January 2024 Update

Happy New Year!

 

To finish up recounting our Christmas activities since I wrote you last, my barbershop chorus does an event every year we call Soup and Caroling, where we walk around the neighborhood of our rehearsal hall and sing to people.  There’s some homes and even businesses that plan for us every year, and have cider, hot cocoa, and snacks for us when we stop by.  We also invite friends and family to carol with us, and this year my daughter, Ella, and her family joined us, so that was really fun for me.  Truman didn’t quite make it the whole night outside (he got too cold), but he was a big hit with my fellow chorus members!

 

On Christmas Eve Day, my family had a special visitor who stopped by and read the kids a Christmas story.  Here's some pictures of them enjoying his visit.

Can you tell who our visitor is by his pants?!?!

 

In Sports, I just have to say:  Go Bills!  When we were 6-6 at the end of November, I was sure we’d be having to watch other teams in the playoffs.  But wow, what a run since then!  No losses!  And we actually get to play Kansas City in Buffalo instead of going there as we have for the playoffs and regular season for the last several years.  Hopefully, that will be the difference in us finally getting past the Chiefs!  I know they’re a tough team, and some of my readers are Chiefs fans, so I’ll just leave it at that.

 

After Christmas, we were delighted to have Amelia and Ben here to visit us from Kentucky.  We had lots of family get-togethers in different groups while they were here, and I hope they got to enjoy enough Rochester garbage plates to hold them over until they are able to come again.

 

Finally, I want to update you on my appointment with the thoracic surgeon.  Her name is Dr. Carolyn Jones, and she is actually the Chief of Thoracic Surgery at Strong Hospital, so nothing but the best for me.  She IS the best, because she said I was too young to have to live with my messed up digestive system.  Anybody that tells me I’m young is a good one in my book.

 

Anyway, she showed me the images from my swallowing test I had back in November, and told me that about half of my stomach is above my diaphragm (large hiatal hernia) and distorting my esophagus which is causing my swallowing difficulties.  Our next step is a couple of tests with her team to determine exactly what surgery they recommend.  Those tests should happen within a couple of weeks, and then we’ll probably do surgery within a couple of months to put things back where they belong, and hopefully keep them there.  Thanks for your continued prayers for me!

 

Until February!

 

 

 

December 2023 Update

They say as people get older, they tend to talk too much about their physical infirmities.  So, in order to keep that going, I’m going to talk about mine.

 

I had my last physical therapy session in late November.  Now I am on maintenance exercises, and so far I’ve been good about doing them.  I also had a physical with my primary care doctor, and she said I’m in pretty good health, other than the known issues.  One of those known issues I’ve been dealing with for years is an occasional problem swallowing.  It feels like food is stuck somewhere in my throat and won’t go down.  I’ve had a procedure done about once every 3-5 years where my GI doctor uses a balloon-like thing to stretch my lower esophageal sphincter, and usually that has taken care of it until my acid reflux shrinks it again over a few years.  The last time I had that procedure done, the issue returned much quicker than it had in the past, so my GI doctor (you know you’re getting old when you have a primary doctor, a urologist, a podiatrist, and a GI doctor that you see too often) ordered a barium swallow test.  They determined from that that I should see a thoracic surgeon to see if I should get my large hiatal hernia surgically repaired.  I have an appointment for that in January, so add one more doctor!

 

So, basically, I’m falling apart, and I remember now my Grandpa Taylor telling me as he struggled to get his leg into a car because of his bad knee, “Never get old, Greg.”  I’m trying to make light of it all, but truly, “To live is Christ, and to die is gain,” (Php 1:21) and I truly believe that, but I also believe in the power of prayer, and I covet your prayers for me over all these issues.

 

We had a pretty relaxing Thanksgiving because the remote families all stayed remote, and the local families all did something elsewhere.  So the only ones around our table were the kids that still live at home, Zach, Jem, and Levi, plus Zach’s girlfriend, Brandi.  Still the food was delicious, and the day was great fun.

