Two Hooplas In Eight Days--Parts I and II of III

PART I—The Return

Greetings to all you wild and wonderful people out there! Yes, I am back in the land of the blogging, which means I’m also back in the land of the Germing. That is to say, I’m back in Germany. When we left Dallas at nearly 6 p.m. on Monday, we were experiencing comfortable (to me, anyway) temperatures of about 100 ºF (approx. 40-45 ºC, I believe). In the last 31 hours since we arrived in Germany, the local temp hasn’t gotten above 59 Fahrenheit. Right now, it’s raining.

I’m cold. Even Ed’s cold. He just went around turning on the heaters.
IT’S AUGUST!!!

Our trip back, by the way, took 10 minutes less than 27 hours. First, American Airlines apparently forgot that our flight was taking place, because they didn’t bring a plane from the hangar to our gate until about 20 minutes before scheduled take-off. Hence, we didn’t head for the runway until nearly an hour after said take-off was supposed to have taken off. Then, the weather decided to play a few tricks on us, sending what the pilot called a “pattern” shifting from east to west across the northern runway of the Ft. Worth airport. Finally, someone decided it might be a good idea for us to take off to the south instead of the north. When we finally got in the air after sitting on the runway for three hours, there was a line of at least 25 other planes waiting for their turn behind us. Sometimes, it’s really nice to be leader of the pack. ;o) Ed and I were just thankful that we didn’t miss our train to Dresden. Somehow, I doubt we could’ve talked American Airlines into the acknowledgement that our missing the train would have been their fault.

So that, in a comfortable walnut shell, is the Brief Story of Our Return. I’m sure most of you are more interested in hearing about the two events that took us on our whirlwind journey to the US of A. The second event, I won’t write about until the key players are cognito again (meaning, until they are no longer INcognito, ha ha, get it?). Translation: I’d feel weird writing about Clint and April’s wedding before *they* have a chance to write about it and share pictures themselves. So, I plan to wait until they’re back in country before I tell you all about this most beautiful and wonderful wedding I’ve ever been to and about how I sniveled and cried through the whole thing. ;o)

In the meantime…I’ll regale you with a heart-warming tale about the first marvelous event of which we partook, namely:

PART II—The Anniversary: Sixty-Five Years of Marriage

On August 3, 2005, my paternal grandparents, W.F. “Bill” and Frances Weger, celebrated their 65th Wedding Anniversary. I can’t even express how profoundly these two people and their marriage have affected my life. For one thing, without them, I wouldn’t exist. I know that seems like an obvious “duh”-statement, but I have to mention it. Several times during the weekend we were all together, Grandma and Grandpa told us how pleased and grateful they were that we all turned out to celebrate with them. My response is, how could we not? Their children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren owe their existence first to God, and second to the solid foundation of the relationship between these two wonderful people. Not only are these two a great example to all of us in their walk with God, they have a marriage 65 years strong. In these days of drive-thru weddings and ‘round-the-corner divorce lawyers, a 65-year-strong marriage is unusual, if not unheard of. Aside from divine, God-given pattern, I can’t think of a better example to look up to.

Oh, not that my grandparents haven’t had their ups and downs. I’ve seen them fuss and fume and argue and disagree plenty of times. I’ve heard them gripe about each other (as close to griping as either of them get, anyway). From other family members, I’ve received hints of more serious difficulties in the past, trials that my generation was too young to remember. Trials that might even have taken place before my generation came along, I don’t know. But there are shades of tough times in the past.

But still, through it all, past and present, Grandma and Grandpa presented a united front to the world. I’m not talking about a false store front. I’m talking about a front in a war, with my grandparents as two soldiers fighting for their marriage and for the will of God against the evil of Satan, who wants to destroy them. A solid, God-centered marriage is one of Satan’s most deadly enemies. I know that in their 65 years together, my grandparents have dealt Satan some severe and crippling blows. Especially since their relationship has lasted this long, and since with God’s help, they raised all four of their children to be Christians. And since those four children raised all of their own children to be Christians as well.

God has fashioned a great tool out of Bill and Frances Weger. I look up to them. I respect them. And I feel honored that I was able to be present to celebrate their 65th anniversary with them. God has blessed me richly by crossing my path with theirs.

So here are some pictures from the anniversary celebration (held on July 30th) and the rest of the weekend our family spent together:

The Family



This is the Weger Family Tree that I made as a gift for my grandparents. I asked everyone in the family to send me pictures, so it’s something of a collaboration. Aside from hand-drawing the vines, leaves, and roses, I did the rest of it on the computer. I also got it framed and matted, and it now hangs in my grandparents’ den. Sorry you can’t see any details—the image size is huge, and this is the largest I could post here.

The "Ancient" Wegers

Wilborn Foster “Bill” and Frances Lovena Hair Weger
Grandma coined the term “Ancient Wegers,” so please don’t think I’m being disrespectful by calling them that! It was her idea! ;o)

The "Old" Wegers

Grandma and Grandpa with daughter Anita and sons Bill (my dad, left) and David. (Their second son, Mark, passed away in 2002.)

Grandma and Grandpa with Bill and Kay (my parents), Anita and Wes, on the sofa; Elayne (Mark’s wife) and her new husband Clay, Judy and David.

The "Young" Wegers

A family tradition is for all us cousins to line up by age for group photos when we’re all together. I don’t know if other families do this—with us, it’s an Absolute Necessity bordering on a Central Truth of the Universe. I love it! ;o) For this and two other pictures, we were in a Chinese restaurant that was, for some reason, amusingly patriotic. For your viewing pleasure, I cropped out the remains of Kung Pao Chicken and various fried things.
From left to right: Sara, Courtney, Amanda, Luke, Jonathan, Micah, Aubrey, Paul, Josh, Andrew, Nathan.

The "Baby" Wegers

The two ex utero great-grandchildren are Jordan and Piper, Sara’s girls. The great-grand-to-be is Amanda’s, and *she* will be joining us in December!

The Married "Young" Wegers



Somebody let us run wild and get out of age order for this one. Dear me, what is this family coming to.
Left to right: Courtney and Ed; Luke and Lauren; Micah and Marilyn; Jonathan and Sarah; Amanda and Aaron; and Sara, whose husband Jeff unfortunately wasn’t able to be there.

If any of you assorted Wegers out there want any of these pics (or others that you think I might have), let me know, and I’ll email you better copies. And let me know if there are other pics you want to see in my blog. I plan on posting more later, but for now, this particular post has worn me out. ;o)

Hugs to all,
Courtney

Bill and Frances Weger

married

August 3, 1940