Judy. Our return to Athens this time only lasted two months, and they were packed, mostly with joyful friend and family visits.
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| With favorite director David at the ART Station |
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| Met Gary and Sally for lunch |
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Great surprise to run into Pam and Evan when we were in North GA
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| Friend & former student Kim came to Athens! |
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| Our delightful and interesting neighbors Taylor and Emilie |
Stefan, his boys Oliver and Callum, and Parker and Caed surprised Ted on his birthday by just showing up. I think you could have heard our whoops all over the neighborhood! It’s a two hour drive from Stefan’s to here—it was a great birthday gift—planned, we understand, by Caed! Yay grandsons!
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| A beautiful birthday surprise! |
Ted and Caed spent time together, moving our possessions into a larger storage unit (more later), rebuilding a broken shelf I trash picked (yes, I am that kind of person), and teaching Caed to make crepes for our traditional Christmas Eve blintzes. We also had a great hike with him to the State Botanical Gardens, and a couple of meals out—just the three of us.
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| Christmas Eve tradition |
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| Hike by the river |
Holidays were great—the big one was Thanksgiving at Stefan and Sarah’s new house, with all ten of us potlucking dinner. Vishal, one of Stef’s oldest friends, and his sons Avery and Devi came, too, from Philadelphia. There was a plethora of wild boys running around the house and yard. Absolutely grand!
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| The boys were not thrilled to have their photos made with us |
Christmas was quieter—we had a lovely day with Leslie, Daniel, Parker, and Caed. (Note Parker’s LA Lakers wear.) On Boxing Day we drove back to Stef & Sarah’s and took Ollie to the movies for a treat, for all three of us.
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| Quiet at our place, a tiny bit crazy at Les & Daniel's |
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| Dates with grandsons are great! |
In addition to my yoga classes at Sangha with the inimitable Meghan, I attended a glorious concert of Vivaldi and Handel by the Athens Master Chorale, thanks to a fellow yogi, Ellen, who was part of the choir. Ellen and her husband Roger invited Meghan and me to “Unsilent Night”—an unforgettable experience that’s difficult to describe. Look it up. It was one of the sweetest nights I could have imagined, as we walked the streets of Athens playing tracks of gentle techno music.
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Vivaldi and Handel
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| And an Unsilent techno street party with Meghan, Ellen, and Roger |
Leslie is now a marketing and event planner for a local Realtors’ Association. She invited me to be her “plus one” to the Divas Who Win Gala, an evening celebrating women who are kicking addiction or who have been rescued from sex trafficking. It was moving to see the fifteen new graduates in their DWW jackets and hear some of their stories. A “shopping” area had been set up for moms to get Christmas gifts for their kids, and Santa was waiting to hear from those kids and take photos. There was even a makeover artist who gave facials and makeup to some of the women who have graduated in years past. It was an inspiring and humbling evening.
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| A marvelous celebration |
Both of us returned to our Friday morning volunteer work at the Thrift House. It’s sweet when regular customers remember us and ask about our travels. We also joined a group from our church to feed dinner to the unhoused at Bigger Vision. The clients were kind, gracious, and grateful, and we look forward to volunteering there again.
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| A Christmassy volunteer opportunity |
Another sweet evening was seeing my dear friend Ramòn receive his certificate of study at his church, and watch him with his nieta. I don’t see as much of Ramòn lately, and you can see why. Right now he’s not only abuelo, but also babysitter, and is happier than I’ve ever seen him.
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| Ramòn and family |
So, off we go again—three months in Asia. We can hardly wait to get there (a 14-hr flight, then an 8-hr one!), and we carry with us so much love for the folks back home.