 

Our excitement this past month was the change in status for Brandi.  She is now Zach’s fiancée!  They got engaged on December 9, and here's a picture of the happy couple.

 

My barbershop chorus sang again this year at a local mall.  I had noticed for the last few years, even before COVID, that the malls are a lot less busy these days.  I expect it’s because most people do a lot more online shopping, and I’m sure that’s true, but I noticed a lot more traffic at the mall this year.  Maybe people are swinging back toward more local shopping?  I think that’s a good thing.  Online is cool and convenient, but sometimes it’s good to actually see and feel and try the things before you buy them.

 

At our church this month, I’ve been in a small band that’s playing Christmas carols between our two morning services.  My daughter, Ella, is playing piano with us too, and I dusted off my trombone to play.  It’s been fun, and we have one more Sunday of doing it.  If you’re in our area, and you want a Christmas Eve morning service, our church is having candlelight services at 8:30 and 10:30AM, and we’d love to have you.  My family will be at the 8:30 service and then Ella and I and the rest of the group will be in the lobby playing carols, so if you come, stop and say “Hi!”

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to you all!

The print is a little hard to read, so here’s what it says:

The Matthews Family

This year we celebrated Amelia and Ben’s wedding, and

welcomed Nora Updegrove (pictured right with big sister, Lena)

 

The picture on the top left is (obviously) from Amelia and Ben’s wedding.  She had all of her nieces and nephews as “flower babies.”  They all came up the aisle while pulling the youngest four in a wagon as they scattered flower petals.  Ben is holding Maya Shaw (Abigail and Bernie), and then left to right is Alma Mickle (Hannah and Kevin) holding Truman Sommer (Ella and Cody), Bea Rhode (Kortney and Mat), Lena Updegrove (Caitlin and Ben) being held by Hazel Sommer, in front of her is Ansa Mickle, then Daisy Rhode holding Dorothy Matthews (Cai and Amy), then Josie Sommer, Ruby and Milo Wilkinson (Carissa and Matt), Ivy Sommer, Alex Mickle, and finally Gus Rhode.

Nora was born on September 28, 2023, less than a week after the wedding.  We are highlighting Lena and Nora together because Lena was born on December 21, 2021, after the 2021 Christmas card had been sent out, and she hadn’t yet been highlighted.

November 2023 Update

Fall is in the air!  And the leaves!  We’ve had some colder weather, and then warmer weather again, then colder again, like God is doing His best to test our tolerance for weather changes.  Here are some pictures of creatures being affected by the colder weather.

This praying mantis was trying to get in our back door

I was cold so I put a blanket on my lap, and then the cat and dog enjoyed it too

Thank you for your continued prayers for my recovery from my prostate cancer.  Since the surgery back in April, I’ve made steady slow progress in getting used to the side affects of losing one’s prostate.  I’m almost done with my physical therapy—I have one more appointment—and then I’ll be on a maintenance schedule of exercises.  So far, all of my post checks with my surgeon have been perfect:  0 PSA, as expected for a man with no prostate.  So, thanks again for your prayers!

 

We had a pretty quiet Halloween.  We usually get just a few kids that come to our house, but this year we only had one person, and Zach said he looked like a 40ish adult in a monster onesie!  Hannah and Kevin hosted a Halloween party a few days before, and that was great.  They had planned lots of games and activities, and it was really fun to see the grandkids and their friends enjoying bobbing for apples, playing ghost face (picking candy corn out of whipped cream with their teeth), and lots of other things.

 

I think that’s all for this month.  I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving, and we’ll talk in December.

 

October 2023 Update

As I mentioned last month, just one short month after the whole family surprised me with an early birthday party, the whole family again met in the Louisville area of Kentucky for Amelia’s wedding on September 22.  It was a beautiful ceremony with fantastic weather.  Congratulations to the newlyweds, Amelia and Ben White!

