Lois Cardwell, her family and friends WELCOME you!

"Thank you all for making my 90th birthday a wonderful event!"

Lois Cardwell

Scenes from Aunt Lois' 90th Birthday Party at the Gateway Center in Newport, Vermont on October 28, 2007!

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______,  2007?

Dear Folks,

I think our letters are getting mixed up.  I have made a list of how the letters should go.  We start with the oldest, like Ruth, and Ruth should send it to Teresa because Elizabeth was the next to the oldest.  I hope I haven't confused everyone.

Well, as most of you know, I am writing this in the hospital because I broke my ankle in three places and now I am having therapy to get me walking again.  Hopefully, I won't have to stay here more than a month.  Next Friday they will be taking the cast off and x-ray it to see how it is doing.  I hope it won't be more than a month more.  This is a nice place to be, but it isn't like home.

We still have snow on the ground, but it is melting fast.  Hopefully, it will all be gone by the time I get home.  No more slipping on ice and having to crawl back to my house on my hands and knees.  I have held this letter for a week and will close for now and get it on its way.

Love to all, Lois

Aunt Lois wrote on April 14th .....

April 14, 2007

Hello everyone,

The therapist went to my house yesterday to see if I could get around alright.  Irene and Rod came to see what needs to be done.  Rod is going to put some rods in my shower so that I can hold onto them.  Everything else looked good.  I think that I will go home some day next week.   I now have to have a boot to walk with.  It is so much easier than hopping on one leg.

Irene and Rod have been so good to me.  Irene comes every week and washes my hair.  I went to their house for Easter dinner.  They had 11 there.  Irene is such a good cook.  She will be taking me home.

I have to have the boot on for six to eight weeks.  Then the doctor will look to see how it is doing.  Maybe I will be rid of it by then.

Gloria and Bob were up here Easter weekend and their daughter, their other daughter and boyfriend - and their son had gone shopping at Jay Peak.

We still have lots of snow, but it is supposed to rain tomorrow and maybe we will get spring now.  It sure doesn't look like spring yet!

Love, Lois

Aunt Lois writes .....

March 13, 2007

Thanks for all the good wishes!

This is a very nice nursing home and the food is very good and hot.  Over at the other home, I think we were at the end of the line - and our food was cold, although the nurses aids and nurses were very nice.

Raymond was here yesterday (March 12th) and he said this nursing home was a lot nicer than where Peggy is staying.

They said it will be six to eight weeks before I get this cast off.  They are giving me therapy every day to keep my limbs active.  The hardest thing I do is hop on one foot with a walker.

I hope I never have to live in one of these homes, although they are very nice to the people.  I don't think Clair Umstead will ever get out of here.  He has had a bad stroke.  It looks like Evangeline will be staying for awhile with me.

Love to all, Lois

E-Mail Dated February 23, 2007

Friends and Family;

Lois had surgery yesterday, February 22, to set and repair her ankle.  She had fallen on some ice in the road as she was walking to a neighbor's house.  No one witnessed her fall as the road in front of her house is not used much in the winter - plus the high banks of snow blocked anyone's view from their houses.  The only thing she thought of to do was to crawl back home where she could call for help.

She called Evangeline Umstead at the nursing home where she was visiting her husband and asked Evangeline to come home and take her to the hospital.  Evangeline is living with Lois to be close to her husband in the Bel-aire Nursing Home a few blocks from Lois' house.

It is a very severe break, with fractures on each side and in the center of her ankle.  One side was not repairable except by using a ss plate screwed to the bone.  Her ankle will be stiff when it is healed, but that will be a number of weeks away.  She will be in the nursing home for several weeks where she can be cared for and receive rehab therapy.  She will probably be taken to the Bel-aire Nursing Home.

Now we need to pray for her speedy healing and send her cards and letters.  She likes to read which will help her pass the time away.  Pass this along.  If there is any change, we will keep you posted.  Her address is:  Lois Cardwell, 426 Farrant Street, Newport, VT  05855.

Beulah and Don Griffes

  The lost Round Robin returns home!

