On the Family Side

(This was set to post last week, but somehow did not get posted). 

This past month we were very thankful for technology and that we were able to check in with our kids. We have a wonderful daughter-in-love who sends us pictures regularly of what she and Sean are doing in New York City and we got to check in with Sean and hear about his job and health. It has been a year since he damaged his ACL and was operated. Thankfully he is back to playing soccer every week with friends. 

His wife, Jill, is enjoying running her own antique store in Manhattan. You can even find her on Instagram (brocante_nyc) and if you are in the neighborhood drop in to her little boutique. Sean himself is enjoying his time as a 1st grade teacher. He is also working on a children’s book that he has written - a detective Jack Russel terrier solving a mystery in Brussels. So Jacques Russel from Brussel may be coming to your bookshelf soon. Sean is also working on a novel. Both Sean and Jill enjoy writing and being creative. 

Just after Thanksgiving we were also able to jump on a video call to Stephan, Natalie and our granddaughter. The little one is growing quickly and is intrigued by seeing us on the video, but she is also 2 years old and had just been through a few days of long trips and family visits. We were very thankful to be able to talk for a while with our daughter-in-love who we had not seen for quite some time. We were also thankful to have been able to talk to Stephan for his birthday (Halloween). 

Both Stephan and Natalie work hard and enjoy their time with family that is close by. Natalie’s sisters both live with their families in the neighborhood and both have kids, so our granddaughter gets to be with the cousins quite often. We are looking forward to being able to see everyone next year when we make our trip through the US. We will get to sing to our granddaughter in person and spend enough time with both families (in Indiana and in New York). 

Until then we are thankful for every possibility of contact - pictures, videos and video calling. Who knows, we may even send some actual cards at some point (does anyone still use real snail mail?). 

(Photo is of the last time we were all together in Indianapolis for a birthday in 2024. Lots has changed since then!)