Jessie & Polly, A Love Story

 I did not expect to write again before the year ended. I did not expect to be stuck at home yet again. Our uninvited houseguest has returned.

We had planned to leave for Virginia on Tuesday to spend a few days with Will, Darice, and their family. Monday afternoon Nate called me from upstairs, "Dad, I can't smell anything." Ugh!

So, we sent Nate to the doctor for a COVID test. The results came back positive the next morning. Disappointed as we are, I am so glad I didn't hear him announce this from the back of the van hours into our drive to Virginia. We are also glad that his case is even milder than Ben's. Nate has only lost his sense of smell and felt a little more tired than normal after playing tennis with Ben both Saturday and Sunday, which he may have attributed to being fairly inactive after the cross country season ended.

While there's no way to know for sure, we have a pretty good guess as to where Nate picked this up. Still, I am scratching my head as to why he caught the virus now and not when he had the most ideal opportunity to do so when Ben had it over Thanksgiving.

It is actually a bit easier this time around. Ben has the magic 90 day immunity from his round with COVID so he can keep Nate company with little fear of reinfection and since the quarantine rules don't apply to him he can run errands for us. We didn't have that before. Nate should be able to return to school on the 6th (the student's first day back is the 5th), and if I test negative over the weekend I can go back to work on the 5th. In all this I can't help feeling like I have a 50 ton weight hanging over my head ready to drop at any moment.

To tie up a loose end from the last time I wrote, our phone and internet service came back up that day but it was spotty and unreliable. Sunday afternoon it was all back down again for several hours. Everything has been running fine since Monday, but placing phone calls was hit or miss most of the day. Sort of like when the lights go out, it is amazing, and maybe a bit scary, to see how much we have come to rely on network connectivity in so many areas of life.

Shifting to more pleasant news, we were able to enjoy with the Jones family, if virtually, a final Christmas gift that was most special. Here's the story on that...

From the time Vicki was a teenager she was aware of the existence of love letters exchanged between her parents before they married. Vicki's dad, Jessie, was a native of Camden, Tennessee, but had moved away seeking work in the San Diego area. He served in the Navy in World War II, returned to California, and eventually moved to the Chicago area where he worked for General Motors. In 1963 Jessie was 45 and still a bachelor. On a trip home to visit family a really cute and tall girl caught his eye.

In 1963 Pauline was 30, single, and still living at home with her parents near Camden. She worked as a seamstress at the HIS garment factory in Bruceton. That June her father, a farmer, was laid up with a broken leg. One afternoon Jessie and his brother came to visit Pauline's dad. Of course, Jessie just might have known that Mr. Phifer had a cute daughter.

Jessie and Polly started dating. Jessie came back to Tennessee as often as he could, but since he lived and worked near Chicago most of their dating was done via letters. They had phones, but long distance calls were so expensive the letters practically flew back and forth. Their courtship was fairly quick. They married in November of that year.

So Vicki knew about the letters. She had stumbled across them one day after the family had moved back to Camden. Pauline would never let Vicki read them, but always promised, "When I’m gone, y’all can read them." Ten years ago when we were cleaning out Pauline's house Vicki found the letters, in one of the last corners of the house we cleaned, I might add. Will and Vicki decided it would be best that Vicki keep the originals but that one day when the kids were all old enough we should make copies for all of them. Looking forward to that time Will and I scanned all the letters.

This year the youngest grandchild, Emily, is 16. Back in the fall Vicki and I discussed it and with two of Pauline's grandkids about to marry we felt the time was right. So we went secretly to work making sure the letters, all 106 of them, are in chronological order. We then imported all the scanned letters from 11 years ago into page layout software, wrote a short introduction, added Jessie and Pauline's wedding pictures and made a book. What was very helpful for the introduction is that we found a cassette tape where Jessie and Pauline both tell the story of how they met. The transcript of that recording very neatly sets the stage for all the letters.

In the end we wound up with a 470 page book. We used a print-on-demand service to have hard cover copies made for everyone in the family and they were delivered a couple of weeks before Christmas. Vicki and I opened the boxes when the kids weren't home and we were so pleased with the result. I haven't read all the letters, being more concerned with book layout, but from the ones I have skimmed they are a beautiful picture of the love that grew between the two of them and I think a fine example to set before their grandchildren since they never got to meet Jessie and lost Pauline 11 years ago.

It was our intention to all open the books when we were together in Virginia, but I had this nagging doubt in my mind about that trip. I had to sell the idea to Vicki but we wound up gift wrapping the books for the Joneses and shipping them to Virginia as a precaution. So glad we did.

Last night the six of us (including Nolan) and the six of them (including Cameron's fiancée Jessica) gathered in our respective living rooms (well, Nate sat in the foyer where he could see us) connected by FaceTime and opened the books.

I think everyone was touched by their copy of the book. They all seemed to be when we opened them together. If there was anything that might backfire about this gift it is that most of the kids cannot read cursive handwriting. At least Jessie and Pauline both had very legible hands, but I can understand how this would be a challenge for them. Still, I hope they will take the time to try to read those letters.

So, this is how 2020 wraps up for us. We celebrated the first day of this year with a visit to Universal Studios in Orlando. We certainly had no idea what all we were in for, so it is only natural to wonder what 2021 has in store. One of the most common phrases in Scripture is  some varient of "and it came to pass," so here's to looking forward to better days for all if us.

Joe

A Christmas to Remember

We have had a great Christmas at our house, which I will save for last to end on a good note, but the holiday has been most typical of this atypical year.

In starting, I need to touch on the news with Kenny and Lori's family. The good news is that Jimmy and Morgan's daughter, Piper James, was born healthy and whole back on the 16th and we are so happy for them. Then, pretty soon after Morgan and Piper came home from the hospital Morgan had a toothache that required a trip to the dentist. But that was small potatoes when last Friday (the 18th) Kenny had what is probably best called a minor heart attack. The artereogram revealed a 95% blockage in the main artery with multiple other blockages. He had bypass surgery Wednesday and is now on the road to recovery. Praise the Lord for that!

The pandemic had long scrubbed the community Christmas Eve Eve party that Kenny and Lori always host, but with Kenny's bypass surgery any lingering hopes of our traditional brunch were, of course, shelved. We had our own brunch here in honor of the long standing tradition, but when we started cooking we discovered we had far fewer eggs on hand than we thought and had to cut all our recipes in half. We still had plenty to eat, but had a near miss with disaster when Nate was passing a small glass bowl across the table to Jenna, dropped it, and it shattered all over Vicki's plate. Glass went everywhere! Fortunately none of it went into the casserole that had just been pulled out of the oven and placed on the table nearby.

Around 6:20 Christmas morning, downtown Nashville was rocked by an explosion that was felt as far away as Hermitage. This is a developing story and while most of you reading this live near me or are keeping up with the news, I am going to briefly tell this from scratch for the benefit of those who may read this in the future.

Apparently someone parked an RV full of explosives on 2nd Avenue near Commerce Street. The police were alerted to trouble because it was playing a countdown and warning to stay away loudly enough to be heard outside the vehicle. Unable to get into the RV they went into action and ordered residents of the area to evacuate. The good news is that only three people sustained minor injuries in the explosion, though the structural damage to property may be significant. Had this happened on another day when activity would have been more normal this story would have been tragically different. Praise the Lord for that!

The bad news is that this happened very close to the AT&T data center (the iconic Batman Building) there in Nashville. By midday we began to experience a near total telecommunications blackout. Our only means of any contact with the greater world from our house is over-the-air TV and radio. If we want to call, text, or use the internet we have to travel somewhere that is not using AT&T's infrastructure. (I am parked outside of Historic Perk in Springfield using their guest wifi to send this out.)

This is a minor inconvenience for us. What is truly concerning is that numerous 911 call centers across Middle Tennessee and Western Kentucky are down. Thousands, if not millions of people have no way to call for help in an emergency right now and AT&T can't yet get into the damaged area to begin making repairs, nor can they estimate how long it will take for them to restore service.

Of growing concern, should this outage be prolonged, are the number of people who are quarantining due to the pandemic. They are dependent of being able place orders for supplies online and either have them delivered or schedule a pickup. If they are in our boat, they are facing some unexpected challenges for an unknown period of time. Also, how many stores can't run a credit/debit card transaction because their internet and cell service depend on the AT&T backbone? I won't pursue this line of thought any further here, but the wide-spread effects of this event are most sobering.

In the middle of all this we did have a good Christmas. I am tempted to feel guilty when I say that, but then I also know it is important to be resilient in life. People have celebrated life in hard times throughout history. Mom and Aunt Mar's stories of growing up in the Great Depression and World War II still ring in my ears. I don't know how the current day truly compares with back then, but the lesson for me is to keep living and be grateful for what you have. So, this has been a good Christmas.

