31 July 2017

Congratulations to Matthew, Melissa, and Chantel for all the work  they have done to get this far in the purchase of our home in Lindon, Utah. Now the hard work begins for all of them for which we will be forever grateful in moving into a new home -- all set up and ready to go. We can't say enough how wonderful our children are. We are so blessed!!!  Signing occurred on Friday.

The week of July 17 - 21 was spent mostly involved in physical therapy.
Dan Brown worked with me three days a week.  We walked about 2 miles through Central Park, stairs, etc. each of these days.  He works the area around Lincoln Square.  On Wednesday, as we were walking, he pointed out Robert De Niro, the director and actor who lives on Central Park West near 72nd Street.  Later in the day he was seen in New York pedaling his daughter, Helen, on a bicycle.

We have talks about his family and occasionally about religion.  As he discharged me on Friday, I asked him what he knew about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  He had read a history that attributed John [Joseph] Smith to finding records in a cave, or some such story.  This gave me the opportunity to explain a bit about Joseph Smith and his translation of the golden plates that we now have as the Book of Mormon.

When asked if he would read a copy if I gave him one, he said, "I might." "But I would like a copy".  I had written in the book from promptings I had felt a couple of days before, and was more than happy to give Dan a copy.  I know that if he did not have a copy, there would not have been this book to read.  

As he left, he had me walk upstairs and downstairs, and had me walk without the cane from one end of the hall to the other.  He then told me to walk as much as possible without the cane, which I did. With one leg feeling longer than the other from the total hip surgery, there was a bit of a teeter, but from that point on, except early in the morning for a couple of days when first getting out of bed, I "lost the cane" and began walking on my own.

On Friday afternoon, Diane and I took the subway and bus to Laguardia Airport to attend my brother Lloyd's Celebration of  Life service.  We flew to Tampa, Florida where we were to meet brothers Doyle, coming from Las Vegas, and LeMoyne and Steve from Salt Lake.  After waiting in Tampa Airport for about five or six hours, the arrival board indicated that Doyle's flight had been cancelled in Denver, and we learned that Steve and LeMoyne had missed their connection in Atlanta.  Rather than getting a hotel at Tampa Airport Marriott, and already having a motel in Sarasota, even though it was after midnight, we took Uber from Tampa to Sarasota with Calvin, the driver.

Lloyd would have been 70 years old in October. He will be missed!

Since we got into Sarasota so late, Saturday was a low key day.  Diane, Lloyd's widow, her son Jeff, daughter Lori and their daughters Rowan and McKinley met us for breakfast and we later went to Diane's home in Sarasota where we spent most of the day.

Saturday evening extended family met at Mattison's Forty-One Restaurant in Sarasota for a meal.  We waited around for a couple of hours since brothers Doyle, Steve and LeMoyne were finally coming in on a flight after spending a couple of days trying to get to Sarasota.  Diane's family, her brothers and their spouses and her aunt and uncle were there and it turned out to be a very nice event.  Jeff also introduced us to his girlfriend Lisa who fit in as one of the family.

Celebration of Lloyd's Life Dinner Menu - 2

Celebration of Lloyd's Life Dinner Menu - 1

Nephew Jeff Adams-Sister Jan Coover

Bro-i-l Paul Coover & Sister Gloria Schneider

Auntie Marilyn and Sean Scully

Rowan Scully, Lori Adams Scully, Jan Coover

 On Sunday, July 23, we attended worship service at Bayside Community Church and spent the afternoon also at Bayside Community Church Youth Hall where Lloyds Celebration of Life service was held.  After remarks by Pastor Burnard, open mike time allowed Diane, Jeff, and Lori to share memories of their husband and father.  Each of us brothers and sisters also took a turn sharing some of our memories of Lloyd's life.  One of the favorite songs Lloyd remembered that we all sang together when growing up, "Two Little Boys" was also presented as part of the service.

On Monday, Most of the day was spent together sharing various memories and family stories with both tears and laughter.  That evening we gathered as extended family with the same people that attended Lloyd's Celebration of Life Dinner earlier.  We met at MacAlllisters Grill and Tavern.  This pub is the meeting place of the bicycle club where Jeff is president.  

Diane before we entered the pub

Background: Gloria Schneider, sister; Sean Scully, nephew-i-l; Jeff Adams; and his girlfriend, Lisa

Lori Scully, Doyle Adams, Diane D. Adams, Paul Coover, LeMoyne Adams

Tuesday we spent a lot of time together at the motel and later at Lloyd and Diane's home.  We reviewed some home video, Lloyd's Celebration of Life Service, and just "hung-out" together.  We got together for a few photos and, as a group, sang the familiar version of "Two Little Boys" and recorded it.  

