June 27 – July 1, 2014
Family Reunion and
Celebration of our 50th Wedding anniversary at Bear Lake
July 13
The tragic death of a
grandson
July 23
Marriage of our youngest
daughter
Sunday, July 2, 2017
Saturday, May 20, 2017
Monday, March 24, 2014 through May16 Return to the St. Thomas and St. Croix
Monday, March 24, 2014
I had begun to realize that Ken had forgotten much of our first mission. This was a great disappointment to me. Then on March 24, our former landlord in St. Thomas wrote on Facebook “Anybody wants to come down to St. Thomas and visit? Our apartment is free as of tomorrow. We have been renting to the LDS Church for over ten years…” For us this was an exciting opportunity to try to help Ken regain some memories. When I responded, Sister Blake wrote back, "The apartment will be ready May 1st. If you want to come for a week or two, no need to pay rent, just take care of the electricity. We would be delighted to see you again and hope it helps jog Ken's memory.” It was our first apartment in St. Thomas. Ken loved it there, especially the view of the harbor and the cruise ships.
Thursday, March 30, 2014
By March 30 I had booked our flights. We would leave on Thursday May 1 and return on Friday May 16. By April 23 we had made plans to be in St. Thomas until Friday, May 9th when we would fly to St. Croix, where we would stay until May 13 before flying back to St Thomas, using a seaplane both ways and staying in a condo in Christiansted. We were excited to be able to see both islands and also to have a 2 ½ hour layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico, our mission headquarters. Thinking about it brought tears.
Friday May 2, 2014
We went to Brewers Beach, the sea glass beach. It was very calm. Ken got I'm the water but didn't get his head under. Until our mission, Ken had always been afraid of the ocean. He had learned to love the water and especially snorkeling from a few preparation day activities. Senior missionaries do not have the same restrictions as young missionaries. In fact, we had found one of our golden contacts in the water. I realized that helping Ken remember that he didn’t dislike the water was going to take a while.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
We met the sister missionaries currently living at Mango Mania our second apartment in St Thomas. We had been asked to find a new apartment and let the young missionaries move into the Blake’s apartment. We stopped by the church and fortunately it was open. We went inside with the cleaning crew. This Sunday tomorrow is the last day in the old chapel before they go to a rental above the new Kmart while the remodel is done. It felt like a miracle that Ken was able to bring back memories of the chapel and our experiences in the branch. One week later, and the chapel would have been changed forever.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
We continued visiting beaches and restaurants, the thrift store, the grocery store remembering people we had met and talked to about the church.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Seaplane to St. Croix
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Mother's Day in St Croix. So wonderful to see people at church. I should have taken pictures. Three young people gave tributes to their mothers. The Primary children sang three songs. Then the branch president talked about mothers and asked three of the men in the branch to talk extemporaneously about their mothers. A sweet, interesting meeting. They still have the two hour block so we had only Relief Society and Priesthood and then they had a Mother's Day potluck prepared by the men. Lots of different kinds of chicken wings, chicken and pork, potato salads, rice and beans, cooked carrots, fruit salad, baby bananas, cookies, mint brownies, pie and some beige cookies with frosting. And some rolls. No Johnny cake, but some rolls and punch. I tasted 4 different kinds of the meats and one potato salad and bananas and fruit, a taste of the brownie and bar cookie and one chocolate chip cookie. It was so fun for us. Usually the dinner is on Saturday, but it was nice for us that it was Sunday. I had forgotten about the tradition. They also gave out Hershey's kisses and a candle from the Priesthood and the RS presidency gave us each some sofrito liquid seasoning to take home.
Branch Counselor and Sister Feliciano, four years after his baptism.
Monday, May 12 , 2014
A visit to the chickens and shops in Christiansted, visits with members, learning how make coconut oil with Sister Dye, a visit to Sunny Isle shopping center and home to read and rest. Landlord said he would have liked to come to church with us Sunday.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Blessings
Luanna reminded me that I haven't really shared the personal side of our trip to the islands. It was a great blessing and successful in helping Ken remember. When a person doesn't remember something, they have no way of knowing what it is that they don't remember. Ken has called it his shredded memory. He retained access to wonderfully clear experiences that happened before the meningitis in Chile like stars in a dark sky.
