You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


Last Friday was the beginning of Girls' Weekend, our tenth annual, at the Lake. I drove myself over to Suzanne's house, and the two of us rode down together. There were ten or eleven of us, a house full, although several people couldn't make it. Some of the girls are planning another weekend in the Fall. We ate, lay in the sun, rode the wave runner, ate some more, and generally had a good time in each other's company.

August is filling up. I go to the Lake for Kids' week, our 15th annual such event, on Friday morning. Scott will fly into St. Louis that evening, stay for a few days, fly home, then turn around and drive back with the boys on Wednesday, the 3rd. The boys will stay with Rose and Shirley so Scott can have some free days at the lake.

Lizzie, Catrina's daughter, will go with Rose and Shirley for a weekend in Chicago this coming Friday. That trip will include, among other things, a trip to the American Girl Store.

Our friends, Jim and Marilyn Smith, will be here on the 2nd. They are enroute from New York, via Chicago, to various points south.

I probably will come home for a couple of days next week, but will return to the lake to be there over the latter part of Kids' Week.

We will have Jalen and Brayden as much as we can during the next couple of weeks. Later in August we will have Shirley's young friends Jamil and Layla over a weekend. Some time in this busy period, Shirley travels to Louisiana for her family reunion.

Shirley, Rose, and I sat down with a calendar to get all this activity straight and scheduled without conflict. If all of this sounds disjointed and confusing, it is because it IS
disjointed and confusing.

In our all-woman household here, we have an intense interest in, of all things, BASEBALL. Shirley and Rose continue to root for the Cubs in spite of all evidence that they really should be Cardinal fans. I, of course, root, root, root for the old home team--which is doing mighty well. The Cubs were just here for a three-game series. Interesting times at 905 Barnard College Lane. Last night when Perez, a CUB, hit a grand slam to win the game in the 9th inning, it was tense around here. Chris and Shelly were at the game. This morning Chris called, and Rose asked him if they had stayed for the big home run. His answer, a terse, "Yes."

Another interesting development around here is our "garden." We have three, yes, THREE tomato plants. We watch them intently for new green tomatoes. Right now, there are three the size of marbles and a whole lot of little ones.

A note on the various sizes of the photos we post here: Depending upon their origin, it takes different programs to get them to 'stick' here. Rose, who hasn't totally mastered this bit of technical wizardy, runs into limits that she doesn't understand. Hence, we often take what we can get.

You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


It's Rose and Sue here with a quick update. There is little to add since these are the dog days of summer, and not much is going on beyond the usual travel to Chicago. I spent the past weekend at Sabrina's, and had a really fine time. We shopped til we dropped on Sunday. On Saturday Sabrina hosted Norm's visiting relatives (his sister Emma, his niece and nephew Joyce and Charles) and various Abbott Clan to a dinner of brisket and goodies. It was a fine occasion. We had some tomatoes and cucumbers from Norm's garden.

Scott and Sherry and Chris and Shelly and various of their friends made their 15th annual float trip/wiffle ball game weekend on some Missouri river this past weekend. The wiffle ball game is the highlight and the reason for the gathering.

This coming weekend is Girls' Weekend at the Lake. There will be twelve of us. I plan on going with some of the bunch on Friday morning.

All this year, I've been slowly working to update the Lake House. Of course, with tons of help. The last pieces are coming together--painting (which Dave Smith has been doing on weekends with Maddog's help), new linens, bathroom accessories, etc. The final, final piece is a new waverunner which Doug delivered to the lake on Sunday. Scott and Chris and Doug at one time owned two such vehicles, but they outgrew them. This one is more for the next generation who are counting the days until they turn 14 and can ride alone. Naturally we girls, who hardly got to ride the old ones, will take it for a lake spin or two next weekend.

Shirley picked up her new Harry Potter book on Saturday, and we've hardly seen her since. As Mother would say, "She has had her nose stuck in that book." I have a new device for my own reading--a Apple ipod. Rose found this miracle contraption, and we have learned how to download some of my favorite authors.

