Pam got bitten by something (think it was Chigger’s) last
Friday at the Okefenokee Swamp and they have really itched. Throughout the
entire week they persisted despite using all the medical advice we could
uncover from the internet. In fact, by the end of the week they didn’t appear
to be any better. Her ankles are swollen and the bites and itching persist. Might have to do something more serious like go to a doctor!
Monday morning found us at the USO by 10:00 am and stayed
until 1:00 pm helping with “No Dough” dinner preparations. Cheryl Vandiver
(cook) had plenty of volunteers in the afternoon and evening so we didn’t
return for the dinner itself.
Also last Friday we were eating a meal when Pam reached into
her mouth and came out with a Bridge of 3 teeth. She knew had been loose, but we
hoped it would remain intact until the 14th when we have an
appointment. She felt like the two teeth that anchored the bridge were
deteriorated and would probably have to be pulled. The only solution we could
think of was “implants.” Well Monday morning I called Doctor Patch’s office
(LDS Dentist) and described our plight and the receptionist said come at 1:45
today and let the doctor look at it. We arrived on time and within 10 minutes
Pam was escorted to a room and 2 hours later I heard her voice by the
receptionist’s desk. Doctor Patch had re-installed the bridge. He cleaned off
the old teeth and there was still a firm enough foundation, built up the teeth,
drilled and installed posts and then took a lot of time to manually fit the old
bridge crowns to the new mounts. What he hoped for was a repair that would last
through our mission. We were so grateful for his work. Doctor Patch is the
Branch President of the YSA Branch in the stake. What a day!
Tuesday morning found us in the USO again and we spent the
morning in the office doing odd jobs from last nights dinner. Cheryl said
they had a small turnout, but the food was good. Pam left at 11:15 am to
babysit two of the LaGae children so Samantha could take her middle daughter,
Fiona, to an eye examination. We had two leadership groups from the USS Hue
City at the center doing all-day training in the two wing extensions of the
main room and it was interesting to see and hear what they were learning. It
continued for 3 days and we also had other patrons come in and use the center,
the computer room, lounge, purchase tickets and a lot of new volunteers. When
Pam returned, she reported Eleanor and Clive were good for her and they had a
good time. I made contact with Alexis Connelly, Tyler Gneck and Tara Alexander
throughout the day and they were all doing well. Alexis was coming off a
migraine, Tyler had 4 wisdom teeth extracted on Friday and Tara had her tonsils
and adenoids removed Monday morning.
Wednesday morning our day began at the medical clinic where
I had my monthly INR test of my blood and it came back fine. When the nurses
were finished I saw the doctor and she went through past tests and my back
x-rays and confirmed I had some arthritis in my back and a thinning of a disc
which was causing pressure on the Sciatic nerve. She gave me a list of
exercises I could do to eliminate the pain and hopefully that would work. When
done we left for the USO. Cheryl was there with Li Yao and also another
community service volunteer so basically, she didn’t need us. The Navy leadership
training was on a lunch break. After doing all the odd jobs we could think of
we decided to take some of the leftover “No Dough” food to the LaGae’s and
Alexander’s. We loaded up the van and headed to our area of town and stopped at
the Alexanders and saw Tara and she was doing okay. She was
tired of popsicles but couldn’t eat real food yet. Wes was home, and we met his
mother, or we saw her. She was outside smoking and talking on the phone and
that is where she was when we left. Samantha LaGae was also there, and it was
nice to see her and her children. We visited for a few minutes and came home.
Samantha came by our house to pick up her food (needed to be refrigerated) and
she spent over an hour with us. There was some tension in the LaGae household concerning
a funeral trip to Wisconsin and we hoped it wasn’t serious. I took the girls to
the playground and let them climb and slide until they left.
