A house and a car

August 22, 2011

Wow, a big gap here.  So, during the time that we were in the temporary lodging Sean in-processed to the hospital, we found a house that is 500 yards from the hospital, and bought a 2010 Volvo XC60.  We spent a lot of time looking at fast little BMW’s but as soon as we found the house and realized that Sean was able to walk to work we quickly switched to the family car for Mayland and the kids. 

So, to enumerate the blessings of finding this house … We were able to move in before the end of July and not start paying rent until 1 August.  Turns out that the 2^nd floor is actually a furnished apartment for the owners to use in winter when they come over to go skiing.  They were kind enough to let us stay there until we received our temporary furniture from the Army (think dorm stuff), that was 10 days.  It also turns out that one of the best restaurants is 1 block from our house, a bakery, small grocery store and MJ’s elementary school are all 1km from the house (that is .6 miles).  Clark’s school, the gymnasium, better known to us as a high school, is down the hill from the hospital and a 3 km walk.  

Tuesday, 30 August we will be getting our own furniture.  It is very exciting to get furniture after 60 days of not seeing it - almost like Christmas.  The other great blessing is that Sean is getting an extra week off to help set-up the house, so instead of going into work on Thursday to take care of patients, he will only need to go in for a couple of days to do administrative work, the rest of the time we can put things away.  A real treat!

We arrived - July 15, 2011

I am posting what I had written on the first we week arrived in Germany.  So here it is:

Please realize that this move has been in the making for a few months, we received the official word in March that we were definitely being assigned to Landstuhl Regional Medical Center – the largest American hospital outside of the US.  This is where all of the injured soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan are sent before they can return to the states.  Sean will be taking care of them in the ICU when all is said and done. 

A military move outside of the US is known as an OCONUS move and involves a lot more preparation than the regular move.  We had 3 packs – one for the household goods that went to Germany by boat (10,000 pounds); 300 pounds that headed over by air and then the final 4,000 pounds that went into storage.  Originally, we had planned on taking a car over with us.  After much debate it was decided to sell the Mazda and bring the Volvo (met European specifications).  However, that plan never came to fruition as the Volvo did not return with Mayland and the kids from Colorado.  So, despite the best laid plans we will be buying a new, to us, car when we arrive. 

We arrived on Thursday at 7:30AM.  The kids each slept about 3 hours on the plane while Mayland got an hour and Sean none.  After collecting our bags we found the USO, met with an Army representative and then did a little shopping at the local bakery and grocery store in the airport.  For our American friends who are nervous about coming to visit, every sign in the airport is labeled in both German and English and if you are a Bank of America customer, you can take out money from a Deutsche Bank ATM without any fees, and they have one in the airport.  I can now, honestly, say that Clark has fallen asleep in a vehicle with wheels on it 9 times since his birth, he did fall asleep in the bus on the way to the first installation, Kaiserslautern.  After a quick stop for paperwork there, we went onto Landstuhl where Sean found his sponsor Dr. Silvey who graciously drove us to the temporary house we had contracted for before leaving the states.  Once we got to the house the owner took one look at our two kids and decided that he had a better house for us.  He was so right.  We went from a 3 bedroom, small kitchen house to a 3 bedroom, 2 bath, attic that is a playroom/bedroom, full kitchen with a refrigerator and freezer!  The best part is that when we pulled up there were 4 girls, MJ’s age, outside playing in the street.  She is already identifying the next “best” friend in the group.  

Mosel River

August 25, 2011

We have returned from our first weekend “adventure” to the Mosel Valley.  This region is famous for its wine, especially Riesling a sweeter white wine.  The vineyards were loaded with grapes and the weekend was spectacular.  We have actually been to the Mosel Valley before, in 2005.  So, let me back-up. 

In the fall of 2005 we made a trip to Europe with the kids so that Sean could do a month long rotation in the ICU at Landstuhl hospital during residency.  Mayland had decided that this would be a relaxing week to spend with the kids then aged 5 ½ and 2 ½.  At that time we stayed in Cochem and toured the local castle, nick-named the “Pumpkin Castle”, which left a major impression on MJ.  Since we have returned to Germany we heard weekly a plea to return to the “Pumpkin castle”.  Fortunately, the return visit did not disappoint.  

The Mosel Valley was having a wine festival this past weekend, so we were only able to find a place to stay for Friday night.  We had originally booked 2 double rooms, but the family was able to change us to a 2 bedroom suite with a balcony overlooking the town of Ellenz, opposite the very charming village of Beilstein.  A ferry connects the two towns and Bielstein is famous for its castle ruin and Jewish cemetery.  Unfortunately, the ferry closes at 6pm and we were heading over at 4:30 to take a walk up to the ruins and cemetery, followed by a dinner at the local restaurant.      

