Earlier this year, before we knew exactly when we would be selling the house and starting our new chapter as RVers, we agreed to stay with the grand kids while their parents went on vacation. It wasn’t just any vacation, they were going to celebrate their 15th wedding anniversary.
We hadn’t spent much time with the kids since before the pandemic. We saw them all briefly a few weeks ago when we drove to NC to make sure the movers filled our storage lockers, but were both looking forward to hanging out with them for a whole week. We even got to see Gaige wrestle! (He’s very good.)
Gaige is on the right.
They have grown quite a bit. Brianna will be a college junior in the Fall and turns 21 in December. Gaige turns 18 in October and will be a senior in high school (the last of his four-year high school career) in the Fall. Joseph, who will be 14 in less than two weeks, is going to be a high school freshman (the first of four years in high school)!
L-R, Mike, Joe, Gaige, Me, Brianna
Brianna and Gaige
All of us, again, but with Belle included.
Amy and TJ have a beautiful house and yard. They’ve been in this house for about a year now. This is their first house with a pool.
Amy and TJ’s backyard.
Mike, Belle, and I really enjoyed the yard while we were there. The weather was cool during our visit, so we didn’t get to use the pool much. I did manage to squeeze a few hours of pool time in toward the end of our week there.
I enjoyed the saltwater pool.
We were also able to enjoy some time on the beautiful porch swing that Mike made Amy as a Christmas gift.
The porch swing Mike made for Amy.
All in all, it was a lovely visit. We are looking forward to going back in July. Shannon and Chris will be there, too.
Since I am no longer working, I’ll have plenty of time to hang out and enjoy the family time. It’s less than a month away!
On April 23, 2021, my Dad left this Earth to go join my Mom in Heaven. He did not want an obituary or a big fuss of a funeral/memorial service. There was a minimal death notice published in the local paper, but that was it.
As much as my brother and I wanted to, we could not go against his wishes and publish an obituary, so I decided to do a write-up on my blog. After several starts and stops, it’s taken me this long to finish. Writing a pseudo obituary for a man who has left a really big hole in the lives of many people is not an easy thing.
Phares E. Reichard July 30, 1938-April 23, 2021
Phares E. Reichard, 82, of Salunga, Pennsylvania (formerly of Baltimore, Maryland), passed away on Friday, April 23, 2021, at Lancaster General Hospital with his son and daughter at his side. Born in Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania on July 30, 1938, he was the son of the late Robert J. and Edna (Stern) Reichard. He was the husband of the late Doris Louise (Saxton) Reichard of Baltimore.
Phares, also known as Sleepy, served in the Marine Corps from 14 June 1956 to 02 April 1959. He was a Lance Corporal at the time he was honorably discharged. He met Doris Louise Saxton when visiting Baltimore, Maryland. They married on August 15, 1959 and remained married until Doris’ passing on August 19, 2012. The couple lived in Lancaster and Conestoga, Pennsylvania before moving to Baltimore around 1968. They celebrated 50 years of marriage with a big party in 2009. Phares moved to Salunga, Pennsylvania in 2013, where he lived happily surrounded by farmland, close to his sisters.
Sleepy retired from Agora Financial Publishing in Baltimore, where he worked as a courier. Prior to that he worked in the Baltimore area as a warehouseman and certified forklift operator for multiple employers, including Pantry Pride, Food Fair, Key Warehouse, Smelkinson and Sons, and John Jeffrey Corporation. He also worked part-time for many years at The Corner Crab House located on the corner of Erdman Avenue and Federal Street in Baltimore.
Phares is survived by his son, Thomas E. (Sharen) Reichard of Chesapeake, Virginia, and his daughter, Kathleen S. (Michael) Kirkpatrick of Warrenton, Virginia, two grandsons, Eric Brandt and Joshua Reichard, two step-granddaughters, Shannon (Chris) Kirkman and Amy (TJ) Lloyd, and three great-grandchildren. Phares is survived by four sisters: Pearl (Edward) Kaufman, Bertha Coffman, Rhoda (James) Nye, and Linda (Gary) Brock. He was preceded in death by two brothers: Robert C. Reichard and Jay W. Reichard, and two sisters, Dorothy (Roger) Neal and Geraldine Alton.
A remembrance service/memorial picnic will be held on Saturday, May 22, outside his home at 24 Spring Street in Salunga, Pennsylvania. Friends and family are invited to call between 12:00 and 2:00 to share stories, laugh, and celebrate the life of this very selfless man.
Dad walking me down the aisle in April 1993.
Dad was a good person. He was the kind of person who never had much wealth, but was richer than most people in terms of generosity, kindness, and sense of humor. As a dear friend of mine said to me recently, I was really blessed with a wonderful Dad. He loved to tell stories and tease people or joke around just to make people laugh. He was a very patient and very good father and grandfather. He would do anything for anyone, loved to share whatever he had, and always went above and beyond to help people in need. He made the best soups and is the person who taught me how to cook, how to drive, and generally how to be a good person.