This year is the last year we celebrate Christmas as just the five of us, and that made it special. We love and enjoy Nolan and look forward to him being fully part of the family next year, but it was nice to honor this as the last year for our family before we grow. By the way, Nolan and his family left Christmas morning to spend a few days in Gatlinburg. We did enjoy hosting his parents for dinner Wednesday evening. Nolan also learned how to make the boiled custard this year.

I don't want to ignore or be disrespectful of Mom here, but as the year has played out and we know how isolated she would have been from us this whole time, I am most grateful that she has missed out on all this. This brings me peace that I have not had for several years.

So, we had a great Christmas. I think we all got what we wanted. I know I am primed with reading material to last a few weeks, though without the online distractions or the ability to work from home I may burn through it all much faster than I suspect. The important thing is that we have been together in a home where love abounds. That is, by far, the best Christmas one can hope to have. Praise the Lord for that!

Joe

Six Days to Christmas

 The good news is that we have survived quarantine and no one has gotten sick. As I wrote last time, Ben was given a clean bill of health and returned to Cookeville back on the 6th to finish out the semester. We are very glad that all his symptoms had completely disappeared by that time and that his senses of taste and small had returned.

So here we are on the back side of our quarantine and the five of us (got to count Nolan since he was exposed to Ben) have all been well. I'm not trying to look a gift horse in the mouth, but it just seems odd to me that we have been some combination of not sick at all and/or asymptomatic. None of us went in for a COVID test, opting to just let the quarantine period expire naturally, so we don't know if we were infected. Still, it is just strange to me that it has played out that way. Of all of us I would have thought Nate would have been the most likely to have shown symptoms.

Ben is also baffled as to how he contracted it. He said that he and everyone he is around at school have been diligent to keep their distance or mask when they can't. Like us, he and his housemates have not worn masks around each other at home, but none of his housemates have shown any signs of the virus either, nor have any in their larger circle of friends. So, where Ben got it and why it has expressed itself the way it has with us is a mystery to me. I wish that everyone's experience with COVID was the same as ours.

We just wound school up for the semester around here. Jenna and Ben are both on their Christmas breaks and glad to have a few weeks off. Nate had his mid-term exams to go this week and now has one more semester of high school to go.

I've laughed about going back to work on Wednesday because it was the first time this month I had worn long pants or shoes. I may be an introvert, but it was really good to get back to work and see people.

Life around here has been about as normal as it could be. Lori introduced Vicki to Instacart which delivered a large order of groceries for us. She's thinking that service is worth every penny to stay out of the store even if there were no pandemic. She and Jenna have also been getting used to Walmart pickup. Makes me wonder what permanent changes to shopping there will be after the threat of illness is over. Will this be another nail in the coffin for smaller grocery stores and retailers while at the same time opening the door for more niche market stores that will offer a social experience to fill a void?

Speaking of filling a void, I've taken up one interesting project this fall. About 15 years ago I started digitizing all our home movies that we had on VHS and miniDV tape and burned them to DVDs. I have 38 discs on our bookshelf as evidence of my efforts. Jenna has particularly enjoyed getting these out and watching them over the years. All this came to an abrupt halt when we got a camera that recorded straight to digital and later smart phones. Still, I have been keeping all this media backed up to external hard drives all along.

This summer I got to purchase an item that has been on my wish list for some time; a network attached storage device (NAS). This box is a large external hard drive (well, four in a RAID) and is accessible to all the computers on our home network. Additionally, it has a streaming media server (Plex) on it which I have set up and begun to load our home movies on. Now we have our own private streaming media channel available here at home. So far I have loaded all our Christmas videos from 1993 through 2008, our wedding video, and the videos we shot when renovating the house back in 1995, plus a few other odds and ends. Boy, did we look young then! And funny how country we sounded then compared to now.

So, this is a huge project that I can break up into small chunks and work on for years to come. And the good thing is that this makes our memories much more accessible and easier to pass along to our kids down the road. After trying to go through my mom's pictures and things I have a new appreciation for making those memories easily accessible and consumable. For now, I'm having fun when I can snatch an evening here and there to work on this. And if you come to visit I promise I won't make you watch hours of our home movies, but if you want to see how it works I'll be glad to give you a short tour.

Jenna has been busy now that she is on break and our quarantine is over. She has built up a customer base over the years with her pies and peanut butter balls. These funded several trips to Haiti in the past. This year they are helping pay for nursing school. So far this week she has made 19 pies and 2075 peanut butter balls and still has a few more orders to go.

It seems surreal to be less than a week from Christmas now. Lot's of things are different in this abnormal year, but we are able to be together and that's what matters. Now that Jenna is engaged we know this will be her last Christmas at home. Next year will feel more like a homecoming since both boys will be in college. With Mom's passing the last of the old guard is gone for us. Even though I will miss our normal social activities this year, I am glad for the opportunity to enjoy the time with just the five of us before our family starts to grow and change. This year just seems like the time to pause, reflect, and catch our breath before moving forward and that's how I plan to celebrate this Christmas.

Joe

The Uninvited Houseguest

 Here we are the week after Thanksgiving and we find ourselves playing host to an uninvited and unwelcome houseguest—COVID-19. Looking back the signs were a little hard to see. Ben came home from Cookeville last Tuesday. We had our Thanksgiving meal last Wednesday afternoon and began decorating for Christmas that evening. Ben mentioned on Thursday morning that he had been feeling run-down the day before but said no to all questions when we ran down the list of other symptoms one should look for. Each subsequent day he said he was still run-down but improving. He usually experiences this sort of thing annually.

Davidson Academy, which had gone virtual with the high school before Thanksgiving is back to in-person classes now, so Nate and I went to school Monday morning. I filled out the daily health screening form in good conscience that I had not been around anyone who was COVID positive. Vicki texted me in the middle of second period to say that Ben had lost his senses of taste and smell and was going for a COVID test (not the rapid test). Nate and I left after I threw together some last minute sub plans for my remaining classes. On Tuesday Ben's test results came back positive. He is feeling pretty much back to himself, and his senses of taste and smell started returning today.

So here we are stuck at home for the duration. For those of you who have never seen our house, it is a comfortable size for a family of five under normal conditions, but the design is not really conducive for all of us to isolate from each other. The boys share the one climate controlled room upstairs, so Nate is hosed. On top of that, we only have the one bathroom, so it is inevitable that the infected among us have to come into the common parts of the house.

Ben is actually the luckiest of the five of us. He only has to isolate for 10 days from the onset of his symptoms. The nurse from Tennessee Tech gave him clearance to return to campus by Sunday. The rest of us have to isolate while Ben is here plus 10 days after his period of isolation ends, so through the 15th. Of course, if any of the rest of us develop symptoms then that whole clock is reset, extending our quarantine.

Before I neglect Nolan, he is having to quarantine as well as he spent the night here in the boys room last Tuesday ahead of our Thanksgiving meal. He has just started a new job. Fortunately, the rules dictate he is paid for his time off in isolation. What's very hard for him and Jenna is being apart. Jenna's quarantine will last longer than his because she lives in the same house with Ben, constantly pushing back her end date, where Nolan has a closer end date right now unless he or his parents develop symptoms. Jenna is trying to isolate even more to shorten that for herself per the instructions from her nursing professors.

While this is unpleasant for now, it will pass; hopefully sooner rather than later. It is, as I call it, the risk of living. I'd like to pass this time with some time together in the evenings as a break from the workday now that my home is once again my office and classroom. Alas, as much as we love each other, none of us really want to be together all the time under the same roof. At the risk of sounding callous, I am so thankful Mom is not still living through this. What a year 2020 has turned out to be!

Joe

She's Got a Ring!

Thanksgiving has come and gone. It has been a good one and I've enjoyed the break; now the Christmas decorations are up. Nate and I have chopped the leaves and what we didn't get the wind has blown away. The soybeans have been cut and the wheat has sprouted. It feels like we are officially on final approach to the end of the year.

The big news around here is that Nolan has popped the question! And Jenna said yes! We had celebrated our Thanksgiving on Wednesday since Nolan's grandparents are in and his family planned to have their dinner on Thursday. He had spent the night here Wednesday so he and Jenna took a walk on the farm before they left. Jackie, your farm, close to the TVA tower, was actually the scene of the proposal. I told Nolan it was very fitting for an aspiring electrician to propose marriage under a set of high voltage power lines.

Jenna was completely blindsided. This is hard to pull off because she hears everything and picks up on the subtlest of clues. She certainly knew the proposal was coming because they have been talking about it for a while now and had even discussed ring shopping. She had no idea that Nolan had met with us on Halloween and asked our blessing before proposing and that we had given him Mom's engagement ring then. Mom met Nolan a few times and liked him—though she said he looks "so young"—so Vicki and I felt like this would be a fitting way to bless them both and pass that heirloom on to Jenna. Mom's ring is too large for Jenna so they plan to have the diamond set in a new setting. Even so, when Vicki took the ring to the jeweler for cleaning he had high praise for the stone Dad picked out for Mom some 60 years ago.

