JANUARY 2026 Walker

Hello~

and a Happy New Year!

So far, the winter here in the TN mountains has been mild with some skiffs of snow on the ground, a few snow flurries, and plunging temps down below freezing between warmer spells. In fact, on Christmas day it was close to 70 degrees. It reminded me of past years when our family traveled down to Florida to be with my mom for Christmas. This week feels like Indian summer- right before winter really comes in full blast. I chase the winter's brown & barren look outside my windows (not counting the birds at the bird feeders) and overcast, dreary days, away with my Christmas tree that I keep up through January. The colorful decorations and lights are uplifting.

For those who aren't on facebook, my great-grandson, Kevin Donald Yarrison, finally arrived by C-section on Randy (his grandpa's) birthday, the 11th of December! He was quite a large baby, weighing in at 9 lbs and 10 oz, for my short granddaughter, Annette, to have. No wonder she kept saying the baby felt so heavy when she was carrying him. Thankfully, both are doing fine. Since Kevin was born in December and not Thanksgiving, and Annette had to have a C-section, Dawn and Katie put off their flight back to the Philippines until January.

So, instead of Dawn and Katie flying down to TN as previously planned, everybody (Dawn & Katie, with Annette and her family) all traveled by way of OH to visit Randy's side of the family and his mother, and then down here to TN, arriving the Saturday after Christmas. Dawn and Katie were a big help to Annette, taking care of a hyper 2-year-old (Miss Ellie) and a baby on the road. Annette and her family were originally going to come down after Christmas anyway. They stayed over the weekend and left to go back to PA early Tues morning. It was so good to see everyone again and meet my newborn great-grandson. I had managed very slowly to get the Christmas tree this year decorated to my satisfaction, although, with my setbacks, Dwight did offer to "throw" some decorations on the tree if I couldn't. I was also able to walk, without the walker, every couple of hrs to the back of the house and out on the porch a couple of days. Dwight watched me like a hawk every time I got up to make sure I didn't overdo it and behave myself, to Dawn's great amusement. One thing that was very special was on Sunday night, instead of everyone going back to church, they all stayed with me. We sang several Christmas carols, read the Christmas story from the Bible together, and Curtis gave a devotional. Not being able to get to church for a year and a half now and worship with others, it was precious to me. All too soon, we had to say goodbye, but we cherish the memories we made together for this year's Christmas. I'm happy to report that despite three small (compared to before) setbacks, I am now in my second week of being back on my feet, walking to the back of the house, and getting my snacks etc. as before. I’m just unable to walk up and down the steps yet.

Dwight finally, after more than two years, (between the state insurance changing- like they do every couple of years- finding a oral surgeon who is willing to work on someone with severe hemophilia, being cancelled TWICE the week before his appointment after waiting six months to a year for said appointment, and then coordinating it all with the hemophilia clinic to have enough factor to get his clotting level raised and oral med for his mouth, has gotten another (hopefully the last one) appointment to get his wisdom teeth out.

This year, Dawn’s family was separated, around the world, for almost two months, over Thanksgiving, Christmas, Randy's, and Dawn’s birthdays. The nearby third-grade elementary teacher and her class brought birthday cards they had made and sang to Randy on his birthday. All the island people told Randy that God had given him a special gift this year when they heard the news about his grandson being born on his birthday.  Randy had to do first aid on a bad hand wound- something Dawn usually does- and get the fellow to the hospital, which was a bit nerve-racking for him. Their tricycle is the ambulance for their area. Randy was also asked to speak at the elementary school Christmas program for the first time this year.

Dawn and Katie ended up having a three-day journey back to the Philippines. They missed their second flight in Philadelphia- something that is easy to do, rolling two large suitcases while hanging onto a heavy on-flight bag through a huge, crowded airport to connect to the next flight. They spent all afternoon rescheduling the two remaining overseas flights, which is more complicated for two people, ending up with a 12-hour layover in LA, CA that evening. Thankfully, they didn’t have to worry about their luggage, but everything was closed. They finally were able to order from a 24-hr pizza place and paid to have it delivered. They spent the night in a large hallway with a cement floor (as all the waiting areas are closed overnight, which to me makes no sense since LA is one of the main overseas hubs for air traffic) with hundreds of other people from all over the world camped out with their luggage.  Dawn and Katie were able to find two chairs to sit on- the last time the same thing happened they spent the night sitting on the hard cement floor- and, as Dawn put it, had loud “entertainment” from midnight until 2 am watching fellows tear down a wall. Thankfully, the overseas flight went better this time, they made it to Manila, and then to their island with all their luggage, got a taxi to drive them to their house and should have gotten there by today noon- their midnight. Does my daughter take after me or what? So thankful for all the prayer support!

I need to hush up for now. Stay warm on your end.

Dorcas