Sibling Tribute

It’s early morning on the first day of 2018. The rest of the family are still upstairs sleeping. In a few hours we will be having our family Christmas. (We have a tradition of celebrating on New Year’s Day since that has always allowed us to celebrate with other families on 12/25 – first with the extended Russell family in CT when our children were younger, then allowing our children to celebrate with their spouse’s families when they got married.) But since I went to bed early last night so I got a few hours in before getting up at midnight to watch the ball drop in Times Square, I am up early this morning. As I look back over 2017, I thought of what I’m grateful for and one thing that came to mind is my appreciation for each of my siblings. So I thought I’d say a few words about each of them.

Beth

Since we were only 16 months apart in age growing up, one might have thought that we would be pretty close. But that was not the case. She was always the pretty one, had lots of friends and was very social and I was the “nerd” (although that term had not come into use back then). It wasn’t until I was older that I began to appreciate her.

She only went to college for a year, then during a summer job discovered that she had a real talent for business and organization and that more education wasn’t really needed to advance in that area. She spent the bulk of her working career as the business manager for the Cobb School, a Montessori school in CT. “Business Manager” may be a misleading term since, as with many smaller schools, one gets involved in many different areas. So she applied her considerable talent in helping them in many ways.

She is now retired and is getting to enjoy life with her partner, Dave, who has his own considerable gifts in making others feel very welcome and who enjoys taking Beth to local restaurants. Dave has an extensive family from a prior marriage and Beth has two children and this past year became a grandmother to twins – something that she is constantly beaming about!

Chuck

Chuck was the only one of my siblings who spent time in the military – serving in the Air Force during the Vietnam war. He didn’t fly a plane, but was in intelligence and spent time listening to Radio Hanoi recording anything that might give clues to what the North Vietnamese were doing/planning. He then graduated from the University of Connecticut in engineering. While there he met his wife, Joanne, who was getting her PhD.

They served together for many years at Manchester Community College, my brother in managing the computer network as well as teaching, and Joanne first in teaching, then in administration. Chuck recently retired and joined Joanne in NY where she is the Vice-president for Academic Affairs and Provost for Kingsborough Community College, a member of the SUNY network located right down the street from Coney Island. They have two daughters, one of whom will be getting married in 2018.

Dawn

Dawn’s interest during college was special education. During one summer break she got a job in that area in California and my parents were brave enough to let her fly across the country for the summer. But the California air must have gotten to her, as she went back there after graduation and has lived there ever since.

Her first husband, Mike, was killed in a tragic accident in early 2000. She married again to her current husband, George, who has been the love of her life since then. Like Beth, Dawn has considerable skills in organization and has been using those skills in many ways. She recently retired and is now able to spend more time with George, who has been battling with a serious health issue for the past few years.

She and George have four children between them – all daughters, and all married. But their social media postings most often have pictures of their twin grand-daughters, with whom they spend much time.

Edd

My youngest brother, Edd, is the only one of us who is not retired, and is also the only one who has no children. But he and his wife, Ingrid, have many other things to keep them occupied. Edd was trained in forestry at the University of New Hampshire. He met Ingrid, who is trained as a nurse, when they were both serving in Haiti in missionary work. After a number of years together there, they spent much time in CA where Edd was a soil scientist with the US government. But their desire was always to get back into missions.

For the past six years they have been in Thailand where they minister together in church planting. They are currently in Nong Khai in the Isaan region of NE Thailand. I was fortunate to be able to visit with them when they were first in Thailand and doing their language training in Bangkok. And since I have a love for the Thai people myself, I follow their work there with great interest. The investment that they are making into the lives of the people – particularly with the many young people who they show an interest in – will bear much fruit.

I am very proud of all my siblings – both with what they have accomplished and what they continue to be involved in. While our parents have passed on, they instilled in each of us a love for others and a love for family. Thus, we continue to be close and interested in each other’s lives. May 2018 be yet another year with many ways for us to celebrate each other.