The year started with a New Year’s Open House at our place on January 3. There were no photos taken at the time but we have proudly saved this fine decoration that Allie made for the event. The plate was a leftover centerpiece from the previous GCS auction.
A couple of days later, there was a big office retirement party for Barb’s colleague, Jeff Golland. Barb took plenty of pictures there, but none of her.
By this point, Barb had been promoted to the Senior Executive Service, the top rung of the Civil Service, and was an Assistant General Counsel in charge of a large group of attorneys, the role she would stay in for the rest of her career. We were very proud of her though I don’t seem to have many specific markers of her promotion and new role. I will keep looking.
Meanwhile, Allie started guitar lessons with the aptly named Bill Monroe, a teacher we found at a local music store. Allie was trying to learn well enough to play a Taylor Swift song or two. She didn’t really get there.
In mid-January, we doubled our solar array from 6 panels to 12, largely thanks to some expanded tax credits available in 2009. We continued to be very happy with our solar panels but we haven’t expanded the system since then.
From January 26 we have these two unrelated photos. One proves with pride that our new solar array passed inspection. The other is a set of Compilation of Social Security Law books that I’m sure Barb must have worked hard on. I’m not sure why we took the photo or the significance of the crab but maybe someday Barb can provide details.
The next day we experienced a snowfall just barely big enough for Allie to build the world’s smallest snowman.
From February 5 we have this lovely picture of Barb and her team (or maybe not exactly her team…Tony and Larry did not report to her; maybe it’s part of Janis’s team). I’m not sure why the photo was taken but maybe it has something to do with those books. Regardless, it’s a good shot of Barb, and nice use of red!
In March, Rick and I were in the throes of detailed planning for our summer China trip. There were many emails back and forth involving the itinerary. We were working with a travel agent in China, Louisa Lim, for in-country transportation and guide arrangements. It was a planning effort not quite on the scale of the Normandy invasion, but close.
The MYPIC program that Allie participated in for three years wrapped up in March. I put together a video summarizing all three years which Mr. Weeks loved and used to secure future funding for the program. He gave me a volunteer award recognizing my support of the MYPIC program over three years. Each of the little symbols on the award meant something to Mr. Weeks but I don’t remember what they were. I personally wished he had saved the money rather than spend for this award, but I appreciated the sentiment and recognition. As I’ve noted earlier, I definitely gained more from the program than Allie did. It jump-started my interest in volunteering, non-profits, and the notion that I could help make a positive change, even if only on a small scale.
Later in March, we went down to Riviera Beach for Spring Break. We put Barb and Allie on a 5-day Royal Caribbean cruise on the Navigator of the Seas departing Saturday, March 14 from Fort Lauderdale. I had no interest in being on the cruise but wanted to give Barb and Allie some days in the sun for Spring Break while I stayed in Riviera Beach with Mom and Dad.
The cruise stopped at Grand Cayman and Ocho Rios, Jamaica before returning to Fort Lauderdale. Barb and Allie ended up staying on the ship most of the time. Barb had learned that the ship’s pool and lounge chairs were much more readily available when everyone else went off on excursions so they didn’t disembark at Ocho Rios. The one excursion Barb and Allie did was to Stingray City in Grand Cayman. Allie swam with the rays then they both enjoyed some time on the very nice beach.
Allie made a bunch of short-term friends in the Kids Club and took lots of photos. Here are the ones where she appears, goofy faces and all. I think it’s fair to say that Barb and Allie enjoyed the cruise well enough. They had been on other cruises together but we began to realize that if they were not going to get off the ship we might as well start considering all-inclusive resorts in the Caribbean for Spring Break instead.
Shortly after the cruise, Shannon Elliott from North Vancouver, BC, sent a nice note with some good photos and notes on the back of who some of the kids were, so we have something of a clue. As far as I know, there’s been no further contact with these cruise buddies.
While Barb and Allie were on the cruise, I was with Mom and Dad trying to help sort their lives a bit. Dad was 91 and doddering a bit; Mom was 89 and having more trouble than Dad at that point. They had a cleaning service that came in twice a month, I think, but their place wasn’t very clean. They also had a caregiver that came for a few hours each day to make sure they were fed and had their medicines. They went through several caregivers before finding someone they liked and more or less trusted but it was a difficult process. I was mostly there to help with Dad’s finances and investments, though we also discussed the prospects of them moving to assisted living in Gainesville. It was not a happy conversation and not very conclusive either; Mom was more or less for the move but Dad wasn’t ready.
On March 15th, I caught the evening launch from Cape Canaveral of the space shuttle Discovery (STS-119) from Mom and Dad’s back yard. The photos aren’t great but it was the only time I saw a launch from Riviera Beach. I was surprised we could see it at all.
Sue came down on Tuesday, March 17 and worked with Mom on a quilt of the world…what became the Shinn Family Quilt.
