Tom & Brenda's Family Journal

Tom has been a member of sports teams for almost his entire life.  Some of his fondest memories are the friendships he has made through teams.  Softball, baseball, football, basketball.  Now Tom needs a new team.  Two weeks ago, Tom discovered a lump in his right breast.  After seeing our family doctor, he was sent to Betty Ford Breast Care Services in Grand Rapids for further testing.  Last week we received the news that no one wants to hear-the right breast and nearby a lymph node contain cancer. Monday, April 24, our family spent the day at Betty Ford Services. The purpose was to hear from the doctors about his diagnosis and develop a treatment plan. We arrived there at 8 am as a team-Tommy, Sherry, Kristen and Eric and Tom and I (Brenda).  Jennifer joined us on Facetime.  We spent the morning meeting with the doctors and support team.  There was good news from the doctors.  The cancer is not present in the left breast....

Jennifer, our oldest, was married this year to Sudeep Singh.  She and Sudeep are very happy and we are happy for them.  Sudeep's is from Hardiwar, India.  He comes from a tight-knit family and I know he must miss home a great deal.  I'd like to be able to cook some dishes for him that taste like home.  I've got a ways to go before I'm that good at it.    I bought an Indian cookbook and I've been trying a few easy ones.  I made a trip to Spice of India, a local store featuring Indian food items.  Jennifer also shared some of her spices with me.  Sudeep's mother gave Jennifer some cooking lessons when Jennifer visited there last year so she's ahead of me in Indian cooking. Last week's attempt was Saag Gosht, which literally means spinach-lamb.  I followed the recipe except that I cooked the lamb in a slow cooker for three hours before making the rest of the recipe.  That way the lamb was very tender.   ...

After our great adventures in Boston and Salem, we started heading west but had several more interesting stops to make.  We left the Boston area and traveled about 40 miles to Springfield, MA.  The Naismith National Basketball Hall of Fame was interesting to both Tom and me.   I loved finding a Yopper honored there.  Tom Izzo was inducted into the Hall of Fame this year-notice he was born in Iron Mountain, MI.    There were several fun displays and here are some of my favorites. I learned how to dunk a basketball-with a little help from the hoop setup. Tom and I had a little game on the demonstration floor. Tom enjoyed seeing the players from the past who he had watched. Basketball was invented by James Naismith in an attempt to have a physical activity for energetic boys during the winter. His game was played with peach baskets for nets.  There were only 13 rules for the game. The popularity of the game grew quickl...

The first church, the first military cemetery, the first university, the first .... .  We've been seeing all of these places and even more.  Boston is a cornerstone of the founding of the United States. Our day started with a spectacular sunrise viewed from a fast moving train.  Our tour started at 9:30 so we took the 7 am train into Boston to allow enough time in case we got lost on the 1/2 mile walk from the train station to the start of the tour.  We made it with time to spare so we enjoyed a quick breakfast from Starbucks.  There seems to be a coffee shop in every block-mostly Dunkin Donuts but also lots of Starbucks. We took a 'three hour tour' today and even returned safely.  The places we saw brought to mind how much the citizens of our country sacrificed for freedom and independence.  We visited Cambridge to see Harvard & MIT. Then on to Lexington to see the place where the first skirmish between the British and the Americans...

Today we learned lots about Boston including how to get into Boston on the rail.  There are many steps to it. 1) Find the train station. 2) Figure out where to park 3) get a ticket or if you don't have enough time-just jump on the train and the conductor will sell you a ticket.  We were in our seats with less than one minute to spare.  4) Figure out your stop and listen for it to be announced.  All in all, it worked out well with just a few tense moments. The conductor was very helpful in figuring out what station we needed. Tom loved that he could sit back and enjoy the ride instead of fighting traffic The train was rather empty heading to Boston this morning but this evening's train was packed. After arriving in Boston, our first stop was to get a scarf for me and gloves for Tom.  It was a beautiful sunny day but the wind was raw.  We spent some time walking around neighborhoods. We ate lunch in a grocery store-they have a wid...

The colors were in peak color as we drove across New York and Massachusetts.  We drove through the Berkshire and Catskill Mountains.  I couldn't help but think of James Taylor's song " Sweet Baby James ".  He talks about the Berkshires.  Thankfully there was no snow today but a beautiful show of color. The first of December was covered with snow So was the turnpike from Stockbridge to Boston The Berkshires seemed dream-like on account of that frosting With ten miles behind me and ten thousand more to go. Our first stop in the Boston area was Salem-site of the famous witchcraft trials. But it also the location of the many gabled house which was made famous in Hawthorne's novel The House of the Seven Gables. The gardens overlooking the ocean at House of the Seven Gables Hawthorne and I discussing our writing! Hawthorne's birthplace which was moved to this location There was a cold, raw wind off the ocean The House of ...