My brother and I really were blessed to have him in our lives. He was a kind, loving father and a very hard worker who instilled a work ethic that helped both of us achieve professional success. He was always very giving and generous, and very kind. He loved to make people laugh.
He struggled with health issues over the past several years, but was fiercely determined to continue living on his own. He really loved where he lived and loved being independent. It would have broken his heart to have to give up his home.
There is so much more I could say, but I am still struggling to find the right words to give justice to the memory of this man who was such a bright light of love, optimism, humor, and positivity in this often dark world. He is a man who will be missed and fondly remembered by many.
Dad and Mom in 2009 at the 50th anniversary party.
HI was playing around with a word cloud app this morning and, on a whim, decided to input the URL of my last blog post. This is what I came up with…
I thought it a bit serendipitous that THINK showed up as the biggest word. Because, really, I suspect that thinking is the key to everything.
How do you come up with solutions to problems? You think about the issue at hand.
How do you learn to understand other people’s feelings? Think about what it must be like to be in their shoes. By that, I mean you need to think not only about how they actually see things through their eyes, but how they perceive things with their brain. What is their perspective? Why do they do what they do, when/how they do it? Why do they see things so differently than you do? Why can’t they see or feel the things you feel? Why don’t they care about the “why” of things like you do?
That’s a lot of questions, right?
During my mother-in-law’s (MIL’s) recent visit, I asked a lot of questions. I didn’t just ask her questions, I puzzled over a bunch of stuff in my head, too. There are many things about my family that I have struggled over the years to understand. The more I think about stuff, the better I am able to comprehend things. Not just physical things, either. Ideas. Perspectives. Attitudes, for better or worse.
I may not have arrived at all of the answers, but I am at least better-equipped to form new, perhaps temporary, hypotheses. Some of those are more accurate than others. Some are pretty far-fetched, too.
We, as people, tend to take an awful lot of stuff for granted. We assume people are all basically like ourselves. That we all have the same ability to think, to reason, to comprehend. But we don’t. People are all wired differently. The differences could be physical (brain structure) and/or mental (brain signals). The tricky thing is that we cannot see those differences, so it takes longer to figure out. It requires a little bit of effort, too.
What kind of effort? Thought. It really is as simple as that.
Hubby, Mike, and I have been married for almost 27 years. It’s always been obvious to me that we are very different in a lot of ways, but I have only recently begun to understand just how different.
Here’s a simple example. A month or so ago, out of the blue, he asked me why, when I put the TV remote back on the endtable (where it “belongs”) every night, I lay it upside-down.
“I don’t put it there it upside-down,” I told him. “At least not on purpose.”
I know I can a bit scatter-brained, so adding that “not on purpose” qualifier is important.
I assumed that, by “upside-down,” he meant like this…
Face-down
Nope, he meant this.
Face-up
“What makes that upside-down?” I asked.
“The top of the remote should be pointing at the TV, not the other way.”
”Um… why?” I asked. “So, when I want to turn the TV on, I don’t have to pick it up, I just have to reach over and hit the power button. When you put the buttons here, upside-down like this, I have to pick the remote up, turn it around, and then hit the power,” he explained as he demonstrated.
Right-side up
I had to laugh. I mean, I never would have thought about making sure I lay the buttons down so they were pointing at the TV. I’m usually just happy remembering to put them back in the “right” spot.
Really, I would never think that. It’s a good thing we have each other, eh?
Today, April 17, is our 26th wedding anniversary. We have never really made a big deal out of anniversaries. Birthdays either. Not because we don’t think they are important. I think it’s more because there are now so many societal expectations around bigger and better celebrations of milestone events that celebrating in any big way sort of feels like giving in and becoming just another consumer in a society driven mad by consumption. Think about it, there are entire industries built on human’s desire to celebrate stuff. Greeting cards, balloons, flowers, cakes. I like all that stuff, but I like it best when it’s not expected, if that makes any sense.
This year was different. This year we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary in what was, for us, a pretty big way. First, Mike and I flew to Hawaii for a two-week vacation. Then, we topped it off with an entire weekend hanging out at home with our three children. Today, our 26th anniversary sort of marks the end of a three-week celebration of us. Not just us, the husband and wife, but us, the family.
It’s been a journey for all of us, really. Full of various bumps, misdirections, obstacles large and small, with some mental and metaphysical challenges thrown in that were more monumental than I think anyone ever expected. But we have all persevered, and we all continue to grow. Some of us are struggling more than others, but that’s sort of to be expected. We are, after all, each in various phases or stages of our individual life’s path. But we still like and love each other, and I think we always will. That’s huge. We may not all be bound by blood, but we are bound by something. It could just be familiarity and a collection of shared experiences, but it feels like more.
The family in 1993.
