2001 was definitely a difficult year for us. Aside from our national
tragedies and Ben's illness, Allison's mother, Marilyn, passed away in November
after a year-long fight with pancreatic cancer. Despite our grief and time
spent with Marilyn and family - or perhaps because of it - we spent a fair
amount of time visiting friends and family and enjoying ourselves. We
started the Fall with Dana's first overnight camping trip - about 10 colleagues
from the University of Maryland joined us at Cunningham Falls State Park in the
Catoctin Mountains (in northern Maryland). We had a wonderful time, and
Dana impressed us all by leading the group - and more importantly, sleeping
through the night!
Then, Halloween rolled around and we visited our friends, the Hammers (see David
and Lauren here). Dana was happy to put on her pussy cat costume again,
and was delighted to find she could hold her tail. Unfortunately, this was
her real introduction to candy, and life hasn't quite been the same since.
Then we went to our now annual adoption reunion. This year, we went to
Williamsburg, Virginia and enjoyed perfect Fall weather. Dana has become
great friends with Alina (blonde hair) and Holly (brown hair) - two of the girls
adopted at the same time from her orphanage in Petropavlosk, and continues to
ask about them all the time.
The big fun of the Fall, however, was Ben's father's 80th birthday. We had
a wonderful catered party at Ben's parent's house in New York City. While
lighting 80 candles on 3 cakes was no simple task, it turned out that
blowing them out was nearly impossible - they were trick candles! It took
half the people at the party 15 minutes to blow them out - but blow them out we
did. Then the guests from all parts of big Ben's life told stories about
him - it was quite a night.
Throughout the Fall, Dana continued to grow and amaze us all. She is an
artist, an athlete, a Jew (she loves going to temple), a computer buff,
and a general rascal.
Then, the worst came. Marilyn ("grandma mar" to Dana) spent the
Fall in and out of the hospital, and then with her family at her side, passed
away at her home on November 18, 2001. She has left a hole in our hearts,
but also has given us so many memories and so much love that we are doing our
best to move on - trying to live our lives in a way that would have made her
proud. Allison described a bit of her life: "Marilyn Druin was an
incredible wife, mother, a grandmother, a family member, a friend, an artist,
and a mentor... " in her eulogy.
Finally, 2001 has come to a close. We celebrated the new year's coming
with a 4-leg trip to NJ, NYC, Ben's family country house in Windsor, MA, and a
visit to cousins Gary and Angela Magenta in Chicago. We are looking
forward to 2002.
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All text and photos Copyright (c) 2001 Ben Bederson