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Alex loaded up his Biscuit art and swivel chair and moved into his Junior year dorm, apartment style with three other guys, realizing a new level of food allergy advocacy in navigating sharing a kitchen. Biscuit pines. Alex's summer job posted a last day tribute on social media. 

First Day of 15th Grade 

This summer saw considerable car trouble for Alex and one unfortunate incident of plastic embedded in his eyeball. All thankfully resolved favorably. 

Gigi has had a beary good start to high school finding it a welcoming haven and is mostly enjoying her classes. She lilted right into music ministry at the first Mass and tried out for the fall play. 

Though Gigi graduated from Little Flowers, she wasn't ready to give up her Operation Clean Stream tradition and filled her canoe with things that don't belong in the Meramec. 

Ben has rounded out his calendar working for the Y, teaching PSR, writing, and volunteering at the hospital. He's also traversing well, the jump from pediatric specialists to a cadre of adult care for his complex needs. Notedly, he assigns lyrics to the hold music and mutters derisively at the AI bots even more creatively than his mom. 

Some summer family activities included volunteering for Rise Against Hunger, fourth fireworks, kids cooking nights, and celebrating Jason's birthday with some Top Golf, Bad Guys, and slices. Gigi made him a carrot cake inscribed with "Pool," because Pool Tables didn't fit and now I can't recall the joke but has something to do with being green and deadly. We also bid blessings upon our associate pastor as he moved to a new assignment. 

Can-U-Fondu? no, not very well

KP 

On a sad note, Jason's cousin, Robert passed away after a long battle with cancer, leaving behind a wife and storied career in television journalism. 

We spiffed up for a gala and an awards night when Anything Goes Jason sailored in last year won Best Musical in the local theater scene. 

Mom and I attended an extended family reunion at my Aunt's farm. My Godfather dug this lake and dedicated the island to Our Lady of Fatima. It was good to catch up with the cousins while the once to thrice removeds reeled in the catfish and the aunts filled in the missed details. 

With Gi busy with school and Alex away, so concludes the full table, the unhurried mornings, and one person per decade for nightly DMCs. As we renegotiate the chore chart and daily routine, I'm cognizant of a new chapter being drafted. May I, more often than not, choose presence over telling, prayer over scrolling, patience over pith, serving over fuming, and vegetables over chocolate. 

Still Truckin

 This is the last photo of me with my dad. I had just told him I was expecting our third. Even though it was a high risk pregnancy and I know he was worried for me, the last words I recall him saying to me were, "You are so blessed." He passed suddenly three weeks later and each of my family members have similar stories of his last words to them. Today marks 15 years since that terrible night of no goodbye. Yet we were truly blessed by the gift of my dad and the legacy he left of putting our trust not in the world but in God. I'm so grateful that I can look back over these years and see the graces that sorrow has brought. He does bless those who mourn and carrying the cross of grief opens our eyes to the suffering of others moving us to step outside of ourselves seeking to console. 

That pregnancy, though fraught, turned out just fine and headed off to high school this week. I'm sad she never met her Papa. Somehow I think he knows her and smiles. 

I continue to be consoled each time I encounter the passage we found taped to dad's work computer, Phillipians 4:4-7

4 Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice. 5 Let your gentleness be known to everyone. The Lord is near. 6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

As well as when How Can I Keep from Singing is in the hymn line up at Mass. Dad had turned to me once while singing that at Mass and whispered, "I want you to sing that at my funeral." We did.

Dad was one of 10 kids. His brother Ben died within a month of the passing of his wife Linda this summer, leaving only one sibling remaining earth side. 

Ben and Linda

Mom perseveres. She moved to downsize and then again to be closer to family. She keeps up with the grandkids, travels, volunteers, stays in touch with friends, and is involved at church. But every anniversary feels like an unfinished story. She'll always wonder and wish, yet still, she trusts. 

Eureka!

 Our Silver Wedding anniversary fell on a Tuesday in May sandwiched between other big life events. We were overdue for some we time so I planned a little surprise getaway in late July. I didn't tell Jason where we were going but gave him a few parameters on what to pack. He drove. I pointed out the turns. A good stretch past Springfield he remarked, "If we keep driving we'll be in Arkansas!" Finally I had him turn up a winding path into the woods of the Ozark Mountains to an empty parking lot and we continued on foot following the wooden chapel signs. He surmised I had signed up for a marriage retreat or perhaps we'd joined a cult and snapped a photo of his last known location. 

