Tribute to Two Exceptional Women

Hello--

Frank has two aunts who have had declining health.  One of them has struggled for years (his mother's sister Celene), and one of them for months (his father's sister Mary Lou).  In a little bit of a strange coincidence, they passed away on the same day last week.

Both of these women have been such a positive influence in his life.

Mary Lou (former college professor) loved to camp and study birds.  She came to our house in Colorado years ago, with her customized van, all set up for her to camp across the country and look for birds.  Frank and I explored the inside of the van and thought, "now, THIS is camping!"  Mary Lou belonged to the "700 Club" of birdwatchers, meaning that she had seen and identified and logged 700 different species of birds in her travels.  Here is a picture of Mary Lou (with her brothers, including David, Frank's dad) maybe 12 or so years ago.

Bill, David, Sam, Mary Lou

holding Frank at 2 mos old

Celene, also known as "Aunt Mommy" to Frank and his sisters, was always a big part of their lives growing up.  She was there for all the big events, and small ones too.

Here she is with baby Frank in the 60's:

Aunt Mommy sent birthday cards to everybody WAY into their adult lives.  She liked to receive photos of our kids each year, and see how they were growing.

Here is Aunt Mommy and Frank, at the house in Fairfax Station around his high school graduation time:

And here she is with her sister Diane (Frank's mom) and brother Bob, maybe 10 years ago.

I just found another one.  This one is a picture of her at our wedding reception with Pam and Mandy (2yrs), and the twins Carter and Weston, her grandkids. (Mandy just graduated college.  Carter and Weston are both married now, I'm pretty sure.)

A fun little trip down memory lane.  I'm sorry that I don't have more photos of Mary Lou.

We leave Saturday to get together with Frank's parents, and Dana and her family in Virginia for a week.  Celene's funeral is Sunday, so we'll go there first.

It's sunny and in the high 90's today!  The kids just took their last final at the high school, and it was Kara's last day (yearbook-signing) at the middle school.  Kind of exciting to have end-of-school-year events going on.

Have a good weekend.  Kari