June 11, 2006

Dear Folks,

While I am in a writing mood, thought I had better get this letter off.  This is a sequel of the event I wrote in the last letter about falling down on my porch.  About a month later, I did the same thing except I fell backwards instead of forward.  I really hurt myself worse than I did the first time, but couldn't get any sympathy as there were no visible signs.  I ached all over and my head really hurt.  Hope I have learned my lesson before I start getting broken bones.  This has been a very rainy spring and June isn't any better.  It has rained over the week and is very cool.  Hope it turns around soon.

There are very few boats on the lake, probably because of the weather and also because of the gas prices.  I have been busy going to graduations and parties.  Rebecca Griffes graduated from high school and she was valedictorian.  They had a party for her at Beulah and Don's house.  There were about 75 there.  Next Saturday will be going to Johnson, VT to Sarah Manchester's graduation.  She is Beulah's granddaughter from her first husband.  In August, I will be going to Alicia Ames' wedding.  I just read all the letters over again and forgot that Beulah wrote about her grandchildren.  Sorry about that.  It is nice to hear from our nieces when the parents can't write.  Teresa should also write.

Hope this finds you all well.

Love to all,

Lois

November 17, 2005

Dear Folks,

I have held this long enough.  It was great to hear from all of you and your activities.  I will tell you what happened to me this morning.  I have to bring my bird feeders in at night because the raccoons get into them.  I was putting them out this morning before daylight.  It had been raining yesterday and there was a thin layer of ice on the porch.  I got the bird feeders up; but when I started back, I slipped on the thin layer of ice and fell flat on my face.  I thought probably my nose was broken, but luckily, it wasn't.  But my nose looks terrible all scratched up.    We have had a good fall, warmer than usual, but they are predicting scattered snow flurries today.

I have a good neighbor.  He is cutting wood from his girlfriend's place and he is giving it to me.  He won't even let me pay for it.  There is a lot of work, because he has to chop it up and then pile it in my garage.  I had already bought four cords of wood and paid $500.00 for it.  I won't run out of wood this winter.

Well, I hope everybody has a happy Thanksgiving.  Dawnita and I will be going with Beulah's family at their house.

Love to all,

Lois

Maalox and nose drops and needles for knitting,

Walkers and handrails and new dental fittings,

Bundles of magazines tied up in string,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Cadillacs and cataracts and hearing aids and glasses,

Polident and Fixodent and false teeth and glasses,

Pacemakers, golf carts and porches with swings,

These are a few of my favorite things.

When the pipes leak,

When the bones creak,

When the knees go bad,

I simply remember my favorite things

And then I don't feel so bad.

Hot tea and crumpets and corn pads for bunions,

No spicy hot food or food cooked with onions,

Bathrobes and heat pads and hot meals they bring,

These are a few of my favorite things.

Back pains, confused brains, and no fear of sinnin',

Thin bones and fractures and hair that is thinin',

And we won't mention our short shrunken frames,

When we remember our favorite things.

When the joints ache,

When the hips break,

When the eyes grow dim,

Then I remember the great life it's been.

June 11, 2005

Dear Round Robins,

It is so good to hear from all of you.  I sure enjoy reading all the letters.

As we get older, we seem to have a lot of medical problems.  I have been fortunate not to have anything serious.  I have aches and pains, but nothing real bad.  I still do my housework and cooking, but not as fast as I used to.  I have to do things in installments.  I did rake most of my lawn this spring, but it took a week where it used to take me a day.  I sit in my chair a lot and think about the things I should be doing.  I am enclosing a song that Teresa gave me.  I think that it fits most of us.

It will be nice to have Ruth with me for a couple of weeks in July.  When you get our age, a lot of friends have died.  One of the members of the Malden Church sent me a picture of a coworker who used to work with me in the bank.  She just celebrated her 100th birthday and still is in her right mind.  They are both in a nursing home.

I miss the Florida weather.  May was really cool and then June started with temperatures in the 80s and 90s with high humidity.  But now this week it is cool again.  I have to have the heat on, but I guess it is still better than the hurricanes and tornados in Florida.

