Jim and Amy came to visit this weekend. Well, really Jim came to visit his and Cathy’s mom and Amy came to visit her dad and family, but Jim stayed with us and we got to see Amy a few times. On Sunday her nephew was playing in a soccer game at a local middle school so we met them there. I took a few pictures, as is my wont. I took one with Amy, Jim, and Cathy but I think this is better of these two and since the weekend was about them, I thought I’d just post this one. I also took a few of Amy and her sister.
Tagged With: Family
28th Pennsylvania Infantry
Cathy and I drove up to see Dorothy today, meeting her at the farm and hanging out with her there a while. Then we drove down to Gettysburg and walked about 4.5 miles from downtown into the battlefield. We passed a few monuments for the unit with which Cathy’s 3rd-great-uncle served, including this one between Culp’s Hill and Pardee Field on Slocum Avenue. We also drive to near the recently reopened Little Round Top, stopping to see a friend who works for the Park Service and was stationed there counting cars and busses. All it all, it was a nice, if hot, day.
Lydia and Dorothy
Cathy and I drove up to Frederick this evening, bringing Lydia with us, and met Dorothy and Jeff at the Kittiwat Thai Kitchen. It was a lovely evening and we enjoyed chatting over a nice meal. We had brought a window air conditioner that our friend Amy gave us so that Dorothy could have it in her room in Pennsylvania, where the house doesn’t have central air. We moved that to the back of her truck and then talked a little more before heading home. And of course I took a handful of photos, because it’s what I do.
Family Reunion
I picked mom up at 6:00 this morning and we had very few traffic problems getting to North Carolina four our annual family reunion. It was a slightly smaller group this year than in the last few years, but still a really nice time visiting with people we only really see once a year. It was really good to see mom’s first cousin Ann, who sadly passed away a short week later. I had an extended visit with Lyn and Beth, since Beth hosted us for the night so we didn’t have to drive home again the same day, which is a bit much for us.
Kids On The Stairs
Our annual week at the beach started yesterday. We had fewer issues with traffic than in many years, although we stopped a bit more, including stopping for lunch at Parkers in Wilson, North Carolina. We usually stop there to pick up barbecue and we’ve occasionally bought lunch there but never eaten it in the restaurant. We happened to be within a few miles of George and Carmela, who had started driving yesterday and spent the night in Southern Virginia, so they met us at Parkers.
Today is Eloise’s birthday and after dinner many of her third-cousins came over (along with their parents and grandparents). I was able to get a few photos of most of them on the stairs. Getting them all looking at the camera and not acting up is beyond me, though. Still, they were having a good time and I think it shows.
Annual Family Beach Photo
We usually take our annual family beach photo a little later in the week but Dorothy was leaving on Wednesday and Iris and her family were going to Myrtle Beach to see her sister-in-law and her family Tuesday, so it was today or never. The kids made at least some faces in each one, but that’s just the way it’s going to be. I think it’s a pretty good photo, overall.
Earlier in the day we had driven to Sunset Beach to go to the Bird Island Reserve but couldn’t find a parking space. We saw a large flock of wood storks as we crossed the bridge back off of the island. We went to the Carl Bazemore Bird Walk on the imaginatively named East Lake, which we call Alligator Pond. We did see a few alligators as well as a few more wood storks and other birds. A person we met there told us about Vereen Memorial Gardens just into South Carolina and we went there and walked around a while, as well. We didn’t see much, but it’s a pretty place and I suspect there are times when there are more birds. In fact, someone we met there told us the painted buntings are there in large numbers at some times during the year.
Thanksgiving Dinner
We had a lovely family dinner for Thanksgiving this year, hosted by Iris and Seth. It was something of a first for Cathy and me, as it was our first Thanksgiving without Dorothy there since she was born. There are two empty chairs at the table, because Danna was a little late arriving but she got there no long after the photo was taken. I think everyone enjoyed themselves and we did have a call from Dorothy so she was able to say hello to everyone.
Christmas
It was a slightly non-standard Christmas for us this year. Or at least a little different in its details to previous years. One difference was that Cathy’s mom is in rehab so we went there to see her. We sang Christmas songs, which was fun. Then we came home and a little while later my side of the family came for Christmas. We were able to get this photo taken early in the day. If we had waited, I think it would have been harder to get everyone together for it. As expected, it was a fun, if somewhat tiring time. There was plenty of good food and we sang songs here, as well, with Jeff joining helping lead by playing guitar.
Second Christmas
With family scattered around the country, it isn’t always possible to be together on Christmas. In Cathy’s family, therefore, there is a tradition of Second Christmas, which happens anytime after December 25 sometimes as late as March the following year. This year, Second Christmas was celebrated on February 7 and 8. Cathy’s Brother Jim and his daughters Abba and Hannah flew in last night from Illinois and Dorothy and Jeff drove from Pennsylvania. We had a really nice visit with grandma in the morning and early afternoon. Then we went to the Lancaster County Dutch Market before heading to Great Falls. We walked to Olmsted Island, which is where this photo was taken.
