| The Giese Christmas Letter 2005 1 |
For some of you this may come as a
surprise, since we lived over 26 years in
one place, but we’ve moved!
We started our year at Trinity Lutheran
Church, Rolling Meadows, Illinois
(northwest suburb of Chicago) where Bob
was Pastor from April, 1979 to May of
this year. Then he began a call process to
become pastor of two congregations,
First Lutheran Churches in Ogema and
Westboro, Wisconsin in January. We had
driven through Ogema and Westboro on
our way to Eau Claire to visit Pastor Bob’
s parents at Christmas time and decided
we (Bob & Jo, anyway) could see
ourselves living and working here. The
two congregations called Bob to be pastor
and he accepted. The friendliness of the
people, the trees and animals, and the
bike, hiking and ski trails were just too
much to resist.
It was difficult to leave Trinity, though.
We had made many close relationships
there and had begun to think we would
never leave. But for both our health and
the health of Trinity, it was time for
something new.
So here we are - already beyond six
months in life and ministry in the
northwoods. And we love it.
Now a little about our year.
Before we moved here, Bob’s
mother, Doris, who had been
suffering with leukemia, emphysema
and crippling arthritis for years
finally quit fighting. She assured us
she was ready, and Bob, his Dad,
Walt and sister Debbie & family were
all there with Doris at the end. That
this was harder on Bob than he
wants to admit is indicated by his
“forgetting” to even mention it in his
Christmas letter to the
congregation. But old friends he
hadn’t seen for years showed up to
pay their respects, and church
friends from Bob’s boyhood
congregation helped with the service.
mother, Doris, who had been
suffering with leukemia, emphysema
and crippling arthritis for years
finally quit fighting. She assured us
she was ready, and Bob, his Dad,
Walt and sister Debbie & family were
all there with Doris at the end. That
this was harder on Bob than he
wants to admit is indicated by his
“forgetting” to even mention it in his
Christmas letter to the
congregation. But old friends he
hadn’t seen for years showed up to
pay their respects, and church
friends from Bob’s boyhood
congregation helped with the service.
In early May Bob and Jo went to Belle Fourche South Dakota to attend the Confirmation of
one our nephews, Matt Stiller. We took the time to visit some of the local sites, such as “the
Heads” and Devil’s Tower and drove around the back roads of SD, Wyoming, and a bit of
Montana.
one our nephews, Matt Stiller. We took the time to visit some of the local sites, such as “the
Heads” and Devil’s Tower and drove around the back roads of SD, Wyoming, and a bit of
Montana.
In mid-May all three of us headed out to McIntosh, New
Mexico to visit our Foster daughter, Jamie Nielsen. Her
kids consider us Grammy Jo and Grumpy Bob. Jamie’s
eldest daughter, Aeryn, had a daughter (Camaren) this
summer, making us foster great grandparents and Rachel
a great aunt.
We seldom take trips without stopping to see the sites, so
we wandered around parts of Kansas, Oklahoma, and
Colorado before getting to our final destination in New
Mexico. Rachel & Bob did some hiking and biking along
the way. Jo went antique shopping.
