Hannah's Birthday

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hannah Koeller in Europe

Michael,

Today at 7:11am, my youngest Hannah turned 18 years old.  She was a joy from the moment she careened into the world.  She wasted no time in getting here (3 hours, 11 minutes from start to finish) and that is how she has continued to live her life.  Not one moment is wasted, but not in the silly fill your time busy; a worthwhile busy.  She sees a need and fills it without thinking.

It started early.  When she was in kindergarten, she thought she could benefit from weekly meetings with the Gates school guidance counselor, Mr. Brusie.  Her father and I had just divorced and she was really sad about it. Talking to him made her feel so good that she correctly deduced that other kids with divorced parents must be going through this as well and she could help them feel better.  She suggested to Mr. Brusie they invite other kids to the weekly sessions, and the Divorced Kids Support Group was born.  Mr. Brusie and Hannah are no longer at Paul P. Gates Elementary School, but the support group still exists.

She has raised countless dollars for every charity she comes across.  She’s jumped rope and trick or treated for UNICEF.  She’s collected books for Afghani school children.  She’s done countless hungercropcancerhomelessshelterbatteredwomenbirthdefects walks.  She spent the last two summers as a counselor for under-privileged kids at the Knickerbocker YMCA camp in Maine.  She has been VP for 4 years of both the Jr. Rotary Club of Acton and Acton Boxborough Community Outreach, and she sits on the board of directors for the United Way.

She wants to go to college in Switzerland?  She makes it happen!  It doesn’t enter her mind that it’s not a possibility.  She is good at raising money for herself too.  By academic merit and essay writing for scholarships, she managed to get roughly 40% of her fees reduced from the school.

This kid is my hero.  She has done more for AB and her sphere of influence in her mere 18 years than most people do with their whole lives.  THIS is what you can accomplish if you don’t think you can’t.  I can’t wait to see what other journeys she takes herself on and what’s in store for the rest of her life, but I know it includes at least a dozen adopted Asian girl grandbabies for me.  Stay tuned…

Jen Kero Koeller

Hannah’s Birthday

Posted on by
10

hannah Koeller in Europe

Michael,

Today at 7:11am, my youngest Hannah turned 18 years old.  She was a joy from the moment she careened into the world.  She wasted no time in getting here (3 hours, 11 minutes from start to finish) and that is how she has continued to live her life.  Not one moment is wasted, but not in the silly fill your time busy; a worthwhile busy.  She sees a need and fills it without thinking.

It started early.  When she was in kindergarten, she thought she could benefit from weekly meetings with the Gates school guidance counselor, Mr. Brusie.  Her father and I had just divorced and she was really sad about it. Talking to him made her feel so good that she correctly deduced that other kids with divorced parents must be going through this as well and she could help them feel better.  She suggested to Mr. Brusie they invite other kids to the weekly sessions, and the Divorced Kids Support Group was born.  Mr. Brusie and Hannah are no longer at Paul P. Gates Elementary School, but the support group still exists.

She has raised countless dollars for every charity she comes across.  She’s jumped rope and trick or treated for UNICEF.  She’s collected books for Afghani school children.  She’s done countless hungercropcancerhomelessshelterbatteredwomenbirthdefects walks.  She spent the last two summers as a counselor for under-privileged kids at the Knickerbocker YMCA camp in Maine.  She has been VP for 4 years of both the Jr. Rotary Club of Acton and Acton Boxborough Community Outreach, and she sits on the board of directors for the United Way.

She wants to go to college in Switzerland?  She makes it happen!  It doesn’t enter her mind that it’s not a possibility.  She is good at raising money for herself too.  By academic merit and essay writing for scholarships, she managed to get roughly 40% of her fees reduced from the school.

This kid is my hero.  She has done more for AB and her sphere of influence in her mere 18 years than most people do with their whole lives.  THIS is what you can accomplish if you don’t think you can’t.  I can’t wait to see what other journeys she takes herself on and what’s in store for the rest of her life, but I know it includes at least a dozen adopted Asian girl grandbabies for me.  Stay tuned…

Jen Kero Koeller

A Few Pictures From Italy

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Ciao from Italy,

Here are a couple of pictures from CInqueterre and the Aeolian Is. One shows the view from our Manarola hotel window of the farmed wall across the street.

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Another is of Beth on the Via del Amore between Riomaggiore and Manarola.

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Another is of a pretty flower by the trail from Vernazza to Corneglia.

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Then there’s one of me quaffing a fine white Sicilian wine on a beach in Lipari in the Aeolian Islands.

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Tomorrow we wing our way home from bella Sicily!

Arrividerci,

Ed & Beth

Last Night

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Peter, Diane and I returned to the Italian restaurant on the hill for our last dinner while Matt hung back and entered a Texas Hold’em tournament with eleven others at the casino next to our hotel. The game lasted about two and half hours and he won by knocking off people two and three times his age.

Brothers in Lock Step

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Last night after dinner at Hadicurari’s, Matt slipped away to head to the casino as Kathy joined Peter and me. Her blue eyes contrasted nicely with her dark tan, and she had brown hair pulled back in a faux pony tail – more of a wash and wear do than her permanent style. She carried a beer in an insulated holder and her voice was cigarette deep.

“You two are brothers, aren’t you?”

“We are, how did you know?” I asked.

“You have the same hair. I watched you from my room on the eighth floor.”

“You know, I meant to get mine cut so I’d look less like him, but I never got around to it.”

“I saw you and your wife too.”

“From the eighth floor? Up there?” I pointed.

Before she could say yes, Peter asked her her name and where she was from.

“Wisconsin. I own a bar. Thirty years, but I’m ready to retire.”

That led to why she was in Aruba – friends with a timeshare; her only trip to Indiana – the nose bleed seats at the Indy 500; and then back to her curious perch.

“Yeah, I saw you two from the eighth floor. I could tell you were brothers.

She knew we had the same parents, and I knew something too.

I put my arm around her shoulder and pulled her ear close to my mouth. “Kathy,” I said, “That kinda creeps me out.”

In Town

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Here’s the family pic, Adam.

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Shot with my 135 with a 1.4 tele-extender.

***********

Peter and I did the tourist tour of the well known sites on the other side of the island. The one Adam pushed for. We could have followed the big yellow bus with the Bermuda clad because everywhere we went they went. I’ll post those later, in the meantime here are some shots from the town across the street from these “High Rise Hotels.”

Splat

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Hey Travis,

Yesterday, I walked from my room (red arrow) to the frozen rum drink place (blue arrow), and then I zigzagged down the beach until I fell face first into the water (blue line). Then a St Bernard looking animal picked me up by the scruff of the neck (I wasn’t wearing a shirt but I didn’t feel a thing) and dragged me back to my room.

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Top that,

Mike