December, 2008
Season’s Greetings to You All, Dear Friends and Family,
Another year. Anne Bakke, Jerry’s dear Mother, often said that each year goes faster than the last. She was right. We have had many new challenges and exciting additions to our lives, as well as the losses each year seems to bring.
We’re both in good health, although Gail is waiting in line to see the orthopedic surgeon who’ll replace her hip. She isn’t getting nearly enough exercise and tends to be a bit grumpy on these grey winter days. She has invested in a cane, which Linda dubbed Michael (Michael Cane). We’ve already had enough snow to qualify for this to be January, but skiing is out this season for Gail.
The year 2008 started with our celebrating Linda’s mom’s birthday, January 1.
She is in much better health, having recovered from her broken heel, and can still run circles around at least one of us. Rachel is looking forward to sledding with Grandma- Grandma when she comes home for Christmas. In February, we celebrated Maret Louise Wikle’s second birthday. Maret is named for Linda’s mom, and is the image of her grandmother when she was a child. You can imagine how much we enjoy seeing her.
In the fall of 2007 and in early 2008, Gail took some writing classes which inspired and enabled her to begin a memoir for her grandchildren and cousins’ children. She was told by a friend that she appears to be the “keeper of the family stories,” and that felt like a responsibility which needs to be met. Some of the most painful things are out of the way now, and the rest of the writing should be fun. Gail has a writers’ group which formed out of one of the classes she took. They meet weekly at a local bookstore to share their work. In November, Gail attended a memorial gathering for Randy Johnson, Barb and Ken’s son, at Cousins Mike and Fiona’s. Many of the best memories we shared were of events at Big Star Lake. We should all be so grateful to Aunt Peg and Uncle Wayne for opening their home and hearts to the McKinney family.
On March 13, Cousin Sheral’s birthday, we got a special gift. On that day, Barkley Trill-Wikle was born at Acme Creek Kennels. We met him the next day, then went to Dunedin, Florida. We stayed at Sheral and Bob’s house there for nearly two weeks. It’s the longest vacation we’ve ever taken, and we were so grateful to Sheral and Bob for making it possible by sharing their place with us. When we returned, we began to
visit Barkley nearly every day. He and his three litter mates are the offspring of Daisy, half yellow lab and half poodle, and P.I.G., large standard poodle. Barkley
is black, the only black sib in the litter. We came to know all four of them very well. Just before all were ready to go home, we realized we’d bonded with all four of them and were going to miss the others like mad. So…we have a new family member here. He’s a joy. Linda calls him son. Gail just can’t keep her hands off him. She has wanted a curly black puppy all her life. Cassie (Prince Caspian Bakke) came to us as an
adult, and we loved him with all our hearts, but Gail was allergic to him and she
couldn’t really play with him. Not a problem with hypo-allergenic Barkley. He’s
getting to be the right size, 60 pounds and still growing; he loves to travel in the
car; and he loves both swimming and playing in the snow. He adores children, and is very gentle with Maret, Fiona, and Rachel, who think “Dog-Dog” is pretty special. He’s a good camper, as his sister Beth can attest. (Although she was not impressed when he slept through the raccoon raid because he was so tired from a day of camping.) He likes to do what we like to do, and he likes to do it with us. He has a lab heart and a poodle brain, a super combo deal. We are smitten.
About the time we got Barkley, we launched in to Linda’s campaign for Acme Township Treasurer. It’s time we started giving back a bit with some community service. Our friends and family helped us with donations of time and money which put us over the top, and we won in the primary. We also met new friends and renewed old friendships during the campaign. Linda will continue her insurance work; however, with the current business climate in Michigan, she’ll have time for being treasurer too. She is happily working with the wonderful crew at the township office, although her actual office is still here at home. One of the best things going on in Acme right now is our project to create a lakeshore park. We just got a state award of over $3 million toward that effort.
