Susan and I spent the Presidents Day long weekend in Tioga, North Dakota, with my dad and my sister Sandy. The weather was bitterly cold, and Dad's furnace was malfunctioning throughout the weekend, necessitating daily visits from his furnace repair guy, Caleb. When Susan and I arrived Friday night, Dad sent us out to buy a couple space heaters, and those were a big help in between Caleb's drop-ins. It also helped that Dad has a heated garage--so I left the door open between the garage and the house, and the garage furnace helped keep the house warm, too.
The worst part about the weather was that it prevented us from meeting up this morning with Marie, our childhood neighbor (she grew up on a farm north of ours) and our cousin. (We think she is our mom's second cousin. Sandy and I worked through the family tree, and we think that Marie's dad and our maternal grandma were first cousins and that Marie's paternal grandpa and our maternal great-grandma were siblings. But we have always just said we are Marie's cousins.) Marie is visiting her brother and his family, who live in the area, and we had planned to meet Marie at Sandy's home this morning. However, the temperature was -40° Fahrenheit, and Marie's vehicle, quite understandably, didn't want to start.
We had been looking forward to seeing Marie and having an in-person opportunity to thank her for her hospitality toward our daughter Abigail last year. Abigail spent her third year of medical school completing her clinicals in hospitals in Epsom just outside of London, England, where Marie runs a telecommunications software company. Marie welcomed Abigail for visits to her home, showed her around London, and was a kind and generous family presence for Abigail while she was living so far away from us all. Abigail loved getting to know Marie, and Susan and I are grateful that Marie was there for our daughter.
(Click on any photo to enlarge it.)
