We are in Maine

We are at Jim and Mary's in Maine, and visiting with Paul Henderson, who is Jim and Ellen's first cousin, the son of Ruth Smith, the sister of Elizabeth Smith, their mother. They saw a lot of each other when they were children, when Paul's family would visit Ellen and Jim's family in the summer time. But Ellen has not seen Paul for decades - certainly not since I met Ellen. Paul lives in Michigan, near Lansing. But he has lived in many places and done many things in his life. He is an Episcopal priest, but that was a relatively late developmet in his life. That is what he does now in Michigan. He also served in the Air Force for six years. That was a while ago. He was not a pilot, but he was responsible for load distribution to assure stable flight. He has lived on Cape Cod and in Tennessee, among other places. He is married, but his wife, Stephanie, had to work and could not come with him. I think she is working in making costumes at Wolf Trap this summer. He is quite delightful to talk with.

Cousin Paul. ********************************** We drove over to Maine yesterday, but not before going to the Retired Ministers' gathering in the morning. We actually got up early and drove to Bellows Falls to pick up Catherine Cadieux, who lives now at Sterling House, an assisted-living home. We took her to Dummerston to the clergy gathering there and we stayed there for an hour for the meeting - Jack, Lee, Jeff and Roger were there also. Then we excused ourselves and set out, stopped at Bob's Clam Hut for lunch and arrived at Owl's Head in time for supper. The big event, however, was Brendon's birthday dinner Tuesday evening. Ellen made his birthday cake and we drove down to Shutesbury in the late afternoon. I was very pleased with myself - I had an idea for a card for Brendon while I was sitting by the fireplace, but we were about to leave. I managed to find the materials for the card and got it made just as Ellen said it was time to leave. I found a very nice picture of Brendon as a little boy in my old computer photo file, and miraculously found a small mirror in my bathroom. I made a card that had the picture of Brendon on the front: WHAT HAPPENED TO THIS

CUTE LITTLE BOY? *************** Then when he opened the card, he saw a mirror and around it were the words, "He grew up into this handsome 18-year-old man! Happy Birthday, Brendon." And of course, when Brendon looked at the mirror, he saw himself. I thought it was pretty cute, and I think he did too. There was a check too. Ellen gave him a macremé craft kit and he got some antique books, and other old things, as gifts as well. He is really into antiques. And he got this beautiful carrot cake:

The beautiful birthday cake.

Katie and Fred. Fred was briefly married to Krystal, Brendon's mother, but is not Brendon's father. However, he is very fond of Brendon, and has stayed in touch.

Katie taking a picture of the cake and Brendon.