The Rowlands :: Christmas 2008

It's Thanksgiving Day. I have finished cleaning up the smoker and slicing smoked meat and potatoes. I look forward to sitting down with Cindy and Joseph in a while to enjoy some of our bountiful fixin's and ...pumpkin pie. The holiday season has begun early this year. Seems like the Christmas shopping push comes earlier each year. In spite of the bleak times we are wading into as a nation, we have a great deal that we are thankful for and look forward, as ever, to celebrating the advent of the King of Kings.

We miss Cindy's brother Eddie this year. He passed away the last day of February this year after a number of compounding health problems. He had lived in our home since Cindy's mother passed away in early 2000.

Cindy and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary this spring. My family hosted a reception at the Caledonia Baptist fellowship hall and we tremendously enjoyed having many friends and family members celebrate it with us.

Many of you remain concerned for Cindy's health. In February, it will be five years since she was diagnosed with cancer. None of her last five years have been easy, but this year has been harder than most for her. After returning from our UK trip last year, we had a number of medical decisions to make. In January, she had a difficult surgery to remove two tumors in her right lung. Recovery has been long and hard, compounded by a weakened heart. In July, she began chemo again to fight a remaining tumor in her abdomen. Happily, she is benefitting from the chemo, though it seems each bout gets a little harder. She is still smiling.

Joseph continues to work at Arkansas Educational Television (AETN). We enjoyed his first project as co-producer, which was an hour-long special dealing with water problems in Arkansas called “Troubled Waters”. It has aired many times since it was released in the spring. He was able to write and perform some of the music for that show. Since then he has taken on the task of bringing their media content to the internet.

I celebrated another anniversary this year – my 10th year with Murphy Oil Corporation. I am still responsible for messaging systems (which used to be just email but now includes Blackberrys and instant messaging). I manage several other systems as well and work with a terrific bunch of people.

Our church family at Caledonia Baptist had a sorrowful loss this year as Pastor Hugh Nelson's wife, Marian, succumbed to cancer. This has meant tremendous changes for him and we have all sought to lift him up and keep us all moving ahead.