From: Kraig Warnemuende <ad6075@wayne.edu>

Date: Thu Mar 25, 2004 12:22:34 PM America/Detroit

To: Kraig Warnemuende <ad6075@wayne.edu>

Subject: 03-25-04 January Update from Kraig, Loren and Keren

HELP NOTE! I've realized that a number of you have had a hard time seeing Keren's new pictures due to a restructuring of her page. Here's how to see them: On the homepage (http://webpages.eng.wayne.edu/~ad6075), click on Keren's picture which will take you into her first page. On this page there is a bar at the top right under the title which gives a list of links to her other pages and letters. Click on any of these you wish to see! (NC visit is the last one). Let me know if you have any probs!

So! January and a brand new year!

January began with a great New Year's Day hangout at my folks' house with a bunch of friends from church. Also, during the first weekend of January, Grandma Warnemuende put an offer on a condo and was accepted (she and Grandpa had been looking for a new place for almost a year). This particular place was a big step for Grandma, as she had had to change her perspective from a place for her and Grandpa to a place just for her. At the same time, we were so thankful that God had taken care of this detail before Grandpa was gone--I think it eased Grandpa's mind a lot as well.

Grandpa passed away on January 9th, just a few hours after Kraig's dad made it home to see him and be with Grandma. Once again, God's timing was perfect....

At that point, family and friends poured in to celebrate Grandpa's life and mourn his passing. I've known Grandpa for about twelve years now and got to hear many of his life-stories. We always loved to talk about his days in the Philippines during WWII since I had lived there when I was little--we'd play, "Did you ever go to....?" He'd also been to Japan during the war and we'd talk about places there and the impact his experiences had on his life. But it was meeting folks who were Kraig's dad's age who had known Grandpa while growing up that opened a whole new part of Grandpa's life to me--the Boy's Brigade leader at church who challenged his students to grow in Christ, the man who always jumped in to service with heart, mind and strength. I got to hear all sorts of new stories. He was and is an amazing man!

There were a lot of laughs and tears that weekend--it was so good to have all the family around. Kat came up again from Texas--this time without Ryan who was deployed to Iraq on January 10. Then an added bonus visit from Kevin, Mandie and Abby--so we were able to get some cute cousins pictures!!! :) Dad Warnemuende was able to stay for two weeks, so that was an unexpected treat. We were able to videotape him with Abby, and also got more video of Keren and sent it all out to Mom W so she could enjoy a bit of it.

I don't know what the weather was like in your areas, but it was frigid here this year. In one sense that was nice, 'cause we had a good bit of snow and it stayed on the ground--as a result, we didn't have to stare at the brown-gray of winter grass. But it was so cold, and it was hard to go out.... So even Loren--who is very much a homebody and introvert--got cabin fever. It's the first time I've really struggled with feeling out of the loop and alone. It didn't help that my two main hang-out friends, my sister Carrie and sister-in-law Katrina, both started full-time jobs in January. I also have missed my friend Ann who moved with her family to Arizona last Thanksgiving.

I was feeling a bit of loss concerning Keren, too. We go to physical therapy on Mondays, and I would come back from those sessions thrilled with how well Keren was progressing. But then Thursday and our special ed playgroup would roll around and I'd find myself struggling to keep my spirits up as I watched kids younger than Keren (also with various special needs) doing things that she couldn't yet. This is still a challenge for me at times--it's funny, but I find I have an easier time accepting Keren's progress in relation to "normal" kids than to other kids who are delayed. Added to all this, Kraig was neck-deep in putting a paper together which he was to present at a conference in California in March. Not to mention continued work on his dissertation. Between all that and Grandpa's death, January was a long month....

But February was around the corner.....

More tomorrow!

Much Love,

Loren for the gang