Blogs from Chagrin Falls , Ohio, United States, North America

We visited Ohio in April and posted pictures of the snow. We figured, going back over Labor Day...couldn't possibly have bad weather...right? Actually, the weather there was fine...a bit cooler than expected, but delightful. However, the Florida hurricane kept us checking on family and friends who were in the path and worried until we heard all had survived and were fine. This was our fourth trip up this year. As mentioned in a previous blog, Mom had a stroke in late December and after a brief hospital stay, was in a rehab/nursing facility right on the grounds of the retirement community where they lived in Chagrin Falls. Unfortunately, she did not respond well to the rehab and with increasing issues from dementia, it became obvious she would not be going back to the apartment to live; ... read more

WOW!! Mom was going to be celebrating her 90th birthday in November and Dad and the kids had been planning this for some time. Originally it was to be a big party with lots of people (like Dad's 90th last year, hosted and planned by Mom) but on reflection, Mom decided it was too much; too much noise, too much money, too much confusion. So we went with a smaller, family oriented celebration. The luncheon was at the Welshfield Inn in Burton and was Mom's choice. We had a private room and it was well catered. Mom knew family was coming, but not exactly who, so she was very pleased to see all three sons and spouses, Karen's husband Jay Wilkinson, most of her grandchildren, and several great-grandchildren. In addition, I had contacted sister Karen's best ... read more

After our anniversary celebration with Kim and Kris, we prepared to head out to Ohio to be with John's mother for Mother's Day. It would also be an opportunity to see how they had settled in to their new retirement center in Chagrin Falls. We saw them last year after the wedding when they had just moved in and there were boxes all around and they were trying to figure out how to stow things in a smaller environment. We left Martinsburg and drove west on interstates to Morgantown, over the mountains and through sometimes pounding rain. It was tiring but not scary. By the time we got to Ohio, the rain had stopped and we pulled in to the trailer park in Chesterland, OH we had stayed at last year and got set up. We ... read more