Saying good-bye is always hard. The following pictures are from a surprise good-bye party that my dear friend, Teresa threw for me. These twelve ladies that I have known over the past 26 years of homeschooling took time out of their busy schedules to share memories and blessings.
I was so blessed and affirmed as each of the ladies contributed to this bouquet of kind and loving words and flowers. As my last words of admonition I asked them to remember, "For this I have Jesus." We don't know what the "this" is going to be in our future, but Jesus will be enough!
Ardie Tomlinson, one of our first friends in Johnstown
Sally Hays from Hays Market, our favorite grocery store. We got acquainted with Sally very early on in our time in Johnstown. She's a blessing to know!
MJ, Pat, Claudia JHS friends
Sisters Doris and Peggy we have known through the years and Janet, Elizabeth, and Emily ended up doing elections with Doris.
MJ and Pat--we've done teas and quilt shows together
Barb, our neighbor and friend, former librarian
RD, MJ, Ron, Kathy
Diana Seele, Johnstown's wonderful town clerk, and election official
Jer Jennison--we've taken care of his ducks and chickens several times
Sally, Ardie, and Diana
John and Judy Scarlett: lots of fun and hard work for JHS, and John Edward memorized our middle names!
Kathy Wagner wrote a nice article about us for the Johnstown Breeze.
John and Janet Liniger with Judy. Janet always played the "Hi Janet" game with me. Love her! Kathy talking to Jer and Chris Jennison
We've loved knowing these people!
Ron and MJ Thompson, kindred spirits and dear, dear friends who would do anything for us!
RD, Sue, President Roy, Ardie, Ron JHS board members
Chad Young on the right, former JHS President and the one who put on the party for us.
Yummy cookies the ladies provided. We got to take the flowers home and enjoy them for over a week after the reception!
Three of our kids have had the privilege of working at Johnstown Ace Hardware. Jeffrey started in August 2009 until he went to college in 2011, and then worked the summer of 2013. Jason started in March 2011 and worked until he went to college in August 2013 and was back for summers of 2014 and 2016. Elizabeth started in December 2011 and has worked there continuously except for the two semesters of college in 2014. They each gained so many skills and much understanding of how things work, how to fix things, how to problem solve, how to get along with many personalities, etc. Jeffrey and Elizabeth were opening and closing managers, and they all three had departments to manage. Ace has been a wonderful place for them to work and learn and grow. We thank God for the opportunities and enrichment Ace has brought to all of us.
So, another good-bye was the last day of Elizabeth and Jason's work at Ace on August 30, 2016. Most of the employees and their families had a meal together after 6 p.m. closing
Some of the employees had already left before this picture, and some missed the party completely.
We have been friends with Eladio and Sherolyn Cruz and family for so many years, at least ever since 2000, though Janet knew Sherolyn from the late 70s also! Our families have grown up together, homeschooling, sharing meals and games and church. Mary Cruz has been working at Johnstown Ace since March 2016, and we've tried to have her over every week for a meal. Mike, Carmen's husband, was one of our "adopted" kids. These folks are dear to us. We began saying good-bye to them yesterday at a Sunday dinner and afternoon game time.
We played Uno, National Parks version.
Rowen and Eladio know how to do the Grandpa thing...
Mike and Carmen and their girls..their little boy was taking a good nap so he missed the picture.
Eladio, Sherolyn, Ephraim and Mary
Their oldest daughter, Esther and her family are living out of the country doing God's work.
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