Kirk's Kingdom: December 2012

Merry Christmas 2012 from the Blackstocks!

We write this letter with broken hearts, less than a week since the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. Colorado has suffered its own tragedies (again) in 2012. Please God, help us work together to end this torture.

The grandchildren: Son Steve and Beth live in Byers, about an hour’s drive from us. Having them and their daughters, Grace (almost 6, kindergarten) and Ava (4, preschool) so close has enriched our lives immeasurably. We see our two oldest granddaughters often, Kyra (age 14, Lafayette CO – 9th grade) and Jordan (she’ll turn 12 in January, Fountain CO – 6th grade), plus Jordan’s brother, Jaden (age 7½ - 2nd grade). And we continue to have wonderful communication and occasional visits with grandsons Caleb (age 10, Kearney NE – 4th grade), and Kaelan (age 8, Albuquerque – 3rdgrade). We enjoy holiday visits each year with granddaughter Hannah (age 11, Englewood CO – 6th grade) and grandsonTrae (age 9, Commerce City CO – 3rd grade), along with Trae’s little brother, Tegan (age 3).

[See photo gallery below]

2012 travel/visits:

February – Sharon’s brother, Richard (Milwaukee) traveled to Denver for an overnight meeting and treated us and Steve to dinner at Elway’s (wow!!)
April – Annual women’s retreat (Sharon and Beth), Highlands Presbyterian Camp.
Spring, summer, fall – Go Rockies! Yes we still love them and are looking forward to a better season next year!
June – surprised Dwight’s sister, Donna, for her 70th birthday. Dwight, Sharon, Steve, Beth, Grace, Ava, plus Dwight’s younger sister, Marcia, and family all traveled to Claremont CA to celebrate. Sharon enjoyed a day at Disneyland with Steve, Beth and the girls during the trip. Granddaughter Kyra and her mom were visiting in Pasadena at the same time and came out briefly for the festivities, too – great family time!
June – spent another wonderful week at Ghost Ranch (New Mexico) with Kyra (8th year she’s gone with us?) The trip included spending a day with grandson Kaelan in Albuquerque.
July – Dwight and Sharon traveled to Wisconsin for Sharon’s 45th H.S. reunion (a blast!) plus a delightful Sunday afternoon visit with brother Richard & Ann, and sister Kathy & Tom at Richard’s lake house in Oconomowoc.
July – Caleb and his mom came from Kearney for a weekend visit; along with Steve and family, we all got to see the wonderful new elephant venue at the Denver Zoo.
August – weekend trip to the mountains with Steve for a presbytery meeting in Avon; spent an overnight with friends Tom and Ruth – thank you!
September – Georgetown Loop Railroad with Steve and family, plus Jordan and her family (beautiful day!)
October – Dwight traveled to L.A. for a 4-day reunion with his 3 high school buddies (another blast!); they haven’t all been together since our wedding in 1971. He also spent a couple of days visiting with sisters Donna, Marcia and Annie.
November – our anniversary (41 years) was celebrated over a weekend with friends Jon and Danny, at their cabin near Fairplay – thank you
November – Thanksgiving at our house with Steve and family and a DU friend of Steve’s from Ghana, plus Kyra and her mom and other grandparents (they live in Boulder) and a cousin who flew in from Australia that afternoon – an international event right in our family room!
December – We hosted our annual neighborhood holiday party on a Friday evening and enjoyed visiting with about 20 of our neighbors.
December – Enjoyed dinner with friends Phil and Nancy at Windcrest, a retirement community in Highlands Ranch. They are letting us use their cabin near Winter Park after Christmas (thank you!) Steve and family will join us.

Dwight will celebrate his 66th birthday on December 29th and officially retire as far as Social Security is concerned. He was honorably retired by Denver Presbytery in March, which included a very touching overview of his career and well-wishes from many friends and colleagues. He still preaches and teaches occasionally and serves on presbytery committees (COM, PJC). Last year we reported a “miracle” in terms of reduced back pain. That has continued for the most part, but new health issues have made life very frustrating. His health problems aren’t life-threatening, just misery-producing. This makes planning for just about anything very difficult. Nonetheless he refuses to be beaten, continues to take photography classes at the local community college and has signed up for a sociology class next semester (wants see if anything has changed since he got his sociology degree in 1968 … ya think??!!??)

Sharon continues to work for the City of Lakewood (almost 16 years), got a promotion in 2012 to Central Records Manager in the City Clerk’s Office, and plans to work until age 66 (2 more years). She stumbled on new carpet at work in January (duh … ), damaged her left shoulder and had rotator cuff surgery in March, but has recovered well (not perfectly, but well enough). In July she made the difficult decision that she needed to find a new church home, resigned from the session of Genesis Presbyterian (Littleton) and went “church shopping”. She joined Green Mountain Presbyterian (Lakewood) in December and plans to get back into choir singing after the first of the year. She continues to serve on an annual church women’s retreat planning committee and hopes to entice the women of her new church home to participate.

Marc: We haven’t spoken with son Marcus since he was released from jail last February and we refused to put him up in a hotel for a month while he looked for work. We know he’s still in Colorado Springs, but have no idea if he’s still married or if he’s found a way of supporting himself and his family. We have no contact with his two youngest children: Jaellynne (age 5½), who we presume is in kindergarten, and Ayden (1½).

Steve: Son Steve is finishing up the MSW (Master’s Social Work) program at the University of Denver and will graduate in May. He was inducted into the Social Work honor society, Phi Alpha in March, and is doing an internship at Family Tree, a non-profit family services agency. He continues to serve as part-time pastor at the Presbyterian Church in Byers. Beth works part-time for the local school district.

Kirk: Our lovable Great Dane is doing well at 8½ years old and 150 lbs, but suffered a spinal stroke over the summer (“FCE”),which was treated with anti-inflammatory medication and regular walking. He’s slowing down a bit, but is still very vital. The biggest challenge is getting him in the car, which we don’t do very often.

Merry Christmas! Our prayer is that the Prince of Peace will bring peace to our world and that you will experience God’s blessings at Christmas and in 2013. We love your holiday letters, even the ones that don’t arrive until Easter!

P.S. We’re looking forward to the Broncos winning the Super Bowl!