One of the interesting parts of these towns is how high the Mosel River has risen over the years.  In each town there is a building with hochwasser (high water) marks on the walls, all of which are well over Sean’s head.  So, the “castle” in Beilstein is Burg Metternich.  It was one of the most powerful towns/castles along the river during the 1268-1687’s.  It was destroyed by the French in 1688 and never rebuilt.  The ruins are rather sad, but the view of the river and vineyards is fabulous.  Along the walk up the hill are some pieces of marble that are carved with depictions from the life of Christ.  They look like they could date back to Roman times, but there is no information to confirm or deny.

We continued up the hill to the  Jüdische Friedhof.  The town was once occupied by a large Jewish settlement, that emigrated to the US during the late 1800’s.  Fortunately, only 1 family was in residence at the time of WWII.  The town no longer has any Jewish inhabitants, but it still has a synagogue and the cemetery that is cared for by a small community of Jews in the town of Mainz. 

Thanks to our walk we had worked up a nice appetite that allowed us to eat at the local restaurant that has grapes growing over the patio and a beautiful view of the river where we watched the swans and ducks floating by.  We also met a couple from Washington State, so we had a lovely conversation about our old home state. 

Saturday Morning we headed up to Cochem to visit MJ’s “Pumpkin Castle” which was pretty much exactly as she remembered it.  There are two rooms that the kids really enjoy; the first is the entertainment room.  It is in this room that dinner and dances would have happened.  They have equipped the room to play music and it really does evoke the image of being a “ballroom”.  

The second room is the armor room; there is actually armor there that was worn by a man who stood about 7 feet tall. 

 The real treasure in the room is a panel door that opens to reveal a treasure chest full of gold coins that are really chocolates wrapped in gold foil.  Both Clark and MJ were so excited when we got into the room anticipating that chocolate.  That made their day!

After we finished our tour we had a small lunch and then headed to the train station to go up to the next castle, Burg Eltz.  This castle is not on the Mosel river, but rather an 8km walk from the river through a very small, sleepy little town past some very beautiful gardens.  Both of these castles are fully intact and furnished.  Burg Eltz is unique in that it is still occupied by the family who has been living there for the last 800 years.  So, during the tour you see tapestries from the 1200’s to family photos from 5 years ago.  Absolutely fascinating!  You can easily go on the web to learn more about this amazing castle.

Just to clarify, I refer to things as castles and generally American’s think of a royal residence.  In Europe a Burg is a castle that was a fortification for a powerful family.  A palace is a residence for a royal family.  So, along the Mosel and Rheine rivers there aren’t any palaces as these were two rivers with a lot of burgs because there was a lot of money to be collected as the barges and boats carried goods that were taxed in order to pass to the next bend (burg).  So, when you see burg think local IRS J.  

Christmas Letter 2000 - Art's heart

12/2000

Dear Family and Friends,

Considering that 1999 was not a very exciting year for us (other than buying our house), we decided to ring in the New Year right.  We spent it with Elizabeth and Don at Disneyland - arrived at 8:00 a.m. and didn't leave until after 2:00 a.m., despite the rain and cool temperature of 65 for California.  Fortunately for us most people from southern California stayed away from the park due to the weather, and us hearty east coast people were able to maximize our ride opportunities.  Over the next few days we visited with friends, went to the Wild Animal Park (which is utterly fantastic and highly recommended) then the San Diego Zoo where we spent two days and still didn’t see everything. 

In early February Sean learned that he had been accepted to Temple University Medical School, and I was accepted into the doctoral program for higher education at the University of Pennsylvania.  I would keep working while getting my doctoral degree, and Sean would begin medical school on a full-time basis in August.  We then began to plan for our last hurrah vacation - a trip to Ireland with Sean's family. 

About a week later we added another member to the “zoo at home.”  While taking Hanna for a walk I heard a rather load meow and went to investigate.  I found a young female cat under a tree, which looked pretty healthy for being out in 20+ inches of snow.  I promptly picked her up, after handing Sean the dog's leash, and we began our journey home.  Pascal and Copernicus make excellent big brothers, and Hanna is delighted to finally have someone younger and lower on the totem pole.  Cleo does not revel in Hanna's delight about her current position and the two are not exactly what one would call fast friends. 

