-->
Merry Christmas from the Carpenters!
We live in Illinois now!
No disrespect to central New York, but we love the Midwest. Even though
we’re a ways south of Minnesota (south being a very good direction to be from
Minnesota), there is something comforting, familiar and appealing about the
weather, the sky and the landscape.
How did we get here? Well, last January Shawn left his
career of 19.5 years at Sonnet Software and took a position with Delcross
Technologies in Champaign, IL.
Shawn, in his new Delcross logo shirt.
That same
January, I resigned from my job of 6 months at Faith Heritage School, teaching
secondary English. Shawn set up an
office in the basement, and I set about trying to get our house ready to sell.
Delcross was kind enough to allow us to stay
in Syracuse until the end of the school year, when David would graduate from
Syracuse University and Jonathan would graduate from Liverpool High School.
Shannon’s life remained relatively stable this past year, as
she continued forward in her PhD program in organic chemistry at Yale.
She passed her orals and was granted a Master’s
degree in May, shortly after the time David was playing his senior recital to
cap off the music degree he earned in saxophone at Syracuse.
I was diagnosed with Lupus, which was actually a relief after
not knowing what was wrong with me for so long.
They put me on a daily medication (an anti-malaria drug! ha!) which has
helped tremendously with much of the pain I was experiencing.
Over the spring, David chose to go to Duke’s medical school. I love everything about Duke except that
their team is called the Blue Devils.
David and Jon’s graduations both went off nicely...
David at his Syracuse University graduation.
Jon, just after graduating from Liverpool High School
...and our
house sold quickly, so then it was time to move.
Moving is not my favorite, but we survived and are thankful
to be here now, basically unscathed. On
the heels of the move, David went off to Duke
David in his white coat
and shortly thereafter, Jon began
his first year of college, pursuing Biblical Studies at Grove City College...
Saying goodbye to your youngest child is rough.
...along with Laura who is now in her senior year there, completing a dual degree
in Elementary and Special Education.
Shawn and I were left alone in a new place, all our kids “back east,” in
states that border the Atlantic (CT, NC and PA).
In October, Laura became engaged to Matthew Mucha, and we
praise God for this fine young Christian man who will marry our precious daughter
in July 2014.
The actual proposal...
And a little later, so you can see what their faces look like.
I’ve had some health challenges and a couple of surgical
procedures, but I can see the mercy of God’s timing in bringing these events while
I was in a life season with no responsibilities and no children at home.
Last night as we went to bed, I told Shawn that I was sorry
about how little “Christmas” I’ve been able to do. He said, “Don’t worry. You have all the Christmas you need, right in
your heart!” He may have been joking,
but he was right.
Here is a picture of our Christmas tree
from last year, when we had a Christmas tree.
As I recall, that one went up late, too...
so there is still hope!
No comments:
Post a Comment