December 2020

            Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!!                               

What a magnificent time of year, when we can celebrate the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ with family and friends!  Tony and I pray you’ve had a good year of health and prosperity.  (Disclaimer: I’m not going to discuss the China virus or the stolen election; this is going to be an upbeat letter.)

Our family continues to be healthy and happy, and this year it has grown by 2 new members.  A sweet 6-year-old Pug named Miss Puggie was given to Erika, Josh, Leo, and Etta, and she has been a joy for the whole family.  She’s the best trained dog we’ve ever been around, and we all adore her. 

Some of you know I’ve been wanting a dog for quite some time, but Tony has not been exactly on board.  Raising a dog in a condo isn’t the easiest task, especially if that dog is a puppy.  But I just couldn’t accept the fact that our days of living with and loving a dog were over.  So my dear friend from childhood, Terry Rodman Brearley, searched the internet for the perfect puppy for me to adopt.  In October her diligence paid off; through her contacts with East Mississippi Animal Rescue, she found the most darling puppy, aptly named Boo because she was found close to Halloween.  The only problem was that EMAR doesn’t transport west of the Mississippi; if we wanted Boo, we had to get her ourselves.  So….the day after the election (I worked the polls during both early voting and on election day) Tony and I drove to Meridian, MS to pick up Boo.  The next day we drove back, and Boo was precious, cuddly, and sweet in the car the entire way.  She’s been a real joy despite the seemingly endless “piranha teeth” teething phase, and she’s doing great with housebreaking.  We decided to continue calling her Boo because she was already used to it, but her full name is Bartsi Boo: BA-Barnabas (“son of encouragement” and the name of the dog in my beloved Mitford book series), R-Rush Limbaugh (a great American patriot), T-Trump (another one), S-Slava (“glory” in Russian), I-“Independence” (added by granddaughter Maggie), Boo-in honor of the wonderful folks at EMAR.  I’m in the process of getting her DNA tested so we can figure out her breed mix.  The vet estimates her birthday to be August 26^th.

This past July was supposed to be a fantastic trip to Hawaii with my sister Lisa, her husband Bob, our cousin Pat Warski, and her husband Jeff.  Obviously that didn’t materialize.  But dear, precious Aunt Olga Warski orchestrated a way for the 6 of us to be together and enjoy each other’s company despite missing our vacation.  At nearly 94 years of age, Aunt Olga went to heaven in September to be reunited with Uncle John, and we were blessed to be able to celebrate her life in our hometown in New York State.  It was a sweet time of family, fellowship, tears, tons of photos, and cherished memories.  That was so like Aunt Olga, always caring for others with never a concern for herself.  She is missed and remembered with the lifetime of love she gave to her family.

The kids are all doing well.  All 6 are back to in-school learning and are very happy after several weeks of at-home learning which none of them enjoyed.  The 3 oldest-Zoey, Leo, and Ruby-are in orchestra, with Zoey and Ruby playing the violin and Leo playing cello.  Sports have been greatly curtailed this year, but limited volleyball, flag football, and gymnastics are being enjoyed nonetheless.  Our adult kids are coping with all the challenges presented this year and are handling them admirably.  God’s grace and perfect plan are evident in their lives.

This year I, like most of my high school friends, turned 70.  Celebrating during this most challenging of years was different, but my family made it so very special.  Here is a glimpse of what took place at our condo on April 8th.

Tony and I wish all of you the joy and hope of this beautiful season, and we especially wish the world a peaceful and healthy 2021.  “Arise, shine; for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee.” Isaiah 60:1 

Header photo, back row: Dave Cribbs, Jenni Leo Cribbs, me holding Boo, Tony, Josh Wiese holding Puggie, Erika Leo Wiese.  Front row: Zoey (almost 14), Ruby (11½), Maggie (almost 10), and Sam (8) Cribbs; Etta (almost 10) and Leo (12) Wiese.

The Apocalypse of 2020

Having much extra time these days, I thought I'd muse a little on the life-changing events of this winter and spring, namely COVID-19 (coronavirus disease #19), or the China virus, or the Wuhan virus.  Since China is never forthcoming or honest with the rest of the world, the source of this pandemic is still in question.  Some say it started with a Chinese national who ate soup made from infected bats in an outdoor wet market.  Others say it came from a medical/lab facility in Wuhan.  Conspiracy theorists, of course, are proposing this was all a ChiCom plot to bring the United States to its knees economically.  Actually, this is not such a far-fetched idea.  China and Russia are our greatest threats during this time in history (although Iran, North Korea, and Iraq have grandiose ideas that they are our worst enemies--scoff, scoff), and these two superpowers would conceivably stop at nothing to do major harm to our sovereign nation.  Right now it seems the prevailing theory of the cause of this worldwide pandemic is an accidental release of the virus from a lab in Wuhan.  We may never know the whole truth because it is, after all, China.