While we were adjusting to the new member of the household, Mom Reilly let us know that prayers were needed as Pop, Sean’s Grandfather, fought internal infections secondary to surgical intervention for Diverticulitis.  Unfortunately, he did not win the battle and God called him home on February 17.  Two weeks later I attended another funeral for my friend Chris, who lost his battle with AIDS.  Both of these losses were completely unexpected and made for a great deal of sadness in our hearts.  Our sadness was to be added to in the ensuing months as I began to realize that my Grandmother Darlington was declining quickly.  On May 1 the good Lord called her home to many of her friends and loved ones.  It was a difficult day for me, as she and I had been incredibly close throughout my childhood and young adult years.  She had provided me with a source of strength and love that was boundless.

When one has lost so many people in such a short period of time, it truly brings into focus just how precious life really is, and why it is so important to actively love and be involved with those who are special to us.  God provided us with the greatest reminder of the sanctity of life when I learned, on the morning of my grandmother's viewing that Sean and I were to be blessed with our first child.  It made for a very unusual day as I mourned the loss of one who had taught me the meaning of love and family, and celebrated a new life that would provide me with the greatest test of those lessons.

After clearing our minds and realizing that our lives were going to undergo a far greater change in the winter, we began to rethink how we would be spending the fall.  It did not take me long to realize that I did not want to work full-time, be a mother full-time and try to get a doctoral degree.  Considering that Sean was no longer employed it seemed the smartest thing was to drop out of the doctoral program and concentrate on my job and motherhood.  Sean also began to feel the pressures of taking care of a family and taking advantage of everything that medical school had to offer on just my income.  As we looked at the loans for medical school, Sean decided that he would try to get a full scholarship. Over the next few months we examined many options and finally, after many hours of talking with recruiters and military physicians he decided to pursue a career in the military and take advantage of their generous scholarship program.  He is now a 2^nd Lt in the Army reserve.  It is definitely not the course I expected us to be taking, but it should prove to be an interesting life and provide us with lots of challenges in the years ahead.

Finally, our summer vacation rolled around, Sean and I took off for London England in late June.  There we visited with Rick, Jen and Eleanor.  At that time we learned that Jen was pregnant with their second child, Margaret – 10/30/2000.  Eleanor, three years old, was being a very generous big sister and when asked what the new babies name should be (they knew it was a girl) she offered up the very nice name of Eleanor.  Mostly, our visit with Rick and Jen provided us with the R&R we were both craving.  After spending this relaxing time in London we flew to Dublin to join the rest of the Reilly's for 10 days in Ireland.  Mom Reilly had done a fabulous job of laying out an itinerary for us and we had a spectacular trip.  Very little rain and lots of castles! 

While we were in Ireland, Analisa, a medical student from U Penn agreed to stay at our house and take care of the pets in exchange for the use of our car so she could do her medicine rotations.  When we returned from Ireland, she still had 5 weeks left to go, and I was very grateful, as Sean was getting ready to pack up and head for Eastern Tennessee with the youth group from his hometown church.   They did a missionary trip that had him helping an Appalachian family renovate their home.  He barely returned from Tennessee before he was off for a week in Chicago with college friends. 

A few days before Analisa’s scheduled departure, August 6, I received a phone call from an acquaintance in the gymnastics world.  It turned out that Art Shurlock, the coach from UCLA, had been here in PA when he suffered multiple heart attacks and cardiac arrest.  After, many attempts to stabilize him, the doctors in Bethlehem realized he needed a transplant and flew him down to HUP here in Philadelphia, for a heart transplant.  His wife, Alice, did not know of a place where she could stay.  After asking if she liked rambunctious dogs and being told absolutely, we invited her to stay with us while Art waited for a new heart.  It was 1 month and 2 days later that we got the phone call that a heart had been found.  The greatest irony to the story is that Art received his new heart on his birthday – Sept. 8.  Art spent the next month recovering, and Alice patiently worked with us as we re-arranged her bedroom into a computer/guestroom in order to transform the old computer room into a nursery. 

The transformation was amazing, and we owe tremendous thanks to Mom Reilly (future Grandmother) for her wallpapering skills and locating Sean’s old crib (with tooth marks); Grandma Reilly for donating a beautiful old rocking chair, Pam and Jack for their generous offering of a 12 drawer chest and my mom for locating the perfect changing table.  The closet is already starting to be filled with clothes, and the shelves will be packed with books, one of the first was from my dear friend Joni “The Velveteen Rabbit.”

We are now well into Sean’s first semester of Medical school, at which he is doing exceptionally well, and on the count down to Clark’s arrival (his full name will be David Clark Reilly).  I have been blessed with a wonderful work situation, so that I can work from home for at least 6 months in order to be here with Clark during his early development. 

We wish everyone the best at the start of this new millennium, may it be filled with peace and love,

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