YEAR 2008 IN REVIEW
In MN July 3, we first had son Darrel’s wedding to Mary Nordahl, a civil marriage that turned out to be as meaningful as a church wedding. We were the only guests invited to attend, and we were the witnesses. The judge, the only one they could find on the 4th of July weekend, said there were five things they needed to follow in order to make this a good marriage. After each of the suggestions, she took a picture of the couple, with their camera. Afterward we met Mary’s mother and her friend at Q Cumber’s restaurant in Edina. Two days later, we had a fine time at grandson Jason’s formal wedding to Bevin. They were renewing their vows, having engaged in a short civil ceremony a year or so before. This time they had a good friend of Jason, now a minister, perform the ceremony. It was followed by an event we had never previously participated in - a wedding reception on a boat cruising on Lake Minnetonka. We even managed to dance! The third wedding, October 11, was in CA - grandson Tim (Ian and Becky’s son) and Kay Clarke. They are both in the Army and met while on duty in Italy and Kuwait. Her whole family came up from Alabama, so we got to meet them all. Becky was a great hostess, opening her house to all of us for conversation, games, and refreshments. Sean, Tim’s brother, was the Best Man, and two of Tim’s buddies were groomsmen. Natalie (Tim’s sister) and Kay’s two sisters were the bridesmaids. We danced a lot at that wedding, which was at the Reef Restaurant in Long Beach. For more details, see The Murdock Muse at http://d21c.com/murmuse/ . The weddings weren’t the only events on our calendar for 2008. In mid-July we drove to NH for the Howlett Reunion, and met Polly’s friend Stan Joubert, now her husband. Then we saw some of the Murdock family in MA. In November we made our annual pilgrimage to a timeshare in Williamsburg, VA. On Thanksgiving Day, we and our friend Colleen spent a happy time with Bob’s nephew Dan Leskinen’s family in Hanover, PA. Bob’s sister Barbara (Dan’s mom) was also there. As we were sitting and chatting before the dinner, we watched a dog show, which turned out to be really interesting. We kept thinking of Carol, Robert, and Marjorie in San Diego, and eventually a Bedlington terrier, which is their specialty, did come on briefly. Although we didn’t actually see Roy in 2008, we enjoyed some good phone conversations with him as he drove around to the various fast food places for each family member’s meal choices. Bob received several accolades for his great work with pictures in the Muse. He’s happy that we both enjoyed another birthday (82 and 76) in 2008 . He says, “And we have no plans to slow down!” Nancy received two awards at work this year. And Bob went to the Sew & Tell quilters’ meeting without Nancy, when she and her choir were singing Christmas and Hannukah songs for the children’s party at MD Yacht Club. Bob enjoyed the food and camaraderie. Of course, his donation to the food table was a nice batch of his famous deviled eggs. Nancy and Kathy, another Sew & Tell member, worked with the Ms. Wheelchair America contest in about August, assisting the contestants to make a quilt block for each state. Now Kathy is bordering the blocks with blue and red fabrics and getting ready to sew them into a quilt for the winner. When our new Episcopal Bishop for the Diocese of Maryland was being consecrated at the Washington Cathedral, Nancy was able to ride with two choir members, one of whom was in charge of getting the Christ the King banner (made several years ago by Nancy) there by 7:30 AM. It was a really uplifting experience. This was our diocese’s first African American bishop, although one of our African American priests was consecrated Bishop of a Midwestern diocese several years ago. The speaker at the consecration of our new Bishop Sutton was the chaplain of the Senate, and his talk was really excellent! It was the kind of talk that sticks with one. This was also the first time Nancy had seen our current Presiding Bishop (the first woman to hold that position) in action. The whole service was wonderful, and we had great seats, having been allowed to come in so early! Not everything was perfect in 2008, though. Nancy had her first automobile accident when she was driving in CA and another car hit us. She’s still jittery at intersections now, and not eager to drive again in CA! We are sorry to say that Meredith, Ian, and Sean are currently unemployed. Jobs are not easy to find, especially in CA. Although Nancy had initially planned to retire at the end of December 2008, she is staying at work, hoping for an improvement in her Thrift Savings Plan stocks. Nancy also got lost one very dark and rainy evening, when she missed a turn on her way to her Faithful Circle Quilters (FCQ) meeting and couldn’t find her way back. She described those eventful three hours in the Nov. Dec. issue of The Murdock Muse. This event resulted in a decision that Bob would always go with Nancy on trips to anywhere other than right around work or church. So that is how he ended up at the FCQ party, where he had an excellent meal and won two gifts! The ladies treated him very kindly. We wish you all the best in the upcoming year. We’re looking forward to 2009. |