I had thought that the 2010-2011 time period was more solid, but our time in St. Croix was a time of rediscovery. Sometimes when a memory came back, he had names and details that I had forgotten. We definitely needed time on both islands. Ken would say it was like a movie, where he would get big chucks. Often he would tell me, no, it is not familiar, no I don't remember anything, and then he would see something and say, oh, I remember. He would tell me things that had happened or things that were now different.
When we first got in the water he was tense or worried about whether he could float. We didn't try snorkeling until our third time at the beach. Brewster Beach was for sea glass hunting. Megan's Bay was for water walking, and people watching. But the first time he put his head in the water at Hull Bay, his body remembered how to snorkel, and we didn't get out for a couple of hours. With his vest he had greater endurance than I did when we went out deep. The fish were wonderful. We especially loved watching the squid.
We were able to renew some personal missionary connections and give referrals to current missionaries. We felt very blessed.
I had begun to realize that Ken had forgotten much of our first mission. This was a great disappointment to me. Then on March 24, our former landlord in St. Thomas wrote on Facebook “Anybody wants to come down to St. Thomas and visit? Our apartment is free as of tomorrow. We have been renting to the LDS Church for over ten years…” For us this was an exciting opportunity to try to help Ken regain some memories. When I responded, Sister Blake wrote back, "The apartment will be ready May 1st. If you want to come for a week or two, no need to pay rent, just take care of the electricity. We would be delighted to see you again and hope it helps jog Ken's memory.” It was our first apartment in St. Thomas. Ken loved it there, especially the view of the harbor and the cruise ships.
Thursday, March 30, 2014
By March 30 I had booked our flights. We would leave on Thursday May 1 and return on Friday May 16. By April 23 we had made plans to be in St. Thomas until Friday, May 9th when we would fly to St. Croix, where we would stay until May 13 before flying back to St Thomas, using a seaplane both ways and staying in a condo in Christiansted. We were excited to be able to see both islands and also to have a 2 ½ hour layover in San Juan, Puerto Rico, our mission headquarters. Thinking about it brought tears.
Friday May 2, 2014
We went to Brewers Beach, the sea glass beach. It was very calm. Ken got I'm the water but didn't get his head under. Until our mission, Ken had always been afraid of the ocean. He had learned to love the water and especially snorkeling from a few preparation day activities. Senior missionaries do not have the same restrictions as young missionaries. In fact, we had found one of our golden contacts in the water. I realized that helping Ken remember that he didn’t dislike the water was going to take a while.
Saturday, May 3, 2014
We met the sister missionaries currently living at Mango Mania our second apartment in St Thomas. We had been asked to find a new apartment and let the young missionaries move into the Blake’s apartment. We stopped by the church and fortunately it was open. We went inside with the cleaning crew. This Sunday tomorrow is the last day in the old chapel before they go to a rental above the new Kmart while the remodel is done. It felt like a miracle that Ken was able to bring back memories of the chapel and our experiences in the branch. One week later, and the chapel would have been changed forever.
Wednesday, May 7, 2014
We continued visiting beaches and restaurants, the thrift store, the grocery store remembering people we had met and talked to about the church.
Friday, May 9, 2014
Seaplane to St. Croix
Sunday, May 11, 2014
Mother's Day in St Croix. So wonderful to see people at church. I should have taken pictures. Three young people gave tributes to their mothers. The Primary children sang three songs. Then the branch president talked about mothers and asked three of the men in the branch to talk extemporaneously about their mothers. A sweet, interesting meeting. They still have the two hour block so we had only Relief Society and Priesthood and then they had a Mother's Day potluck prepared by the men. Lots of different kinds of chicken wings, chicken and pork, potato salads, rice and beans, cooked carrots, fruit salad, baby bananas, cookies, mint brownies, pie and some beige cookies with frosting. And some rolls. No Johnny cake, but some rolls and punch. I tasted 4 different kinds of the meats and one potato salad and bananas and fruit, a taste of the brownie and bar cookie and one chocolate chip cookie. It was so fun for us. Usually the dinner is on Saturday, but it was nice for us that it was Sunday. I had forgotten about the tradition. They also gave out Hershey's kisses and a candle from the Priesthood and the RS presidency gave us each some sofrito liquid seasoning to take home.