I am seeing a new hand therapist--two visits now. She seems wonderful and has many innovative ideas that are of help, one of which is to have the car adapted so I can drive again. Turns out that after I saw her the first time, I did drive and found it quite do-able. In the past two weeks now Rose and Chris have found numerous occasions when they've needed me to get behind the wheel. I have trouble with the doors and the key on Rose's Lexus SUV. Other than that I can drive as well as I ever did [thanks to Pete who taught me how a very long time ago and probably thought I would never learn to shift and use the clutch.] It's like riding a bicycle. I hadn't driven for over a year, so this is a welcome development. We are looking into having the car rigged to solve the door and ignition issues. There are companies that specialize in modifying automobiles for handicapped, and we have found one here.

The plans for the 100th birthday party, aka Family Reunion, haven't progressed much. We lean toward the first weekend in June, the one after Labor Day. Our hosts, Chris and Shelly, and we need some feedback. I think there is sufficient enthusiasm to make the event happen and for it to be as good as the one we had in Springfield in 1997. Sandi's research in Salt Lake City in the Mormon archives has made us more than a little curious. And Brother Joe continues to glean information about the burial sites and histories of some ancestors. He and Harriet (a cousin on the Lafoe side) visited Welch cemetery to see the new tombstones, then went on to Northview where the two of them reminisced and shared the information they had. Harriet was one of the people who contributed to the tombstone fund. She also did a lot of research into geneology for the '97 reunion.

Joe has written to an old woman, age 96 now, who lived in Northview in 1921 to try to get her remembrances of the people and the place during that period. Rose and I can recall going with Mother to Northview to get groceries at the Willis' store. The store actually belonged to us, and a Willis ran it. [We hope we got these facts straight, but would welcome any elaboration/correction/clarification any of our Dear Readers might have.]

Come to think of it, considering that last week is already a blur in my mind, how we ever construct what happened in the eartly 1900's is beyond me.

Sue's Journey Back to Health

This is Ding checking in. We have narrowed the dates for grandma's 100th birthday party to either next Memorial Day or the weekend after. Please contact Mama or Auntie with your preference. I don't mean to be critical of my elders, but they were supposed to have posted this in their last post. They have a history of gambling away large sums of money to Shirleys family. Perhaps our party has been canceled due to this transfer of funds. It wouldn't surprise me now if the Fontenot's were having a family renunion next year.....If only they would have accepted Uncle Pete's credit card.

Loretta, Shirley's sister 

The Ya-Ya's: Rose, Shirley, Loretta, Sue 

Loretta's son, Michael 

You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


Several people have asked to read the eulogy that Mark Goldman delivered at Den's service. Here it is:

"As many of you know, we have a very tight group offriends and we all consider mom and Denny as family. Since 1978 I have observed Denny as the boy friend and husband of my friends’ mom, a father, Grandfather, step father, son, brother, uncle, baseball coach, friend, and self appointed guardian of the no wake zone at the Lake. Looking at all of the pictures yesterday, reminded me of seeing him perform these roles through out most of my life.

Denny loved to tell stories, he loved bragging about his kids, and he would light up when ever his grandkids were around. He would spend hours at the lake telling us about his fishing adventures with his brothers, about playing baseball in his younger days, or his army stories. He also was not shy about sharing his opinions on any subject. Some of his stories could easily be classified as tall tales but we loved hearing them

I had the pleasure of riding to the lake with Denny several times over the years and he would make the 3hour drive seem like it only lasted a few minutesbecause we would be talking the entire way. He would always want to know what was happening with me and he would listen with genuine interest. For the past couple of years he was very concerned with mom’s health and he would share his worries with me along with the many lighter moments.

