Zac graduated from high school in May. Zac was in the nice position of deciding between two colleges which both offered him a full tuition scholarship. While he preferred the location of Pacific Lutheran in Tacoma, Washington, he decided to attend Lewis University in Romeoville, Illinois for what seemed to be a superior Computer Science curriculum.
Brian was able to make a few more visits to see his father. When he visited in December, Virgil was still living at his home, but when Brian returned in May Virgil had moved into hospice. It was fortunate that Brian was teaching his class remotely, so he was able to continue teaching even while visiting his father. Brian made one last visit in June to see his father before Virgil died on June 21. It was very painful at the end, but Virgil never stopped fighting. He was 92 years old and lived a full and blessed life.
Kat joined the Boy Scouts at the encouragement of her friends. While she’s not interested in rank advancement, she does enjoy camping. She turned 14 at summer camp and decided that Boy Scout summer camp is much better than Girl Scout summer camp was, mostly because it is more rustic and primitive. After she got back Mariah, Brian and Kat drove out to Massachusetts to visit Jeri. Zac stayed behind to keep working at the ice cream shop and taking care of the house. It was brief visit for Mariah and Brian, as they had to turn around and get back to Iowa so Mariah could attend a virtual conference on Rehumanizing Mathematics. We did take the time to stop in at the Kill family reunion in Ohio on the drive home, and there was the incident of the spider bite while out geocaching that landed Mariah in the hospital. At least she was still able to attend her conference while the physicians pumped her full of antibiotics.
Kat spent two weeks in Massachusetts with Jeri. She enjoyed spending time with Jeri and her girlfriend Nat and roommate Nell. Kat enjoyed helping Nat in her animal lab and getting to know their pet cat, Skateboard. When their visit was over they flew out to California to stay with their grandma Judy. Zac quit his job at the ice cream shop and flew out to California to join them. They had a day together before he left for Hawaii to meet his grandpa Don. Don is an experienced sailor and had been hired to deliver a boat from Hawaii to California. Don enlisted Zac and another fellow to serve as crew for the delivery. Zac and Don spent two weeks sailing across the Pacific together. Zac had many late nights observing the stars from the middle of the Pacific.
While their children were vacationing, Mariah’s brother Torrey joined Brian as they rode bikes across Iowa in the annual tradition known as RAGBRAI. This was Brian’s fourth trip across the state, but his first with company. Mariah was also along helping drive one of the group’s vehicles. There were some hot days and some hilly days. Mariah had to deal with a broken starter in one of the vans, but everyone survived and had a good time. When the week was over Kat returned home to start band camp. Kat joined color guard and needed to start learning the routines. Mariah and Brian were able to attend the MAA’s MathFest which was another virtual conference. Mariah and Brian were awarded the Iowa MAA’s award for service which is only awarded once every five years.
The week after that Mariah, Brian and Kat flew out to Las Vegas together and met Jeri there. The Birgen clan was out there for Virgil’s funeral. It was good to see all Brian’s siblings even if it was for a sad occasion. Zac met us in Las Vegas as soon as he arrived back from sea. We had a good afternoon with the five of us together before we started catching flights back for home. It was less than a week after we arrived home that Zac left for college and Kat started the new school year. All in all, it was an eventful summer.
Zac has settled in well at Lewis University. He is majoring in Computer Science but is active in the school theater as well. He had a part in William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play (abridged) which we went out to see him perform in. Jeri continues at Clark completing her Chemistry major and we anticipate her graduating in May. She became the president of the Ballroom Dance club by virtue of being a senior and knowing how to get things done.
Brian and Mariah took a trip to Iceland in October as a delayed celebration of their 30th wedding anniversary. There wasn’t enough time to celebrate in August, so we just waited until Wartburg’s October break to get away. We really enjoyed the geysers, the hot springs and the waterfalls. Brian was re-elected to the Waverly City Council in November. It was more stressful because he actually had an opponent this time and won by fewer than thirty votes, but he is happy to be back at work serving his community for another four years.
Mariah has been active at Wartburg chairing the ad hoc committee attempting to redesign their general education plan. Previous attempts have been voted down by the faculty, so they are trying to be as open and thorough in the process as possible. Mariah continues to archive the COVID data for the state as a continuation of her sabbatical project. She is well known in certain circles for being one of the only sources of archival data from the pandemic.
We also took the plunge and become dog owners. We adopted a 4 year old coon hound/fox terrier mix named Maggie from the animal shelter. She is very smart, very energetic and very stubborn. We wish you all the best in the coming year. The future brings nothing but change, but hopefully it will hold good news for everyone. May you stay safe and healthy and surrounded by the people you love.