Author: patcamerino

Christmas 2014: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

2:00 pm

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends,

It is good to reflect once a year on the joys and un-joys of the past twelve months. The world events of prior years have been replaced by new ones: no longer Bosnia and Y2K, but rather Crimea, Ukraine, ISIS, and Ebola! Yet the personal joys of family continue to outweigh the secular crises surrounding us. Once more, in this season’s faith, we will survive and prosper.

Our year began with an interesting event: in January, at the annual Clergy Night dinner, Pat received an award from the Archdiocese of Galveston-Houston in recognition of his devotion to vocations as a Permanent Deacon. (In February he celebrated the 30th anniversary of his ordination.) The year “ended” with another award for him: the Centennial Award from Kent State University’s College of EHHS for his career in Education, Health, and Human Services, which is presented to alumni who graduated over 50 years ago. (Two years ago the award was given to one of his Delta Upsilon fraternity brothers: Lou Holtz.) This presentation prompted us to visit KSU, Niles, Sandusky (and Pittsburgh!) in October to see friends, relatives and fall foliage.

We did not engage in any foreign travel this year … given our growing discomfort with long flights and European political concerns. Karen’s chronic pains with her shoulder joints (one of which was replaced a year ago) also add to our decreased travel schedule. The replaced knees are fine, except for security scans!

We continue to cut back our previous commitments to Christ the Good Shepherd, where Pat is “semi-retired but still active”, to the Cenacle Retreat House, where Karen is also “semi-retired but still active,” and to Eagle’s Trace where we are both “semi-retired but still active” in bible study, instruction, preaching, praying, and singing.

The next generation is not “semi-retired” but very active in the continuation of what they have been doing in previous years: Debbie as branch manager of a library in San Antonio, Frank as a math instructor in an SA community college; Ken (with United Recovery Systems) and Tracey with still-at-home Christina (in junior college), Thomas, Victoria, Olivia, Damien, Joseph (all in home-schooling) and Gabriel, the youngest. Chris continues as an assistant principle at The Woodlands’ ninth grade campus and Kelly is a math teacher at Klein Oak High School.

The latest generation is undertaking their new beginnings. Jordan, recently engaged to Samantha Gatlin, is a manager with Pioneer Grill and Saloon in College Station and continues to perform his gigs locally. Dillon is with the Harris County Public Health and Environmental Services and Carolyn is a groomer with Willow Creek Ranch in Tomball. Kirby, a recent UT-Austin graduate and a marketing coordinator with LGI Homes, will be married to Stephen Whitworth on 3/14/15 (pi day!) Kennedy is continuing her studies for pediatric nursing.

We continue to enjoy what we do and when we do it! Formal retirement is to our liking. We maintain it is much like our lives before; except now we can say “no” and not feel guilty. All we need to do is say “no” more often. Our health remains “above average;” our friends seem to offer more “organ recitals” than we do. There is little to complain about; community food may become boring at times, but we did not need to prepare it. And when we listen to winter weather reports from other parts
of the country, we believe that Houston may be as good as it can get … except for the color of the leaves in autumn.

We wish you peace, tranquility, and good health. May the spirit of this holy season be with you, once more and forever.

Celebration

What do we celebrate when we gather at Christmas?
Is it a tiny baby surrounded by parents, shepherds, creatures and kings?
Is it the opportunity to visit with family and friends?
Is it the joy of opening gifts and in giving them?
Is it the scent of pine and the sight of beautifully decorated homes?
Is it the shiver of excitement while waiting for Santa Claus?
Is it the beauty of midnight mass?
Is it the sound of Christmas carols ringing through the night air?
Is it all of these? None of these?

“And the word became flesh and made his dwelling among us.”
That is my celebration – that God loved us so much that he became one of us.
All of the other reasons to celebrate are still there.
I enjoy each one of them every year, but the Incarnation takes my breath away.
Maranatha. Come, Lord Jesus, come.
It is Christmas once again.