Vicki's secret keeping was put to the test last weekend as she and Jenna traveled to West Virginia for the wedding of Jenna's best friend from high school, Maegan They had about 13 hours in the car together for Vicki to avoid that subject. They had a fun trip and said Maegan's wedding was beautiful.

So here we are on the backend of Thanksgiving. My daughter is engaged to a young man we think very highly of. No date has been set, but we are thinking the wedding will be after school starts next fall. I'll pass along the details as they are ironed out. Hopefully the pandemic craziness will have settled down long before then.

Joe

Being Thankful

 Well, here we are in the middle of November. I must say the trees seem to have hung on to their leaves a surprisingly long time this year. It's as if God is saying, I know you folks are having a rough year so let me give you a good, long look at all the beautiful colors my trees can put out. And around the farm the corn is in, the wheat has been sown, and the soybeans will be cut soon. Everything is beginning to look like it is buttoned up for the winter ahead.

I am most thankful that we've gotten 64 days of school in, however, our high school went virtual last Tuesday. We had been rocking along really well with only the occasional infection or exposure case that needed to be quarantined, but as COVID activity began to rise around the country a week or so ago we saw a similar uptick among our high school students as well. So, the decision was made to switch to virtual learning mode for grades 9-12 through the end of Thanksgiving break and then make a determination at that time whether to bring them back for in person classes for the last two weeks of the semester and mid-term exams. I'm still going in to work because I have two 8th grade classes that meet in person, but I sure miss Nate's company going to and from work, and Nate looked at me yesterday evening after three days of virtual classes and said, "I hate distance learning."

I really hope we can get back in school. From what I see most students just perform better with face-to-face instruction. I'm really wondering if one of the long-term affects of this pandemic will be a few years of high school graduates who will not be ready for the job market and will really struggle to succeed in college. Nate wondered to me if last Tuesday was his last day of high school on campus. I feel like it might be premature to say that, but I can see the possibility of us bouncing between in person and virtual classes through the winter months. We'll see how that story plays out.

Speaking of enjoying Nate's company on my commute, one morning as we were heading out the door Nate said, “Let's take my car today." I thought about that a moment and then said, "You need gas, don't you?" He replied with a grin.

As I reread what I have just written and think about this year with everything that has happened in the world it is so easy to be discouraged. We're less than two weeks away from Thanksgiving, which has become my favorite holiday, I think, because gratitude is a key to happiness. So please allow me, with all humility, list the things for which I m grateful.

• I enjoy a healthy relationship with my wife who shares the journey of this life with me and prays for me when I need it.
• Jenna is able to pursue a second degree which will help her minister to those who are hurting. Additionally, she has found Nolan whom she loves deeply and whom we all enjoy as well.
• Ben has chosen a major that seems to be a good fit for him and he has surrounded himself with good friends in college.
• Likewise, Nate is thriving in his senior year of high school and has good friends both at school and at church.
• And while I miss my mom, I am grateful I had her for as long as I did. She is free of the limitations brought on by age and pandemic and reunited with all those who went on before her.
• I am grateful that I have a job where I can touch lives. Hopefully I am serving God well in this capacity.

Since it is unlikely that I will write again until after Thanksgiving let me wish you a happy one now. You are another reason for my gratitude. Some of you reading this are still part of my life regularly right now, but many of you are not because of distance or schedule. Still, I am grateful for the people who have crossed my path, so happy Thanksgiving.

Joe

Setting His Pace

 Last week was fall break! It was good to have some time off and to have completed 40 days of school. Never before have I been so glad to see each day come to its end with normalcy. Fall weather is here, which we enjoy, and the leaves are starting to change colors.

I think some of the most exciting news around here happened at Nate's cross country meet on Monday evening of last week when he set a new personal record. It was a great day to run in and he completed the 5k course in 19:57, earning him the 19 Club distinction. He ran the same course again yesterday and got a time of 20:22. The three races before these were at the Wilson County Fairgrounds and the course there had been muddy due to recent rains. Several runners looked like they needed to be hosed off before being allowed in their cars to go home. Nate got some decent times at these meets in spite of the mud, humidity, and a sprained ankle. Nate has just a couple more heats in his season and we are looking forward to seeing what he can do in cooler weather.

Circling back to my comment about fall, this is the time when our farmers are curing their tobacco and picking their corn. The smell of a tobacco barn is the smell of home to me. Nolan, who had never been around this before, has become a fan. The other weekend Nolan and I meet Samuel Osborne over at one of his barns that has fire in it. Nolan quickly learned that the barns smell a lot better from a distance than they do from inside, but I think he was interested to see how the fires are built and how the curing process is done. We also looked around Will Ed's equipment and he got to see a combine up close for the first time.

Vicki and I had a little adventure Sunday before last (the 4th). We were getting ready for church when Vicki suggested we take a little road trip. We figured that since our pastor was preaching on divorce and remarriage we could miss that sermon. We wound up going to Smithville where we visited the cemetery where my mom's older sister, Helen, and her husband, JC, are buried. I had not been there since Aunt Helen’s funeral in 1980. And only in a small, rural town would I happen to run into my uncle’s first cousin there in the cemetery. From there we drove over to Burgess Falls State Park and did a little hiking, which we both enjoyed. It was a short little hike, the weather was perfect, and the falls were beautiful. Then we drove over to Cookeville for a quick visit with Ben and to check out the house he is living in. The house is an old barn that has been renovated and has a rambling layout. I can't see it being a good fit for a family, but it is perfect for a bunch of college boys. Ben is about 15 minutes from campus and out in the middle of the country with cows and chickens between him and the house next door. Speaking of Ben, it is so good to hear him talk about his classes with excitement. He also shared some pictures with us and it was nice to see him surrounded by good friends.

Jenna has finished her fourth term of school and moved right into the fifth. This term has a lot more clinical work in a couple of hospitals so while class time may be a little less, the clinical time is picking up. This will be her schedule until her Christmas break. She's a tired girl, but she is learning to balance life, class, study, and work which is good. It's really hard to believe that in six months we will be looking at graduations for both she and Nate.

Nate and I are back at school this week, and this is homecoming week at DA. I noticed several students who had been on voluntary distance learning have returned to campus and were visibly giddy with the excitement of being out of the house and reunited with friends. Given that our first quarter of school has been so successful we are attempting to do all the normal homecoming activities with masks and social distancing modifications. This may seem odd if you live in an area where COVID restrictions have not stepped down as much, and it may even seem a bit cavalier, but it is really good to see healing from the emotional toll the last six months have taken on our students. So far our cases at school, both actual infections and suspected exposures, have been few and infrequent. With care we can keep doing school and give our students a place to be students as much as possible. They need that. I’m certainly glad I can be part of it, because I need it.

Joe

Trying To Be Normal

It was on this day in 2003 that I published the first edition of the Swann Family News. My, how things have changed!

I am proud to report that we have completed 22 days of fairly normal school days! I am celebrating those small successes each day at dismissal. We have had a handful of people turn up COVID positive and they have quickly isolated themselves at home and switched to distance learning. So far we've done a good job of staying apart when possible and wearing masks when we can't do that. We had a few students test positive last week. They all play sports so as a precaution their teammates have had to isolate and switch to distance learning. So far there is no word of any additional infections.

I know the method of returning to school this year has been controversial across the country this year, but I can say that from where I sit and the students I observe they are really happy to get back to some sort of normalcy. I think they are resilient enough to handle brief interruptions to normal, but by and large the kids I work with seem to be happy and thankful to be doing school in person again. I do have a few students who returned to school this year as distance learners by family choice and most of them have dropped enough hints that it seems to me like they wish they weren't stuck at home.

I will say that this has been one of the most demanding and challenging beginnings of a school year that I can recall. I would not want to relive the last six weeks, and I hope the rest of the school year settles down. But I am glad to be able to serve our kids in this way. Appreciation goes a long way, and my students seem to appreciate the efforts made for them more than ever.

To pull this back to family news, Nate has an interesting schedule this year with AP English, AP Physics II, Art, AP Calculus, Senior Project, and Theater. As you know, he also runs cross country and his first meet was Tuesday which he ran in 22:15. Not a bad start to the season, especially since it was quite muddy, and he hopes to shave a considerable amount of time off this when he runs again on the 15th.

Ben is back in Cookeville. To hear him tell about and see the video tour of his living arrangement at the house he and his friends are renting; remembering my college living arrangement, I am envious. Each boy has their own bedroom. Then there's the common living areas that were large enough that Ben took a ping pong table with him. One of his housemates even brought a grill and a four-wheeler. Sounds like a great set up for a bunch of college students to me, and by the time they split their expenses it is much cheaper than living in the dorm.

More importantly than his bachelor pad are his studies. Ben decided to make another mid-course correction and changed his major to Manufacturing Engineering Technology. Now there's excitement in his voice when he talks about his classes, both the ones he is taking now and those he knows he will be taking in the future.