Gloria, Jan and Paul went to Orlando on Monday evening as they flew back early the next morning: Jan and Paul to Washington State, Gloria to Salt Lake where she will attend Braydon and Eden Adams wedding (LeMoyne's son).  Diane and I flew back to New York City; Doyle went to St. George, Utah, and Steve and LeMoyne back to Salt Lake and then to their respective homes in Layton and East Garland.

Back in NYC, on Saturday we received a request from Aya Watanabe, lead Temple and Family History Consultant for Lincoln Square Young Single Adult Ward.  She had scheduled a demonstration of the Find, Take, Teach "Helping Others to Love Family History" for 5th Sunday combined meeting.  She indicated that Kellie, the member she had invited for her experience, had a very full family tree.  She just couldn't find who the focus person should be for Kellie's goal to find someone who needs temple ordinances.

We met, as she brought up Kellie's fan chart, I immediately noticed that Kellie was related to the Huntington family, just as Diane is.  With further checking, we clicked on a name in the fan chart and found that her brother's family all needed temple ordinances and they were within the time period where census records were available in New York-Vermont.

We also found that Aya's fan chart contained the same Huntington people.  So Diane, Aya, and Kellie are all cousins!  I introduced Aya to the new addition in the FamilySearch Tree App on our smartphones-"Relatives Around Me".  Immediately, all three of us listed the other two as relatives!  We knew the Huntington relationship, but I found that Aya and I are 4th cousins 1 generation removed.  Our common ancestor is William Henry Adams Sr., the immigrant ancestor who was the first presiding Elder in Dover, England in 1840.  

I come through his son, William Henry Adams Jr., and Aya comes through his sister, Alice.  She is related to the Whitley's.  I asked if these were the ones who lived in Burley, and she was blown away! She was going to use this in her presentation, or at least in Family Home Evening for the ward.

We completed training in Harlem on Sunday, as so few of the consultants make the effort to come to the training.  Line Berentsen, the TFHC-director lead will be able to follow up with both the Harlem 1st and Harlem YSA wards.

"Relatives Around Me" in FamilySearch-Tree App

16 July 2017

16 July 2017

This week has been a fun one with Suzie. On Monday we took the train up to Dyckman Street and walked to where we used to live when we first arrived on our mission. We walked up to the church where we attended, and then I tried to find The Cloisters to show Suzie.  But, as usual, got lost. Sometimes getting lost is good because we got to see a lot of beautiful  places in the Tyron Park. The highest point in Tryon Park used to be called "Fort Washington" during the summer of 1776 until Hessian mercenaries fighting for the British forced the troops to retreat. The British then renamed the area for Sr William Tryon (1729-1788), Major General and the last British governor of colonial New York.

Suzie standing inside an overhang in the rocks

Suzie sittng on the side of steps leading into parts of Tryon Park

Path up to Cloisters with Suzie looking over Hudson River 

Suzie trying to find a way to climb the perfect tree!

Diane standing in one of the entrances in Tryon Park

On Wednesday, Dr. Martinez volunteered to take us on a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge and then into China Town as Suzie had not been there before. Dr. Martinez explained the history of Brooklyn Bridge and told us about Governor's Island and how it was a part of the Revolutionary War. The British were referred to as the Governors and that is where it got its name.

In August of 1776 when the Battle of Brooklyn, one of the first skirmishes between British and the Americans in the Revolutionary War, took place. George Washington positioned troops in Brooklyn and fighting occurs throughout many present-day neighborhoods, include Flatbush and Park Slope.

The British defeaedt the Americans, but because of bad weather and fog coming in, the American troops are able to flee to Manhattan. Many soldiers are thus saved.

A little more than a decade later, in 1814, the steamship Nassau begins service between Brooklyn and Manhattan. Brooklyn's economy grews, and it is incorporated as the City of Brooklyn in 1834, and in 1883 one of Brooklyn's most famous landmarks, the Brooklyn Bridge, is opened.

