Dear Friends,
It is an age thing! Not prepared for this stage in life!
Finally realized that I cannot manage the volume as accomplished before — writing to individuals or sending group messages to stay connected — so by sharing a report on most of my 2018 and sending early Holiday Greetings in advance perhaps I can actually finish 2018 with some accomplishment.
I returned home on Dec. 29, 2017 from the annual holiday with sister Ann and family in CT. As usual I stopped at the farm in Butler for overnight and then next morning left for Lincoln Ave. to find tons of snow. Had to shovel myself into the house. Nephews Perry and Bert arrived next day to plow the driveway. We all experience what faces us when we have been away for a time – tons of mail, emails, phone messages, bills, and then to look what has been already put on next year’s calendar. WOW!
In February we learned of the cancer found in the larynx of nephew Perry. At age 14 in 1974 the school bus stopped for him to get off and cross the highway to his dad’s business. A motorist did not stop for the school bus and hit Perry. There were multiple surgeries and constant prayers through months of recovery. We were so thankful God answered the prayers and gave him and us 54 more years together. Perry passed on Wednesday, September 26. We know there is an end time here but it is hard to accept whenever it is too early for the young. It was too early for Perry. A memorial service was held at the Glenshaw Presbyterian Church on Monday Oct. 1 and a special wake at the farm on Saturday Oct. 6. Family and friends gathered for both. God provided special weather as we shared that time of remembering and being thankful for God’s gift of Perry to each of us.
Loss of many other precious friends through these months indicates that at this stage in life it is important to get things in order. My time will be devoted to that challenge.
Dear friends my thanks and appreciation to you all for your support, being in touch, and sending condolences as we struggled with our worry and then loss. I feel so blessed for God’s gift of a wonderful family and abundance of friends.
So as winter blows in let us all thank God, rejoice in the birth of Jesus Christ and the gift of the Holy Spirit to abide with us.
Peace and Love, Jean
Jean Stultz
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