It's been a while since I have posted in my "Online Journal" - mostly because I knew the next thing I needed to document was Margie and Don's funeral - which I was avoiding. I think to live honestly I need to acknowledge both the ups and downs that life throws at you. So here is my acknowledgement - but I still miss Margie a bunch!
Don and Margie's Funeral doesn't seem like a easy post to write or read about. It wasn't and isn't - but I was able to recognize a few silver linings. Biggest was seeing how loved and appreciated they were by their family, friends, and coworkers. The funeral home and church were both packed. Just sort of pisses me off that they weren't there to see that enormous showing of respect. I was thankfully kept busy by getting to host Margie's cousin, Eric and his friend Kate. For the last 3 summers Eric has hosted Margie and I at his lakeside house in Skaneateles NY so it felt good to be able to do something for Eric and Kate.
In October I drove down to St Augustine to visit Penny and Ted in their new house. Ted had gotten his friend, John (see photo below) who is used to driving large vehicles with lots of packages, to help with the move and it was amazing to see how much they had accomplished in just a few days. My job was unpacking and hanging clothes ( I got the easy job ) Mary, Ted's mom, was their decorator. As you surmise from John's appearance he is very handy building and fixing things...... So Ted and Penny kept him around for a couple of weeks till John had to head north to deal with his other job.... During our breaks we explored the beach and local taco stand (best quesidillas ever).
November - Zac's birthday and Thanksgiving motivated me to fly up to Salem NY for a short visit. One of his high school friends also showed up to the birthday celebration.
I restarted my summer routine by climbing Cary Hill with Pearl and Jessica but I had the excuse to take a break because the snow arrived.
So instead of trudging up the hill I decided to take photos of the SAW park's sculptures because they looked so different with snow covering and surrounding them.
In February Paula asked me to join her and her son, Brad and his family for a ski trip in Colorado. No I didn't ski - but I did have fun playing in the snow with the dogs and boys. One advantage of hanging around Paula is that the Galland clan" had lots of brothers and sisters - so lots of places to visit. Gale and Bud Galland have a beautiful home in Cotopaxi Colorado (the eastern Rockies). And another Galland, Kate, lives about 1 mile away in another beautiful mountain home. Brad, Lizzie and their boys, Will and Brogen, spent 3 days skiing at Monarch Mountain. They had pretty good weather and the trails were not too crowded. Us non-skiers went on the last day to have lunch with the group and watch a little skiing.
Back on St Simons -Our girl group gathered at my house for a video interview with representatives from a northern law firm dealing with the Amtrak derailment. We were to share what Margie meant to the community and us. It was very emotional but it sort of provided a little closure for me.
On a lighter note, Megan and Chris Wolfe came for a short visit. They recently joined the "retired but still active generation" and decided to travel south. Megan is my sister-in-law and Zac's Aunt. We did the normal activities - beach, pier, WW2 Museum and of course a Willies visit. I think I talked them into taking a summer trip up to Salem - we'll see if they show...
Penny, Ted and Buddy came up to SSI for a day trip. We did a couple of photo shoots and had great oysters at Crab Trap.
I had to have a "Zac fix" - so mid March I headed up to Salem for a week long visit. I got to see the progress that has been made on adding a bedroom to their house. The red building is 'the house' where the living room, kitchen, bathroom, laundry and one bedroom are located. Lucy has the upstairs one bedroom. Currently, Katrina and Zac are bunking out in the large white building where Katrina has all her sewing equipment. The white building has one powder room and then just a very large, hard to heat, open room. They plan to convert the attached garage (blue tarp) into their bedroom. Currently it is a DIY job. Zac has removed the slate roof, repaired some of the supports beams and is working on repairing and lining the side walls. (I keep hoping I win the lotto so we can hire some help). Katrina has started painting the outside of the house - I hope to be able to help her paint this summer. I think my skills can manage that chore.
It was later in the year than usual but by April we were finally able to hold our 11th annual WestMarigold Dog Parade. It is a NKGC (No Kill Glynn County) fundraising event that takes a lot volunteers and a lot of prep work, but we raised more than 4000 dollars for the charity and everyone seemed to have fun.
As I finish up this post - I thought it would be a lot darker in feeling cause I have/had such a hard time dealing with the loss of Margie. When Charlie died, I was working full time and raising a middle school kid. I didn't have a lot of time to dwell on my loss, but I did seem to feel like a "widow" for a long time. It took about 2-3 years for me to feel 'single' again and not feel sorry for myself. Maybe my current age and lack of fulltime activities has allowed my sorrow to be more intense BUT maybe shorter in duration. Neither situation is desirable, but it is a part of life. Selfishly, I want everyone to please stay healthy and safe!