Dr. Martinez and Suzie entering Brooklyn Bridge

Diane entering Brooklyn Bridge

Diane and Suzie on Brooklyn Bridge

Walking and Bike path in the middle and above car lanes below on each side

Suzie taking pictures from middle of Brooklyn Bridge

Dr. Martinez in the Middle of Brooklyn Bridge

On Thursday I decided to go and serve at the temple as I had not been for awhile. I was able to work in the initiatory and then participated in the prayer circle for one of the sessions, and then served in the Celestial Room until it was time to go home around 9:00 am.

On Friday, we decided to go to the temple so at 11:30 a.m. we were scheduled to do baptisms for some of Golden's family. While Suzie was dressing, I attended an endowment session and then was able to do some of my own names for initiatory. As there were not enough workers, I volunteered to be a worker and was able to be the ordinance worker for my own names. It makes it rather special. It was a wonderful day in the temple for me.

Saturday, we cleaned the apartment and did all the laundry to get ready for Sunday. Suzie was so helpful in cleaning and scrubbing the bathroom down and doing all of the vacuuming as Golden still cannot do too much physically.

Sunday we went to the Harlem YSA ward and taught Puzzilla to the consultants as another approach to descendancy research. Then Golden worked with Ryan on his Moses Westfall line. It looked like there were some families that were combined by looking at  census records so he was learning the value of checking data carefully and getting to know you family.

Meanwhile, while Diane was involved in this week's activities, I spent much of my time exercising and walking for physical therapy.  Dan Brown,  DPT with New York City Nurse Services came on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

On Monday, I walked up a flight of stairs and back down again.  We parked the walker and he had me go foot over foot using the hand rail going up and back down the stairs.  He had me walk up and down the hall a few times and then told me that next time we would go outside. His assignment was for me to walk about the same (3-4 times a day) that I was doing, but to use the walker and the cane about 50-50 percent of the time.

On Wednesday, Dan and I walked from the apartment to Central Park and toward Tavern on the Green, down some steps and back to the apartment again, using the cane.  This was about 3 blocks each way--amounting to almost a quarter mile.  I had a chance to do some family history on my own Dutch Steenblok ancestors, as well.

My assignment was to walk about 5 blocks each way two or three times a day on Thursday, I walked from 66th Street up to 69th Street and back; Diane and I walked to Central Park West and up to 69th street and back; then later 66th Street to 71st Street and back.  I also walked a couple of blocks to Duane Reade and back and to Gourmet Garage to do a bit of food shopping.  I did a bit more research on one of my Dutch families preparing them for temple work.

On Friday, I started the day walking from 66th and Columbus Avenue uptown to 71st Street and back again.  When Dan Brown came in the afternoon, he had me climb a flight of stairs up and back (all of this walking and climbing was aided by a cane) and then gave me exercises to do to strengthen the muscles.  The most painful and difficult one was to not use my hands to lift from the chair but the use my legs and stand up quickly and sit down slowly for 5 times.  Without his encouragement, I would not have been able to do it!

Dan then prescribed a flight of stairs each day--no more than 4 times, sitting and standing (no hands) 10 times OUCH!! and exercising each leg out 20 times and back 20 times.  Then he taught me some of the New York Trivia:  Short blocks (going north and south-Avenues) took 5 blocks up and 5 blocks back (10 total blocks) to equal a half mile.  He also said that the price of a subway ticket and a piece of pizza were the same--both prices having just gone up.

I walked in the rain this afternoon to Pioneer Market for a couple of items for supper -- up to 74th street and back, so .8 miles.  I was prescribed to walk between 1/2 to 1 mile two or three times a day until he comes again on Monday.

Saturday, I concertrated on my physical activity; did my exercise as prescribed, walked from 66th Street Downtown to Columbus Circle (59th Street), over to Park West and then back Uptown to 66th Street and west back to Columbus Avenue; thence to Bed, Bath and Beyond for a couple of things for Diane.  This was 18 blocks or .9 miles.

In the afternoon, I walked the same route.  However, I stopped a couple of times and had a passerby take some photos and I took some on the way back along Park West.

Golden at Columbus Circle next to the Trump Hotel and Tower

10 July 2017

June 26 Thru July 09 2017

GOLDEN: This has been quite a time ending the month of June with my brother Lloyd's passing.  Things have been unsettled pending the outcome of an autopsy to confirm cause of death.  Ultimately, it was heart and complicated by his rheumatic fever when he was only about 6 years old and being a smoker, high blood pressure was one of the things he battled.  But not being able to  stand surgery, two heart attacks caused him to be lost.

The Celebration of Life service will be in Sarasota, Florida on July 23rd.  He would have been 71 years old on October 10th.

