Surprise for 70

  First of all, a special thanks goes out to Robert Mishler for two big reasons.

One is thanks for taking all these photos at my party.
The second thanks is for introducing Gary and Mary to each other.

The BIGGEST thank you of all is to Gary Lee Suter, my boyfriend who gave the party.  
I understand he'd been working on it for months. 
He is THE dearest man in the whole wide world!!!!!!!

It was Sunday, June 4, 2017.  Gary wanted to go over to West Virginia and invited me along for a Sunday afternoon drive.

It was about 4:20 and we were almost back to my house when he suddenly turned into Phil (my brother) and Maribeth's driveway.

As we drew closer, I saw people..... lots of people!
I'm not sure when my feeble brain figured out that all those people

 were singing happy birthday to me! 

There were 53 people there!

The biggest surprise of all was my sister, Anita May Krull!!!!  
I remember saying,  "Anita, what are YOU doing here?!!!"

 What a joy!  Anita lives in Dayton, Ohio.

MaryMay, Anita May Krull, Philip May, Niece Ellen Krull

Appetizers

Gary even had a caterer!

Great deck space on Phil and Maribeth's house.

Perfect weather!

And stupendous views in every direction!

When I say I live on the next hill from my brother, I'm not kidding!

People, people everywhere.  
That's Maribeth in the lower right-hand corner.

Cousin Stashia May Kline and Krista Suter (Gary's daughter).

Plus, Kelly May Brown and Randy Baker entertained us.

 Really?

Cousin Jim Bowman appears to be saying,  "Is that so?" or "No way!" or some other such remark.  Boy, I do wonder what they were talking about.

What a guy!!!!!!!!

(Click on any photo for an enlargement.)

p.s.  All these pictures and nary a one of Robert Mishler.  We'll get you later, my friend!

Cyberknife for the Monster in My Face

The exasperating saga of my Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN) continues.  Trigeminal Neuralgia is called "The Suicide Disease"  because the intensity of pain has caused some people to commit suicide or at least consider it.

The microvascular decompression surgery I had at the University of Virginia on September 28, 2016 seemed helpful at first but my pain returned full blast.

I was hospitalized twice during the winter of 2017 in Florida due to unbearable pain.

In April, 2017, I had the cyberknife treatment, which is a radiation procedure.  First I went to have a mask made that fit my face. The day of the procedure, I laid down on a cot like for an MRI. 

They put my mask precisely over my face and NAILED IT DOWN to the cot!!  This is NOT for anyone with claustrophobia!!  I will admit that I had to scold myself several times in order to remain calm. I was in the tube for an hour and twenty minutes.

I am sad to report that it didn’t help so I continued with various combinations of medications.  The side effects are numerous but at least I could function.

It feels like an electrical wire being rammed into my face ......Over and over and over.......

It feels like my cheek is pierced with a knife that is connected to an electrical outlet.


The human body can withstand 45 Del Units of pain before collapsing.  During childbirth, 67 Del Units is suffered.  That's like 20 bones being broken at once.  Trigeminal Neuralgia will inflict up to 90 Del Units of pain during an attack.  This is why it's called The Most Painful Condition Known to Mankind.

Valentine's 2017

We have an elegant dinner dance for all the couples who celebrate their 50th anniversary during that year here in my retirement community called Savanna Club.


There were 12 couples in 2017.  In this day and age, 50 years is really commendable.  There were about 300 people at the party.  

I also helped with the refreshments for the honorees backstage. 

I am on the Social Committee and helped with the flowers.  Working with gorgeous roses and with good friends was a delight. 

Each couple is interviewed and a slide show is prepared with photos depicting special and funny memories from their years together.  The story of how they met is often amusing and they are always asked what advice they would give to others. 

 

Gary surprised me with a dozen red roses.  What a marvelous man he is!

 

Valentine's Day is soooo much better when there is a "special someone" in your life.  Gary Suter surely is  special and it is an unexpected surprise to share a special relationship with him. 

Hello 2017 with My BOYFRIEND!

The reference to "my BOYFRIEND" came about when I was first seeing Gary.  

My nephew, Levi May, was razzing me with,  "Hey, Aunt Mary, how's your BOYFRIEND?"  

I kept answering,  "Oh, you mean my FRIEND who's a BOY?  He's fine."  This went on and on!!

Not long after that I got a text from Gary and he referred to me as his girlfriend.  I was thrilled!!!!

MY BOYFRIEND, Gary Suter surprised me with an invitation to fly me to Virginia to bring in the new year!

