USA Trip 2022

Saturday, 24 September 2022

This morning I went over to my sister’s house where my brother Dennis and my sister Martha are staying. Some roofers were at work, correcting an error they had made.
My sister Mary, brother Dennis, and me.
At lunch time I met with a group of guys who went to St. Thomas Seminary together. It was great to see them again, some of them after ten or fifteen years.

In the afternoon I met with John and Joan, a delightful couple who are donating money to the Maryknoll Deaf Development Programme after recent budget cuts. They have had mission experience themselves so they could really understand when we talked about the problems of DDP.

Then in the evening the Dittmeier cousins met for an informal dinner. There are a lot of us and we really enjoy each other and it was a most pleasant evening.

USA Trip 2022

Friday, 23 September 2022

Today was a full day–not planned that way but turning out that way. I am staying with my cousins Julie and Eric, and first thing this morning Eric and I rode ebikes over to the local Kroger store to pick up a few items. We rode through beautiful neighborhoods in the Highlands.
Later in the morning, to demonstrate the ebikes to me even more, Eric led me on a longer ride to downtown Louisville and across the old Big Four Bridge, now a pedestrian only bridge, to Jeffersonville, Indiana.
Our destination was the Schimff’s candy store, described as the oldest family-owned candy store in the United States. They had an amazing array of chocolates and other candies, and then they also had this candy-making museum (photo above) displaying old candies and packaging and candy-making machines.
Later in the day Moya and John Dittmeier (seated next to Eric) flew in from Maryland and had supper with us and with Julie and Eric’s daughter Elsa and son-in-law Will and their daughter Poppy.

A great day!

USA Trip 2022

Thursday, 22 September 2022

The past two nights I stayed with my sister Martha and her family a little north of Cincinnati. They recently moved into a condominium there as they down-sized from their previous house when three of the children married.
Their new house is right on the edge of a large golf course, in a beautiful setting.
Grandpa Mark works on a puzzle with his granddaughter who is visiting.
Driving back to Louisville from Cincinnati, I went through Pewee Valley and took the opportunity to pass by our old house which was enlarged after we sold it when our mother died.

USA Trip 2022

Wednesday, 21 September 2022

The first thing this morning was cleaning the car I borrowed from my cousins for the trip to Cincinnati. Martha did a wonderful job of vacuuming it. Then she took me shopping at Walmart where I picked up a few things and then to Goodwill where I got some clothes.

In the early afternoon I did some work on the computer and then late in the afternoon I went to a sports complex and was introduced to pickle ball. My sister and her husband are taking a beginner’s course and it was a great chance for me to observe a game I had only read about.
After pickle ball, we had a dinner with Samuel, another son of Mark and Martha, and his wife Sierra. It was the first time I had met Sierra. (R to L: Martha, William, Mark, Sierra, Samuel).

USA Trip 2022

Tuesday, 20 September 2022

Today I drove north to Cincinnati to visit my sister Martha and her husband Mark and their son William, the last child at home.
At lunch time we had a Zoom call with another son, Caleb, who lives with his wife in England.
Then at supper, their daughter Olivia came with her two children, seen here enjoying some big strawberries.

USA Trip 2022

Monday, 19 September 2022

My sister Martha preparing for the return trip to Ohio after our weekend gathering of the brothers and sisters.
My sister Ann in the van, properly secured to go out for lunch. Almost every trip to the U.S., Ann and I go out to lunch.
At the restaurant, eating outside with Mary (L), Jane (Ann’s caregiver), and Ann.
Mary helping Ann back into the van before heading home.

USA Trip 2022

Saturday, 17 September 2022

Afdter my sisters Martha and Mary picked me up at the airport, they started work in the kitchen to prepare for a BBQ dinner for all the brothers and sisters.
Meanwhile, Mary’s husband Mike was outside fixing his daughter’s bicycle she uses for commuting to work every day.
When the Reed family arrived from Ohio, Mary showed them her new garden and landscaping.
Finally everyone had arrived and it was time to eat.
After dinner the self-proclaimed Council of Elders gathered to resolve world problems.

USA Trip 2022

Saturday, 16 September 2022

Today was a loose day with three really important elements: visiting Fr. Tom Dunleavy, a lunch meeting with Ted Miles, and dinner at the NYC office of Maryknoll with Br. Tim Riable.

Another of the fabulous staff of Maryknoll Lay Missioners is Marci Winston, our long-time administrative assistant.
A view of the Rogers Building on the campus of the Maryknoll Sisters.





A wooden statue of Mary in the entrance way of the Sisters’ chapel.




Another shot in the main course of Grand Central Terminal, a really beautiful building.

USA Trip 2022

Thursday, 15 September 2022

Today was a day for visiting people around the larger Maryknoll campus, on the grounds of the priests and brothers, then the sisters, and then the lay missioners.

Sr. Luise Ahrens was in Cambodia for many years and is now in service at the Sisters Center in Ossining. She is recovering from a broken arm.
A bird feeder on the grounds of the Sisters Center.
Ted Miles, executive director, and Lupe Garcia, administrative assistant, at the Walsh Building, the home of the Maryknoll Lay Missioners.
A view of the old seminary building, with the chapel wing on the left.



The main seminary building occupants have just endured two weeks of Covid restrictions after a surge of infections. Those restrictions were lifted three days ago but one returning Maryknoll priest tested positive and is isolated in his room.