Karen Camerino, 2014

Thanksgiving

When I was a child, I loved these things about Thanksgiving Day:
Driving to Grandma’s – singing all the way
Stuffing myself with turkey, dressing, gravy, mashed potatoes and pie
Running up the hill and down again to the river
Seeing all of my aunts, uncles and cousins
Driving home tired and happy

I love these things about Thanksgiving Day now:
Seeing my children and grandchildren
Remembering all the years gone by
Realizing all the wonderful things God has given me
Having Pat by my side, loving me
Yes, the feast, too

I thank God every day for being relatively pain-free.
I thank God every day for the people who have loved me.
I thank God every day for my faith.
I thank God every day for my friends and wise teachers.

Yes, in reality, every day is Thanksgiving Day.
Pilgrims and turkey are just an added bonus.

Karen Camerino, 2014

Christmas 2015: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

1:00 pm

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends,

This year we’ve been hesitant to write our annual Christmas letter. In this season of hope and thoughts of peace, we wonder if either is still available. The thoughts of many are consumed by “IS or ISIS or ISIL or Daesh” depending upon which newsprint or newsvideo you see – to say nothing of our so-called political process. And that process is still a year away from a potential conclusion … “potential conclusion” because whoever is finally nominated and elected will not be acceptable to a lot of Americans and menacing words will still be hurled. The national and international problems of migrating people, justice for all, and security for all will, no doubt, be on-going into the future, or at least until the “end times” finally arrive. Yet, we have to continue to believe that some two thousand years ago, God sent His Son into the world as our Savior. So on this hope and with the celebration of the birth of the Prince of Peace, we once more want to let you know what has happened, over the past year, to us and to those we love.

The year has been filled with magnificent, happy events for our family. There have been two marriages this year: our grand-daughter Kirby (see Chris and Kelly) married Stephen Whitworth on 3/14/15, Great Pi Day (3.1415). Pat joyfully officiated at their wedding. (They invited us to their first Thanksgiving Dinner which the bride prepared and the groom carved.)

Jordan (see Ken and Tracey) married Samantha Gatlin on August 15th, the Feast of the Assumption. [So both grooms should have an easy time remembering the dates!] Jordan now manages a restaurant in College Station: “Swamp Tails” which serves a Cajun menu to Aggies! Kirby and Stephen have begun their careers in business in The Woodlands.

A very significant event was on August 8, 2015, when Brantley Andrew was born to Dillon and Carolyn. Brantley, named for a C&W singer (not his great-uncle), is our first great grandchild. We think it’s wonderful to be great grandparents; however we cannot believe that Ken is a grandfather! Tracy is the best-looking grandmother we’ve seen!

There are still unmarried grand-kids … at least for now! … Christina and Thomas are rapidly approaching that stage; Victoria, Olivia, Damien, Joseph and Gabriel are doting aunts and uncles. We can’t omit Kennedy, who is studying nursing at UTMB … University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston. Christopher and Kelly would now be empty nesters, except her mother, Faye, is living with them.

Deb and Frank Brantley continue to raise dogs and cats on their “farm” in Elmendorf, Tx. She’s still manages a library in the San Antonio system; he continues to teach math in a local community college.

Pat is even more “retired” than previously (at least “officially”). Nevertheless, he enjoys facilitating bible study and other adult religion classes at Eagle’s Trace. Karen has her “day of prayer” events along with “Community of Hope” interactions and choir practice at ET. She is also very involved with tour presentations at Brookwood, a local community for challenged adults. Local trips keep us involved with outside events. Foreign travel, with long flights, has been curtailed due to Karen’s continuing shoulder problems. We’re pleased we had Prague and the Danube in 2012 as our last European trip. Our videos continue to prompt happy memories of all the places visited over the last twenty years.

So in lieu of a foreign vacation this year, we bought a new Honda HRV. It’s red; Pat has lusted after a red car for many decades and finally got one! Karen seems to drive it more frequently than he does. Nothing else is new or worth reporting about.

And so we have again given you, our dear friends, whom we remember and love even if our communication with you is limited, a summary of what has happened in our personal lives during 2015. For us, it has been a “very good year,” as that singer once proclaimed. We wish that the rest of the world could have joined in. We hope, however, that you have had a most acceptable and joy-filled year. Especially in these days of ire, we offer the words of angels: “Peace on Earth to Those of Good Will.”

