Dear
Family and Friends,
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| Munich x-mas 2013 |
Ah, the
start of a new year and the promises that it brings. The one promise is that this letter will
finally get written, as I have started our Christmas letter many times in
December; however, the Christmas joy was overshadowed by the cycle of life
coming full circle this year. In October
Mayland’s 1st cousin on her Father’s side, Joseph Peter passed to be
with his parents and Father. Then, on 1
Dec. Tasha (Mayland’s 1st cousin on her Mother’s side with Leukemia)
passed on to be with her beloved Grandmother and Father in heaven due to an
infection. The days of December were
full of contradictions of Christmas birth and memorial service
preparations. Gratitude of seeing family
and friends tinged with enormous sorrow that the one who brought us together
was only there in spirit. The blessing
that Grandma Reilly was here to watch the kids while Mayland traveled to Denver
and Sean did his military training in Texas.
This year, more than most, I am grateful that we don’t partake in the
materialism portion of Christmas; all gifts are given on Birthdays, because our
Christmas this year was spent fully present in each other’s love in a sleepy
town, Neuburg an der Danube, reading the Sermon on the Mount and taking a long
walk to discover a little café that was open and serving a delicious lunch
followed by an evening of board games and more conversation. I’m pretty sure
that my kids are being really nice when they say they don’t mind the Christmas
sans presents, but I’m hoping that 20 years from now they will appreciate the
love and see that time was the best gift we could really give them.
Our favorite
stories from the year: we agreed to host a resident who also happened to be a
new Mom at our house so she could do the medicine rotation here at
Landstuhl. This involved her parents
coming to watch her 8mo old son. Well,
we had also gotten Tatzie by this time (May) who was about 4 months and very
active. Alex, (baby) was crawling and
every time he tried to crawl away from Grandma, Tatzie would go and pick him up
by the diaper or shirt and pull him back.
She already understood, babies gentle.
Now, when the toddlers come to visit she follows them everywhere. Turns out that one little boy, ~3 yo, in
particular enjoyed this immensely and would go to all of the adults asking for
crackers, hot dogs, etc. His Mom and Dad were excited about how much he was
eating, until they realized he wasn’t eating any of it … every piece of food
was hidden until he had Tatzie right next to him, then out it would come. She soon realized if she sat or lay down
there were lots of goodies waiting for her.
Honestly, I could fill a page with Tatzie stories; she is a total and
utter goofball. A 90lb lapdog who thinks
people are the very best.
The fall
trip was to Lyon France, Turin and Milano Italy. While in France Clark came to realize that
his French teacher was not helping them with travel French at all, but while he
was a bit frustrated it was ok because he could understand much of what was
being said. In Italy however, he was
relegated to just being able to read the Italian (3 years of Latin makes it
easy to read). The problem, he couldn’t
speak it and really couldn’t understand what people were saying at all. When we arrived back in Germany the first
words out of his mouth - “It is so good
to be able to eavesdrop on conversations and understand what they are saying.”
 |
| Renaissance Faire Sept 2014 |
The other
day Clark was mentioning that he just couldn’t believe he is 14, as tall as Mom
and well, a teenager. That got me to
thinking about the fact that Sean and I have been married for 16 years. Which reminded me that every year we have
been so very richly blessed to host people who were acquaintances, at best, on
day 1 and friends by the end of the stay.
As I have spent more time thinking about the cycle of life this season,
I am reminded that 14+ years ago, we hosted Alice in our home in Philadelphia
so that she could spend her days by the side of Art Shurlock (gymnastics coach
from UCLA) while he was hospitalized at HUP (Hosp. of Univ. of PA) awaiting a
new heart. Then we had a young dog,
Hanna, and Clark was only known as a bump in Mommy. Art received a new heart in Sept. 2000 and
the doctors at were hopeful he would live 5 years. Art surpassed all hopes and is still going
strong and starting his 15th year as Clark starts his. Prior to the summer of 2000, Art was a legend
and someone Mayland admired. After the
fall of 2000, Art and Alice became some of our dearest and most beloved
friends. It would have been easy to say
we were too busy (Sean in Med school, Mayland working, going to school,
pregnant) or it wasn’t convenient (guest room vs nursery). Instead, we listened to the small still voice
of God and said, please, our home is your home.
If ever any of you need a home or just a vacation from the hectic pace
of daily life – there is always a place here.
We will never be too busy to welcome you, include you and deepen the
ties that bind.
The most
amazing part of life is that even though life here on earth is short, we can
still count our blessings that truly make every day worth living to the
fullest. Looking at the photos, we
traveled to new places, met new people, made some amazing new friends,
strengthened relationships with old friends, and remember to thank God every
day for the blessing of being able to help others, be kind when it is easier to
be selfish and make time for relationships.
May your 2015 be a year for richer relationships.
Peace,
Love, and Happiness,
Sean, Mayland, Clark,
and MJ
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| Rome x-mas 2013 |
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| Burg Richtenburg, Kusel Germany - Lunch |
Amsterdam for Spring break - we didn't make it to the tulip fields, but we did stay on a houseboat.
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|
May – Rothenburg ob der Tauber
|
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| Walking along the wall of Rothenberg |
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| Dressed for Alex's wedding! |
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| Thanks Uncle Bob and Aunt Jean for hosting us this summer! |
Aug / Sept - Ireland: Dublin (PSU football game) and Westport with Mindy and Sven!
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| Yup, the kids really are that tall! |
Fall break - October - Lyon France
Turin Italy (winter olympics here)
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| On the roof of the Cathedral in Milano |
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| Tatzie 10mos old - 90 lbs and loving the snow |
Fall break - October - Lyon France