 

Caitlin was due to have a baby very soon after the wedding, and we were all praying that she’d make it there and back with no complications, and that she could be back home in familiar surroundings before the baby was born.  Well, God was gracious, and Eleanora (Nora) Gray Updegrove was born at home on September 28.  Gray is Caitlin’s middle name, and was also my mom’s, Jeannie Gray Taylor Matthews, middle name.  My mom got the name from her great-grandmother, Jeanie Gray, who was married to Herbert Hudson Taylor, son of James Hudson Taylor, well-known missionary and founder of the China Inland Mission (now OMF International).

 

Lena and Nora

Krista and I just returned from a visit to the Updegrove’s home in Philadelphia, where we got to spend a week with them meeting Nora, making friends with her big sister, Lena, and helping out where we could.  The bonus was that Carissa’s family lives only two doors down, so we got to spend time with them too!

 

Krista, Lena, and I took a walk one beautiful day

Krista with her newest granddaughter

My son, Levi, has now finished his soccer career with our local Christian school that I mentioned last month.  His team made it to the championship, and we got to watch lots of his games this year.  We’re all really proud of all he accomplished with them!

 

Levi (#4) usually plays defense, like here, but...

In this game, they were so far ahead that his coach put him in on offense, and he scored! I apologize for a lousy video.

That’s all for now, so we’ll talk again in November!

 

 

 

September 2023 Update

This was a momentous month!  The day after I wrote last, August 19, I went to what I thought was an end of summer party with my local families at Hannah’s house.  It was a beautiful day, and as we’re sitting in her back yard, my son, Levi, subtly says something like, “Hey I just realized it’s your 63 years and 10 month birthday today.”  To which my daughter, Jem, replies, “If I’d known that, I would have thrown you a party!”  I laughed that off and made some comment about how I plan to retire on August 19, 2026, when I’ll be 66 years and 10 months.  Minutes later, my daughter, Amelia, and her fiancé, Ben, walk into the yard.  They live in Louisville, Kentucky, so that was very unexpected!  As a matter of fact, we’re going there this week for their wedding.  Anyway, shortly after that, my son, Cai, who also lives in Louisville walks in to the yard.  Unfortunately, his wife, Amy, and their daughter, Dorothy, could not come, but I figured, OK he just came with Amelia and Ben.  Then my daughter, Caitlin, her husband Ben, and daughter, Lena, walk into the yard (from Philadelphia), followed soon by my daughter, Kortney, her husband, Mat, and their kids, Daisy, Bea, and Gus (from Minneapolis), and finally by my daughter, Carissa, her husband, Matt, and their kids, Ruby and Milo (from Philadelphia).

 

It turned out that Jem decided I needed a surprise 65th birthday party, so she planned this whole thing with everyone, and to surprise me, they had it a year and two months early!  It was great in every way!  They each gave me t-shirts from where they live, so I have a Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Minnesota, and New York t-shirt, and I’m very proud to wear each of them!

My Kentucky shirt

They all stayed for at least a couple of days, and while they were here, we did several fun activities, like going to Seabreeze, our local amusement park, and visiting a kid-themed farm, the beach at Lake Ontario, and other local parks and playgrounds.

 

Mat and Gus on the carousel 

You might have to zoom in, but the 2nd car is Carissa and Milo, and the third is Kortney and Bea

Maya and Truman being cute eating snacks under Cody's watchful eye

Matt (with his arms out) and Ruby

Video of Carissa, Milo, Kortney, and Bea on the kids roller coaster

I mentioned a month or so ago that I’m taking the local grandkids out for their half birthday for a dessert date with me.  This month, it was Ansa’s turn, and she chose a local ice cream shop.  That seems to be a favorite outing since many of them have chosen that, and there are several in our area, so we haven’t repeated one yet!  And, of course, I don’t mind getting ice cream!

Ansa and I on our dessert date

For Labor Day, we stayed low key, and just had a simple get-together at our house with the local families.  It was beautiful weather, and a nice time together.