Our children are being wonderful! Angela and her family are safe and well. Jessica is a sailor! She completed basic training at Great Lakes this fall and is now in Pensacola, studying to be a jet mechanic. We’re so proud of her! After a successful year of college, Jimmy is working and waiting to be called up by the Navy. Our oldest grandbaby has become a fine young man overnight. Krista is in tenth grade and busy being a teen. She spends time with us and is a joy. What a bunch! Beth visited this fall, and we camped out in the Sleeping Bear. Except for the rain that sent us home, that was fun. Beth is doing very well in her business. It was voted the best pet sitting service in the Research Triangle by satisfied customers! Kirsten and Ben are still in Alexandria, Virginia, so Kir and Beth see more of each other, while we see less. We did spend Halloween in VA. Rachel has started kindergarten there. The family will be spending Christmas at the Manistee house and with us. They’ve just announced that there’ll be another Willis who will arrive around August 8. We’re all very excited by that.
Linda has established a blog site for us. It has links to several other blogs, including Cousin Nancy Ross’, Kirsten’s, and Beth’s. The address is http://theacmetreasure.blogspot.com/ . Please take a look. It’s a great way to keep up on our activities. There are pictures, too!
Brother Dan is very busy being the designated dresser for the top four stars of “Jersey Boys” in Chicago. He manages to visit Barkley (and us) once in a while (see blog). We hope to see him after Christmas, since he’s so busy during the holidays. Tom and Dawn are busy: they’re both working and running a horse ranch in Georgia. Scott and Sara also are both working, as well as raising four super kids. We were fortunate to see dear cousins Sheral and Bob, Nancy and Clo, Bud and Edie, and, thanks to Fiona and Mike, all of Aunt Frankie’s family this year. Both Linda and Gail are increasingly aware of our wealth of friends and family and how important and beloved they are to us. We’re so lucky to have friends and family who are healthy and safe and (mostly) near to us, certainly dear to us. We wish you the blessings of this holy season and echo the age-old prayer for peace on earth, good will to all.
Linda, Gail, and Barkley
Season’s Greetings to You All, Dear Friends and Family,
Another year. Anne Bakke, Jerry’s dear Mother, often said that each year goes faster than the last. She was right. We have had many new challenges and exciting additions to our lives, as well as the losses each year seems to bring.
We’re both in good health, although Gail is waiting in line to see the orthopedic surgeon who’ll replace her hip. She isn’t getting nearly enough exercise and tends to be a bit grumpy on these grey winter days. She has invested in a cane, which Linda dubbed Michael (Michael Cane). We’ve already had enough snow to qualify for this to be January, but skiing is out this season for Gail.
The year 2008 started with our celebrating Linda’s mom’s birthday, January 1.
She is in much better health, having recovered from her broken heel, and can still run circles around at least one of us. Rachel is looking forward to sledding with Grandma- Grandma when she comes home for Christmas. In February, we celebrated Maret Louise Wikle’s second birthday. Maret is named for Linda’s mom, and is the image of her grandmother when she was a child. You can imagine how much we enjoy seeing her.
In the fall of 2007 and in early 2008, Gail took some writing classes which inspired and enabled her to begin a memoir for her grandchildren and cousins’ children. She was told by a friend that she appears to be the “keeper of the family stories,” and that felt like a responsibility which needs to be met. Some of the most painful things are out of the way now, and the rest of the writing should be fun. Gail has a writers’ group which formed out of one of the classes she took. They meet weekly at a local bookstore to share their work. In November, Gail attended a memorial gathering for Randy Johnson, Barb and Ken’s son, at Cousins Mike and Fiona’s. Many of the best memories we shared were of events at Big Star Lake. We should all be so grateful to Aunt Peg and Uncle Wayne for opening their home and hearts to the McKinney family.