Jenna is over half way through her really tough term at school. She's been going to the hospital for experience one day a week and has had a couple of demanding patients. Fortunately she can still squeeze a few hours in at the coffee shop. And I would be remiss if I failed to mention that Nolan is doing well and has started his last year of school at Trevecca as a distance learner. Jenna and Nolan share a lot of their time between our house and his parents' house, and while I haven't voiced it I chuckle to myself when I wonder which weekend we have Nolan visitation.

We do have a changeup in our driveway. Vicki bought a 2017 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport back on August 5th. It has 31,000 miles and she wound up getting a good deal on it. We've driven older cars for so long that having a car that will connect to your phone beyond the aux cable is a new thing for us, but I think of all the bells and whistles the thing Vicki may be happiest about is that the car is red.

We wound up selling Jenna's Impala. It had over 117,000 miles on it—actually, the least of our fleet—and we had it a little over three years. Her friends at college were divided on whether to call it Frank or Fred so it wound up with the nickname "Frank-n-Fred" which almost seemed like a play on Frankenstein. So with Frank-n-Fred gone Jenna is driving the van. That way we still have a vehicle all five of us can travel in comfortably when we want to take a trip.

Not much else to report from here. As you drive around the tobacco barns are being fired so there's the aroma of smoke in the air. Pretty soon Steve Freeland will be setting up his pumpkin stand and Tommy Pinson will be cutting the corn across the road. Hard to believe two thirds of the year is gone.

Joe

Ready or Not, School Is Here

Well, here we are at the beginning of August and school starts on Thursday. Hard to believe we've already burned through summer break. Also hard to find normal when life seems to be saying it is anything but normal now.

I know the return to school is a patchwork of different strategies right now. Our school polled our parents at the beginning of July and right at half responded with 94% of those parents saying they wanted their kids to return to school this fall for face-to-face, or mask-to-mask instruction. The last time I looked at the numbers about 14% of our students plan to do distance learning with the rest planning to be on campus. Of course, a handful of infections or an executive order could change all of that in a moment, and if that happens we just switch to distance learning mode and keep rolling with our classes. And given that Nate is a student at DA this means that we will both have to quarantine from school if either of us suspect exposure. This is sort of like living in anticipation of a snow day all year long but without the bonus of having the unexpected day off that comes with it. It's going to be a year to remember.

I'm wondering what this is going to look like on many levels. First of all, I have unexpectedly discovered in all of this that I have a pretty serious anxiety issue with masks, both wearing one and seeing them on others. I won't go into the details here, but this is like finding myself stuck in an episode of the Twilight Zone or in a Stephen King movie and not being able to leave. I will be allowed, at present, to teach without a mask as long as I stay socially distant, but I am wondering how I am going to do looking at masked students in my classroom five periods a day.

Our Class of 2020 finally had their graduation back on the 23rd. After two cancellations, once the day before the event, they wound up having a drive-thru ceremony. Also, one of our very talented seniors wrote a musical that was supposed to be performed as our spring show. That got pushed back to July and she was allowed to have an in person performance for parents only. The good thing was the show was recorded and we were able to have a larger crowd come to see her production on the big screen at the Franklin Drive-In. So this is how Nate's senior year of high school will begin. Who knows what stories will be told about it over the next ten months? I think these kids in school right now will be affected in a way that we haven't seen since World War II.

Ben will move back to Cookeville in a couple of weeks. He and several friends in his Bible study group are renting a house just outside of town this year. He actually moved a load of furniture there today. Jenna has begun her fourth term (of seven) now and has returned to campus for clinicals and is able to go to some local hospitals for training now. This term is by far the busiest, and maybe the hardest, as it packs a 14 hour course load to be completed in nine weeks.

So that's the news from our house. It feels to me like it might be dull reading, but I'll take dull without complaint right now.

Joe

My Reading Plan

As we head into the second half of 2020 I will say that I hope this half is better than the first. If the year keeps its current trajectory I will not be sorry to see it go six months from now. So here's to hoping for an upswing.

I am happy to report that I have been able to return to a pastime that I used to enjoy, reading. I have always liked to read, but once the kids hit middle and high school and our schedule got crazy I rarely had time to read and only managed to squeeze in a book or two a year for the last ten years or so. I missed it but was too busy to miss it at the same time. Now in the last few months I've enjoyed picking up a book and reading some before going to sleep.

I am a slow reader. Always have been. I guess it comes from all the technical reading I have to do. So, I've never enjoyed reading books from a library because I feel like the due date is nipping at my heels from the moment I borrow the book. I do enjoy reading classic works, and since they are in the public domain the price for a digital copy can't be beat. Frankenstein was the first such book to catch my eye so I loaded it on my iPad and dove in. Certainly nothing like the movie, but a good read.

The next book to catch my attention was Treasure Island. I had read it before, but it was fun to tag along with Jim Hawkins on his hunt for buried treasure once again. And when that was done and I was trying to decide what to read next, that's when I thought about my old Authors card game.

My friends and I played this game a lot when we were kids. It was a good, quick game on a rainy or snowy day. Authors plays a lot like Go Fish. There are 44 cards in the deck representing 44 books written by 11 authors. Since Treasure Island was represented on one of these cards I decided to trust my next book to fate or random luck, so I drew a card—The House of the Seven Gables. Also a good story, but I spent half of the book wishing Hawthorne would get to the point. He was certainly not writing for a 21st Century attention span. Once I saw the Pyncheons to their happy ending I went back to my deck of cards and pulled another. This time it was The Pickwick Papers. Hawthorne may be long winded, but he ain't got nothing on Dickens. This book is a serial of 57 short stories about the misadventures of Samuel Pickwick and reads a little like a series of Monty Python sketches from almost two centuries ago.

As you can imagine, my reading plan has elicited a variety of responses from my family. Vicki thinks I am nuts, Jenna is curious to see what I will draw next, Ben just shakes his head, and Nate may be oblivious to the whole thing. I am currently halfway through Tales of a Traveler by Washington Irving, though I have paused that to read The Washingtons of Wessyngton Plantation which the kids gave me for Father's Day. I don't know if I will make it through the remaining 40 cards in the deck or not. I may have to draw the line on Shakespeare unless I can find his works in the NIV. And when school starts back, and if we have to go back to distance learning, that will put a kabash on the whole thing.

On a different note, our regular mid-summer activities have all been canceled this year. There was no Trash and Treasures in Cross Plains last weekend and there will be no Threshermen's Show in Adams two weeks from now. I have written about our annual Kilgore Remembrance Ceremony that we have each Fourth of July morning. We decided to cancel the in-person event and pre-record a ceremony to be posted online tomorrow morning. So, if you've never been able to attend our Kilgore Remembrance Ceremony you can find it online at the link below any time after 6:00 am CDT tomorrow morning. The video is 20 minutes long and if you watch it I hope it sets the tone for your Independence Day celebration.

https://www.facebook.com/Cross.Plains.TN/

Joe

Milestones

I think it is appropriate that the 600th edition of the Swann Family News fell at this time. This is not only a milestone for this publication, but it marks a couple of other milestones or transitions as well.

Thinking about this publication first, when I began writing this back in September 2003 Jenna was starting kindergarten. This fall Nate will start his senior year in high school. It was big news when the kids got the battery powered car one Christmas and would drive it across the field to Pauline's house to visit her. Now they all have their driver's licenses. For the last 22 years our house has been the hub of activity with 3 growing kids under our roof. Unless the pandemic drags on, this coming school year will likely be the last we have kids at home.

Mom's passing has marked a change as well. Not only are all four of our parents gone, between the two of us only my Aunt Linda remains of the generation ahead of us in our family. I certainly don't mean to discount our family that we still have, but what is really odd right now, in this moment, is the feeling of exposure. Here's what I mean.

When you're young you have the generations above you. They love you. They care for you. They pray for you. When you grow up and begin to have children of your own you are sandwiched between generations. It is your job to love, care for, and pray for your children, but at the same time there's great comfort in the fact that most of the people ahead of you are still there, still part of your life, still loving you, still praying for you. But as time marches on, those before you reach the end of their journeys and are gathered to their people. While I take great comfort in the fact that God is the God of the living and has defeated death, the simple fact is that Mom, Aunt Mar, Pauline, and many others are not living here anymore. I feel exposed.

I knew this was coming. I had anticipated the feeling. But feeling it now that it's here is altogether different. Hopefully my kids will have years to rest secure in the fact that Vicki and I are there for them, loving them, praying for them.

Another milestone is that Vicki and I have now celebrated 26 years of marriage. I can certainly think of many things I could have done better over the years, but it has been very good. Now that the kids are about out of the house maybe I can focus more on those things about myself that I need to improve, never an easy task.

