The Baltimore Blog

This has certainly been a memorable week-both happy and sad. My father passed away just last Saturday and I was left with the responsibility of making plans for his Memorial Service as well as all the business end of life. I made arrangements for an upcoming funeral service in December in Venice Florida. My mother's side of the family is primarily buried there, so I thought it would be a great final resting place for both my parents. I contacted the cemetery and am busy making arrangements via the internet and phone with a girl named Coral(appropriate for Florida). She was able to do some quick research into all the family member's final resting places and locate a spot for my parents nearby. I am planning a ceremony at the cemetery on morning of Dec 29th. Looks like most of the family members will be attending.

I was also trying to contact as many family members as I could via telephone to let them know about Dad. It has not been easy. My parents have been out of contact with several members of the family for many, many years. Fortunately again technology has been helpful in locating and reconnecting with distant family. Through my cousin Lisa, we were able to contact my Dad's younger sister Fran who lives with my Uncle Dave in Pennsylvania. We also sent news to my Dad's Aunt Rita who is 94 and still living Independently in Michigan(and driving still too!).

Not only was I busy calling and emailing family and friends with the news, we were busy preparing for a trip back to Detroit for the weekend. We had already planned on attending my cousin Ryan's wedding at my Uncle Joe and Aunt Kathy's house in Plymouth Mich. We also planned on bringing my mom to attend her nephew's wedding and to see her brother Joe and other family members. My brother Dave and his wife Sandra were able to make the long drive as well from Texas. I was running around during the week getting my nails done, a hair appointment for my mom and picking out wedding clothes. We all met up at the hotel on Friday night and sat up late and chatted until a tstorm drove us back inside. We sat out on the patio since Dave and Sandra brought one of their small dogs, Griffin(very cute!). On Saturday morning, Dave, Sandra and I stopped into my cousin Lisa's bakery. Her husband John is a pastry chef and makes incredible desserts. I had ordered a Death by Chocolate cake to celebrate my mom's birthday which just happened to fall on the same day as the wedding, Sept 19th. While we caught up with family gossip, Tom was busy picking up lots of Vernors at Meijers with my mom. In the afternoon we dressed for the wedding and headed over to Joe and Kathy's house. We arrived early and Tom and Dave got busy helping to park cars. The wedding was set up on the lawn, complete with a birch bark archway, flowers, lights and pumpkins. You can count on Michigan to be cold and wet, which it was but we survived. It rained in the morning and gave way to a chilly breeze during the ceremony. But it was beautiful in the evening during the reception under multiple tents. The bride and groom were wonderful. Ryan met Margaret many years ago while on a family vacation in Hawaii and then ran into her many years later while watching an MSU football game in a local bar in Charlotte, North Carolina where she had just moved. And the rest was history! The reception was a lot of fun. We had time to catch up with long lost family members and reunited with my Aunt Kathy and Uncle Takis and their kids and grandkids. My best friends Laura and Dan Hejza from Detroit joined us at the reception and it was so much fun to catch up with their family's goings on. Thanks again you two for all the support and the wonderful dinner you ordered our family last week back in Baltimore(again, technology can be very convenient at times as Laura ordered us all a huge Papa Murphy's pizza dinner on line for pick up!). We topped the evening off singing Happy Birthday to my mom and getting in a little boogey woogey to Pharrel's Happy Song. What a great evening! We topped off the weekend with brunch with Mom's best friends, Gerry and Patrick Dugan. Looks like we will actually be hosting them next weekend when they come out to Baltimore for an Elder Hostel vacation. Looking forward to seeing them again!

Meanwhile the kids stayed behind, Allison traveling from school to spend some time with Scott on Friday night. The two enjoyed going out to dinner along with trying their hand at some gourmet cooking at home! Allison was back to school on Saturday night as she had her first Field Hockey game at Salisbury. She tried out the week before for the Traveling Club Team and once again snagged the goalie position. Sounds like she had a wonderful first game on Sunday with her friend Tyler cheering her on to a win. Scott mostly worked on homework and kept Cookie company. He enjoyed a 4 day school week with last Monday off for a jewish holiday.

Tom and I also enjoyed a Northrop Award Dinner on Tuesday night as Tom won 2 awards for great work on two separate projects. I was happy to join him for dinner and ceremony at the Westin hotel. Congrats Tom.

Unfortunately mom is having a hard time recalling the loss of my Dad and often asks what happened to him. We are doing our best to keep her busy and feeling positive. A Very Happy 80th Birthday Mom!

Sandra B, Mom B and Kathleen