Thursday morning we opened the USO again and were happy to
see a table full of bread and pastries. After getting the building turned on
and the security alarm turned off we counted the bread and pastries. Naval personnel
began arriving for their last day of leadership training. They were inside the
closed off section, so we didn’t worry about noise of people coming in to get
bread. I tabulated the price of the donations and then we waited for patrons. I
also took out the recycled paper bins and cleaned out all the garbage, so
we were all clean for the morning. During one of the class breaks, Cheryl
Vandiver arrived with a load of food and items for Monday’s “No Dough” dinner
and several servicemen helped us unload Cheryl’s truck. The leadership class
finished by 11:30 am and by noon they were gone and the room all clean. We had
several dozen people come for bread and other free items and also to buy
tickets to the Adventure Landing (water park) on Jacksonville Beach. Pam and I
finally left for the day at 2:00 pm and drove to a new Mexican restaurant (new
for us) called Pancheros. It was on Beach Blvd by Freddy’s and we enjoyed it
very much.
Friday morning we opened the USO again for Cheryl as she
needed to do some more shopping on her way to the USO. We had a pretty quiet
morning until Cheryl arrived with 500 pounds of Ribs—main menu item for
Monday’s “No Dough” dinner. I moved all the pastries from the kitchen
refrigerator to the storage room refrigerator and put all the vegetables for
the salad in the office refrigerator. We were able to put all the ribs in the kitchen refrigerator. Joyce and Charley arrived about noon.
They had been gone all week to USO training in Texas and it was good to see
them. Samantha LaGae came to the facility about 10:30 am as power was off in
housing and she and her kids were hot. We were happy to see her and learned
that she was going with Jerald to Wisconsin this weekend with their family for
the funeral of Jerald’s grandfather, so we were pleased with that outcome. They stayed at the center until 12:30 pm. I
made a deposit run at a local credit union the USO uses and Pam and I took
the extra bread to the Navy Exchange when we left for the day—about 1:30 pm. We
had contact with the Alexander’s and planned to help them Saturday morning.
Saturday we arrived at the Alexander’s at 9:00 am. Wes’
mother had left earlier so they were on their own for the weekend. Tara was in
bed and had a pretty good night. Wes was fixing breakfast for the kids and they
were in their living room watching morning cartoons. We visited for a while
with Wes and Tara and then stepped in and began helping where we could. Wes had
some jobs to do outside (mowing the lawn and taking care of some trash) so he
did that, and Pam cleaned the kitchen and I straightened the living room and
vacuumed the floor. I then swept and mopped the kitchen, dining room and front
room. At noon West took a load of junk to the junk yard west of Jacksonville
somewhere. He returned about 2:00 pm. We fed Tristan and Kyler lunch and they
were very good for us. After Wes returned we said our goodbyes and left. Tara’s
mother was coming this later to help. We had some lunch and a treat at Cold
Stone for some much-needed dessert! Both were excellent. Verified that are two
single members on the base would go to church with us on Sunday.
Sunday morning we departed for Mayport at 9:15 am and picked
up both Alexis Connelly and Tyler Gneck at their housing building (same
building) and then drove to the chapel. We got to know Tyler and he also was from Arizona and he and Alexis chatted about their homes and schools. At the chapel we visited with the missionaries for a
few minutes, met the bishop and introduced him to Tyler and then took our seats
and enjoyed a wonderful sacrament meeting. We attended the gospel principles
class during Sunday school and both Alexis and Tyler attended with us. Alexis
then stayed with Pam for Relief Society and I took Tyler and we went to Elder’s
quorum meeting. Both were good with inspirational lessons. Following the
meetings Tyler got to meet several men and they welcomed him to the ward. I gave his name and birthday to a member of the bishopric to get his
membership record transferred. Following the block, we left and drove back to
the base and visited along the way. Tyler is an Elder and comes from an active
family. He has a brother on a mission in Argentina. Next Saturday he flies to
Maine
to attend two weeks of Sere training and I hope it is more fun than mine
was in 1970. We dropped them off at housing and then returned home for the day.
Eleanor and Fiona LaGae
Eleanor LaGae
Storm Clouds in Jacksonville
💕💕
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