Phil and Maribeth May, my brother and sister-in-law, were having a big party and Gary and his daughter, Krista, were invited.  The plan was that I would show up at their party as a surprise.  Things got complicated when Gary got a call that they were sick so the party was postponed.  We stopped over there anyway.

The party did come off a few days later.  In the meantime, Gary and I had a great week.  On New Year's Eve, we went to Harrisonburg for their First Night celebration.  That was even better than expected in spite of the bitter cold.

Gary Suter and Mary May Angelil

Here's a photo taken by Robert Mishler.  
Robert introduced us!!  Thank you, thank you, Robert!!!

Christmas Brunch 2016

Christmas 2016 was a time that I was able to "pay it forward"  There have been so many folks who have helped me along the way in my grief process so it was gratifying to be able to help someone else.  A gal named Flo Hedges sat with me some in church.  I knew she had lost her husband fairly recently and this would be her first Christmas alone.  

I am sooo glad I asked her what she was doing on Christmas Day.  Her plan was to probably go out to eat by herself.   There was NO way I was going to let that happen!  I invited my neighbors, Gene and Jane Pinson from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia and Flo for a Christmas brunch. 

We sat in my Florida Room with the windows open.  The weather was perfect and there was a gentle breeze.  The four of us had a wonderful meal, filled with laughter and good conversation.

It was a privilege to help someone through a difficult time after all the times my family, friends, and others have helped me. 

Return to Florida in the Fall of 2016

My new friend, Gary Suter, drove the two kitties and me to Florida for my winter stay.  We had a marvelous time just "hangin' out" and going out to eat.  (**see below for COMMENT)

Gary likes eating seafood on the ocean or on the water.  I like that, too, so we had fun exploring Port St. Lucie, Stuart, and Ft. Pierce areas and the many neat restaurants. 

I enjoyed sharing my retirement community and my church with him.  

I live about 5 miles from the ocean "the way the crow flies." My 55+ community is called Savanna Club  http://www.savannaclubhoa.com/ .  It's a blast to be surrounded by 1,900 homes of mostly retired owners who are ready to go "play" at a moment's notice.  

My church, First United Methodist Church of Port Saint Lucie.  http://www.pslfumc.com/   is about 4 miles away and I've made a lot of friends there, especially with my Good Grief group and the United Methodist Women (UMW).

**COMMENT:  Describing Gary as "my new friend" is an understatement.  He was my friend but we've moved into the "boyfriend and girlfriend" arena!  He is a VERY special man, that's for sure!!

Catching up.....

OK, OK, I have surely been remiss with my blog.  I was thinking of just skipping the year but, when I looked at my photos, I decided it would be good to document things just for fun.  

So, you'll see short posts but that'll be better than nothing.  AND you might see more grammatical or spelling errors.  If so, PLEASE tell me.........I am not emotionally attached to my work, OK?

Yummy Apple Butter

Ah, apple butter....... I took for granted how it was made until I got involved this year.  The Ruritan Club of Singers Glen makes apple butter every year as a money-maker to fund their many service projects.  

30 bushels of apples

Ruritan members and others helping to cut the apples (I was on the other side of the circle!)

Some "machines" to make the work faster (Don't know if it did or not!)

Washing the apples.

Apples cooking.

Running apples through sieve

Preparing jars

Lots of stirring

Sugar and spice

It's ready!

Sterilizing jars in steam table

Filling jars with funnel made by Leonard Hollar, operated by his son, Hunter Hollar

Sealing and labeling jars

The label

514 quarts of homemade apple butter. 

 Wouldn't you like to buy some? It's so good that I could just get a spoon and eat it!  

It was great to be a part of this worthwhile yearly project!

Election Day Dinner

The Donovan Memorial United Methodist Church ( http://www.donovanumc.org/ ), my home church in Singers Glen, Virginia, has held an Election Day Meal since about 1945. 

This is always an outstanding meal with oysters, turkey, country ham and ALL the trimmings followed by many, many choices of homemade pies..........MMmmmm...good!

I was a pie-cutter this year and was "plumb wore out" but really enjoyed the fellowship with Gayle Davis, the head pie-cutter, other workers, and guests.

Juanita McMullen has served the oysters for over 50 years.  I think it's longer than that but she is modest.  When you come to the Election Day Dinner you KNOW Juanita is going to be serving the oysters!

 

We sold approximately 160 meals but I don't know how much profit there was.  The important thing, besides a delicious meal, is the teamwork that happens to continue with the various missions and projects of the church.

It is a privilege for me to be a part of such a tradition and work with people who have known me since I was born.... and I have known them and treasure knowing them.  

p.s.  I had a few more photos but have filed them in "a safe place."  If I find them, I'll add them to this post.