Branch Counselor and Sister Feliciano, four years after his baptism.
Monday, May 12 , 2014
A visit to the chickens and shops in Christiansted, visits with members, learning how make coconut oil with Sister Dye, a visit to Sunny Isle shopping center and home to read and rest. Landlord said he would have liked to come to church with us Sunday.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Blessings
Luanna reminded me that I haven't really shared the personal side of our trip to the islands. It was a great blessing and successful in helping Ken remember. When a person doesn't remember something, they have no way of knowing what it is that they don't remember. Ken has called it his shredded memory. He retained access to wonderfully clear experiences that happened before the meningitis in Chile like stars in a dark sky.
I had thought that the 2010-2011 time period was more solid, but our time in St. Croix was a time of rediscovery. Sometimes when a memory came back, he had names and details that I had forgotten. We definitely needed time on both islands. Ken would say it was like a movie, where he would get big chucks. Often he would tell me, no, it is not familiar, no I don't remember anything, and then he would see something and say, oh, I remember. He would tell me things that had happened or things that were now different.
When we first got in the water he was tense or worried about whether he could float. We didn't try snorkeling until our third time at the beach. Brewster Beach was for sea glass hunting. Megan's Bay was for water walking, and people watching. But the first time he put his head in the water at Hull Bay, his body remembered how to snorkel, and we didn't get out for a couple of hours. With his vest he had greater endurance than I did when we went out deep. The fish were wonderful. We especially loved watching the squid.
We were able to renew some personal missionary connections and give referrals to current missionaries. We felt very blessed.
Friday, March 28, 2014 Update to Dr. Rivas
28 March, 2014
Translation of an Email sent to Dr. Rivas a year later:
To our friends in Chile A year ago my husband was dying. It was the beginning of better understanding and greater love for us. We will always remember the wonderful support we have received from the missionaries and doctors at the clinic. It was a very difficult time. I want them to know that everything is now fine with us. We recognize that life is a miracle and we are blessed to be together and work together. We're still trying to be missionaries in our own home and serve God and our neighbors and friends. The brain is something wonderful. Kenneth’s long term memory is better than ever. His short term memory is good. He still has a blank space of a year or so and there we see some memory holes in the last four years. But sometimes he can access some from the lost time. Kenneth is very interested in genealogy and researching his ancestors. He can focus on and use the computer for many hours each day. His hearing is very good in his left ear and good enough on the right to get along without a hearing aid. The sinus surgery he had on October 18 and the treatment he has had since have been removed all infections. They were able to patch the connection between the sinuses and the brain. We've been exercising five days a week in a fitness center close to home. Yesterday the day was warm so we walked three miles outside. Thanks
To our friends in Chile A year ago my husband was dying. It was the beginning of better understanding and greater love for us. We will always remember the wonderful support we have received from the missionaries and doctors at the clinic. It was a very difficult time. I want them to know that everything is now fine with us. We recognize that life is a miracle and we are blessed to be together and work together. We're still trying to be missionaries in our own home and serve God and our neighbors and friends. The brain is something wonderful. Kenneth’s long term memory is better than ever. His short term memory is good. He still has a blank space of a year or so and there we see some memory holes in the last four years. But sometimes he can access some from the lost time. Kenneth is very interested in genealogy and researching his ancestors. He can focus on and use the computer for many hours each day. His hearing is very good in his left ear and good enough on the right to get along without a hearing aid. The sinus surgery he had on October 18 and the treatment he has had since have been removed all infections. They were able to patch the connection between the sinuses and the brain. We've been exercising five days a week in a fitness center close to home. Yesterday the day was warm so we walked three miles outside. Thanks
Thursday, January 12, 2017
January 2014 - We were called to Primary and to the Temple
Friday, January 3, 2014
We were set apart as
temple workers in the Salt Lake Temple.
Sunday, January 4,
Ken and I were both
called as Primary workers. He was asked
to teach a large class of seven years olds with a male co-teacher. I teach the
eleven year olds with a co-teacher. It is good to have church callings again.
Saturday, January 11, 2014
Today
was our first day as temple workers. We
thought it might be best to serve only one day a week to begin with and
Saturday was where we were needed the most.
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