On March 13, Cousin Sheral’s birthday, we got a special gift. On that day, Barkley Trill-Wikle was born at Acme Creek Kennels. We met him the next day, then went to Dunedin, Florida. We stayed at Sheral and Bob’s house there for nearly two weeks. It’s the longest vacation we’ve ever taken, and we were so grateful to Sheral and Bob for making it possible by sharing their place with us. When we returned, we began to
visit Barkley nearly every day. He and his three litter mates are the offspring of Daisy, half yellow lab and half poodle, and P.I.G., large standard poodle. Barkley
is black, the only black sib in the litter. We came to know all four of them very well. Just before all were ready to go home, we realized we’d bonded with all four of them and were going to miss the others like mad. So…we have a new family member here. He’s a joy. Linda calls him son. Gail just can’t keep her hands off him. She has wanted a curly black puppy all her life. Cassie (Prince Caspian Bakke) came to us as an
adult, and we loved him with all our hearts, but Gail was allergic to him and she
couldn’t really play with him. Not a problem with hypo-allergenic Barkley. He’s
getting to be the right size, 60 pounds and still growing; he loves to travel in the
car; and he loves both swimming and playing in the snow. He adores children, and is very gentle with Maret, Fiona, and Rachel, who think “Dog-Dog” is pretty special. He’s a good camper, as his sister Beth can attest. (Although she was not impressed when he slept through the raccoon raid because he was so tired from a day of camping.) He likes to do what we like to do, and he likes to do it with us. He has a lab heart and a poodle brain, a super combo deal. We are smitten.
About the time we got Barkley, we launched in to Linda’s campaign for Acme Township Treasurer. It’s time we started giving back a bit with some community service. Our friends and family helped us with donations of time and money which put us over the top, and we won in the primary. We also met new friends and renewed old friendships during the campaign. Linda will continue her insurance work; however, with the current business climate in Michigan, she’ll have time for being treasurer too. She is happily working with the wonderful crew at the township office, although her actual office is still here at home. One of the best things going on in Acme right now is our project to create a lakeshore park. We just got a state award of over $3 million toward that effort.
Our children are being wonderful! Angela and her family are safe and well. Jessica is a sailor! She completed basic training at Great Lakes this fall and is now in Pensacola, studying to be a jet mechanic. We’re so proud of her! After a successful year of college, Jimmy is working and waiting to be called up by the Navy. Our oldest grandbaby has become a fine young man overnight. Krista is in tenth grade and busy being a teen. She spends time with us and is a joy. What a bunch! Beth visited this fall, and we camped out in the Sleeping Bear. Except for the rain that sent us home, that was fun. Beth is doing very well in her business. It was voted the best pet sitting service in the Research Triangle by satisfied customers! Kirsten and Ben are still in Alexandria, Virginia, so Kir and Beth see more of each other, while we see less. We did spend Halloween in VA. Rachel has started kindergarten there. The family will be spending Christmas at the Manistee house and with us. They’ve just announced that there’ll be another Willis who will arrive around August 8. We’re all very excited by that.
Linda has established a blog site for us. It has links to several other blogs, including Cousin Nancy Ross’, Kirsten’s, and Beth’s. The address is http://theacmetreasure.blogspot.com/ . Please take a look. It’s a great way to keep up on our activities. There are pictures, too!
Brother Dan is very busy being the designated dresser for the top four stars of “Jersey Boys” in Chicago. He manages to visit Barkley (and us) once in a while (see blog). We hope to see him after Christmas, since he’s so busy during the holidays. Tom and Dawn are busy: they’re both working and running a horse ranch in Georgia. Scott and Sara also are both working, as well as raising four super kids. We were fortunate to see dear cousins Sheral and Bob, Nancy and Clo, Bud and Edie, and, thanks to Fiona and Mike, all of Aunt Frankie’s family this year. Both Linda and Gail are increasingly aware of our wealth of friends and family and how important and beloved they are to us. We’re so lucky to have friends and family who are healthy and safe and (mostly) near to us, certainly dear to us. We wish you the blessings of this holy season and echo the age-old prayer for peace on earth, good will to all.
Linda, Gail, and Barkley
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