She loved sports and was very popular. She was always happy, making people laugh, and finding humor in everything. Jenny was elected the wittiest girl in junior high school.
In 1985 Jenny married the love of her life, Danny. When she was 27 (1989) she found lumps in her neck and under her arm. She did not give much attention to the occurrence until she started getting very tired and sleeping alot. She attributed all of this to working full time and carrying for her 3 yr and 9 month old children.
One day she fainted at work and went to the hospital. There, she was informed that her blood showed "something like Leukemia".
Our mother quickly made her an appointment with a reputable oncologist at St. Thomas Hospital and Jenny was diagnosed with fast and slow growing Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. The cancer tumors were everywhere including her lungs and spleen. The spleen was reported to be the size of a basketball and had to be surgically removed.
Jenny began chemo-therapy for the stage 4 cancer. Her physician said, "we will keep you alive as long as we can with chemo. Hopefully something else will come along that will save your life."
About two years later something else did come along and Jenny received a self harvesting Stem-Cell Transplant. This harvesting process was very lengthy. It took eight days instead of 8 hours to harvest enough healthy white blood cells from her to treat and transplant back to her.
In 1992 Jenny went into remission. We thought everything would be OK, but there were many side effects from the stem cell treatment. In 1994 our brother Mike died and in 1998 Jenny's husband, the father of her children died as the result of a car crash.
From 1989 until 2007 Jenny enjoyed and suffered all the events and experiences of her life. She tried to be positive and prayed she would live to see her children graduate from high school. She did live for 18 years in failing health. She told our mother, "I wish I had asked God for a little more time". On August 4th 2007 Jenny died. She went to sleep and did not wake up. We suspect there may have been a blood clot or her heart just stopped beating.
Jenny's children had reached the ages of nineteen and twenty two. Grown in some ways, but mere children in other ways.
Even though we did not get to tell her good bye, we all know she loved us and she knew we loved her and would do anything for her.
Without the stem-cell transplant, Jenny would not have lived to see her children grown. The quality of her life was not great and the lives of her children and the rest of our family were profoundly impacted.
Because of the time the Stem Cell Transplant allowed our family to have with Jenny, I am an advocate of stem-cell research. Imagine how wonderful it would be if the Stem-Cell Transplant could be improved and benefit the recipient's quality of life.
I am also firm in my "pro-life" convictions. Never should an abortion occur to harvest stem cells.
Missing Jenny,
Grace