January 2023 Newsletter

Hello all!

So Christmas is over. Well, not really for me. I still have some Christmas Shopping to do…yikes! As I write this, I look forward to the weekend ahead where I will join my family at a cabin (really a rented home) on Bliss Lake near Garrison, Minnesota. This is a Gohdes Tradition that my father started in the year 2000. We used to travel to Mt. Morris, Wisconsin and stay in the Black Oak Lodge at the Moravian Camps and Conference Center. It was a wonderful space and my children thought we owned it. But the drive to Wisconsin became long and we decided to look for something closer to home. So, Garrison it is.

Each year the Lake Association folks put on a day of celebration. There is dogsledding, a tent to watch Football, spear fishing, ice skating, fireworks-- this year they are adding a sauna…not sure what that will be like. It is good this tradition of intentional Christmas gathering was put into place before my parents died. It is hard sometimes for siblings to take the lead in creating family and maintaining connections. My siblings and I are each three years apart and we are all very independent and different sorts of people. Our brother David, who was developmentally delayed, loved traditions and he helped to shape those for our family. In April of 2020, David died after a choking accident, so we lost him as our champion of family traditions. Now it is just Karen, Eric and I. Basically Halloween, Christmas and the occasional Studebaker meet hold us together. Birthdays, bonfires and cousins’ graduations also bring us together. I am grateful. We can each get busy with our own families, our hobbies, our careers, but to take time to pause and be with the people who shaped you, who knew you before you knew yourself—that is a good practice.

Being with family also helps you remember those who have gone home to God. I know we will share memories of Mom and Dad and David. I will do a puzzle. Elizabeth, my niece, will help me--it used to be me and my dad. We will play with my cousin Dylan’s young children--it used to be my mom who led all the outdoor kid excursions. We will celebrate gift giving and receiving—it used to be David who relished this night the most. Mom, Dad and David will all be fondly remembered as we create memories and traditions for the next generation. Life is very good, past present and future. I am grateful.

Thanks be to God! (Now I need to go shopping…!)