A year filled with planes, trains, and automobiles, but most of all, connectedness…
• 12 – hours on Amtrak round trip to Chicago in March, which set the tone for all our conference travel. While Denise was in sessions, I scouted the city for restaurants and points of interest, like Chinatown and the Magnificent Mile. Denise enjoyed the curated tours, culminating on the last day with an architectural boat tour and catching an improv show at Second City.
• 11th day of September when we confirmed the bat was negative for rabies. Wait, wha-? After returning from a birthday Chicago trip, I tried to relax with an episode of “Wednesday” which has CGI bats. Our cats were going crazy when I realized something flew by my head - and it was not a bird. I contained the bat in an old shoebox until the county sent out an officer the next day. After hiring a wildlife solutions company who successfully and humanely mitigated the bat colony in our attic, we’ll soon start a second phase of attic hazmat remediation removal, which might lead to new house projects.
• 10 – # of consecutive days of Sherman helping host back-to-back conferences in January. Retired only from corporate life, Sherman’s volunteer work surely has a corporate pace. Right after the Crossings conference in north STL County, he drove home to unload A/V gear, swapped baggage (pre-packed), and arrived in Louisville for the Extravaganza (youth ministers conference). A fantastic time with different groups of people, it was good to have some recharge time before the next trip.
• 9 – as in the newest addition of 9 lives, Sushi Cat, a completely black kitten adopted in June as “hench-cat” for Poké Cat. Denise had a lead on kitties from a stray. I picked up the kitten when the shelter opened, spent the day bonding with her & introduced the cats to each other. That evening Amy got to our house early to drop off the grandsons for a sleepover, while Denise and I were still at a dinner party. She texted: “Excuse me did you know there’s an extra cat here?” The boys and cats were very excited! And fortunately, they tuckered each other out and all slept uncharacteristically deeply that night.
• 8 – of us - Amy’s family of four, plus Cass and Evan went with Denise and me to SoCal in April. The main goal was to visit extended family. Another goal was visiting Disneyland, which has been a family tradition since Amy and Cass were kids. So much excitement, so much fun, and going on the Haunted Mansion ride. And as part of my grandfatherly duty, I have now read the Golden Book “Haunted Mansion” and seen the corresponding movie more times than I can count!
• 7 – days in NY / Conn. I went to my first college and high school reunions in this year. The college reunion was underwhelming (not a milestone year), and the informal HS reunion was an absolute blast. I hadn’t seen most of these people for 40+ years and even caught up with one of them on a later conference trip to Atlanta. Best part of the reunion: asking friends about their schedule to retire. Two of them said “never, I love what I do” because they’re second career social workers with private practices. Then I realized: oh my, this totally describes Denise!
• 6 – days in Baltimore / Reston, VA. This other “double-trip” was like the NY/CT trip in that we visited with relatives we hadn’t seen since the pandemic. Phone and video calls are great, but nothing beats visiting in person and breaking bread (okay, usually rice) together. So much healing and joy in these adventures.
• 5 – “Con-fer-ences” (sing it like “5 golden rings”) total number of industry conferences for Denise. She opened the conference season with a train ride (see #12) and closed with an Amtrak ride to KC. Shout out for her earning the certificate in “After Loss Services” (organizing dead people’s estates), another powerful tool in her toolkit for helping others.
• 4- and 3- ages of grandsons Graham and Sully, who delight us with their fresh eyes on the world and how they interact with each other and us. In addition to seeing them most weekends, I got a bonus weekly half-day during the preschool summer break so that Amy could get extra work done. Seeing their preschool assemblies is a special treat, along with hearing their typical banter: after Graham fell off his breakfast stool, he said “the only thing that can fix me is cookie cake” to which Sully chimed in “the only thing that would make me feel better is cookie cake.”
• 2 – somber drives, months and miles apart. During an LA visit, my stepsister took me on a tour of the fire-impacted Palisades area, because so many of her friends have homes there and she almost moved there herself. Déjà vu struck from when I drove through the tornado-impacted (May 16) areas of St. Louis. Fewer people probably have heard of the tornado, but it affected a large swath in a densely populated part of the metro area. Many of the older/larger trees on my old bike-commute are completely gone, as are scores of houses many of which were not insured. Amidst the horrific damage, there’s the apparent randomness of most buildings destroyed and some still intact. Common to both my stepsister and me is our respective support for the impacted folks and admiring the resilience of the residents.
• 1 – as in the One who we celebrate this time of year. It is the One with whom Denise and I can more appreciate and savor the gifts of seeing people near and far, like Cass for comic book/movie discussions over coffee, seeing her wife Evan return to the stage (in “Legally Blonde the Musical”), or cousins in the Bay Area. It is this One who brings us solace and strength when facing and acting upon the hurts and injustices we see in our orbits. It is this One who empowers and bolsters us to help feed the hungry, comfort the afflicted, and welcome the stranger.
Wishing you peace and joy in 2026!
Sherman/Denise, Amy/Drew/Graham/Sully, Cass/Evan, Poké Cat & Sushi Cat
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