Let me just interject a truth here: I know with all my heart that God is in control of this, and every, situation we experience.  I've read ahead in His Book.  We win.

Okay, back to our current apocalypse.....here's a little chronology of how things have manifested here in our generally serene existence in Lake Dallas, Texas.  On Monday, March 16, 2020, our family planned to use the first official day of Spring Break to celebrate daughter Erika's 41st birthday, which was February 27th.  We were going to meet for a hike, then enjoy the lunch buffet at a Mediterranean restaurant her husband Josh recommended.  By this time, there were already rumblings of this virus becoming an epidemic, and restaurants were taking precautions.  When we arrived at the restaurant, a sign was posted on the door that meals were being served, but the buffet was closed indefinitely due to caution about spreading the virus.  We decided then to grab lunch wherever we wanted, then rejoin at the Lakehouse, the clubhouse at Tony's and my condominium complex.  We didn't think anyone would be using it on a Monday afternoon, which turned out to be true.  We enjoyed our lunches and spent some time playing games, walking down to the lake, watching a movie on the big screen, and just talking and chilling.  It was wonderful just having the 12 of us (2 daughters, 2 sons-in-law, 6 grandkids, Tony, and me) together enjoying each others' company.

After a couple of hours, the president of our condo association came in and let us know he was posting quarantine signs on the doors to the Lakehouse and workout room next door.  The pool and hot tub would also be closed indefinitely.  We were the last people to use the facilities for an extended period of time because of coronavirus fears.  What had been a minor inconvenience suddenly turned into a serious concern.

One of the urgent/yet not urgent considerations we're facing right now is the likelihood of the well-planned, much-anticipated, expensive July trip we've had on the books since last fall.  Our travel posse, consisting of my sister Lisa and her husband Bob, our cousin Pat and her husband Jeff, and Tony and me, is scheduled to fly to Honolulu on July 9th.  We are to spend 2 nights there at the Trump Hotel, then take a 7-day cruise around the islands.  But now it looks as though this is not going to happen, at least not this year.  Fortunately, I have the most wonderful travel agent advocating for Tony and me who, I'm sure, will do everything in her power to adjust the timeline in order for us to take the trip in July 2021 instead.  Marcia Madzy Sholtes is the travel agent's name, and I highly recommend her.  Marcia and her younger siblings actually grew up across the street from my family in Endwell, NY, and I was their babysitter for several years until I left for college.  She now lives in the Charleston, SC area and thoroughly enjoys planning trips for people.  Poor Marcia is swamped right now with clients trying to deal with trip cancellations and postponements, but when she's able to get to us, I have complete confidence that she'll steer us in the right direction.

Here are just some of the ramifications brought on by COVID-19 so far:
The pandemic officially declared March 11, 2020

*Gas currently $1.25/gallon

*School closed through the end of this school year; kids still doing online school at home

*Social distancing measures still the routine

*Tape on the floors at grocery stores and others to help distance shoppers (6ft) from each other

*Limited number of people inside stores and lines of people outside the store doors

*Non-essential stores and businesses mandated closed

*Restaurants serving only by takeout or delivery

*Parks, trails, beaches, and entire cities closed

*Entire sports seasons cancelled

*Concerts, tours, festivals, entertainment events cancelled

*Weddings, family celebrations, holiday gatherings cancelled, including proms and graduations

*Churches are closed, so many offer online services and studies

*No gatherings of 5 or more

*No socializing with anyone outside of your home

*Shortage of masks, gowns, gloves for our front-line workers

*Shortage of ventilators for the critically ill

*Panic buying resulting in no toilet paper, no disinfecting supplies, no paper towels, no tissues, no laundry soap, no hand sanitizer

*Shelves are bare

*Manufacturers, distilleries and other businesses switch their lines to help make visors, masks, hand sanitizer and personal protective equipment

*Government closes the border to all non-essential travel

*Fines are established for breaking the rules

*Stadiums and recreation facilities open up for the overflow of Covid-19 patients

*Press conferences daily from the President and his task force giving updates on new cases, recoveries, and deaths

*Government incentives to stay home

*Barely anyone on the roads

*People wearing masks and gloves outside

*Essential service workers terrified to go to work

*Medical field workers afraid to go home to their families

I'm writing this mainly to document everything happening right now that has turned most lives upside down.  Although this virus has not touched our family or anyone we know, it has been terrible for our country and for the world.  It will be interesting to see how history treats these weeks in which many nations nearly ground to a halt over something that could easily have been prevented.