Day 4

Triton Fountain





Last two photos below are of the Trevi Fountain, a site well known in movies, television, and novels.  The story is that if you toss a coin in the fountain, you will return one day.  No coin toss today; couldn't get close enough.

If all roads lead to Rome, then all streets in Rome lead to the Triton Fountain. Three long meandering walks and all three we came came upon this landmark.

Day 4

If all roads lead to Rome, then all streets in Rome lead to the Triton Fountain. Three long meandering walks and all three we came came upon this landmark.

Day 4

11:00 am in Rome. My travel companions are still jet lagged. I seem to have adjusted more quickly by not sleeping during the day since arriving. I went out walking and for coffee earlier. Counting on hunger to wake these two guys soon.

Day 3

Met Jalen, who had revived enough to go out. He and Bray consulted over the map. Both are excellent navigators.

Day 3

On to the Spanish Steps and fountain in the Piazza then from the stop. Steps are closed off for repair.

Day 3

Revived. On the Via Veneto.

Day 3

Jet lagged. It is four in the afternoon Rome time which is ten in the morning in Louisville.

Day 3

At entry of our apartment building at Via Calabria 25 in Rome

Day 3

On shuttle from plane to terminal

Day 2

Boarded American Airlines flight to Rome

DAY 2

Doodles and Italian Flag over lunch

DAY 2

Lunch at airport

DAY 2

Lunch at Airport

DAY 2

On Blue Line train to O'Hare

DAY 1

TRIP TO ITALY

Day 1 - St. Louis to Joliet. July 6, 2016

Jalen, Brayden, and I left home yesterday afternoon to drive to Joliet where we planned to stay at the Wyndham then drive on to O'Hare for our trip to Italy. The guys were really tired, having already made the four hour trip from Louisville to St. Louis in the morning.

We were in heavy rain for about 80 miles then clear the rest of the way. For dinner the guys took me to Buffalo Wild Wings. They do know their food!

Day. - Joliet to O'Hare for AA flight to Rome. We are having a long wait for our flight here at O'Hare. We had a great lunch at Macaroni Grill and are now just waiting to board. I expected a lot of hassle getting through security, but it was surprisingly easy and quick.

Crazy drive from Joliet to to a Park-and-Fly garage at Cumberland stop for the Blue Line train to O'Hare, but we made it with lots of time to spare.

We're all equipped with iPhones, iPads, and computer so have our entertainment with us.

I'll post some photos separately and identify them by day number of our travels.

Fun guys to travel with.

Sent from my iPhone

JOHN L. AND JANET FELIN (neé Janzen) CELEBRATE THEIR 59TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY

I grabbed this photograph off Facebook.  Congratulations!

CONNOR ABBOTT - Graduates from Missouri U Engineering School

It's a great pleasure to post the news that Connor has graduated from engineering school.  Connor is the youngest of the three offspring of Randy and Lynn Abbott.  His older sisters are Erica and Amanda.  They are the grandchildren of Margaret (my sister) and Norman Abbott, great grandchildren of Margaret Marie (Madden) Felin and James Louis Felin.

Here is a photo of the family at graduation:

Randy, Lynn, Connor, Erica, Amanda

INTERESTING TIDBITS (or TANDY WHATNOTS?)

Chris has been updating information about the New York Marathon which he is planning to run next November in memory of his mother and as a fundraiser for ALS.  This link should take you to the site where you can read Chris' updates as well as donate to a worthy cause:  https://www.crowdrise.com/fundraiser/campaign-updates/893258#!/status/2

I've had trouble accessing Crowdrise.com occasionally.  To find Chris' information, scroll to the bottom of the opening page, click on "Find a Friend" and type "Chris Spreitler" into the form that comes up.

In other news, I lifted this photo of a 1956 wedding party that Joe Felin was in from Facebook.  Joe was and is a good-looking dude.

JANICE MADDEN LeBLANC

Recently I received the letter, photograph, and document below from Janice Lou Madden LeBlanc, the daughter of my mother's younger brother Kenneth and his first wife, Annie Adelia Melton-Madden.  I wrote back to Janice Lou and got her permission to post this information here.

