Tomorrow - Rome, Tuesday - Home

Abbie's birthday is this Saturday, and I told her I'd take her out to an Italian restaurant. It took her a while to realize I meant a restaurant in Italy!

We will be in Rome for 5 nights, our first trip to Italy, and one of the few we've made in Europe in our 29 years of living in Madeira.

We're looking forward to being with Bill and Maria Teresa Standridge on Sunday. He went to Rome right after the war and ended up starting a church there. He met and married an Italian girl, and tomorrow is their 49th wedding anniversary, I understand. They were in Madeira to celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary (see how long ago that was!) and we had lost contact with them. After making the reservations to Rome, I thought of them and was able to contact them through the internet.

So... next posting will be in about a week. By the way, we are still waiting on a final diagnosis of Jackie's problem. Her doctor has requested a bone marrow test, which he believes will confirm his suspicions. The test was to have been the first part of this week, but it didn't happen. We'll keep you informed.