Our kids--Matthew and Melissa and Joseph and Chantel have been extremely busy watching out for our best interests as we start to wind down the last six months of our mission.  With their encouragement and help, an offer has been made on a townhouse to downsize at 456 North 1510 West, Lindon, near the freeway and just off Pleasant Grove Parkway.  The plan is for them to only have us move once so it will be ready for our occupancy near Thanksgiving!

Back in Utah, Chantel, Matthew and Melissa were completing a home inspection and negotiating the final counter-offers to the Lindon property--an HOA for 55+ residents.  These first pictures are of the main floor which is over 1500 sq feet.

Front of house 456 North 1510 West

This is the backyard fence of the house 

This is the backyard 

Hallway looking from Living room

Hallway looking from front door into the living room

Living room looking from Kitchen

Kitchen looking from living room

Kitchen looking from dining room

Dining room looking from far wall in dining room

Hallway to master bedroom and laundry room looking from living room

Laundry room

Shower and soaking tub in master bedroom

Double sink in master bedroom

Master bedroom

These next pictures will be of the rooms upstairs.

Stairs going up looking from Living room

Hallway upstairs looking into upstairs bedroom

Looking at family room from upstairs den

Looking at den from upstairs family room

Upstairs bedroom

Upstairs bathroom

Double garage with storage cabinets and finished floor

We are so blessed with the outpouring of love from family, friends, missionaries (temple and otherwise, including our sister missionaries and seniors).

Sunday, July 2nd, we met with Harlem YSA and Harlem 1st Ward Temple and Family History Consultants and worked with them on the importance of clean-up and standardizing the information (beginning with their first four generations) and how to teach members.  This is one of the ways to not only find who may be missing from these families [which is certainly not an uncommon occurrence] and needing temple ordinances, but the importance of documenting with sources in the 1.2+ billion records in FamilySearch.org plus others available through the free premium partner sites for LDS members!  They are starting to feel the Spirit of Elijah and how to share it using the consultant tools and spiritual experience that comes from developing a lesson plan designed for each member so he/she can feel that Spirit!

On Monday, July 3rd, our oldest granddaughter, who just returned from her Toronto Canada Mission, came to New York to spend some time with us so she could help Diane with directions on getting to and from the hospital and any other place they wanted to or needed to go.

 It was Suzie's 21st birthday, so we gave her a birthday card and we bought her an Oreo cheese cake slice for her birthday cake. She got in pretty late, so we just enjoyed the evening and then the next day she wanted to just relax and lay low for a bit until Melanie came in.  We had purchased a train ticket for our daughter, Melanie to come and stay with us for a few days so it made for some really special time together with the two of them.

Melanie was possibly going to be involved in a move to North Carolina so Suzie was going to spend some time to help her pack and move. However, Daniel was able to land a job in Lynchburg, Virginia which is about 30 minutes away from Bedford, Virginia so a move was not necessary at this time. Suzie will be able to just spend time with Melanie and enjoy her kids.

July 4th, Melanie arrived from Lynchburg around 7:00 p.m. so Suzie went exploring on her own into Downtown NYC while we waited for her. In the evening around 9:30 p.m. we went up to the 37th floor where we watched fireworks going off from all around Manhattan. It was fun and brought back some wonderful memories of all the 4th of July celebrations I have done with my family from the time I was a little girl to now. We are so lucky to be free and to have been able to watch the church grow into a world wide organization literally dotting  the earth with temples and fulfilling prophesies that have been told for many years.

Golden and Diane on 37th floor of apartment

Fireworks from on top of 37th floor of apartment bldg.

Fireworks from top of apartment bldg of Golden and Diane

Clouds from smoke of fireworks on top of apartment bldg.

Suzie, Grandpa (Golden) and Melanie on top of Apt Bldg 37th floor

The highlight for today was the blessing I received from President Cam Nixon, counselor in the Manhattan Temple Presidency and Elder Kent Haldeman as I prepared for total hip replacement surgery of my right hip the following day at HSS (Hospital for Special Surgery) -- "where the world comes to get back into the game."  A wonderful feeling of peace and well-being was strongly felt.  So much faith and prayers are being offered up in our behalf.

We were reminded that, unlike Patriarchal Blessings where the focus is on the words of the blessing and its content, healing blessings focus on the other parts of the blessing; the anointing, the sealing, faith, and the will of the Lord as the essential elements.  The words spoken in a healing blessing are not essential to its healing effect. (Elder Dallin H. Oakes, "Healing the Sick", Ensign, May 2010, pp 47-50.)