I will be looking forward to the next round robin letter.

Love to all, Lois

March 14, 2005

Dear Round Robin,

Here it is in March, and we're still getting winter.  We had more snow at one time than we got all winter.  I like to shovel snow, but I am ready for spring.  I have a man who plows, but sometimes he doesn't get here soon enough.  The ground hog saw his shadow (Feb 2nd), so I guess we are getting six weeks more of winter.  They are still fishing on the lake and still driving their cars and snowmobiles on the lake.  I guess they have to get their fish houses off the lake by the end of March.

A lady backed into my car in the grocery store parking lot.  I am waiting for a check from her insurance company.  I will be glad when it is fixed.  I had a real nice time staying with Ruth and Ruth Anne while Beulah and Don went to Michigan.  Beulah and Don took me out there and picked me up on the way back.

I didn't go to church yesterday because of the snow.  I used to drive in it going to work in Massachusetts, but I have lost my desire as I get older.  I don't even like to drive to Boston anymore.  I am not as alert as I used to be.  Raymond, I used to walk on stilts.  We made our own.  It was good to see Ellen and her two children when they came up to go skiing.  Haven't seen them for a long time.

Hope this finds everyone well.

Love to all,

Lois

Christmas, 2004

September 28, 2004

Dear Folks,

I've had this round robin long enough, so will get this on its way.  This morning I was piling wood in my garage.  I have been doing it for the last week.  But after Wednesday, I won't be able to as I am having cataract surgery on Thursday and three weeks after will have it done on the other eye.  I have ordered three cords of wood and expect them to deliver some more tomorrow.  I will have to hire somebody to put it in my garage.  I won't be able to lift anything that is more than ten pounds for three days.

We are having summer weather this fall - it gets up in the 70s most every day.  I was concerned about my mobile home in Florida.  I had no damage from the hurricanes.  One came through, but with very minor damage from just one blind that was blown off.  They seem to get the hurricanes along the coast and I am inland, which I am thankful for.

The foliage will soon be at its peak - in probably another week.  A group of us ladies usually go to view the scenery and then we eat at the Highland Lodge.  That is where Clayton and Gerry had their 50th wedding anniversary celebration.  The lodge closes soon after for the winter.

Well, I had better get this letter on its way.  Bye for now.

Love, Lois

March 7, 2004

Dear Folks,

As usual, I enjoyed all your letters.  I was afraid they might have stopped.  Beulah was here in November of last year when she wrote her letter.  But I can understand Ruth's not writing with the death of Henry.  I was sorry to hear about him and he will be missed by a lot of people.  It probably will be hard for Ruth to adjust to a new life.  When we get our age, it is hard for changes.

Joan and Glen, along with their animals, have been here for two months.  They left to go further south to visit some of their friends and, of course, Glen expects to go to some baseball games while there.  He has been going to Orlando while here to take some treatments for Alzheimer's which they think are helping him.  He isn't too bad yet.  He doesn't like pressure and lets Joan do most of the planning for their life.  I did go with them to Silver Springs, but I have seen all the attractions around here and they go by themselves.  I am at the stage where I had rather stay home most of the time.  I still go to the park and feed the birds every day, and I go to church every Sunday.  But most of the rest of the time, I stay home.

I have a friend who writes to me two or three times before I answer her letter, so I'll close now and write to her.

Love to all, Lois

July 21, 2003

Dear Folks,

We have had great weather this summer, although we need rain badly.  It is supposed to rain most of this week, but right now the sun is out.  Had a nice time at Tony's and Bunny's 50th anniversary.  Nita didn't go, and it was a good thing.  She would have had to sit through six courses while the rest of us eat.  Dawnita went with me and she had a great time.  She saw her favorite cousin, Charles Maria, and she danced with him.  She also danced with Paul and and Bunny's son-in-law.  She was the belle of the party.  Paul's friend, who used to work with him, went and drove.  I was glad because it was dark driving home and I don't like driving after dark.  Paul came up next weekend by bus to go to the Charleston 200th anniversary.  He will have a lot to write about in his next newsletter.

