Thursday, November 1, 2012

The View from Here

Good Morning to all of you following this infrequent summary of Deb's health Deb's overall health, as related to cancer remains the same. Scans are repeated with the same overall results. A spot of breast cancer remains on her liver. Deb was fortunate to loose her job as of May first. She ended almost 35 years of employment with Kemper. She was fortunate in that she received her severance shortly before the State of Illinois Insurance Department (I think that's correct) took over Kemper (Lumbermen's Mutual Company?). Oh yes, the other development. In addition to having me around every day, she has two teenage daughters, Harumi Katori from Japan, and Emma Bonde from Denmark. YFU (Youth for Understanding) worked with us to select Emma in March. Emma, a wonderful, beautiful girl (a Bond girl?) arrived August 8th after a flight from Denmark to Germany to Dulles airport in Washington D.C. to O'hare. Looking a bit tired and lost, she arrived about two hours late. We loaded her bags and took the long drive home. She met and charmed Strider (the wonder dog) and settled into our family and hearts. Harumi, called Katorine, was a wonderful development that happened in the beginning of September. YFU asked us to pick up Katorine at O'hare and be a welcoming family for her. Get her started in school and they would place her with a permanent family as soon as possible. After two weeks we decided to keep her and she has been a terrific addition to our family. She has been fun, and we have been learning about Japanese customs and language. She is affectionate and very happy. She helps with everything and is a great friend to Emma. Who would have ever thought that we would have two 16 year old students at the same time. But what a great development so far. The girls share a lot; classes, friends and us, they have charmed the family and each other. Katorine's patience and Emma's fluency in English compliment each other and they are both great students with lots of "A's" on their report cards. Deb cooks every night and she and I rest during the day until the girls get home at 3:15 PM. So Deb has a lot to keep her busy, something she worried about from May to September. We've traveled to Milwaukee, Galena and Chicago, and this month we plan to go to Michigan. Our vehicle is equipped with a DVD player, so a trip of any real length allows the girls to sample our collection. Homework keeps both Deb and I active. I personally enjoy having Deb home and the twins here. The holidays are just around the corner. Wow, where did this year go? We take Emma and Katorine through Halloween (their first) followed by Christmas and Thanksgiving. Every day is a new discovery about Japan or Denmark. Every day brings new challenges and sometimes a crisis or two. It's great. I always like to remind myself to live in the moment, love large and limit worry. God Bless you all.