Vicki and I celebrated with a weekend trip to Memphis. We had originally planned to meet Jim and Dianna in New York City last weekend, but shortly after making our travel plans the pandemic made us change our mind about visiting the Big Apple. Our new Tennessee itinerary included seeing the Casey Jones Museum in Jackson, Graceland, the duck march at the Peabody Hotel, Beale Street, the Rock 'n Soul Museum, a tour of Sun Studio, and shopping at the unbelievably large Bass Pro Shop in the Pyramid. We took a bus tour of the city and our driver, Michelle, was fun and informative. Then there was the food as Memphis is known for barbecue and catfish. This was especially nice for Vicki who has done a lot more cooking the last few months.

We hated to see the tourism industry suffer so much while there, but from our perspective it was nice to be at Graceland when they were at 10% capacity. Our tour guide at Sun Studio told us they normally run tours of 40 people every 20 minutes; now they hope to have 40 people a day. At any rate, we had a nice change of pace for and scenery our anniversary.

On our way home we stopped and visited college friends, Jonathan and Sheila, who were in town for a funeral. Jonathan's father, who was a year older than my mom, passed away fairly suddenly. We were joined by another college friend, Ginger. This is not the case for Vicki, but I had not seen any of these folks in at least 15 years, and I think longer, so it was a nice visit.

So now we're back home. On the one hand we are back to our routine of work and school. But on the other hand, as I begin to close out Mom's business and move forward, I am adjusting to the new normal. Vicki and I are the elder generation in our immediate family now and that's just odd. Whatever lies ahead, I will, for now, keep track of it here.

Joe

Affirmation

This is, in nearly 600 issues of my writings, a first. Kenny reached out Monday and asked if I would allow him to contribute the Swann Family News. Kenny has stood by me all my life. We were best men for each other at our weddings. Funny that we live only a mile apart but can go a few weeks without seeing each other, but even so, we are there for each other when needed. Kenny and I have the wonderful ability to love each other whether we agree about an issue or not, and that is something that I treasure. With that said, words from Kenny Swann.

Joe

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Joe has very graciously allowed me to make a guest contribution to the Swann Family News.

With the passing of Aunt Anne our world has changed. It is a good time to take note of our responsibility to each other to continue and to remember. Both Joe and Vicki have now lost the tie that binds. And as life would have it, they both have now become the tie that binds to the next generation. Soon enough we will all fill that role and it becomes important that we pass along the history that makes us family.

Joe has and will continue to do this with his newsletter. I know that you, like I, look forward to it. It’s a neat thing that he did when he started doing this. He did a wonderful job with his eulogy. He did much the same for Aunt Margarette. His eulogy got me to thinking what a truly unique individual he is. Joe has a story unlike anyone that I know. We all knew and loved Aunt Margarette and Aunt Anne but let’s be honest, they were about as equipped to raise a young man as I am to do surgery. There is certainly a chance that I might perform a successful surgery but it would be messy and mistakes would surely be made. But Joe was theirs and they both gave it their all. If I was a betting man I would have put good money on Joe turning out to be spoiled or self centered or overly sensitive or a nun or a serial killer. But Joe is a remarkable man. He has perspective and insight. A subtle sense of humor and kind heart. He cares deeply and especially about the people that he calls family. He is a good Husband, Father, Teacher, Christian and Friend. It is obvious a lot of this is because of the love and nurturing he received as a child.

Vicki has also played a large part in this. She has completed what Aunt Margarette and Aunt Anne started. Together they have built a home and a family. Joe did good! Vicki did better. Joe had to have been a project!

So I tell you all of this to tell you one important thing—LOVE WINS!

Love wins when the odds are long. Love wins when you are ill equipped. Love wins when the road is long and uphill.

When we continue to tell our family story as we MUST do for it to survive. Let’s remember the reason to tell it—LOVE WINS!

Kenny

A Life Well Lived

I think the Swann Family News is something like a photo album. In this album I put word pictures of what goes on in life, but I want to remember the good times, the happy times. Sometimes, though, you just have to record a sad time. These times are just part of life. They come to everyone. We are having one now. My mom passed away last Thursday. We buried her yesterday. Obviously a lot has happened since I last wrote on Mother's Day so I'll try to sum it all up.

We celebrated Mom's 92nd birthday on the Tuesday after Mother's Day (the 12th). We couldn't have a face to face visit, of course, but we were able to gather outside of one of the large windows with her on the other side and talk over the phone while seeing each other. She looked like she really enjoyed that and told us she was having a good day.

As we were leaving I was on the phone with the administrator of her assisted living facility and learned that one of their residents had suffered a stroke several days earlier and in the hospital and tested positive for COVID-19. This news was requiring them to test everyone at the facility for the virus and begin in-room isolation that evening. When the results came back a couple of days later 13 of the 20 residents and 5 staff members tested positive. Mom was one of those with the virus. They would be tested again in two weeks.

So, Mom spent the last two weeks of her life confined to her room. The only people she saw from then on were wearing masks and gloves at a minimum. She was asymptomatic the whole time. She told us she felt fine the whole time. They checked on her every two hours around the clock and all reports we got were that her vitals were consistently good. She complained to me once or twice that she had eaten too much, but that was it.

On Memorial Day weekend we decided to travel to Virginia to visit the Jones family. Mom was doing well and was excited for us to go. There certainly wasn't anything we could do for her here.

All my conversations with Mom have been good ones. She would be confused at times, that was normal. Then you add being stuck in your room, disturbed every two hours day and night to have your vitals checked, and lack of daily routine, and her confusion was very understandable. But we had good conversations.

The last time I talked to Mom was last Tuesday (the 26) as I was driving to school. I tried to call her later in the day but her line was busy. I just figured she had forgotten to hang up her phone, but I later learned she called a lot of people and had really good conversations with them.

I tried to call Mom again Wednesday morning. This time there was no answer. That was very odd. After a second attempt I called the facility's main line. They told me Mom was not feeling well. She didn't want to get up and dress for the day. Her vitals were good, except that her oxygen was a little low. Mom never answered her phone that day, and as I checked with the staff her condition remained unchanged. Incidentally, Mom was retested for COVID-19 on Tuesday and they reported to me Wednesday that her results were negative this time.

Late Wednesday night Mom began complaining of chest pains. They said she also felt cold and clammy so she was sent to the hospital by ambulance. Due to the no visitor restrictions it was pointless for us to leave the house, but the ER staff were really good to keep us informed. At 12:30 Thursday morning the doctor told me that her blood pressure was low. He would try some medication to raise it, but if she didn't respond he would abide by her written wishes for comfort measures. As Mom's power of attorney, I agreed.

The doctor called back at 2:50 to tell me she had passed. He told me the medication only raised her blood pressure slightly and that they were able to tell her of her condition and ask her what she wanted done. She told them she wanted to be comfortable. A nurse named Ashlyn was with her in her final moments. As hard as it was to not be there, we are so thankful she had less than 24 hours of feeling bad.

So Mom's earthly story ends here. Her cause of death is listed as COVID-19, and I'm sure fighting that virus played a role, but in my layman's opinion Mom's congestive heart failure finally got the best of her. The details and timing are a surprise, but nothing here was unexpected.

Restrictions on funerals and other small gatherings are easing here in Tennessee right now, so after prayer and discussion we decided to make the following arrangements. We would have a private viewing with close relatives on Saturday afternoon. It was the first time I had seen her without anything between us since March 11. She looked good. As Vicki said, death made her look 15 years younger.

Yesterday afternoon we had a drive-by visitation in our church parking lot. We stood with Mom's casket under the portico and we had a steady stream of cars for the 90 minutes we allotted. After that we had a funeral service inside the church. It was open to all those who wanted to come, and there were about 100 there sitting in little clumps here and there around the sanctuary. We also live-streamed the service on Facebook and I know many more joined us that way. If you would like to watch it the service has been posted to our church YouTube channel and you can find it at the link below. It begins with a slideshow of 60 pictures which loops for over 10 minutes until the service starts.

https://youtu.be/GAY88S881TE

I gave a eulogy (see below) which was one of the hardest things I've done, but maybe also one of the best things I've done in this moment. I want to thank everyone who has prayed for my mom and for us. We have felt God's presence the whole time.

Joe

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Thursday morning my mom joined the multitude of people who make up the COVID-19 related fatalities statistic, and I want you to know up front that it was very hard to know the proper course to take in celebrating her life. So however you have joined us today—whether in person, by watching the live-stream, or catching the recording later—we are honored and we thank you.

You are all well aware that at 92 my mom had all the issues of aging that come with the territory. The comforting thing for us is that we have had ample time to be ready, and more importantly, the assurance of her future once her journey on this earth was complete. To apply an idea that King David wrote about in Psalm 139, even before August 1927 when my mom was beginning to be knitted together inside her mother's womb, all of her days were ordained by our Creator. She, like all of us, had a part to play in our King's epic story of human history. And while the date, time, and manner of her passing from this life may have caught us by surprise, the details were fully known to the Author of Life from the beginning because he is writing the story.

