Nov 06, 2022

  Living in Unconditional Love (87)

“Love flows from God to humans without effort:

As a bird glides through the air without moving its wings-

Thus, they go wherever they wish united in body and soul,

Yet separate in form.”

–Mechtild of Magdeburg

 

My wife Eileen died from esophageal cancer in February 2020 one year after being diagnosed, 60 years to the day that we met on Long Island. Then my brother Tom became ill, and I spent a total of six weeks being with him in Ohio, but he died in October 2020. My sister-in-law Sue Mahoney died from Covid-19 in January 2021. On top of it all stood the pandemic, locking everyone down almost two years, and even though it is abating, I wear my mask anytime I am out among people, unlike many.

11/06/2022                             I voted this past Thursday at a spot in the Oakdale Mall, an older mall that is being refashioned into a modern complex that includes apartments and the flagship store of Dick’s Sporting Goods, the chain that started life in Binghamton many years ago. That will make three stores in this area including the original store that is still open. It is unusual to see the construction where the new store will be located, where the Macy’s used to be. They are adding much to the store, and I am not sure exactly what will be there.

It is surprisingly warm for November. Temperatures in the 70s! Today, Saturday, my son Tim and I went to the cemetery and dug out the grass in front of the headstone, put bricks on their side as a wall, filled it with good soil, and planted a dozen white double daffodils. Eileen loved the daffodils in the spring, and this should look nice in the spring. It looked a little overgrown with dead gladiolas and tall grass that had crept in. The buried brick wall should stop most of the grass, and I will remove any that creeps in.

The funeral of my friend Jane on Friday was moving to me as that leaves me as the elder of the remaining brunch group now down to three, with only two of us remaining in the area. We stopped meeting when Eileen became ill and have no plans to restart again. Ron and Jane were a wonderful gentle couple (even though he was a retired Marine) that was always enjoyable to have as company. Afterwards the church held a lunch, the first since Eileen’s funeral on March 3, 2020. These gatherings are always a wonderful time to talk with the relatives and chat with many friends that always gather for these events, and I have missed them during the pandemic. I wore a mask of course, the only one in the church that did. Most of the lunch servers had a mask on though. Our long-retired pastor came down for the funeral and we sat together in the church and then at the luncheon. He is 92, and looks good and is enjoying his retirement, living in a retirement home in Syracuse. Nice to chat with him. I hope to venture up to see him and have dinner with him some day.

Sunday will see the arrival of Dan, Alesandra, and the two girls. Dan has a demonstration at the office on Tuesday for the Army (on election day) and then on Wednesday we will leave for Mohonk for three nights. Looking forward to that time. It will be fun to have the little ones here again, and I will have everything tucked away again for their visit. We will enjoy our time at Mohonk very much, I am sure.

My partner and I are restructuring the company to make it easier to handle when we die. We are creating personal LLC companies that will hold our portions of the company, with the children who work for DVC (we each have two) as part of the personal LLC so that it will automatically change leadership when something occurs or if we wish it before that time. Of course, each of us has our own personal wills that distribute ownership (ownership is not the same as leadership) as we wish. This move avoids probate and other nasties at those times. Dan and Drew will sign the papers during this visit this week. Neither my partner nor I are youngsters, and it does not appear as if we have any interested parties for purchase. If such appears, it is easy to transfer ownership; two LLCs instead of one.

God has been gentle with me, as my health is still good and my mind still good. I find myself more and more grateful for all I have been given, looking with awe at the beauty I am always surrounded with at my home. My knee is slowly returning to normal, but I must be careful to not stress it much. Tim did all the work at the cemetery, and I was the watchful supervisor! Oh well, it worked.

The buzzer I have installed that informs me if someone or something is on the driveway or vicinity has been going off all evening (it is around 8 PM), but no car or person is present. Must be deer, dogs, or turkeys setting it off. I keep the door locked most of the time except when I am expecting someone.

Meditation

Gentle One, I am grateful for all the wonderous things I have been given in my life. Wonderful parents, unbelievable opportunities, Eileen who gave me unconditional love for 60 years, seven breathtaking children, awesome grandchildren, friends who support me and are concerned for me – what more could one desire? As we move into the holiday season, I find myself living each day in wonder and gratitude. My thankfulness knows no bound.