Eli Lilly Choir Performance at Summer Trace

Mom thoroughly enjoyed the Eli Lilly Choir performance at Summer Trace Thursday night.

After the concert the performers came out into the audience and visited with the residents. Mom enjoyed that a lot, too!

Here's a little sampling of their performance:
(Click on arrow to view the video below)

Mother's Day Visit - Revised with more pics!!! (Scroll to end of this post.)

My brother, Chuck and his wife, Cyndi, (who live in Virginia) sponsored us for the Mother's Day Buffet at Summer Trace: (from left) my husband, Phil, my sister, Gail, Mom, our son, David, and me. Gail drove out from Philadelphia for the weekend. Mom has been living in Indiana exactly 5 years now as of Mothers Day.

Then Gail and Mom and I ventured out to Mom's storage unit to locate the "family photos, history and memorabilia" boxes.

Gail and Mom will be going through nine boxes of that stuff at Mom's apartment tonight. We need a next generation family historian who loves this stuff. Anyone? We also need to try (again) to have a gathering of family to disperse all of the stuff in the storage unit. It needs to be a group effort with as many family members in attendance as is physically and reasonably possible. Hopefully with all branches of the family represented at least. It's a big job to organize. Anyone?

Gail brought with her one of the Jennie June "china head" dolls Mom made (at right below) with a new period costume Gail had made from material Mom had saved for that. To the left is the doll, Rosemary, that Mom had as a child that actually has Mom's mother's hair! Gail also had that doll restored. Behind the dolls (on Mom's dresser) is a photo of Dad with one of his planes. Special stuff.


Sunday morning, Gail, who is a chaplain at a nursing home, did a very special one-on-one worship service for Mom. Gail read Scriptures and played Mom's favorite old hymns on the piano on the 4th floor at Summer Trace. Then Mom requested a LOT more old hymns and Gail was happy to oblige! That had to be the most perfect worship service for Mom and what a special fellowship for them!

Note from Gail added Monday morning:

Mom wanted to get the family history from the storage unit and we looked at it last night. It was all very interesting. Betsy did a great job of making two large well-organized photo albums years ago. It would be good to take all the new information and add it in. It would fill another binder.

There are stories from the Revolutionary and Civil Wars, letters from Presidents, photos of the family hardware store--enough to write a book that would reflect our country's history and life. There are pictures of our Native American ancestor Honor Emmezette, who was a schooleacher, and pictures of WWI & II soldiers. There are old family Bibles filled with Sunday School cards and memorial leaflets. Quite a story.

I see "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow." As the new generations take up the task of building the future, how will this story be continued?

Love and hugs,
Aunt Gail
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Friday, May 14th I added a slide show of the pics Gail sent. Love the pics of the cat! She is such a wonderful companion to Mom and has made a world of difference! Click the arrow to view the slide show! You can also click on any photo to see it larger. (Just click the back button on your internet browser to return to the post.)

Mom and our New Ride

My Mom has always gotten a kick out of my husband's interest in what our grandson, Eli, calls "loud, go-fast cars." When he traded in his 2005 GTO, Mom was really upset! Recently, Phil traded his car for a 2007 Mustang. He drove it Wednesday to pick up Charlie for card night at Summer Trace. (More on that in a minute.)

Every other week, Mom and I have knitting group while the others play cards. We are currently making hats for cancer patients on round knitting looms. Mom holds our loom while I wrap and hook the yarn. (Below one of our teachers is helping Mom's friend learn how to use the loom.)

After we stopped knitting for the evening, Mom and I joined Helen, Bob, Charlie and Phil while they finished up their Euchre game. (Click on the arrow beneath the black screen below to view the video.)

(Phil and I have been hangin' out with the folks at Summer Trace for several years now!) As Phil left to take Charlie back to Sunrise, Mom came out to see our new ride.

Phil obliged by peeling out just for her: (Click on the arrow beneath the black screen below to view the video.)

...which put a big grin on her face! She was thrilled. (Click on the arrow beneath the black screen below to view the video.)

Mom and I went up to her apartment to check on her kitty. I had just bought the kitty some "Pet Grass" to keep her from chewing on Mom's plants. We made a spot for the grass (and the cat) on Mom's bedroom window sill, giving Mrs. Whiskers a good view of the pond. Since it was dark outside by then, you can't see the pond, but you can see a reflection of Mom sitting on her bed enjoying watching the cat.