Max left for Australia on Tuesday, December 14th, was in quarantine for a few days after arrival and then was married to Jacqui Banks Monday, December 20 in a ceremony performed by her Stake Stake President. It was around midnight Sunday the 19th here and we and other friends and family were watching via “zoom”. Remarkable and wonderful! They looked so happy. It has been a long wait for them amidst covid restrictions but they have maintained a faithful, daily FaceTime courtship. They will certainly have a story to tell their grandchildren. We are so proud of Max and the direction his life has taken and he seems to be happy and grateful too. Bevan McMullin told Tom that Max was the best Branch Clerk the YSA has had. Max has also been serving in the Temple as an ordinance worker, working hard at his schooling in accounting and at his full time job with John Layton.
Tom’s Doctor kindly arranges for both Tom and I to receive our covid test to return to Canada. We have to have the test within 72 hours prior to our reentrance into the country. They just put the covid testing onto our already hefty tab.
Tom seemed to do well thru the week and the Doctor seems to be pleased with his progress. We stay in touch with each other and the children each day we are separated. Last time they let him out Wednesday afternoon after his 48 hours of isolation was complete but we were disappointed this time when the 48 hour mark came and went without his release from the nuclear medicine area. He still had his IV shunt in his arm and we are not certain if that is what made the difference or not. We individually watched the funeral of David Day our British friend from our mission who died suddenly following a brief cancer diagnosis and two strokes. He is younger than us and he and his wife Sue have five children and thirteen grandchildren. I was glad we were able to connect via zoom and participate in that way. They were a lovely couple and he was serving as bishop when this happened. Tom was released Thursday morning and after our meeting with the doctor, we took a limo, Tom had arranged for, back to Frankfurt. It is an experience to drive on the Auto Baum. I don’t believe the fast lane has a speed limit. The driver was very kind and walked us and our luggage into the airport/train area and right into the hotel.
Charmaine had already arrived from Salzburg and checked into the hotel before we got there. We met her in the lobby around dinner time and took her out to eat. It was her 19th birthday. Tom went back to our room afterward and I went with her to customer service to arrange for a wheelchair for Tom tomorrow both here in Frankfurt and when we arrive in Vancouver. Charmaine also asked why she couldn’t checkin on line and they said it was because she had transferred flights and now owed around $700. This was very similar to what happened to Tom and I with our flight having been accidentally cancelled by the airline and our then having to pay $1400 for cancellation and rebooking fees. The fellow couldn’t explain Charmaine’s concerns to our understanding and she finally had to pay the $700. We met her again the next morning in the lobby and she stayed with us as we were escorted thru the handicap routes of the airport to our gate. It was nice to have her along with us and hopefully nice for her too. Paul picked us all up at the Vancouver airport and got us home.
We were weary but glad to be home. We received some snow the night we got home and our dear neighbor across the street shovelled for us. We attended our weekly Temple session and Tom served as the sealer Wednesday evening and I always attend with him. We have made two grocery runs to get ready for Christmas and been in touch with our children. Trevor is in search of a new job. With covid restrictions increasing again due to the spread of the new variant, we will just be able to have Cindy’s family for dinner on Christmas Eve. I was hoping we could have Jean and the girls too. We are all feeling the need to be face to face with others again and pray for relief from this pandemic.
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