2019
Greetings!
As I put fingers to keyboard, I find there are similarities from the 2018 Collins Courier to this 2019 edition. I mentioned that this summer was going to be the “summer of Barb” and it really was! It started in May on my 70th birthday. It was a long weekend of endless surprises. My two sisters, Mary Ann and Eileen arrived early that morning, followed by our son Derek and his wife, Erin, and the next day Ryan and Annie arrived. This whole event culminated in a surprise party with family and friends on Saturday. This certainly was a birthday to remember and do not plan on having any more!
In July my college roommates and I met in San Francisco, drove down Highway 1 and had a wonderful, relaxing vacation in Coronado. I received my first stamp on my Passport as Carol and I ventured to Tijuana. I do have to say that it has changed a lot from the last time I visited this city in 1975.
Mike has fully recovered from his hip surgery. It took longer than we had anticipated. He just finished up working in Lakeside in November.
The Navarre cousin’s reunion will take place this July at Maumee Bay State Park. I am very much looking forward to seeing the cousins together in one place. Over time I have come to “love” our dog, Jackson. Still don’t care for the responsibility!
Chris has settled in nicely in his new home in Milan, OH. In September we lost our provider agency and until we find a new agency (which is a crisis in Ohio), he is living with us.
Derek and Erin have become quite the Indians and Browns fans. They have flown in several times to Cleveland to attend pre-season games along with several regular season games. Derek took Mike to the opener and he will be taking me to the last home game on December 22nd. In between it became the season that was not supposed to be. The hype about the Brown’s going to the Super Bowl was just that, hype!! Oh well, there is always next year!
Ryan continues to take courses of study in the field of Cybersecurity and Annie is a private counselor and a mentor for OSU students who are majoring in Social Work.
Advent is the season leading up to Christmas. It helps me to avoid getting caught up in all the materialism of Christmas and concentrate on this wonderful Holy Day. We will all be together as a family for Christmas, which is a true blessing!