By the Grace of God

Two beautiful young ladies dressed in hats, gloves, etc. to attend Easter Services at Fairlington Presbyterian Church in Arlington, VA. Carolyn would have celebrated her 9th birthday soon after we moved from Lincoln, NE to Arlington, VA. This was taken a couple years later, soon after we purchased our home on Arlington Ridge Road. At the time of this picture, we still thought we might be transferred back out to a State Office of SCS (USDA) but it turned out to be an 18 year assignment. During those 18 years, our 4 kids graduated from HS and 3 of them had obtained college degrees. After a few years we began to realize that we would not be transferred but would finish out my eligibility for an early annuity . We considered it a "leap of faith" when we moved east and my career exceeded any expectations but continue to wonder the impact on our kids.  

We were all impacted by the experience and I personally, couldn't have dreamed of what it did for me professionally and financially. I won't speak for Elaine but she worked in the Pentagon and had a successful experience in the management level of the Forest Service. The experience led to 2 of the boys being in Virginia today after having been back in Nebraska for a few years and elsewhere. The other son is in Indiana after having worked in Virginia and Kentucky.  After graduating from college in North Carolina, Carolyn worked there, got married, had a baby girl and moved to Seward a few weeks before we moved back. Their decision to move back has had a greater impact on our lives than we could have imagined. Her daughter Julie, became like our "5th kid" and today lives here with her husband John with our 2 Great Grandchildren. They are a joy to have near by and little Jack spends a few hours with us 2 or 3 times a week. Our decision to move to Virginia may have been a "leap of faith" but the move of Carolyn and Julie back to Seward was a measure of God's Grace for our retirement years.