Second Christmas Dinner
Today was the second day of Second Christmas. William and Beth arrived late yesterday and this morning we all went to visit grandma. We spent a while with her in the activity room, visiting with her and with each other. We returned home and mostly just hung out and we had our ‘traditional’ Second Christmas gift exchange, which is pretty low-key and non-extravagant. Beth went to visit a friend so she’s not in this photo, although she did join us a little later and finished the meal with us. Cathy also decided to stay home and enjoy a few moments of quiet.
Dot’s Birthday
We didn’t have a big party this year, but Cathy and I stopped over to see mom this evening, since today is her 94th birthday. She’s adjusted to her new living situation quite well and we’re very pleased with the support she’s getting there. Her apartment is small but comfortable and a good size for her. As you can see, we have one of her quilts hanging on the wall behind us.
Family After The Memorial
Mom’s memorial service was this morning. There were a few technical hitches, such as a tree down and power lines down across the road so getting to the church was difficult for folks coming from that direction. While power had been restored around midnight, the internet connection was still out, so we were not able to life-stream the service for those who could not be there. Also, while we had a microphone and that worked for folks in the room, we were not able to get the audio fed directly into the video camera. Nevertheless, after some creative editing, we got a video with passable audio. You can read mom’s bio and find links to the video and slide show on HartleyFamily.org.
After the service, all the local family and some from out of town came to our house for the rest of the day. Others from out of town drove home the same day, but it was good to see everyone and we’re very thankful for the love and support of our family and friends.
Laura and Grandma
Cathy’s niece, Laura, arrived last night and this morning we all went to see her grandma (a.k.a. Cathy’s mom, a.k.a. Margaret). Her face really lit up when she saw Laura, and we had a really nice visit. It was a pretty whirlwind visit, though, and we took Laura directly to the Metro to get down to Union Station to catch her train back to New York in the early afternoon. We worked around the yard for the rest of the day, going inside when it started raining and then coming back out again when it stopped.
Rachel and Michael’s Wedding
Cathy and I drove down to Raleigh, North Carolina this morning, getting there in reasonable time. We checked into out hotel and had time to visit a municipal rose garden before getting dressed and heading to the church for Rachel and Michael’s wedding. The wedding itself was quite beautiful. The music, not surprisingly considering this was Rachel, was particularly nice. After the ceremony, we drove to the reception location and after hors d’oeuvre (including an Italian ice cart provided by Rachel’s brother) and drinks, Michael and Rachel danced their first dance as husband and wife, before we had a lovely dinner.
A Smaller Family Reunion
There are certain things that make me think of my mom more than normal. The annual family reunion in northeastern North Carolina is high on the list. We’ve been going to that for years and in recent years it’s just been my mom and me, driving down the morning of the reunion, spending the night with my cousin, and then driving home the next day. This year, it was just Cathy and me and we drove down the day before. It was also on the way to our annual beach week, which is how it used to be but hasn’t been for a few years. There was a much smaller group this year, with only 26 of us able to get together. We usually try to get photos of the generations but with only 26 people there, we decided just to take a single group photo (well, we took three of them, but they’re all basically the same). In spite of the smaller size, we had a really nice visit with some of my favorite people. I’m already looking forward to next year’s reunion.
Eloise’s Birthday
In years past, we always celebrated my Uncle George’s birthday at the beach, because (obviously) that’s when it fell. With him no longer being with us, it’s nice to have a birthday to celebrate. As you will probably figure out from the candle, this is Eloise’s fifth birthday, and my cousins and their families came over to have cake and ice cream. It was a fairly raucous time with all the ‘littles’ running around and enjoying themselves. But it was a happy, little-kid type of raucous.
Kites, Ocean Isle Beach
I made a point of having my camera outside for a little while before we went down to the beach where the kids were going to fly their kites. It’s been quite hot this week and we’re all very grateful for air conditioning (even if some would have wanted it a little less cold inside). One down-side to air conditioning, though, is that when you take a camera from a 70°F environment to something over 90°F with very high humidity, it fogs up immediately and takes a while to unfog. But I planned ahead and was able to get some nice pictures of the kids running around with their kites. There was also a nice sunset.
Annual Family Beach Photo
As mentioned, we had our annual family beach week. It was quite different without mom/grandma there, but we had a good time together, both being with each other and remembering her. Dorothy was not able to stay for the full week, flying home Thursday afternoon, so we took our annual family group photo that morning. As you can possibly see, there was a little fog still on the lens or the sensor when I took this. That’s a common issue when we come out from the air conditioned indoors into the hot and humid outside.
Dorothy had originally planned to fly from Myrtle Beach Airport, where she flew into on Sunday. She found an earlier flight leaving from Wilmington and changed her reservation so she’d get home earlier and have time for band practice. It turns out she needn’t have bothered. The weather in Maryland and Pennsylvania was stormy enough that her flight was delayed and she got home considerably later than she would have on her original flight (although for all we know, that flight might have been delayed even longer). But she did get home eventually.
Cathy and I went to the New Hanover County Arboretum in Wilmington, which we really enjoyed. I’d definitely stop in again if we were in the area.

















