Christmas 2001

Here we are at the end of another exciting year and the start of the new millennium. All seems to pale relative to the September 11th disaster but, as others, we have pulled ourselves together and are looking forward to the beginning of another new year.

This year started with a trip to Calloway for Carol's needlepoint rejuvenation. Jerry loved it as he could play spouse among a throng of women ( and about three men). It was an exciting time for Carol to meet her friends and to work on regaining the dexterity needed for needlepoint.

In February we made a trip to Myrtle Beach, SC with a group from Carriage Park. This was the first time for us to visit the beach and enjoy the company of many friends. the weather was great and the crowds of people were non-existent.

In April Jerry learned all about bladder cancer including surgery. All went well and he is now under a five year treatment study or as he likes to say he has a written contract with his doctor that he will be around for at least five years. During the treatment they did a scan on his stomach and found an aortic abdominal aneurysm (AAA) that is being monitored. When it grows large enough they will operate and in the mean time we just check it yearly.

June brought a trip to Tuscaloosa, AL where Jerry lectured. The lectures are a part of an NSF program that provides information about Materials Science and Engineering for science faculty from four year institutions in the southeast. Our return trip from Alabama was entertaining as we stopped at Chattanooga, TN and visited the sites. Carol made it all the way through Rock City as well as the new aquarium there. Leaving Chattanooga we drove the back roads through the mountains and stopped in Cherokee, NC to visit the museum there. We are beginning to love the back roads.

During the spring and summer we had old friends stop to see us. It is always great to share the mountains with our friends.

July started a season of trips. Barbara interviewed for a faculty position at West Virginia State College near Charleston, WV and we meet her there to help locate housing. About three weeks later we returned to meet the moving van and help her move into the apartment (what are parental units for but to aid and assist their children). This trip started our Grand Tour North. The tour took us northward to Mississauga, ONT with a visit to Mike's parents on our way to Sudbury to visit the grandkids (as well as Jan and Mike). Our return took us further west as we came back via Escanaba, MI where we visited Jerry's sister and husband followed by a longer stop at Neenah, WI to see Jerry's brother Bob and family. Here we had to stay to see Spencer play a football game (see Grand Tour North for photos). Our final trip took us back to West Lafayette to visit friends and a stop in Louisville, KY for some genealogy work.

This fall one of Jerry's fellow retired faculty, Hiroshi Sato, died and we attended a memorial service in West Lafayette attended by people from all over the world. On returning from that memorial service we learned that Jerry's sister-in-law, Grace, died unexpectedly. So off we went to Fairfax, VA for another service where Jerry gave a part of the eulogy for Grace. We hope this is the last of the memorials for the year.

May the new year bring happiness and joy to you and yours.

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