Albertson
Family Christmas Letter 2023 December 6, 2023
Hello to all of our dear family and friends!
2023 has been full to the brim of blessings and surprises. Some of the surprises have not been fun, but
all has been ordered by our Savior who takes good care of us.
Some highlights of our year:
Rowen officially retired and turned 65 in January! He has become the main cook and bottle washer
here at home, while also doing “honey-do” jobs for widows and older folks in
our church. Jeff and Lesa were here in
January, and took Emily along with them to Bedford to help remodel and paint at
the new EFM headquarters. Emily and
Rowen also painted the fellowship hall at church early this year.
In February, Emily and Rowen and Janet took a once-in-a-lifetime
trip to Hobe Sound, Florida for the Sea Breeze Camp meeting. We enjoyed the weather, all the services we
were in, meeting many of God’s family we didn’t know and being with friends we
know and love. We enjoyed going to the
ocean, and time together fulfilling a dream we had had, of being in-person for
Sea Breeze Camp, after watching it online for so many years.
In April, Emily and Janet enjoyed going to the Interchurch
Holiness Convention in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
Besides the wonderful services and seeing and meeting so many people, we
enjoyed time with Janet’s sisters, Marlene and Sherry, niece Rebekah, and
“adopted” daughter, Joanna.
In May, Emily graduated as Salutatorian from God’s Bible
School and College with her BA in Integrative Studies, with cognates in
Children’s Ministry and American Sign Language (certificate in Deaf Studies from
Cincinnati State). She had completed her classes in December, so she was free
to go with us to Florida, work part time at Chick-fil-A, take a couple
fact-finding trips regarding her future work, go with SWSE (GBS orchestra) on
tour one last time, and be the right-hand girl for Rowen’s April 26th
rotator cuff surgery, as caregiver, lawn mow-er, house keeper, and physical
therapy driver when Janet was at work.
In June, our extended family had a family vacation in north
Missouri to celebrate Rowen and Janet’s 40th anniversary (October
22). June was a much better time to
celebrate than October. (We had no idea
how much better until October arrived.)
We had a very nice Lodge, big enough for everybody, lots of activities
to do, hikes, swimming, canoeing, croqueting, lots and lots of board games,
etc. It was such a lovely time and we
are so thankful for the opportunity we had to be together. This trip was also the last time for Rowen
and Janet to see Janet’s mother alive and in person. At the end of that trip,
we, (Rowen, Janet, Elizabeth, and Emily) went to Tulsa, Oklahoma to tour Happy
Hands Education Center, where Emily was seeking employment, had her interview,
was hired, and we picked out the apartment complex where she now lives.
July was full of preparations for Emily’s move to
Oklahoma. Janet made her a quilt; we
gathered furniture, and got a hitch installed on our van. Emily said a lot of goodbyes and worked her
last shifts at the Ft. Wright, KY Chick-fil-A.
Our son, Tim flew in to help load and drive, and Aug. 1-3 we made a
fast, long trip moving Emily to Tulsa, OK.
We moved her in on a very hot, sweaty day. We are so thankful to have made that trip
with her and gotten her settled. She
started orientation and work the following week and is the assistant
kindergarten teacher for nine precious deaf or hard-of-hearing children. Each school day’s lessons are in American
Sign Language. Emily is fulfilling the
dream she had of working with deaf children.
It is a Christian Deaf School serving children from birth up through 3rd
grade (expanding with more grades in coming years). The staff are all so loving
and welcoming to Emily and she is growing in her comfort level and
expertise.
In September, Janet made a quilt for a GBS couple’s wedding
who have been special in our lives. (Only the future will tell if that is the
last quilt she makes.)
In August and September, Janet’s mother’s health declined
greatly. One weekend in September, Emily
and Elizabeth both went to spend time with their Grandma and Grandpa. A couple nights later, on September 26th,
Wanda Scoles went to heaven, released from her suffering, but leaving an empty
spot in our lives. She is with the Lord
she faithfully served and longed to see.
Rowen and Janet were privileged to go to Columbia, Missouri to spend
over a week with Rex Scoles and the other family as they came in. There was a lot we could do to help and we
kept very busy. The funeral was sweet
with lots of memories shared and many dear people who came to help us celebrate
and mourn.
We returned safely home on October 9. Janet had been having lots of pain in her
left upper femur for 3 months and had been feeling like it was not going to
hold her when she walked or did stairs.
On October 12, that bone gave way and she fell down several steps at
work. Many of you already know, how the
femur had cancer, and it broke at that point in a spiral break. She had surgery on October 13, with a rod
inserted the entire length of the femur.
She has been non-weight-bearing on that leg ever since. (Until the bone heals, she can’t walk on
it. After healing, she will have
radiation there.) She went home on
October 16. So many kindnesses have been
done or expressed through prayers, meals, gifts, and visits since then. Jeffrey and Lesa came from Houston to remodel
our main bathroom and put in a step-in shower.
Jason and Karen came over and made bread when we were out of bread and they
come from Cincinnati for encouraging visits as often as they can. All the family except Jeff and Lesa were here
for Thanksgiving. So much love has been
shown by our church family and many people all over the country have us in
their prayers. We are so thankful that
Rowen has completely recovered from his shoulder surgery and is totally able
for all the extra responsibility and care of Janet, the cooking, and the
house. A wheelchair, walker, shower
chair, and recliner are our good friends.
We had enjoyed nearly two years of success with the drug
study keeping Janet’s bone cancer metastasis in remission. However, those drugs have quit working. There is also cancer in her shoulders, and
now she has to be on different oral chemotherapy, not in a study. There are also blood clot issues, as a result
of immobility following surgery, so life has become complicated.
Even though we don’t know how the future is going to work
out, and we have unanswered questions, we serve a God Who knows all things, and
has a plan. We are surrendered to His
will, wanting our lives to be a blessing and give honor to Him. “For This We Have Jesus!” And “Oh, for grace to Trust Him More!”
God has been so faithful to us in 2023, and we know His
faithfulness will continue! We desire
that all of our friends know Jesus as Savior and Lord and have a Christ-filled
Christmas and future.
Love and prayers,
Janet and Rowen Albertson
The Empty Nesters