Here is a slideshow Sue put together explaining that the quilt was done for Jonah’s 3rd birthday to show where all the members of his family had been, and a place to track future travels. What has become of that quilt?
When the girls returned from the cruise, Allie and Grandpop fed the fish off the dock in the back…I think maybe for the last time. Grandpop loved those fish and the little artificial reef he concocted for them. Allie loved the ritual of feeding the fish scraps of food that Grandpop collected in plastic butter cups.
On March 19, Helen passed away. This happened while I was in Riviera Beach but I have no memory of the sad event, nor do I remember Mom and Dad being involved or much torn up about it. I have a cryptic email message from Allie dated March 20 which read: “Hi daddy!!!!! This is allie and we are in the car coming back fromm a nice lunch with grandma, grandpa, and the barnetts.” Where was I? I guess we all car-pooled to a lunch in Boynton Beach to commemorate Helen with the Barnetts. On Saturday, March 21, Dad sent Helen’s obituary to Sue, Laurie, Len and me, along with this note:
Dear Chillun,
As some of you already know, your aunt Helen passed away after about two weeks in the hospital with bronchitis that developed into pneumonia. All of her children are now here, and there is planned to have a memorial service on Sunday afternoon at her church.
Bill, we enjoyed having you and family for a visit – and also you too, Sue. Bill and family just left to turn in his rental car and catch a mid afternoon flight to Baltimore. With Bill’s help before he left, I hope I am successful in forwarding with this email a copy of the obituary that appeared in today’s paper.
Lotsa love to all of you from both of us, Dad
I found some clarity in an email exchange between me and Betsy after we returned: “…unfortunately my Aunt Helen (my Dad’s sister) passed away while we were down there. She caught bronchitis at her 90th birthday party last month and it degenerated into pneumonia and that did her in. My Mom also caught the bronchitis and has been wobbly and coughing a lot, but is recovering. It was a lucky coincidence of sorts that I was down there for the week, because I was able to drive my folks back and forth to Helen’s hospital a few times and generally tried to be helpful.” It’s odd what you remember and what you don’t.
We got back to our Maryland life in time for Spring to spring. Larry invited me to attend the O’s opening home game against the Yankees on April 6. I’m sure we had a good time as the O’s won 10-5, though I have no photos to commemorate it. I do have photos of our yard and young trees from April 11.
In mid-April, we had dinner with Donna who had recently returned from a trip to the Galapagos with her daughter, Lib. I had connected them with Jill and Javier and they were able to meet for lunch in Puerto Ayora. A fine time was had, Donna reported.
In May, I was due to fly down to Riviera Beach to chauffeur Mom and Dad to Gainesville for Susanna’s wedding. A few days before the event, we decided that Mom was not feeling well enough to travel so I canceled my plans to attend. Laurie and Sue reported that the wedding was very nice but it was a busy, crowded affair and probably best that Mom didn’t attend.
It was a busy time for me between doing freelance marketing work under WHD Planning, working on my Live in Howard County blog, and months of trying to find some more productive work. I finally found and accepted the role as VISTA for the FIRST robotics program in Maryland in early May.
Laurie, finishing her first (?) year teaching in Guatemala, survived a 7.1 earthquake. She and I were corresponding quite a bit regarding Mom and Dad and other family matters. I started to formulate the idea of traveling more thoughtfully to spend time with family in interesting places; it would take a while longer to begin to make that happen. Maggie was in Madrid, contributing food articles and photos regularly to The Atlantic, and about to embark on a trip to Gaza accompanying a delegation to visit high schools. She got some good input for questions from Allie and some of her GCS teachers. I’m not sure what directly came from that visit but I suspect it provided the germ of Maggie’s eventual work on The Gaza Kitchen.
On June 2, we attended Allie’s graduation ceremony marking the end of 8th grade and middle school. It was not a cap-and-gown event but was a dress-up celebration marking the transition to high school. Many, many pictures were taken. I’ve tried to arrange them in order of family relevance, and identified as many of the folks as I could. My takeaway is that Allie developed a good group of friends in this tight-knit community of GCS kids and most of them had a happy time at this event and with each other.
Each student came to the stage for a moment in the spotlight, emceed by Mr. Boland, head of the middle school. In case you can’t read the slide in the photo, it notes Allie’s accomplishments and activities:
At GCS since 3rd grade
High Honor Roll, Effort Honor Roll
MYPIC
Chorus, Bells, High School Musical, Variety Show
Field Hockey, Tennis
Coach’s Award in Tennis ’09
…all still buddies with Allie
Within days, we were off on our trip to China with the Speizmans, an adventure told in its own series of posts. Our trip to China meant that we missed out on the GCS middle school trip to Belize at the same time, but that was an easy decision to make. Still, it gave us some incentive to keep an eye out for the following year’s school trip now that we knew they did such things.
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