Janice Lou found The Family Gazette on the internet and has been acquainting herself with far-flung relatives she has never met.  If anyone is interested in contacting Janice Lou, please let me know. (rosefholt@gmail.com)

CHRIS AND THE NEW YORK MARATION

Nephew Chris is training to run the New York City Marathon in November. He is taking this on as a fund raiser for ALS, the disease that claimed his mother's life last May. Anyone interested in reading Chris' tribute to his mother (Martha Spreitler Boaz) or in contributing, please visit crowdrise.com, enter Spreitler in the search field. You might consider also sharing on Facebook.

Chris is dedicated to his training and just recently completed a half marathon in St. Louis.

UPDATE FROM STEPHANIE SCHMITT nee' Abbott

Niece Stephanie, daughter of Margaret and Norman Abbott, sent a short update on her health issue for posting here:

"I had my 4 month check up today.  I developed some new lumps in the muscles and the lymph glands, so the doctor ordered a CT/PET scan to take a look yesterday.  I got the results of the scan today as well. Looks like they are simply lumps and bumps...the scan showed no cancer activity in them!!! Praise God! I don't have to go back for another 6 months AND they are going to take out my port!!! Hallelujah!

Thank you all for your support and prayers the last 16 months.  They have meant the world to Dan and me, and at times were the only thing that kept us going.  May God bless each and every one of you as abundantly as you have blessed us!"

This is wonderful news, and we celebrate Stephanie's victory with her!

MEMORIAL LECTURE IN HONOR OF MARTHA SUE (SPREITLER) BOAZ

A friend of Sue's and mine is sponsoring a memorial lecture in Sue's honor.  For detailed information please visit www.cgjungstl.org.  Here is the announcement:

Sisters: Outer and Inner, Mythic and Archetypal
The Martha Sue (Spreitler) Boaz Memorial Lecture
Presented by Christine Downing, PhD

Friday Evening Lecture
Friday, March 11, 2016, 7 - 9 PM

Saturday Morning Workshop
Saturday, March 12, 2016, 9 AM - 1 PM

Depth psychology has tended to privilege the literal and archetypal significance of child-parent and contrasexual sibling relationships and to ignore the importance of same-sex siblings to one another. Both the lecture and workshop will explore how deeply the relationship of sister to sister impacts the psychology of women, whether or not we were actually sistered in our natal families. We will also look at both the rewarding and the shadow aspects of this archetype. Although the lecture will focus on the relation of sister to sister and touch only lightly on the relationships between sisters and brothers,the workshop will look more broadly at all sibling relationhips.



________________________

Museum Depot in Springfield, MO

Brother Joe, aka Joe Felin, is very active in the Railroad Museum in Springfield, MO, the city where he and his family have lived for almost 60 years.  Joe's group is raising funds to build a replica of a depot for the museum site.  The group's charter:  “The Railroad Historical Museum Inc. is dedicated to the preservation of Railroad History and heritage of the past and educating present and coming generations."  Most of you Dear Readers know Joe spent his whole career in the railroad business and is very knowledgeable about it.

On the very next Joe Felin Turnbo Tour, we plan to ask him to add the Museum as a stop--even though it is a "long way from Turnbo," (one of Joe's expressions for how far the Felin family has ventured from its origins on a farm on Turnbo Creek in Webster County in Southwest Missouri.)

If you are interested in more information or in making a donation, go to: https://causemomentum.org/projects/railroad-historical-museum-replica-depot

[The causemomentum.org/project itself is interesting.  And, unlike many of the crowd funding possibilities, does NOT skim a large percentage of donations off the top.] 

Ryan's Ramble

My grandniece Carrie Thompson (daughter of Shirley, granddaughter of my brother Bernie and sister-in-law Maudie) sent me a T-shirt for my participation in Ryan's Ramble on June 20, 2015,  a race in memory of Carrie's son Ryan who died in a tragic crash while he was riding his bike.  (There is more information about this tragedy in earlier entries on this blog.)

