Time Travel
What were you doing ...
1. Twenty years ago? Twenty years ago was 2005. We had just left a not- so- great- church to become members of our current church which we immediately fell in love with and knew we were "home". It was also the year our oldest daughter graduated from Elementary School (yes, 6th grade graduation was a big deal then). And our youngest finished kindergarten. We also spent a long weekend in the High Peaks region of the Adirondacks at the end of that summer and took the girls hiking, to Santa's Workshop, and up the gondolas at Whiteface Mountain. Here's a photo just after hiking up, then down, Mt Jo in the High Peaks. It's the only pic I have on my laptop from 2005!! I had just resigned from being a parenting instructior and counselor at a non-profit crisis pregnancy center and was going to be a stay at home that year from Sept until August 2006. Dave was still a rather new employee at LTI. Courtney was excited to be going off to Junior High School and Claire loved her first grade teacher. Courtney was studying violin and in chorus and musical theater plus French Club and Orchestra and taking Equestrian lessons. Claire was in her 3rd of classical ballet, tap, and taking piano lessons from momma. Claire was also loving her new Sunday School class, and was a member of Awana. She had just asked Jesus into her heart that summer at VBS. Courtney absolutely loved being a part of the Youth Group where she was meeting all kinds of friends, both male and female. We always had lots of young teens at our house hanging out on Friday or Saturday evenings. Dave was a volunteer with the junior high youth group and I was a volunteer with the summer Sunday School program as well as a Cubby leader for Awana. Life was busy but we loved what God was doing.
Dave (kind of cut off), and Claire, age 6 and Courtney had just turned 12
hanging in a tree at Heart Lake/Mt Jo
High Peaks region ADK
August 2005
2. Ten years ago? 10 years ago was 2015. We have so many awesome memories from 2015. Courtney graduated from Gordon College in May 2015 and Claire was finished with 10th grade at the end of June. Courtney graduated with a degree in Art and Math. She was working part time at a local arts and crafts store until she got her first full time job the next spring. Claire was busy with classical ballet, lyrical ballet and chorus, orchestra and Russian. She was also learning French and Latin at school! I had been working as a Program Aide (special ed integrated kindergarten) at one of our public elementary schools so had the summer off. Dave was now a director at LTI and doing well in his career. Claire was just learning to drive and Courtney had her own car! Claire was dancing solos in the ballet show and always had some kind of ballet costume lying around the house. Dave was still a volunteer with the youth group although was starting to get interested in serving with the Missions team as well as the Production team. I was now a small group ladies Bible study leader and was in my 5th year hosting a group in my home every week from Sept to May. We, as a family, had stopped camping but were renting a cottage every summer from 2013-2022 in the Central Adirondacks where kayaked, swam, and hiked. We also spent a week in July on Cape Cod where both girls joined us for 2 days. My personal highlight from that year was completing the Adirondack FireTower Challenge where I had taken 11 years to hike up 19 ADK mountains with firetowers and all 5 Catskills FT mountains. Here are some photos from 2015.