We have all come a very long way from being the people we were in that picture to the people we are now.
The family in 2019.
It is not often that we all get the chance to just hang out and reconnect. In fact, I think the last time we were all together without significant others and offspring was in 2004 when we took a family vacation to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks.
The family in 2004.
It is fun to look back and see how far all of us have come.
The kids in 2004.
None of us are exactly the same people we were back then. We have all grown so much since then, in so many different ways.
Mike and I have been blessed in so many ways. And we are very proud of these people we were each given as children to raise. They are each very special and very unique in so many ways. They have all grown into amazing adults.
We are so very glad they all chose to come visit and help celebrate our 25-year anniversary milestone. It meant the world to both of us, to all of us, really. Even when Mike and I are dead and gone, the kids will still have each other. Isn’t that what all parents want? Being a family, whether or not related by blood, doesn’t always guarantee that good, strong connections will be forged. That takes work, careful nurturing of spirits, and maybe even a little bit of luck.
I, for one, am happy and proud to be able to share my life with each and every one of these very special people. I love them all very much. Especially this guy.
Me and Mike in 2019.
Happy anniversary, Honey! Here’s to many more years to come. And thanks again, Shannon, Amy, and Eric, for wanting to come together to celebrate with us. It meant more to both of us than I suspect any of you will ever truly understand.
I realize there have been an odd variety of posts here lately. That’s because I am still playing catch-up, and I am not necessarily doing so in any particular order. When I come across something or things I meant to share, I share them. Hopefully that’s not frustrating or annoying.
Bird Interestingness
Did you know that Chimney Swifts like our town of Warrenton, Virginia? That’s because there are lots of old buildings with masonry chimneys in which they can roost. In Fall, when the birds gather in large flocks in preparation for migration, sometimes hundreds will roost in one chimney.
I happened to catch this flock settling down at day’s end while walking my dogs on October 11, 2017. I’d only seen it one other time.
Early in the video, you’ll see one or two birds dipping into the chimney if you watch closely. Then, about two-thirds of the way through, you’ll clearly see more entering the chimney.
Early in 2017, Hubby bought himself a nice new bicycle to use for exercise. He rides pretty much every day, often before daylight. There’s a trail very close to our house, so he doesn’t spend much time on the street.
Late last year, he tuned-up my bicycle so I could join him on some rides. Not for exercise, but for fun.
Aren’t we cute?
One November day, we drove north to Leesburg to ride a portion of the Washington & Old Dominion (W&OD) Railroad trail. It’s a paved, 45-mile route along the former roadbed of the W&OD Railroad, which runs through the urban heartland and into the Virginia countryside. There’s even an adjacent 32-mile gravel horse trail. Nifty, eh?
It was a fabulous Fall day, as you’ll see in the pics below.
Mike riding through a tunnel of color.
Cows reflected in a pond. How could I resist?
It really is a nice, level path.
My favorite artsy capture from that day is below.
Muddy, confused turtle.
I did move the turtle off the path after I finished exploiting her or him for my own selfish amusement.
We hope to do some more bicycle riding soon. That probably won’t be until later in the year when temperatures cool back down.
Did I ever tell y’all that I am very easy to entertain?
Have I also told you how much I like this local grocery store chain’s house brand mayo? It’s the BEST. Every time I visit my daughter, Amy, I buy some. I like it so much, I eat it right from the jar. It’s so yummy and good.
“Real” Mayonnaise
Or so I convinced the grandkids during a recent visit. While they were at school one day, I did go buy a jar of mayo. I promptly emptied the contents down the sink, washed the container, and refilled it with freshly prepared, cheesecake-flavored Jello instant pudding.
I told the kids about 10 times NOT to eat my “mayo.” And I made sure they saw me eating it straight from the jar, a big no-no for anything.
I left this empty jar in their refrigerator when I left their house to return home.
It looked pretty real, right?
To the best of my knowledge, they have yet to learn the truth and think I’m really weird.
I fed them Feetloaf for dinner one night, too.
Raw Feetloaf
The toenails are small pieces of onion. Once I added ketchup and baked the Feetloaves, they looked REALLY unappetizing.
Baked Feetloaf. How ’bout those bloody stumps?
It tasted good, though. And I had Feetloaf sandwiches for lunch all week.
In other news… I have deactivated my Facebook account. It’s a time suck AND often depressing. I’d really rather spend spare time reading other peoples’ blogs and posting to my own. You know, when I am not job-hunting.
I kept Instagram, because I think that’s fun.
Honestly, I am not convinced anyone will miss me. We will see, I guess. In the meantime, I have so much stuff I can post about here. And I can read all about my fun blog friends instead of getting sucked into the Facebook wormhole of idiocy and doom.
Speaking of job hunting…I was thinking I’d have all this free time on my hands, but I always forget that seriously looking for a good job is itself a full-time job. Argh. But I am confident I will find a fabulous new job soon.
