Spring

The past month has been busy and stressful. We welcome spring and the prospect of warm weather and outdoor activity.

Jean's father, Paul Netherwood, died three weeks ago. We are grateful that we and other family could visit him before he left us. Jean and I had driven to Massachusetts to see him, knowing that he was having health problems. We were joined by Paul (Jean's brother) and his wife Joan. Sister Judy and her husband Larry have been watching over Dad the last few years. Our son Jonathan, his wife Emily, and infant son Samuel visited the weekend before Dad died. There is a strange and wonderful comfort that little children bring to the elderly, and we were happy for Sam's visit with Dad Netherwood.

Dad died on a Thursday morning and all the children and grandchildren were present for the memorial service on Saturday afternoon. Nephew Eric and niece Jennifer came from Carolina and California. Our son David flew in from Alambama, bringing his two girls and his soon-to-be wife Kacey. Jonathan, Emily and Sam drove up again from New Jersey. We had several days for family visiting before everyone headed back home.

Jean and I returned home a couple weeks ago and promptly became ill with a ferocious cold and cough. I am just beginning to feel like myself again. We have had a couple warm days and the weekend is supposed to be warm again. I plunged back into church activities almost as soon as we got home. We have been having a Wednesday Lenten series at church, including some good videos on church buildings and what they mean to people. This is the 500th anniversary of the birth of John Calvin, and we will be watching a video on Calvin's life and influence for the next couple weeks.

Today I am working at my home computer and looking out the window, seeing sunshine and many signs of spring