The beautiful mystery of all this is that while we are all written into God's epic story, we are all allowed to write our individual stories, to play our part, however we wish. And though we may doubt this, there are no bit parts or two dimensional characters. How important it is to play our role in concert with our King! How amazing it is that our King would remove His crown and personally step into His epic story to show us how to live out our stories. My mom did her very best to write her story well. You are here today because her story touched your story, because she walked beside of you in life. And let me say that she carried each of you close in her heart.

I'd like to take this moment to tell how her story impacted my story. Being her only child I have a unique perspective on that. Mom was the second of three daughters born to Jerry and Nellie Denning. She made her debut in this world on May 12, 1928, in Orlinda. Her older sister, Helen, was two at the time. Little did anyone know then how much struggle would be part of her family as she grew up.

When Mom's younger sister, Linda, was born a couple of years later everyone in the house was sick. Three weeks later their mother, Nellie, passed away. All of the sudden Jerry found himself a single father of three young girls. The family quickly decided that baby Linda would be raised by Nellie's parents, Jim and Lizzie Hancock, here in our community, while Jerry's mother, Amanda Denning, would move in to help him with Helen and my mom. Granny Denning, as my mom knew her, was in poor health herself and used a wheelchair much of the time.

My mom grew up in the Great Depression and times were hard for everyone. Jerry lost his job and eked out a living as a share-cropper for several years before getting the opportunity to do assembly line work in Detroit in 1943. When he moved—and this was just after Mom finished her freshman year at Orlinda High School—Mom stayed behind with the Hancocks and her sister, Linda.

Mom graduated from Cross Plains High School in 1946. She was the valedictorian of her class. She really wanted to attend a four year university but only got the chance to enroll in what we would think of as a vocational program for secretarial work at Nashville Business College. She never got to complete her course of study, which she felt bad about, because of a job opportunity with Nashville Sash and Door Company that was too good to pass up. She worked for Nashville Sash for about 17 years—quitting just before I was born.

My parents began to date some time in 1947. Dad was almost 11 years older than mom. Their courtship lasted a long time, but they finally got married in 1958. As I understand it, they enjoyed a wonderful marriage, and I came along in 1966. Unfortunately, my dad suffered from heart disease. He had his third heart attack, I believe it was, in 1967. He died in December of that year.

So, at the age of 39, my mom found herself in a similar position as her father before her. She was widowed, the motherless daughter was now the single mom of a fatherless son. She made hard decisions in moving forward. Knowing I would be her only child she decided to move in with her aunt and uncle and try to be a stay at home mom. Just a few years later Uncle George would pass away due to pancreatic cancer and our family was Mom, Aunt Margarette, and me.

My mom was a wonderful mother. She wasn't all that domestic, her talents were more apparent in the office than in the kitchen, but she could slap together a mean peanut butter sandwich! She was more motivated to cook if it was a dessert.

She always loved me. Always made sure I had everything I needed, and made great sacrifices to do so. Mom was a very giving person, as many of you know. It was wonderful to be her son on Christmas morning! One of the best memories I have of my mom is her reading to me when I was sick. Due to my allergies I was sick a lot as a boy, so we went on many adventures together in too many books to remember.

One of the greatest blessings that came my mom's way was the opportunity to be the secretary here at church in 1982. She had been working at Hancock's Loose Floor, which she enjoyed, but it was seasonal. The job here at church was not only year around, it also offered her the opportunity for ministry. This allowed me to see Miss Anne, and not just my mom. This job had a full plate of responsibilities. She was the receptionist, secretary for Bro. Bill, bookkeeper, and graphic artist for the worship folder as well as the newsletter that was mailed out to the entire church membership weekly, all rolled into one. She was also a friend and counselor to many. She was never too busy, there was never a deadline so pressing, that took precedence over her stopping to listen whenever someone called or dropped in. As Amy Jennings noted on Facebook regarding Mom's concern for others, "their problems were her problems."

And Bro. Bill, I really don’t know how to characterize your relationship with my mom: pastor/member, boss/secretary, fast friends. However you want to describe it, it was special and she loves you. She always, no matter what, had your back.

Mom retired as our church secretary in 2007, but she invested her life in everyone around her in many other ways as well. She led the GAs, a girls missions organization here at church, for years. She was active in her WMU circle. She taught Sunday school. She sang in the choir. There were the countless notes and cards she sent when people were sick, hurting, or just needed an encouraging word. And then there was the phone. There’s no telling how many hours of her life she spent calling to check up on people, to touch base, to share life, happy or sad. She was all about serving our Lord here in this place among this body of believers.

My mom, as I mentioned, was a very generous person. Giving to others was not only the way she expressed her love, it was how she served others. I think she would be appalled if I were to speak to this more, but let me say I have heard countless stories over the years of how she blessed others through her generosity. After cleaning out her house and skimming over years of bank statements and canceled checks, I am humbled, astonished, and I don't know how she did it.

I think one of the truly most incredible acts of selfless service I've ever witnessed was watching my mom as she took care of our Aunt Margarette during the last years of her life. We were hoping after Aunt Mar passed away in 2012 that Mom would have several years to be active, but her story did not play out that way. A broken ankle, mouth cancer, a stroke, a heart attack, and a broken hip all robbed her of strength. And this is in addition to slew of other health issues, including breast cancer and cancer on her nose, that plagued from her 40s onward. In spite of these setbacks she did not give up. She had living to do.

It was not easy for her to leave her home and move to assisted living, but she settled in and made herself part of the community whether for a church service, exercise class, or games. We are so grateful for all the love, care, and community she received at each place she lived since leaving her home. And when, in spite of all the precautions, this virus forced her to in-room isolation she made the best of it. In addition to connecting many people by phone she decided to read the Bible through one more time. I know she was somewhere in Psalms last weekend.

These memories barely scratch the surface of who my mom was. What a wonderful legacy to leave, what a tough act to follow. My mom loved her God and was faithful to serve him all her days. My mom loved all of you and counted each of you as special. Donna, Mom was especially grateful for how you loved and cared for her and she loves you. Russ, she was so proud that are are serving among us here now. She loves you. If she were here today, she would always have your back.

Aunt Linda, we are so glad you can join us today from Florida. As you know, you are so special to Mom and she loves you. Amanda, you know there’s a joyful reunion with your mom, your grandmother, and my mom right now. All of you in my family—the Cotters, Dees, Hancocks, Swanns, Yerglers—she adores you.

Vicki, my mom loves you and was always proud to have you as her daughter-in-law. And Jenna, Ben, and Nate, the three of you were a joy to her. She always wanted to know what was going on in each of your lives, interested in the smallest details. She did not play favorites, but made sure, even when talking to me on the phone, to relay her love for you individually, never as a group of grandkids. She loves you deeply.

My mom was a woman of prayer. She always prayed for me and my family. But I want each of you hearing me now to know that she always prayed for you, many times by name. Be assured that even though her walk among us is finished her prayers for us, all of us, continue.

Ending the School Year

Happy Mother's Day to all mothers reading this!

Here's another edition to the annals of our family, though I'm not sure there's a whole lot to report. Tennessee may be among the first states to allow businesses to gradually reopen, but that hasn't really changed things much for us. No one, for example, can get an appointment to get their hair cut right now since after two months of hair growth everyone needs it. Ben, I think, is just going to let his grow out.

We celebrated Jenna's 22nd birthday right after I wrote last. That, at least, was pretty normal with a family meal and dessert of her choice. Nolan came and spent the day with her as well.

Speaking of birthdays, Mom will celebrate 92 years on Tuesday. We hope to be able to see her through the window where she is, but have no idea when we will be able to visit her in person. To her credit, she has been upbeat and positive just about every time we've spoken on the phone. I think there have been two occasions where she was not, so that's not bad. I am glad she is not confined to her room as I understand residents in some facilities are.

The 19-20 school year is drawing to a close for most of us. Well, it has ended for Ben when he finished his finals last week. No word on his grades yet. He plans to take a linear algebra course over the summer as well as start a summer job on Tuesday. He will be working at the Marysville Marine warehouse in White House this summer. This facility is a boat part supplier. Given that boating is a natural for social distancing this activity may be one of the least impacted recreational activities of all.

Nate and I have one more week of classes. Nate actually finished his Dual Enrollment US History class last week and came down after the final with a big grin on his face. I know he will be glad to finish the rest of his courses up too. I, for one, am glad to have a break from all the intensive lesson planning. At least I have contingency plans if this ever happens again. I'm actually going to have to start going in to work soon as our students will be turning in their computers and textbooks for the summer.

Jenna is rocking right on in her program. Her second term will end May 21. She's been having to do her clinical work here at home with an instructor watching via Zoom. Vicki and Ben have both been willing patients. We jokingly told Nate he would need to help her with the prostate exam. He was pretty grossed out when we explained what that was, but was halfway willing to do it for his sister (he was going to put it to a coin toss). Union University is currently planning for their nursing students to return to campus for class on July 21.

