Merry Christmas 2022 from the Holwicks

Dear friends,

I write this after saying goodbye to all six grandchildren who came up to visit us for a ride on Santa’s Train at the nearby Railroad Village.  They made cookies and an overall mess.  Celeste was in her glory.  All of them are within two hours of us now that Becca has moved into Dan’s house in Exeter, NH.  Her children, Tyree and Diana, are now officially Holwicks!  Josiah and Julia still live out West which gives us a wonderful excuse to go out there every year.  They came to us this year and we took them to Monhegan Island.  The weather did not cooperate but we still appreciated the one-on-one time we had with them.

I began the year helping to build an ice palace up in Bethel, Maine.  They had a late start and warm weather pretty much destroyed it after a week.  It wasn’t warm when I was there – I slept in a tent a few nights and it was 14 below!  Celeste and I love winter in Maine but are not so keen on the spring here so we took our RV down to the Florida Keys in April.  That KOA cost more than motels up here but we enjoyed taking our bikes around Key West and doing a tour of the old fort at Dry Tortugas.  Later that month we went to Washington DC with Celeste’s brother Tim and his wife Judy.  Celeste did not enjoy the trip because she had a kidney stone, the first of two out-of-network episodes.  On the plus side, she maxed out her medical limits and was able to get an expensive Bone Anchored Hearing Aid and maybe even a new lymphedema pump.

In June we rented a VRBO in Lincolnville, Maine, looking out at the ocean.  Celeste’s mom grew up near there and she enjoyed seeing all the sites again.  In August, Tim accompanied me out to Nevada to pack up Becca’s stuff and drive it in a U-Haul back to Maine where we temporarily stored it under our deck.  On the way we hiked the Narrows of the Virgin River in Zion National Park.  The water was pretty high and I have had very sore foot ever since (either a bruised bone or a torn ligament).  I look very authentic hobbling as an old guy.  It goes well with my increasingly white and exceedingly short hair.  At the end of the month Celeste and I took our RV up to Moosehead Lake and did some hiking.  August is also when my work on our church’s pulpit committee bore fruit.  Rev. Glen Carter and his wife Marisa came to us from New Hampshire and he has been doing solid work ever since.  He has a lot of spiritual passion and preaches without notes, something I have always admired and have never been able to do.

Visits from friends have been great blessings.  Sheena, Frankie and Romy, kids in our NJ youth group, are all grown now and dropped by to see how we are doing.  My niece Petra and her husband Andrew popped up and gave me an excuse to go hiking in Acadia NP.  We did the Precipice Trail which is all vertical handholds but gorgeous views.  Andrew also replaced my water heater, diagnosed my ailing wood splitter and showed me how to fix a leaking shower.  Practical relatives are always appreciated!

Local exploring has included Damariscove Island, where an early settlement of fishermen helped the Pilgrims survive in 1622.  Farther exploring was to include a trip to Kenya to see the orphanage and village work that Dan and Kara are supporting.  I was disappointed that we had to postpone it to the next year but it revealed God’s perfect timing in our lives.  At the exact time we would have been in Kenya, Celeste’s mom took a turn for the worse.  In just a matter of days she weakened and received hospice care.  She died on October 15 with much of her family gathered around her.  It was a very peaceful passing and the family had a wonderful celebration of her life back in Pepperell, Massachusetts, with many taking part.  She now rests alongside her beloved Jim.

Celeste’s next goal, besides a car that can haul every single one of her grandchildren, is a remodeled kitchen.  Our old bedroom is now filled with cabinets, disassembled, in boxes.  I am the one who will have to assemble them.  Since repairing some siding took me three weeks instead of the three days her brother Sean would have required, her kitchen should be ready by next Thanksgiving.  This year’s Thanksgiving gathering was small yet meaningful to us.  With all the births and deaths we can see the hand of God guiding us along His way.  We hope He has blessed all of you as well.