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| Courtney with Dave and I after her college graduation ceremony Gordon College Wenham, MA |
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| Courtney, age 21 and Claire age 16. Chatham, MA (Cape Cod) |
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| Adams Mountain Summit! I have now completed the ADK FireTower Challenge Labor Day, 2015 |
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| Dave hiked with me up a Catskill High Peak so I could finish the Catskills fire towers Here he is 8 months after his heart attack on the trail up Hunter Mt! |
3. Five years ago? ok, 5 years ago was 2020. what.a.year, right?? That was the Pandemic where the world just seemed to shut down. And people became kind of crazy. I was now teaching as a Special Ed Assistant teacher for this agency and loved it. I had been there since the fall of 2016. Dave was doing very well working from home for LTI. Courtney was also working from home. Claire was at UNH in her 3rd year. Life was so different. I was learning Google Classroom. We all got vaccinated against Covid. My school was like the "guinea pig" for NYS prek's. We opened our doors to children in July 2020 and we were fine! Yes, we had to wear masks. yes, we had to document everything. But life continued and I don't think I've ever been in a cleaner classroom! Claire was doing well as a Sociology and Russian major with a minor in Ballet and Psychology. She now had her own car and loved life in NH. Courtney was now working full time for The Carrolls Corporation and she went back in person that autumn. Dave worked from home 3 days a week and went back on T/Thurs in early 2021. He was now only volunteering with the Missions team and production at church. I was still leading a small group and hiking as much as I could along with kayaking. For the first time in 30 years, we had Thanksgiving at home (Dave, Courtney and I and my sister Joy and her son Luke). Sadly, Claire wasn't allowed to travel from NH to NYS due to some ridiculous law so had Thanksgiving in her dorm with friends. Here are a couple of pics from 2020:
social distancing drinks dates with my friend Ingrid
Dave made a bonfire that evening
Spring 2020
We were happy to have Claire home for the summer
before she began her senior year at UNH
We spent a lot of time on this dock at the place where we were renting a cottage
for a week in the Central ADK
Our oldest daughter also joined us for a couple of days at the cottage and lake
but had to get home to work and begin packing for moving out
to her own apt that next spring!
Dave and I celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary that June
by having a picnic and hike at the Martin Van Buren Historical National Park
which is only about 45 minutes east of our home so was considered "local"
4. One year ago? Last year: Was my first year of retirement from teaching. I had been teaching special ed prek from 1986 to 2023 with 6 years off in the early 2000's to be a stay at home mom, and 7 years as a Program Aide in the public schools in the mid-2000s. Last year I began a hiking group I titled SoulSteps. I am up to 51 members! Dave is still working for LTI/Janel Group. Courtney continues to be office manager at The Carrolls Corp and loves her apartment life. She is highly involved with gaming friends, a women's group at church, and a young professional's group of friends. She also is doing some graphic design/art for a friend's poetry group. She also joined the church choir as did Dave and I after we all auditioned for it. Last summer, Dave and I enjoyed time in MA and sadly, his dad passed away last June at age 90. Claire is now an optician apprentice for Luxotica the company that bought out Target Optical and LensCrafters. She loves having her own apartment and is involved with several friends and loves having her little kitty Karma to come home to. Both girls live in the Capital Region and we see them often which is a huge blessing. Here are some pics from 2024.
Claire (age 25) and Courtney (age 30)
at a local hiking preserve with me for Mother's day 2024. 
Dave and I spent a week on Long Pond
near Plymouth MA the end of June and walked the
Cape Cod Canal trail from the Sagamore Bridge all the way to Scusset Beach!
5. Yesterday? What did I do yesterday?? housework, grocery shopping, an errand, and did my back stretches as I'm still dealing with upper back pain. Thankfully the Cervicogenic Headaches have eased up and I rarely get one now. Dave worked from home yesterday since it was Monday. We both spent the evening quietly reading and talking about our upcoming trip to NM. I have no photos from yesterday but I did make a yummy dinner of Hot Chicken Sandwiches and Tossed Salad with Strawberries and Watermelon and some leftover steamed Spinach. Dave loved dinner so that's win!
A December SoulSteps hike (local nature preserve)
l-f: Pat, Joan, Dave D, Hannah, my Dave, Courtney, Maggie
Bonus! What will you do tomorrow?
Tomorrow is Wednesday. I have a doctor appointment in the morning and if it's not raining like it has been since Saturday aftenroon, I will walk in the local nature preserve up near where my primary doc is located. Otherwise, I will come home and do some paper shredding that is piling up in our basement.
thanks for traveling back in time with me!
2 comments:
Hi Faith. This was a fun post. I enjoyed looking back at your memories. I hope you are having a good week. See you again soon!
That was fun going back in time. You have a great memory as each time stamp has lots of detail.
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