1987

December 16, 1987

Dear __________

On a Saturday about 3 weeks ago, we stood in a cold, wet rain eagerly waiting for a glimpse of the King of Norway as he drove through the streets of Decorah. The thought has struck me: do we wait as eagerly now as, we approach the celebration of the birth of the King of Kings! May your Celebration be especially meaningful to you (and to us) this joyful season.

Just a brief summary of where our kids are: well, come to think of it, it will be brief. They are all still where they were last year. Maybe by next year there will be a couple of changes. We visited Dawn and Bob and Heather in Charleston, S.C. last March, and we made a short trip to L.A. to see Arik this fall. It's fun to be able to see them in your mind instead of just imagining what their homes are like, etc. We have been to Mark and Amy's a couple of times at Champaign, and see Jené oftener - she's the closest and is enjoying her college work.

Guess August was both the saddest and the "gladdest" month. Vince's brother Lyle died from lunq cancer - he had fouqht it bravely for 2 1/2 years. Fortunately, we had been to Salt Lake in July to see Lyle and Exene, and Linda and family and had some good visits. We flew out for his memorial service August 17-18.

And then the following weekend drove to Windom to help my folks celebrate their 60th Wedding Anniversary. We made it a Blakey reunion and all of the folks' descendants were there, includinq 15 qrandchildren, and 8 great-grandchildren. We spent most of Saturday together visiting and eating, and eating and visiting. On Sunday, we filled 4 pews at morning worship, and at noon nearly filled an upper room of a restaurant where Dad treated us to dinner. In the afternoon, the folks greeted 160 friends and relatives at an Open House. My only reqret is that the weekend went too fast, and the time for visiting was too short. Next time we will have to add another day. Shall we plan it for their 65th or 70th? It really was such fun!

Merry Christmas,