My Cup Runneth Over

March 27, 2019

Good morning.  Tis a tad bit early.  Only 1:24 a.m.  I'm up doing a few things and I thought that if I post now, I can sleep late in the morning.  Well, that's the plan at least. 

I did not get to post on Tuesday because I only had a little while to get up, make a cup of coffee, get me and Pogo dressed (plus I fed him) and get ready to leave for my appointment with the tax accountant.  Yup, I finally made it there.  I was only missing one figure that was needed (I don't know why this figure was needed, it never was before.)  so when I got home later in the afternoon, I looked it up and will call it to the accountant later today.

After my appointment, Pogo and I went to the Post Office to mail one of my boxes, then we headed for Deanne's house for a visit with someone very special to us.  I may have mentioned before, but I'll repeat anyway.  When my kids were growing up, I just didn't have enough money to take them on vacations or send them to exciting places. 

So, I took in Foreign Exchange Students for a while.  This way my kids could at least learn from being with kids from other countries.  It really was rewarding.  One year, we got a young man from Sweden.  His name was Ulf.  For a while that year, we had a young girl from Norway until the agency could arrange a placement for her.  She was Toril, from Norway.  These placements were for a whole year.

Ulf went to Brockton High School with Audrey and graduated from there.  He also attended computer classes in Boston on Saturday mornings.  (I think these were held at Harvard University.)  From the first day he came to us, he fit right in and became a member of our family. 

When these kids went home, Audrey went with them.  She spent a month in Norway with Toril and her family, and a month in Sweden with Ulf and his family.  My son, Gary Jr got to spend a few weeks in Sweden with Ulf and his family, and later I went there for two weeks and then again for Ulf's wedding.  So you see, we had become family.

Through the years, we've kept in touch, even had a few visits.  Ulf belongs to a choir and they have been performing in several places.  This week, in Boston.  He came a few days early so that he could have a visit with us.  He stayed at Deanne and Eddie's, and today Pogo and I got to spend some time with him. 

I have a few photos to share.  Ulf posted a photo of him and Deanne on Facebook Sunday night, so I dug into my old photo albums for a few photos from back in 1974.  This first photo was Ulf the year he came to stay with us.

This next page shows Deanne and Ulf in 1974, and Ulf and Deanne in 2019 (Sunday night) forty five years later. 

This photo was taken the day Ulf graduated from Brockton High School (1974).  From left to right are:  Deanne, Cindy (a friend of Ulf's), Ulf, Audrey, Kerri and Gary Jr.  (My kids.)

When my kids were young, I taught them to crochet, and we taught Ulf to crochet too.  He spent a good part of the year here crocheting a gorgeous afghan for his Mom.  She loved it, and took very good care of it.  His mom passed on several years ago, and Ulf put the afghan away and brought it here with him and gave it to me.  Wow!  Forty five years later, it looks just like it did when he first made it.  Deanne already has dibs on it when I retire from earth.  I folded it and set it on the porch gate to take a photo to share.  Isn't this beautiful?

Am I blessed?  Or am I blessed!  I feel like my cup runneth over.  Life wasn't all that easy, but oh my, I wouldn't trade it for anything.  My family is precious, and I love all of them dearly.

Here are a couple photos from our visit yesterday.  This photo is me, Ulf and Jazzy.

And this photo is my grandson (Deanne's eldest) Bobby, his children Xander and Aurora, and Ulf.

And of course I had to take a photo of Pogo and Sassy.  He kept trying to make nice-nice with her, but she just wasn't interested.  She's just a little doggie, but Pogo looks teeny weeny next to her.

Ulf brought a thumb drive with lots of photos from way back when.  Oh my, the memories!    I'll share some of them once I have a chance to crop them.  While he's been here, Ulf has taken lots of photos and will send us all of them on a thumb drive once he gets home.  I can't wait to see them. 

I was going to post a new quick page today, but I'll post it tomorrow.  I'm going to have a snack (I think) and see about turning in for some sleep.  I might sleep better at night now that my taxes are done.  We'll see. 

So, till tomorrow, Y'all have a fantabulous day.

Hugs, Edna B.