On Wednesday July 5th, the surgery for right total hip replacement was performed by Dr. Thomas Sculco at HSS (Hospital for Special Surgery). Diane spent most of the day in the waiting room until after the surgery and Melanie and Suzie went touring around New York for the day. I was taken into post op around 4:30 p.m. and Diane was able to come and visit at 6:00 p.m. about the same time that Suzie and Melanie arrived to help me get home.

Dr. Thomas P. Sculco - Surgeon for Golden

The procedures in this hospital are very tight to prevent infections for patients having surgery. They are the top in the nation for the longest problems of infection involved with surgeries. Diane was given a card that had four colors on it.

There was a electronic board, like you see at airports, in the patient waiting area that  displayed all of the patient statuses. All she had to do was look for the patient Identifier number found in the upper right hand corner of the card and it would show the status of the patient. Once I got into recovery, it was about 1 1/2 hours before Diane was able to come and visit. She was only allowed 15 minutes to visit every two hours so after her first visit at 6:00 p.m. she went home and came back the next morning with Suzie and Melanie. They stayed until they were going to bring in lunch, so they left to get their lunch.

After visiting with Golden on Thursday, Suzie, Melanie, and myself went on a taxi cruis around Manhattan and The Statue of Liberty. After we got off, we went and walked around Ground Zero which is a place that I really enjoy. It makes me proud to be an American and to see the miracles of people coming together at a bad time and helping each other out.

Helm of Taxi Bus tour around Manhattan

Suzie on the desk below on the taxi

Melanie and Suzie on Taxi in front of Statue of Liberty

Melanie inside taxi boat around Manhattan

Melanie sitting on Taxi Boat before leaving dock

Melanie and Mom on Taxi Bus Boat

Suzie at the Memory Fountain at Ground Zero

Suzie and Melanie looking at the fish in the pond at Ground Zero 911

On Friday Diane and Suzie came around 11:00 when we thought that I would be released. It was pouring that day so the bus ride was rather eventful because the bus leaked. I changed seats three times trying to dodge the leaks and one time Suzie said "I just got hit on the head, I'm moving". Wherever there was an air conditioning vent, there was a major leak.

Suzie looking at the leak just to the side her head

 Finally at 4:00 p.m. we made it through downed printers and too many patients for nurses and was able to go home. President Nixon came over to the hospital around 3:00 and still had to wait an hour so we were a little concerned for tying him up most of the day. President Nixon is one of the most caring individuals we have met and it was such a wonderful opportunity to work with him.

A funny experience we had was when we kept referring to President Nixon and how he was waiting for us downstairs. The nurse finally asked us if President was his name. We told her that it was just a title as he was a counselor in the Temple but for a short while, she thought that we were talking about THE President Nixon of the United States. To make the mix up even better, President Nixon's wife's name is Pat. We all got a big kick out of that one.

Before long, I was in my room shared with another patient.  But the view to the East River and the Highway was exciting to see, and help with the calm to know that things are progressing forward.

Evening view of the East River from Golden's HSS room

Daytime view of East River from Hospital Room

Saturday, while Suzie and Diane went to see "Phantom of the Opera" I had visits from New York Nursing as well as NY Physical Therapy to get things all set up for home care until I can get back to my own physical therapist at Orthology, Julie Erlich -- a Jewish gal I have also been helping with her family history.

Suzie and Diane (Nana)

Majestic Theater Opera Stage for Phantom of the Opera

[DIANE] As Golden was down for the next three months, I had my first experience in teaching alone. It went quite well except the computers were not able to bring in Puzzilla so I had to focus only on the FamilyTree approach. During the next hour, Lina was able to get Puzzilla onto all of the computers so I think that I will be able to teach it next week.

I did my FH Personal Experience with Ryan McCulloch and I think it went well. I helped him find a whole family that could have their temple work done by finding the "Find A Grave Memorial" for Moses Westfall which provided birth and death information that would allow temple work to be done and the sealing for husband and wife to be completed. By clicking on his spouse listed on the memorial, the same information was provided for her on birth and death which would allow for her work to be done also. Along with the father and mother, there were three more children that could be added and temple work completed for each one.

I also gave him my research on the Irish line and showed him where to go to search the parish records for his family and gave him another family where temple work could be done. Now I must move on to Sarah Taylor Sheffield for her FH Personal Experience.