I want to close by celebrating two milestones that will not get the recognition they deserve now. Had things been normal we would have celebrated Jenna's graduation from Trevecca University last weekend, though a shorter virtual ceremony is scheduled for next Saturday. And this weekend Vicki and the boys were supposed to fly to Orlando to watch our nephew, Zachary, graduate from Full Sail University. I am proud of Zachary for his accomplishment and hope he can find a job quickly in spite of all the current uncertainty.

Joe

Life in Lockdown

If you had told me back at Christmas that by Easter our churches would be empty and everyone would willingly stay home I would have thought you were crazy. Yet last Sunday we found ourselves sitting in the living room once again watching our service on TV, streamed in via Facebook, and we took Communion with grape juice and crackers we had on hand.

So here we are about a month into lockdown or self-isolation or quarantine or whatever history will choose to call this. I walk on the farm to get some exercise and clear my head when it's not too muddy. It's so strange to look up and not see the contrail of a jet racing high above or catch a glimpse of an airliner coming in to BNA from Chicago or other points in the Mid-West. It's eerily like the days after 9/11 except that I hear the engine of a private plane every now and then.

This is an overstatement, but I've joked saying that I have burned more gas in the mower than in the truck these last few weeks. And then the other week I was putting clean clothes away and noticed I could hardly squeeze them into my closet. That's when it dawned on me that a third of my work clothes that are normally in the laundry cycle are all clean now. Hey, at least I get to teach in shorts every day!

Distance learning is in full swing at our house. We were forced to switch to a different Internet service provider back in August. I griped about it then only because we had to scramble to switch over to a new service that I had no time to research as I would have liked. Some eight months later I'm thankful that played out like it did. Given that the three kids and I have the potential to be on separate Zoom meetings simultaneously I am convinced our old service didn't have the bandwidth or reliability to handle that sort of traffic. This is just one example I could cite where God has handled details months ahead of time that never even occurred to me to pray about.

I would say overall things have gone pretty smoothly. Our school seems to have adapted to this pretty well, but I know students are tired of being stuck at home and want to come to school to see their friends. I am too. As for me, I've struggled with lesson planning. Just about everything I do in my classes is hands-on, requiring tools and equipment that are only available at school, so rewriting my plans to attempt to cover the same or similar concepts has been a huge and challenging undertaking. It has been hard not to get discouraged when I thought I had a pretty good curriculum developed at the beginning of this school year.

I think the hardest thing for me is this. As an adult I have to bring my work home sometimes, but I try very, very hard to keep work at work and personal life away from work. Over the years I have developed the skill of mentally switching work on and off as I walk into the building in the morning and back out to the truck in the afternoon. Now that line that I've worked so hard to maintain is completely gone and I feel like I'm never away from the office, or classroom in my case.

To put my woes into perspective, my former colleagues with Robertson County Schools (total enrollment around 11,500) have been focusing on delivering meals, breakfast and lunch, by school bus to about 4500 economically disadvantaged students. So far they've served about 80,000 meals and counting since all this started.

Vicki and Jenna are still going in to work. Jenna is surprisingly busy at the coffee shop. Vicki is busy as well. She does the majority of her work over the computer or by phone. Occasionally a client will drop by, but those visits have stopped now.

Mom is well. We have not been able to visit her in a month now, but at least she has not been confined to her room all this time. Even though they are practicing social distancing where she lives she is still able to see her neighbors, play games like Bingo, and go out on the porch, weather permitting. She has sounded chipper just about every time we've talked on the phone. I know it will be a happy day for her when she does finally see us walk through her door.

So, we're looking forward to the day that we can regain some normalcy, hopefully that's sooner rather than later. And most of all, I hope the normal we knew before is not forever lost, but I'm afraid the scars from this event will run deeper than the ones from 9/11. It may very well be the pre-coronavirus world I describe to my grandchildren someday is as hard for them to imagine as the tales Aunt Mar used to tell me of growing up a century ago when few had electricity or indoor plumbing.

Joe

Surreal Adjustments

I started composing this while sitting at a vacation home we rented through VRBO that is situated along the banks of the Tennessee River near Whitwell, Tennessee, which is in the Chattanooga area. We had originally planned to come here over part of our spring break to do some of the touristy things that we'd never taken the time to do before. For example, I've driven by barns proclaiming "See Rock City" all my life but have never actually seen Rock City. Of course, all those attractions are closed at present.

We really struggled with whether to make the trip or stay home given how the whole country is shutting down to try to curb the spread of COVID-19. Who would have thought back at the first of the year that the term "social distancing" would be coined before the end of winter? Heck, even the week before last we were having a hard time wrapping our minds around what was going on. Vicki said it well then when she commented that she felt like she was living inside the Chicken Little story. Much of this is because our news media has completely destroyed their credibility, with me at least, that they will report the news factually, accurately, fairly, and without mixing in opinion and editorial. I really miss Walter Cronkite.

So why did we opt to drive nearly three hours from home and have our vacation? Well, it adds up like this: We had already paid for the house and could not get a refund, though to be fair, we were upgraded to a larger house. We could pack all the food we needed except for perishables, so mixing with others in public would be a bare minimum and no more than what we'd be doing at home anyway. We have a whole library of games available to keep us entertained, and if we did go out it would be to an outdoor park. It afforded us a different set of walls to look at for a few days. And given the uncertainty of the future, we may be cancelling our summer travel plans, so this might be it for a while.

Considering all of that we loaded up and headed out Thursday. Jenna left a little early to say a premature goodbye to college friends at Trevecca that she may not see again for a long time. Trevecca has postponed their commencement so she doesn't know if everyone graduating with her will be able to return to Nashville when it is rescheduled. Then she and Nolan got on the road to meet us at our destination.

The six of us really enjoyed our time away and with each other. We really didn't do any differently than we have done the last two or three fall or spring break getaways. It was just nice to be away in a different setting.

Now that we're back home we are gearing up for doing school at home. Both Jenna and Ben will resume their classes online next week. Nate and I will ease into online classes this week with us hitting full stride next week. This is a major task for Davidson Academy to try to pull off for all grades from pre-kindergarten through the twelfth grade, especially when we're not truly set up to do that. After sitting through all the last minute trainings for this I am really impressed by the planning our administrators have put into this effort. It has been quite a feat to completely switch from face to face instruction to online instruction in a week's time. Tennessee Governor Bill Lee has said that all schools in Tennessee should remain closed through April 24. Of course, this could be extended, but I hope for the sake of our seniors they get to finish their senior year back in class as normal.

Mom is doing well. Jenna was the last one of us to be able to visit her, and that was back on the 14th. There's no telling when we will get to see her again. We keep her posted on what is going on, and I know she has watched the news some, but still, it's hard for her to fully wrap her mind around how abnormal things are when her world is confined to the facility where she lives.

I never in my wildest dreams would have guessed that I would have been writing this sort of news in my newsletter; not this year, not ever. I'm sure you share our prayer that this ends sooner rather than later. We certainly hope that cabin fever is the worst ailment you face as this all plays out.

Joe

Big Storms and Little Bugs

I don't often mention larger events here because this is about our family, not a commentary of current events. But now is a time for an exception.

First of all, we were not directly affected by the tornadoes that tore through Middle Tennessee last week. We actually slept through the whole thing here. Well, Jenna and I both woke up hearing light hail and strong winds, but since there were no weather alerts on our phones we didn't think it was anything beyond a normal storm. We had no idea about the devastation that was happening some 30 miles to our south.

On the other hand, Ben and all the other residents at Tennessee Tech were awakened around 2:00 am and moved to the lowest floors of their dorms for about an hour and allowed to return to bed when the storm passed. Little did they know that some residential areas just a few miles north of campus were being decimated by an EF-4 twister that took most of the lives lost here in Tennessee that night.

I won't go into other details here since they have been so well covered by the news. Davidson Academy itself was not affected, but there were several schools in Nashville that were and will not be able to reopen any time soon. Some of the public schools are doubling up, allowing the hosting school to have classes one half of the day and the students from the damaged school to hold their classes the other half. Donelson Christian Academy, a cross town sports rival of ours, isn't so lucky and I'm not sure what they plan to do. Of course, concerns about the Coronavirus may make all that a moot point anyway. We did have a handful of DA families affected by the storm, but for the most part our students, like us, live outside of that storm's path.

We do have some good natured banter with our cousins, the Cotters, about whether it's better to live in Florida or Tennessee. They've said before that they don't know how we can live with the threat of tornadoes. I have always maintained, and still do, that they have hurricane season for half the year and that I'd much rather take my chances with a scalpel over a sledge hammer any day. Besides, we have winter, spring, summer and fall. They only have a long tourist season and a short off season.

Of course, the COVID-19 virus is currently a major concern around the country. While I certainly want us to be careful and do all we can to keep this from spreading in a big way, I am also saddened by the hysteria that is coming with it. People are doing the craziest things in order to be safe. Nate and I were in Walmart today and the toilet paper, of all things, is completely sold out. Now Facebook Marketplace seems to have become a black market for this household necessity. Really people!

