Thursday, December 7, 2023

Christmas Letter 2023 (even though I haven't caught up for the detailed year yet)

 

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

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