Friday, June 22nd

Lucian just sent me a couple of pictures to add to yesterday's blog entry...........

Above you see the Mittlere Rheinbruecke from which 12 year old Peter and his gang leapt into the Rhine. You can see on the picture how strong the current is. Of course this was verboten, but the boys were quicker than the cops.

And here we are with Paris two nights ago when we celebrated solstice at The Well.

The al fresco restaurant is amongst the fields of Jordan's Farm. We are sitting in one of the two gazebos they built this year, a terrific addition, enjoying a beautifully crafted meal.


http://jordansfarm.wix.com/thewell

Thursday, June 21st

We were blue and down in the dumps after Hai left last Sunday. Our week together gave us all a chance to fill in the blanks that occur when you see each other infrequently. The days flew by in deep conversation, it was wonderful. Peter thrived, we were so happy to be together.

Hard to believe that 32 years have passed since Hai and his sister Lan came into our lifes. We picked them up at  Emmenbruecke, a refugee camp near Zurich, on December 29th 1979 . They had arrived in Switzerland a month before, believing they had landed on the moon. The world was cold and barren, a far cry from the lushness of  Indonesia where they had been interned after fleeing Vietnam.

Hai was 8 and Lan 14, the same age as Heidi. At first we communicated in sign language since they spoke only Vietnamese. We played a lot of games, laughed a lot. The first snow fell. Peter and Hai built a snowman on a hill behind our house which Hai turned into a woman by attaching two snowballs in strategic places. Peter and Hai laughed until tears ran down their cheeks.

We home schooled Lan and Hai to teach them basic German before enrolling them in school. All of us worked very hard on becoming a family. Our dog Chi-Mo, a Tibetan Terrier, adopted Hai defending him fiercely when she deemed necessary.

After two years Cham and Thanh, Lan and Hai's parents, also fled Vietnam and arrived in Switzerland with their youngest daughter Lan - Thi. The family was reunited. It was heart rending for us to see Lan and Hai go, but thankfully our bond has remained strong over the years. Lan and Hai will always will be a part of our family and we of theirs.

Yesterday we celebrated summer solstice at The Well, an outdoor restaurant in Cape Elizabeth, with Marie [ Peter's tart angel] and Lucian. It was a beautiful evening after a very hot and humid day. Paris, who works there again this summer, was our  very polished and welcoming waitress. Yes, we are proud grandparents!

Peter reminisced about some of the wild things he did when he was about 12 and believe me, they were wild. He jumped off the Mittlere Rheinbruecke in Basel, let himself be pulled down into whirlpools in the Rhine and then swam out once he reached bottom, stuff like that....

Peter was relaxed and happy. We all were. How good it is to be with people close to your heart.

We have received some very special packages the past few days as well as letters and cards. Thank you so much dear friends for that and the comments you continue to post. We are very grateful to you for being in touch in so many ways

Friday, June 8th

I have been home for a week, resting and regaining strength. Short, white fluff is covering my head as my hair is slowly making a comeback, Jutta thinks that it might grow back curly! 

Patience is probably not my forte and when I complain about being tired and lightheaded, Jutta has to remind me that I am doing much better this time around. I am looking forward to another 4 weeks at home with Juttas’ tender loving care before returning to the hospital for round 3 which, according to Dr. Boyd, could be less taxing on my body than the previous treatments. She even holds out hope that a number 4 might not be absolutely necessary – time will tell.

It looks like the rain is finally giving way to better weather and sunshine and we are looking forward to spending more time outside.

Tomorrow our son Hai is flying in from Switzerland and will be with us for a week, it will be great to have him with us. 

Being a proud Opa (grandfather) I have to tell you about another piece of great news: this week Paris was informed that she is being admitted to the prestigious “New House” school for communication at Syracuse University, she worked very hard for that one.

In closing I would like to thank all our family and friends from the bottom of my heart for your wonderful support. Your comments on the blog, e mails, cards, meals, tarts and phone calls are very much appreciated and are helping Jutta and myself through this difficult time. 

Most of all though, I am immensely thankful to Jutta for doing everything in her power to get me back onto my feet, she has and still is putting in an incredible amount of love and hard work. Thank you my love.

Monday, June 4th

Instead of a picnic on the beach last Friday Peter opted for lunch on the sunny terrace at Black Point Inn, a hotel by the ocean. A splendid idea! Sitting there was an almost surreal pleasure. We ate lobster rolls, watched the waves and felt like two kids playing hooky.

After lunch we took the Cliff Walk to the bench where we sat on another sunny day. Two years ago we celebrated our 50th wedding anniversary on that very bench with a picnic which Peter had packed complete with champagne.

It has been raining non stop ever since Saturday with no end in sight. We have ventured out to go to the museum or to take little walks. I am catching up on household chores that had been neglected while Peter was at the hospital. We enjoy the tranquility of life at home.

I cook.

Saturday we got beautiful skate wing at Brown Trading which I served with sauteed local spinach and mashed potatoes. A simple and quickly prepared meal perfect for a rainy day.

Yesterday we had prosciutto cured by the awesome Jarrod at Rosemont Market as a first. I served it with local asparagus dressed with meyer lemon vinaigrette. Spring Risotto was the main course.

Warmest good wishes for a wonderful day!

June 1st, 2012

Yesterday we had lunch in our garden! Peter was released from Maine Med at noon after 3 1/2 weeks at Gibson, now a familiar place. This time Peter was not brought to the car in a wheelchair, instead he walked out with a spring in his step.

For lunch Peter craved a nice big salad and three eggs sunny side up, so I ran over to Rosemont Market and got the most adorable mini heads of lettuce called Little Gems and some baby arugula, both field grown at a local farm as well as organic eggs.  Due to his low white blood count Peter was not allowed to eat anything raw at the hospital because of the risk of infection.

We spent the afternoon lazing around, enjoying the luxury of home.

Today is a gorgeous day. I am going to Pilates at 9 and if Peter feels up to it, we'll have a picnic at the beach later.

Wishing you a day full of good things.