To get back to how this is affecting us, all universities seem to be switching to online classes only and even closing their dorms. Jenna's nursing classes are no different with no decision yet as to how they will do labs that require hands on participation. Ben's spring break is next week and has been extended to two weeks, and his mission trip was canceled. His classes will resume in online mode when their break is over, so he has at least three weeks here at home. Davidson Academy's spring break is next week as well. We are closed tomorrow to wipe down the school and have been told to prepare to do our classes online after the break is over. Many of our public school systems are announcing that they will be closed until April 10 or so. DA is just not playing that card right now. With four of us working from home for the immediate future I hope our internet service can handle it.

So, interesting times to be sure. Hopefully this is no more than the major news incident of 2020, though at this point in time with churches switching to streaming services only, travel bans, event cancellations, and even Disney and Universal announcing that their theme parks will be closed through the end of the month one can't help but wonder now if this outbreak will forever alter our way of life. Lots of unknowns to be sure. Some of our seniors left school today wondering if this was their last day of high school.

Wishing you all health,

Joe

Happy Leap Day!

Happy Leap Day! Given the rarity of this occasion I felt it necessary to save this edition until now if, for no better reason, the sheer novelty of using the date, February 29. One of Nate's good friends at school, Austin, is having his Eagle Scout Court of Honor this afternoon. Austin's mother is also a teacher at DA and today happens to be her birthday. She is, of course, getting grief for having a son who has celebrated more birthdays than she has.

February has been a fairly quiet month for us. We did get a couple of days off from school, but for the flu, not snow. What snow we have seen here has barely covered the ground. We have seen a lot of rain which messed with our septic system for a couple of days.

Jenna has settled into a routine in nursing school. This being an accelerated program of study she is already nearing the end of her first set of courses and will have a new schedule after her spring break. She has also gone back to work at Historic Perk. I think she's been a little surprised how much she spends on gas now that she's commuting to Hendersonville three days a week.

Ben seems to be having a good semester at Tech. He's been home a couple of times this month. I think he's ready to get the general education classes behind him which I completely understand. It seemed like graduation all over again when I got all those classes behind me and college quit feeling like an unwanted extension of high school.

Nate is having a good semester this spring. I've enjoyed having him in class with me this year which is the last opportunity for this to happen. He and Vicki went to a college planning workshop Monday evening and I think it hit him hard then that now it the time to start seriously looking at colleges he would want to apply to.

Vicki flew to Richmond, Virginia, last weekend. Our nephew, Cameron, graduated from Police Academy so she went to celebrate his accomplishment and spend a little time with her brother and family. She said the graduation and reception were all very nice and highlighted all the hard work Cameron and his fellow cadets put in during their training. He's the first of Jessie and Pauline's grandchildren to hit the work force and I know they would be proud of him as he serves and protects his community now that he is out on patrol. Cameron, we are all proud of you as well.

As for me, I've had the chance to get back behind the sound board at church after a ten year hiatus. Our old analog board has been upgraded to a new digital board which presented something of a learning curve, however, I am proud to say that I've mixed sound for two services with no feedback or missed cues. It has also been nice to pick up some projects that I've been putting off for years because I never had the time. One of these has been digitizing some old journals I used to keep before I started the newsletter. It's been quite interesting to read some of the things Jenna used to say when she was a year old.

So that's the news from our house. Pretty routine, maybe even boring, but for that I am grateful.

Joe

January: Where'd It Go?

I think for a 31 day month January must be the fastest month in the year. I'm always surprised how quickly the end of each January arrives. It's like the new year is no longer the infant we pictured it to be just a few weeks ago.

Nate had a fantastic time in New York and came home telling of several adventures he and his friends had on the trip. This is the class trip DA makes available for the juniors each year and it is the most popular class trip (well, maybe second to the sixth grade trip to Disney World). The teachers who chaperoned told me this was one of the best groups they had taken.

I can now say the Christmas break is over for all of us. Vicki and I were the first to go back to work after we returned from Florida. Nate and I are in our fourth week of classes already, Ben went back to school last week, and Jenna has begun her nursing studies this week. I'm glad for her that she had the longest time off. This allowed her to go back to Trevecca and visit most of her friends who are still there, many of whom have this last semester before they graduate. (By the way, Jenna's graduation ceremony is in May.) Still, I think she is more than ready to get on with it. She has already impressed me as being far more studious than I ever was. Hopefully I was better about that than I remember.

I recently ran across a bunch of cassette tapes, many of which came from Mom's house. Since we didn't have a home movie camera and camcorders were years from hitting the consumer market these tapes are my equivalent to the home movies we have of our kids. Most are labeled, but not all, so I am listening to them to find out what's on them. Some are of me, some of a Bible teacher (Venita Whittemore) whose class Mom used to attend, and some of church services.

I ran across one tape the other day of me and Brent Freeland as we were playing one day. I remember the details clearly, but to be brief, Brent and I were pretending to be co-captains (neither of us wanted to outrank the other) of a submersible that was diving deep for sunken treasure. We went on for 18 minutes telling this tale of our collecting treasure from the bottom of the ocean complete with sound effects. We had a fire onboard and had to do an emergency surfacing. Our imaginations from that day completely amazed me as I listened to the tape. All this was made up from playing with a little Cartesian diver toy (Sea Diver by Parker Bros.) I had. My kids had active imaginations growing up, but I don't recall them playing and making up tales quite like this, but as I recall, this was normal for us when we were kids.

To change the subject before bringing this to a close, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of Pauline's passing. So hard to believe it has been that long. We certainly miss her very much. Vicki's post on Facebook yesterday really spoke to my heart.

Mama’s been gone for 10 years now. It’s odd how time seems to fold over on itself...sometimes it feels like a long time and sometimes it feels like yesterday. Today I remember her and I’m glad to have had the privilege of being her daughter. I wish she could’ve been here longer so her grandkids would have had more time to know her. She was good and kind and enjoyed just being around everyone in her quiet way. She also had a knack for knowing how to love each person she knew the way they needed to be loved. She is missed and I shed just a few tears... per her instructions to cry for just a little while. Her life’s ripples continue. [Heart emoji]

Well said, Vicki. I miss you, Pauline.

Joe

Holiday Adventure

Happy New Year! Christmas has come and gone and all of our decorations are boxed away. Only the snowmen decorations remain to celebrate winter.

We have had a nice Christmas. As I mentioned last time, brunch was moved to Morgan's house and we had a wonderful time. Mom was able to go to that and we spent more time with her the next day. The boys got a Ring Fit Adventure game for their Nintendo Switch which is all about physical activity. Now when they play their new game the whole house shakes.

After celebrating Christmas our primary concern was packing for our Florida vacation! Eight days and 1770 miles later there are a few adventures to tell about.

Both of the last two Fridays (the 27th and the 3rd) were spent driving. Not much to say there except that traffic made our drive 2-3 hours longer than planned each way.

We spent the first half of our time in Florida staying with the Cotters and the remainder of our stay in a VRBO we rented down in Kissimmee (which, to our delight, Siri repeatedly mispronounced as "Kiss-a-me").

We enjoyed a lot of family time when staying at the Cotter's house—visiting, playing games, and eating. We went out to eat at Four Rivers Barbecue and Yellow Dog Eats in addition to enjoying Dianna's cooking. And to cap off our visit with them we watched Jim blow up a decorated gingerbread house with fireworks on New Year's Eve Eve, certainly a twist to the normal fireworks celebration. Several of us filmed it and the slo-mo is cool!

One of the things I enjoyed most was talking to Aunt Linda as she reminisced about my dad, Uncle George, and others in the family. Some of the memories she shared with me I had not heard before. There are so many people in the family who had passed away before I was born so I really appreciate knowing some of these tales. This makes their faces in the old pictures come alive as real people for me. Aunt Linda and I had three very nice visits which I will always treasure.

The most exciting adventure on our trip was spending New Year's Day at Universal. Chris, who works on Hogwart's Express, met us there before his shift and then rejoined us after his shift. Our tickets were good for both the Islands of Adventure and Studios theme parks so we got to ride the train between the parks and see Chris on the job. Given that we spent about half of our time in the Harry Potter areas of Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley, it really felt more like we had visited Harry Potter World and made a couple of brief excursions into the Muggle areas for some additional entertainment.

The next day was beach day. We headed to Spessard Holland Park in Melbourne for an afternoon of fun in the sand and sun. The water was too cold to do more than wade in, but at least the weather was more cooperative than when we were in Destin this time last year.

So that's how we celebrated the new year and enjoyed the last half of our Christmas break. I've got in-service at school tomorrow and the second semester classes begin on Tuesday. Nate, however, gets to enjoy another adventure which will cause him to miss a couple of days of school. He leaves early tomorrow morning to go on a class trip to New York City! More on that next time.

Joe