Ruth Gardner Mass - December 27, 2017

On December 27, 2017, the good people of the Glory to God Prayer Community organized and served a German memorial luncheon for Ruth Gardner at St. Joseph's Catholic Church.

Several of us spoke about Oma at the luncheon.

After lunch, we attended the Mass for Oma in the beautiful and historic German Church.

It was exactly what Oma wanted.

We are forever grateful to the kind and loving people who made this happen.

Christmas - 2017

Christmas caroling. A horse-drawn wagon ride through Potwin. Snow. Christmas Eve. Christmas Day. Family. Here are some of the photos that somewhat describes our fun times together.

Christmas Eve luncheon with Carolyn.

Christmas Eve afternoon preparing for Santa ...

 

and tracking his travels.

Christmas Eve ...

Christmas morning ...

Family ...

Family group photo ...

Gardner genes apparently oppose silly photos.

Merry Christmas to all.

Ruth Gardner dies - December 5, 2017

After years of struggling with dementia, and a decade of praying to meet her Lord, Ruth Gardner died peacefully in the early morning of December 5th. With us in the room, and her hand gently held by her loving daughter, she passed calmly and quietly without distress.

She was 88 years old.

In the longest obituary ever submitted to The Topeka Capital Journal, Helen provides a sweet eulogy to her mother. (Click to read.) 

When going through old family photos, we discoverd this one of Ruth from 80 years ago. It deserves posting.

Thank you for the decades of love and kindness.

We love you.

AFS International Desserts - 2017

This year marks the 20th year that we've hosted the AFS International Desserts Holiday Party. This year we had students, and desserts, from Germany, India, Portugal, Japan, Switzerland, Belgium, China, Spain and Italy.

They told us of a Holiday celebrated in their homeland ...

and brought a traditional dessert enjoyed by their family.

Until next year, let the world continue to shrink.