Thank you, Carrie.  I much appreciate your thoughtfulness.

Brayden and Scott - November 14, 2015

Mark Goldman and Christopher Spreitler

These two came over to help us move some furniture around.

Mark thought they moved a cousin to "The Bench," a reference

to a concrete bench he helped us move in 2003.  

Mother

Around the time Sabrina found the paper her mother had written years ago for a Creative Writing Class she took (See the last entry to this Blog), I ran into the physician who attended Mother from 1961 until her death in 1978.  His name is Martin Smoeller.  I recognized him in line at the check-out at Whole Food and approached him.  Yes, he is Dr. Smoeller.  He did not remember Mother, but was extremely gracious in talking with me.  He must be around 90 years old now, is very short and still very sharp.  I thought it was quite a synchronicity that Margaret's paper and the man referenced in it surfaced at the same time.

Margaret's Paper

Margaret's and Norman's (Abbott) offspring, Stephanie, Sabrina, Randy, and Catrina have sold the family home in St. Peters.  Sabrina found a paper her mother wrote for a college class in 1986.  It is extremely well written, very interesting, and captures a lot of the spirit of Margaret as well as our mother (Margaret Marie Felin, neé Madden).  You can access the paper at:
  https://www.dropbox.com/s/rzvnn3xdkv12wxa/Paper%20written%20by%20Margaret%20about%20her%20mother%20in%201986.pdf?dl=0









NEWS ABOUT JALEN

Jalen, son of Scott Spreitler, grandson of the late Martha Sue Spreitler Boaz, is a senior in high school in Louisville, KY.  We just learned Jalen has been elected President of the HS Student Council.  Jalen excels in his studies, in art, in music, in sports, and now in leadership.  Congratulations, Jalen!  We are very proud of you!  Jalen spent five weeks at Murray State University this summer, having won a Governor's Scholars' Award.  The award is given to promising young leaders as an incentive to get them to attend a university in their home state.

Father Daughter Dance

Dancing to "Amanda," a very poignant moment

Francis of Asissi

Sculpture overlooking the grounds at the Jewel Box in Forest Part. Site of Amanda's and Tyler's wedding yesterday

Amanda is the daughter of Randy and Lynn Abbott, granddaughter of the late Margaret and Norman Abbott.

Amanda and Randy

Father and Daughter dance at her Wedding

Randy and Daughter Amanda today

UPDATE FROM STEPHANIE

I had asked Stephanie to send an update for the blog, and she did.  Here it is:

"Hello, my sweet tante.

I am so sorry that it has been so long since I updated everyone.  I have just been feeling funky and tired.  That being said, here is the latest. I went to the doctor last Wednesday and am doing pretty well.  I am having some issues with my gait and my strength, especially in my knees and hips, so today I started therapy.  I will go once a week and do a very minimal workout, as they don't want to overdo and cause the weakness and pain to get worse.  They have also referred me to a dermatologist to get the black lines in my nails checked, as in some cases they can be caused by a type of melanoma, so prayers for that would be greatly appreciated.  I am still terribly fatigued, and sleeping 12-16 hours a day is not unusual for me.  My appetite is still not the greatest, and when I went last week, I had lost another 7 (I think, it could have been 9) pounds since my last visit a month ago.   The doctors are not very pleased with that, but I just can't eat a lot of times.  Dan cooks all kinds of wonderful foods for me, but I have no appetite, and so he ends up cooking me a hamburger in the hopes that I will eat it, and most of the time I do.  I have lost a total of about 33 pounds since I started chemo.  I will go in 4 weeks for another CAT/|PET scan to see how things are progressing.

While there I asked if I was in remission and was told that with this type of cancer they will never be able to tell me I am in remission, all they can tell me is that the last scan showed "no evidence of disease" or NED.  So, as of my last scan, there was no evidence of disease, and I will take that.  I wish that I could hear "remission", but with this type of cancer, that just doesn't happen.

To all of you who have been praying, sending cards, and keeping us in your thoughts, thank you!  We love you all.

God bless all of you,

Stef" 

Scott and Beth