Clayton, as we get older, we do foolish things.  I notice on the check I wrote to Ron and his bride that I had your name on it.  They say these are the golden years, but I think it is far from that.  I still like to drive and plan to drive to Florida the end of September.  I say that I will stop driving when people start blowing their horns at me.  That was a terrible accident abut the 86 year old man who killed 10 people.  I think he had his foot on the gas instead of the brake.  I did that one time when Esther was riding with me.  I stopped at a rest area and thought I had on the brake instead of the gas.  I hit the curbing which stopped me.  It made quite a bang, but no damage.  Well, I can't think of anything else to say, so will stop and get this letter on the way.

Love to all, Lois

October 20, 2002

I just got home from church, so I thought I should write this letter.  I had a good trip down.  The only fog I saw as at the height of land beyond Barton.  I had sunshine all the way until I got to Lady Lake (the town just before my town).  Then it poured rain for about a minute and cleared up.  I did have a tie up just west of Hartford.  There had been an accident and we had to go from four lanes down to one.  It took about an hour to get through that mess.  They had taken the cars away, but there were guard rails and other trash in the road.

It was real hot when I got here, in the 80s and 90s.  But last week a cold front came through and it has cooled off a lot.  There is no high humidity and it gets into the 80s during the day and in the 50s and 60s at night.  It is such a pleasure to walk in the park without sweating.

I was supposed to go to the doctor last Tuesday, but they had an office in another town and I was supposed to go there.  I didn't have enough time to get there.  They should have told me to go there, so I had to schedule it for next week.  Just a regular check up.  I hope I can get a flu shot at the same time.  I never get the flu, but they say older people should get them.

People are starting to come down from the north for the winter.  Every week in church they announce the ones who have come down, usually two to three couples each week.  The lady who usually sits with me came down last Wednesday.  I was surprised to see her as she is getting real lame and it is hard for her to walk.  One of my other friends from the church sold their home here in the park and has moved back to Tennessee.  Her husband has bad eyes and can't drive anymore.  They decided they should move back.

Well, I should write some more letters, so will close for now.  I enjoyed all your letters.

Love to all, Lois

March 23, 2002

Dear RRR,

Here it is almost time to go back to Vermont.  When it gets close, I am anxious to get back there.

The weather is getting warmer, in the seventies and eighties; and if I don't go in the mornings to feed the geese, the afternoon is too hot to walk.  I thought the geese would fly back north when it gets warm, but they were born here and don't know the difference.  The sea gulls fly up north and I am always glad to see them go, as they steal the bread out of the geese's mouth.  There is another bird that I don't feed because they take the bread out of the geese's mouth too.  They are called ibises.  They are white and a little larger than the sea gulls.  These birds stay here all summer.

It looks like we are all getting older and have medical problems.  Sorry to hear about you, Gerry and Nita.  I have a friend here who is 88 and she is spryer than I am.  She can get up and down, which I can't do anymore.  She also rakes her leaves and doesn't get tired.  I have to take my time doing lawn work.  I should get out in my yard and do some weeding around my flowers, but most of the time I don't have the ambition.  If I get on my knees to week, I have to use my arms to get back up.  I just read all your interesting letters over again.  I still enjoyed them again.

Hope to see all of you in Vermont this summer.

Love to all, Lois

September 11, 2001

Dear RRR,

    Time sure flies by as we get older.  The summer is almost gone and it soon will be time to travel to Florida.  In about two and a half weeks, I will be leaving the 28th of September.  I hope my car makes it.  I have over 100,000 miles on my 1994 Honda, but it is still running good.  I sure have had no trouble with Hondas since I bought the first one in 1984.  This is my third one.

    We had a beautiful summer here in Vermont.  Sometimes I think I am in Florida.  The weather has been so warm.  It has been 80 a few days, but now a cool front has come through and it is in the 60s and 70s, which is more reasonable.  I have been working outdoors cutting down bushes and taking care of rose bushes, but I can't work like I used to.  I fell down cleaning out a drain and I had a hard time getting up.  I fell on my back in the bushes.  My feet got tangled in the vines.  I finally managed to turn over and get up.  I won't be trying that again.  My neighbor finished the job.  I have very good neighbors.