 

Our barbershop chorus is getting ready to compete this Saturday.  I won’t be there because I have a better offer to spend time with family at Amelia’s wedding!  Anyway, our director had to be gone for the past couple of weeks, so I got an opportunity to direct two rehearsals to hopefully keep them ready to do their best at Contest.  Also, our chorus sang at a local 9/11 remembrance ceremony, and I directed us then too.  We even made the local news!  If you watch the video here: Victims and heroes of 9/11 honored at memorial in Webster | WHAM (13wham.com) near the end you’ll see a very brief shot of our chorus (we’re the guys in khaki pants and maroon shirts) singing The Battle Hymn of the Republic.  Then shortly after that, you’ll see a shot of two young families with a little boy waving.  That’s my grandson, Alex, son-in-law, Kevin, daughter, Hannah, daughter, Abigail, granddaughter, Maya, granddaughter, Ansa, and granddaughter, Alma.  Maya is Abigail’s daughter, and Alma, Alex, and Ansa, are Hannah and Kevin’s.  So, basically, we’re all famous.

 

My son, Levi, is playing soccer again with a local Christian school.  Their league allows local homeschooled students to play with them, and even though Levi is out of high school now and in college, he is eligible to play this final year since he’s still 18.  Anyway, they’ve had three games so far, and they’re 1-1-1.  I missed the game where they won, but I’ve been able to go to two of his games, and I love watching them all play.  He usually plays center back (defense), and occasionally plays goalie.

 

Abigail and her husband, Bernie, threw a big part for their daughter, Maya’s, first birthday.  It was at a local park, and although the weather wasn’t wonderful, we all had a great time watching her cuteness.  She seems to enjoy being the center of attention.  I wonder where she gets that from?  *cough* Abigail *cough*

 

We were all very disappointed with how poorly the Buffalo Bills played in their first game, but happily they bounced back nicely yesterday.  Go Bills!

 

I guess that’s it for this past month.  Thanks for reading, and we’ll talk in October!

 

August 2023 Update

In looking back over the past month, I don’t see a lot worth putting in here, but there are a few things.  I don’t have any pictures to put here this month, so, even though it seemed really busy, I guess it was not that busy.

 

I had a surgery follow-up with my urologist, and it was good news.  My PSA is supposed to be zero now since I don’t have a prostate gland anymore, and it was!  Thank you for your ongoing prayers and thank You God for Your goodness to me!  I’m sleeping better these days as well, and I think I am seeing some progress with the side effects of the surgery.

 

I’m excited for the start of football season.  I enjoyed watching the preseason games so far, and I’m ready!  Go Bills!

 

This past Wednesday night, our church had its 2nd annual Talent Show.  Since I enjoy making a fool of myself, I participated again, making lots of inside jokes about some of the people of our church.  It seemed to be well received, and I had fun doing it.  There is a video on our church’s YouTube channel, but unless you know our people, you won’t get most of the jokes.  However, if you’re interested, the video is here:  FBBC Talent Night 2023 - YouTube and my part starts at about 1:04:50.

 

That’s about it for this month, so we’ll talk again in September!

 

July 2023 Update

It seems like there’s a lot to talk about this month, so get ready!

 

I mentioned last month that Levi had gotten a new kitten that he named Lord Licorice.  We’ve all been enjoying him, but he’s especially a hit when the grandkids come over.  Here are some pictures and a video of his latest antics, including a couple that demonstrate some hot weather we’ve had here lately.

 

He runs around like a crazy thing, then crashes. Here he found a breezy spot on a hot day

Here's Licorice and Zuzu trying to stay cool on a 90 degree day

He sacked out in my arms while I was watching TV

Alex and Alma made a house for him to play in

When my kids were little, I used to go out with them for dessert for their birthday, just Dad and the birthday boy or girl.  Somewhere along the line, we stopped doing that, so I decided this year to start it back up with the local grandkids and my unmarried kids that are still home, but we’re doing it on their half birthdays to avoid the busyness that’s typical around their actual birthday.  I plan on doing something similar with my far away grandkids when we visit them.

 

Anyway, in June, it was Josie’s turn.  I don’t think I mentioned it here, but I did take Ivy out in January and Alma out in April.  Josie and I went to a local ice cream shop and had a great time.

