Carolyn
and Jeff
I first met
Carolyn at the Unitarian Church in Bethesda around 1983
and learned that we were neighbors in Chevy Chase. Our friendship
has
grew out of sharing many interests, values and political views,
including a liberal arts perspective and mutual affections for
art history, antiques and European travel.
This blurry photo of her is not at all flattering,
but, it's the only close-up I have.
Click
on images to enlarge.
(Sorry,
these photos are not sharp... I photoed old photos.)
Carolyn is a writer, with a background in anthropology and nursing.
For the past few years, she has worked as a writer and editor for the
Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases (DKUH)
at the National Institutes for Health.
Among the many other things this nifty woman has done
was a number of years spent as an antique dealer.
She has relatives in England, so, she keeps up with things English too.
She is shown performing her magic at the kitchen stove below.
Click
on images to enlarge.
Carolyn
and I also share the good fortune of being married to great guys
who "get it" where women's issues are concerned.
Like Tom, Jeff is a physicist by training. He is shown carving a turkey
above.
Jeff retired a few years ago from the federal government,
where he oversaw research and design programs for the US Navy's ships.
He was Program Manager for the Advanced Enclosed Mast/Sensor (AEM/S)
System,
at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland. He was a Naval Officer
way back when.
Since retiring, he has been doing a lot of consulting in Germany.
Carolyn has gone along on several of his trips.
Shown above and below are their German friends, Andreas and Brigitte
from Frankfurt,
newlyweds who visited Carolyn and Jeff for Thanksgiving last year.
Jeff was Best Man at their wedding.
Click
on image to enlarge.
Click
on images to enlarge.
Carolyn
and Jeff's most recent vacation in Europe was a 35th wedding anniversary
celebration.
They went to France, with part of the trip being a wonderful Viking
cruise on the Rhone River,
from
Chalon-sur-Saone in Burgundy to Arles. She wrote me that the cruise
was "truly magnificent."
They then rented a car and went to Carcassone in Languedoc and to
the Dordogne River Valley,
where the main objective was to visit the caves that have paintings
of
wooley mammoth, bisons, bulls, etc. from 40,000 years ago (14,000
B.C!).
Click
on images to enlarge.
The
wall paintings of the caves in Lascaux are something we art history
buffs studied long ago.
It must send shivers down one's spine to be somewhere sooooo old and
...
to see the evidence of human artistry way back then!
Being
there, Carolyn said was "exciting and spiritual."
They
also enjoyed touring medieval castles and paddling a canoe on the Dordogne
River.
What a marvelous trip!
While in France, they hit the notorious French Heatwave of last summer.
But, they said it "felt like normal." to them... i.e.,
no worse than living in DC!
The only issue was not having air conditioning in a few spots.
For those concerned about US relations with
France and Germany
since the Bush team has all but demolished them,
I add Carolyn's following comments:
Although we went for our own pleasure it was also a great
feeling that we were protesting
the ridiculous conservative Republican ideas that France should
be punished for taking a stand.
In fact, someone at Jeff's work is angry with him for going.
What ever happened to the idea of free speech and tolerance
of dissent?
I'm ashamed of these mean-spirited, small-minded Americans.
Not one person in France mentioned the rift. Their manners
were impeccable
and I have great respect for them. Our German friends have
been similarly respectful.
|
Carolyn
and Jeff's Son, David, and his family
Click
on image to enlarge.
David has just completed his doctoral dissertation at Michigan State
University,
in the field of Computational Fluid Mechanics. It's been accepted,
so, he will be awarded his doctorate soon. He currently has a 3-year
fellowship in astrophysics.
David's
wife Moira.... awaiting up-date from Carolyn.
They have recently had their second child, a beautiful little girl
named Jaclyn, born on September 3, 2004.
Above, they and their precocious son, Isaac, are celebrating the event
with the traditional cigars!
Click
on images to enlarge.
Click
on images to enlarge.
Where's
Jenny?!
Carolyn and Jeff's daughter Jenny graduated
from Oberlin in Ohio a few years ago.
Since then, she has had some great adventures. But I seem to have
lost the e-mails about them....
to be continued when I get an up-date from
Carolyn and, hopefully, photos.
We last visited Carolyn and Jeff in November 2003,
while in theWashington area for one of Tom's conferences.
It sure would be nice if we were still neighbors. We really miss their
friendship up here!
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