    The house on one side of me just sold.  A man from Connecticut bought it.  I met him this week and he seems real nice.  He has been divorced for 13 years and he plans to live here full time.  Hope he makes it because the house is a summer cottage, but the people before him used it to come up in the winter to go skiing.

    I hope this finds everybody well and will be looking forward to hearing from you again.

Love to all, Lois

June 19, 2001

Dear Folks,

This sure is a very sad day for the family.  As you know, David Ames died June 9th while on dialysis in West Lebanon, NH.  His son, Matthew, was to graduate from Christian High School just hours after his father died.  He wasn't going to go; but then he knew his father would want him to, so he went.

Then, on Sunday, June 10th, Esther LeBaron died in the hospital.  She is the lady who used to go back and forth with me from Florida.  She was also Pattie Ames' grandmother.  So we had two funerals to go to on the same day.

I have so much to do around the house since I got home, such as trim my hedges and put dirt around my rose bushes.  But I can't do as much as I used to.  I did get my windows washed inside and out, but now it is getting too hot to work outside.

Clayton, the Canadian geese stay in the water most of the time, so they aren't a problem.  They were born there, so they don't go north for the summer.

I haven't started walking yet this summer, but I have an exercise machine that I use faithfully.  Tomorrow, Nita, Dawnita and I are going to St. Johnsbury to have my eyes examined to see if my cataracts are ready for operation.  I hope they won't be.  Nita will drive my car home for me.  I hope to see Homer while we are down there, although he probably won't recognize us.

Well, I can't think of any other news, so will close for now.  I hope this finds you all well.

Lots of love, Lois

February 18, 2001

    I was glad to hear from all of you.  Most of you have children and grandchildren, but I haven't any.  So I will talk about the birds.   You probably know that I walk in a park here in Leesburg.  It is a very pleasant park.  It was constructed by the CCCs in the 30's.  It is by a lake and they made a canal that goes around the park.  I go very day and feed the birds.  My favorite birds are the Canadian geese.  They were from here and they don't go north in the summer.  There is a new bird this winter called cow birds and they are very rude.  The Canadian geese take the bread from my hand and the cow birds take it right out of their mouths.  The cowbirds are about the size of egrets with a very long bill. 

    Then my next favorite bird is the coot.  They are a small green bird about the size of a pigeon.  The sea gulls come screaming down and make a lot of noise and take the bread from them.  The sea gulls will be leaving abut the middle of March to go north.  I hoe the cowbirds go too.  There is another bird this year.  It looks like a stork only smaller.  I have only seen one, but it follows me around to get the bread.  He never gets too close but when he gets the bread he has to dunk it in the water before he eats it.

    That is my bird story, so will close for now and get this letter on its way.

Love to all, Lois

June 13 2000

Dear Folks,

                I have kept this way too long.  I was just sitting down to read a book and I saw the RRL, so I thought I had better write this letter before I start to read. 

                It has been rather cool since I got home the first of May.  One day it got up to 80 but most of the time it is in the 50s & 60s.  Today it is rather cloudy and there might be showers.  I have my fire going every day. 

                Since the first of June we have been busy.  One weekend Nita & I were delegates for our church, so had to go to ENC for two or three days.  Then we had to come back to Lyndon Institute for my 65^th  HS reunion.  The next weekend we went back to Raymond & Margaret’s 50^th anniversary.  It was a nice time.  We stayed with Paul and he treated us royally as always. Beulah was with us as Don had to stay hone because of lumber he had to take care of.  Sunday afternoon we went to Tony & Bunny’s for a meal.  She had Ruth French & her husband there too.  We were going to eat outdoors but it started to rain, so had to be inside.  It was just as cool there as it was up here.  Well I can’t think of any more news, so will go back to my reading.  Hope this finds every one well.

 Love to all, Lois

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