 

Krista got a wonderful opportunity to visit Kortney and her family in Minnesota late in June.  She had a fantastic and relaxing time visiting with them and catching up with that family that we see way too rarely.  While she was gone, we tried to fend for ourselves here at home.  We mostly ate things that are simple to make since our expert cook was gone, but we were really proud of one meal where we went all out with grilled chicken, sweet corn, mac salad and chips.  All four of us (Zach, Jem, Levi, and myself) pitched in to make that happen, and it turned out really delicious.

 

Our one impressive meal

I got lots of nice wishes from my wife and kids for Fathers’ Day, along with some really nice presents.  The kids pitched in together to get me a recliner of my very own, but really everyone uses it, especially the pets.  Krista and I got kayaks for my present, since I’d rather kayak with her than alone.  We’ve only taken them out once so far, but we’re planning some days off work when we can go to local streams and have an adventure.  Hopefully not too exciting of an adventure.

 

Krista kayaking

Greg kayaking

My recliner

Our Independence Day was actually relatively quiet this year.  We went and saw the fireworks our local town does, but really that was about it.  Unless I’m forgetting something, which, if so, I’m sure someone will point out to me.

 

In July, it was time for the dessert date with Hazel, Alex, and Jem.  They all agreed on a time and place, so we all went together to another local ice cream place that also had things to play on.  Jem and I enjoyed watching Alex and Hazel have fun together.

 

Our biggest news this month is the engagement of our daughter, Amelia, to Ben White.  They met when Amelia moved to Louisville and starting working at UPS with Cai and Zach.  Ben worked there too, and she was blessed to find a godly and handsome man!  They are planning a September wedding in the Louisville area.

 

Photo credit to Ben

Kevin (Hannah’s husband) has been wanting to try a seafood boil since we had one at Outer Banks.  Well, he finally got a chance, and we locals got together to see how he did.  We all gave him a thumbs up, and he is looking forward to tweaking his ingredients and trying it again.  We’re all looking forward to that too!

 

Just this past weekend was the Wilson/Dickinson reunion at Lighthouse Christian Campground in Barker, NY.  This is the reunion of Krista’s father’s siblings and their families.  Krista and I rented a cabin there for a couple of relaxing and fun nights and really enjoyed seeing extended family, good weather (until it was time to leave when we got soaked with rain while packing to go), beautiful Lake Ontario views, delicious food, and fun pickleball matches.  We also got a tour of the family farm where her Dad grew up.

 

Ansa and I on the trailer touring the farm

Farm tour

While we were there, Krista’s brother, Terrelle, showed me a plaque he had found at Niagara-On-The-Lake in Ontario, Canada.  He knows I am the great-great-grandson of Hudson Taylor, and he had learned that Taylor had spoken at the Niagara Bible Conference in Niagara-On-The-Lake, and that there was a plaque commemorating that fact.  He searched diligently and found it and shared the picture with me.  Krista’s parents and grandparents were associated with Niagara Bible Conference in Olcott, NY, and Terrelle is convinced there must be some connection between the two NBCs since they are so close in location and time to each other.  He is researching and promised to share what he finds.

 

Finally, I am asking for prayer again.  It seems it is my season to go through physical challenges.  I’m still dealing with the bodily control issues caused by my prostate surgery, so I appreciate your ongoing prayers for that recovery.  Also, for years I’ve had an intermittent swallowing problem that’s been treated by my GI doctor doing a endoscopy and dilation that stretches the sphincter at the top of my stomach.  I had that procedure done in January, but it didn’t seem as effective as it has been in the past.  Usually after that’s been done, I’m good for several years.  But this time, I’m still having occasional swallowing issues even though I just had that done.  Anyway, I’m going in again today for him to take another look at my throat to see if he can figure out why it didn’t work this time.  So, I’d appreciate your prayers that God would give him wisdom and knowledge to know how to help me, and that He would give me the grace to honor Him with however this turns out.  Thank you!

 

Talk to you in August!