Denny had a very unique laugh we can all remember. And as much as heloved telling funny stories, he also loved to laugh at our stories and jokes. Scott and I have talked during the last month about how Denny like to act like a tough and gruff guy, yet we all knew what a softie he really was. Scott said he would tell friends he was bringing to the lake for the first time that Den’s bark was worse then his bite. Simply put, that was Denny--the tall tales, the laugh, the bark with no bite.

We will all remember Denny in our own ways. I know I will think of my friend and old baseball coach often and the first time I see a boat or wave runner speed by too close to the docks I will probably scream an obscenity or two in Denny’s honor."

Thank you, Mark Goldman. You did a fine job!

It has been a while since we've updated. Much has happened. We have a lovely e-mail from Cynthia Langston, Bernie and Maudie's daughter, which we will post soon. [We love the newsy e-mails we get from various family, so please write early and often!] Speaking of Bernie, he called today. He and Maudie had travelled to Seattle recently for an assessment about a procedure to improve the circulation in his legs. His Seattle physician said he could not do the procedure, so Bernie is checking about having it done in Spokane.

I also talked with Joe and Pete last week. Joe thought Pete was trying to sell a tractor on e-Bay and had been watching for it, but Pete said he was out of the e-Bay business. Pete also said Joe had been knocked out of the sailboat twice by the boom, but Joe didn't mention it.

Some of Norm's relatives are visiting from North Carolina. All the Abbott Clan were gathering at Catrina and Robbie's today for a cookout.

Shirley's sister Loretta and Loretta's son, Michael, were visiting from New Orleans until yesterday. They had planned to stay longer, but concern about the hurricane cut their visit short.

Yesterday, Shirley, Rose, and I drove to the Mt. Pleasant Winery in Augusta for a surprise birthday party for Chris. [Mike Madden, if you read this, plan on coming to this area some time to tour the wine country just west of here. You will get ideas for your new venture.] The birthday party was in a beautiful garden, overlooking the Missouri River Valley. There were vineyards all around us. It was a swell party and a good time was had by all. However, it did get get pretty warm.

The Fourth of July weekend is always a big one at the Lake. Den especially enjoyed the fireworks. We had another incredible display, and they guys ended it with a tribute to Den.

You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130




The long-awaited photos from Sandi.

You can reach Sue at (314) 452-3685 or (314) 726-2032. You can write to her c/o Rose Holt, 905 Barnard College Lane, St. Louis, MO 63130


Sandi resent the photos that didn't copy to this blog with her recent e-mail. Along with the photos, she sent this update:

"Hi Sue!

What is with these pictures?! I'll send them again as an attachment this time. Hope that works better.

I love the idea of the birthday bash for Grammie! Let's talk more about how I can help. I'm just hesitant to take a lead on something if I'm really too far away to contribute affectively. I'll email Shelly and see what she thinks...

Well, today is the Old Guy's 77th birthday. I haven't called him yet. When I talked to him on Sunday, he was fighting a cold. I hope he didn't get the flu/cold bug I had. It's three weeks later and I'm still not 100%. We should hear today whether the doctors feel Dad is a candidate for this bypass surgery. I looked on the web and it's amazing what they can do with this bypass surgery. I hope they decide to help Dad by doing it. We'll pass on the word when we hear more.

I'm off to work in the garden. Love you guys!
Talk to you soon!
Sandi"

Whoops! Still can't get the photos to Blog. I'll have to go back to the drawing board OR, better still, consult with Chris.

As for the 100th birthday celebration next year, there appears to be a growing interest in such a gathering. Chris and Shelly will host at their home in St. Charles. Brother Joe and Sandi are doing further research into our family history. Pete and Janet are enthusiastic. If any of our Dear Readers have suggestions or want to help with the organization, jump right in.

Sandi, I'm sure that you can be of great help in working up an agenda and helping make sure the occasion is richly rewarding for all who attend. Joe has been sharing some of his findings about ancestors, and it is very interesting. I just wish that now I had paid more attention to Mother when she talked about some of this stuff.