It was here inside Thorncrown Chapel, designed by E. Fay Jones, an apprentice to Frank Lloyd Wright that I told him we had reached our destination of Eureka Springs, Arkansas. 

We passed the Magnetic Spring to find the giant Jesus statue and beheld the Holy Land replica and outdoor passion play stage. We had planned to return to see the iconic show on Friday, but the oppressive heat changed our minds. 

A hunk of the reason I landed on Eureka Springs was because I had found a little rustic cabin to rent named, Silver Lining that overlooked the White River. Just before our trip the owners informed me they had sold the Silver Lining and I could choose between the Minnow Bucket and the Hawg Trap. Though minnows are silver-ish, I went whole hawg based on pictures. 

Another silver lining to our hawg trap was being comped a free night for the switcheroo. 

Instructed to don his "church outfit", we dined on the rooftop of the storied Crescent Hotel followed by a night at the Opera in the Ozarks. We had driven past the rotating marquee for the theater a few times and it never happened to be highlighting the show we were to see, prolonging the surprise until we walked into the beautiful brand new lobby. The view from the road had leaned a bit more opry and we envisioned sitting on wooden planks in a pole barn, but the reality was a high quality immersive operatic training program that evoked our own Operafestival di Roma days, the reason there's an us. Between dinner and the show we walked the grounds of the Romanesque St Elizabeth of Hungary Catholic Church. It is unusual in that one enters through the bell tower. We wound up here four different times and the bells blessed us each wind. 

The next day we hiked five miles around Lake Leatherwood. We didn't really intend to, but once started around the lake, it's either forward to new or back to where we'd already been and we kept wanting new paths instead of the old.  

Complete!

Sweaty, we headed into town for lunch at Squatch. We saw a pet rabbit conduct retail transactions and found ourselves at St Elizabeth's bells again with open doors. We gussied up then had dinner at a Victorian home turned Italian restaurant and made friends with a couple from Baton Rouge celebrating their 41st anniversary. We began "collecting" the springs that gave life to this land. 

Quicksilver shop

My Silver Fox

Baisin Spring

Harding Spring

Crescent Spring

Chicken Piccata was Mwaa. 

Eureka Springs has hills!

Friday morning we attended daily Mass, the feast of St James. We should have walked our 7 mile camino this day! The church has stained glass windows depicting the 7 sacraments. After Mass we stood by the window for Holy Matrimony and quietly renewed our I dos to one another. Later that day, we found a silver band that fits alongside my gold wedding ring. We stopped into the history museum and continued our hunt for springs. We lunched on the balcony of the Basin Spring Hotel. Their burgers may be the best *in Eureka Springs, but their Huckleberry Pie is worth the trip from anywhere. I gave a Wear and Give bracelet to our server and she returned a short bit later with an empty wrist. She had already given it away, so I gave her the last of my supply. We found a real beaver on the way to Beaver Lake and Dam. We crossed the Little Golden Gate Bridge then headed in for the night, too overheated for dinner. My mom had given each of us kids a kit to create a hand holding statue for Christmas, so we brought it along and tackled that project in the cabin. 

Laundry Spring

Happy 25!

Eureka Spring

Huckleberry Pie

View from Balcony Restaurant

Grotto Spring, my favorite

Beaver

Lookout

Crescent Hotel

Laundry Spring

Beaver Dam

Little Golden Gate Bridge

Before

After

Hawg Trap Sunset

We saved the best spring for last, Blue Spring, hitting it on the way out of town in the cooler part of the day. We fed the trout and briefly braved dipping our toes into the continuously flowing 46°.

This is allowed. 

We had a wonderful three nights away remembering that we make a great team and that it doesn't matter where we are. We revel in spending time together, finding ways to serve and delight the other. Eureka means, I found it, or I figured it out. Eureka! There's silver in them thar hills, the hills of life we've climbed together. Slivers of silver in my hair and his beard, for sure, but also shimmering flecks of treasured memories, shared crosses, lessons learned, and the supernatural grace necessary to keep climbing. I like to float down river with you, but I'll portage too. Time to think of a grouping of 4 to commemorate anniversary years 26-29. Seasons? Directions? Gospels? We've already done elements for 16-19 and colors paired loosely with flowers for 21-24.