Build a Manger

Help me to build a manger in my heart, O God,
To hold your child this Christmas.
It need not be a fancy bed.
In truth, no bed, however rich, could deserve your son.

Help me to build a manger, simple and warm –
A bed to hold and cradle Jesus as he sleeps.
My heart is bound for Bethlehem.
A stable is what I seek –
A place to hold the manger that I bear.

Make of it a dwelling place.
I would welcome Mary and Joseph,
Shepherds and magi,
Angels and stars,
But most of all, I would welcome Jesus.

Help me to build a manger in my heart, O God,
To hold your child this Christmas.

Karen Camerino, 2015

Christmas 2016: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

12:00 pm

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends,

In a year that has been marked by dissension, negativity, and downright nastiness in our effort to elect a new president, we are more than ready to take a deep breath and turn our minds and hearts toward the Prince of Peace. Families and friends, including ours, have been divided over politics. No matter what side of the political fence you stand on, the need to step back is there. The election is over. The new year will tell us whether or not our choice is a good one. It’s Christmas again. Let us bring love, hope, peace and celebration back into our homes and our lives.

The Camerinos have increased by one more great-grandchild. A beautiful little girl, Claire, was born to Jordan and Samantha on April 1st. She joins Dillon and Carolyn’s bright and happy son, Brantley, who makes all of us smile.

Our granddaughter, Christina, will marry Cristian Araujo on February 11, 2017. We are looking forward to another happy occasion. Ken and Tracey’s other ‘kids’ (Thomas, Victoria, Olivia, Damien and Joseph) are doing well. Some are working, some are concentrating on school. Our youngest grandchild, Gabriel, is receiving good care and lots of love from family. His journey will be a difficult one, but being surrounded by love helps a lot.

Chris and Kelly are continuing in their work in two different school districts – Chris, assistant principal at The Woodlands High School ninth-grade campus, and Kelly teaching math at Klein Oak high school. Kennedy, their younger daughter has just graduated from nursing school and will begin her job at Willowbrook Methodist Hospital soon. Meanwhile, Kirby and Stephen Whitworth began 2016 by spending several months in New York City, leaving Texas behind for a new adventure. They had a wonderful time, but have returned to the Houston area and are waiting to get back into their house. They had leased it when they left for NYC. Kirby has decided to follow in Kelly’s footsteps and work toward accreditation to teach math.

Deb and Frank are doing well in the San Antonio area. She is branch manager of a different library these days and is finding the change very positive. Frank continues to teach math at a local community college. Their menagerie ebbs and flows with time, but the head count is still high. We meet fairly often midway between their place and ours either in LaGrange or Schulenburg – huge metropolises as you can imagine.

Meanwhile the old folks are feeling the occasional pangs of being in our eighties, but for the most part we are in semi-fine fettle. Pat continues to facilitate two courses here at Eagle’s Trace and pitches in from time to time to teach courses at parishes and to preach now and then at our interdenominational service here. Karen is still volunteering at Brookwood (community for functionally disabled adults)
and is prayer lady for The Community of Hope group at Eagle’s Trace. International travel is over for us, but the years of feasting our eyes on Europe and the Holy Land have left us eternally grateful.
Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!

His Father’s Eyes

“He has his father’s eyes”.
Mary smiled to herself as her neighbor left.

“He has his father’s eyes”.
Not Joseph’s eyes as the woman thought – his FATHER’S eyes.

Jesus’ eyes were loving, deep, piercing, and wise beyond his infancy.
Those eyes had welcomed shepherds and captivated magi.

They had won Joseph’s heart as well as her own.
“He has his father’s eyes – God’s eyes”, she thought.

Mary’s eyes met his often through the years.
She saw his love for children
– his forgiveness of sinners
– his compassion for the lost and lonely
– all reflected in those wonderful eyes.

Those eyes embraced his disciples and understood his betrayer.

Finally, Mary looked up into his eyes once more and saw the weariness and pain
– the love he felt for her
– his forgiveness of those who had condemned him
– and his readiness to let his father take him.

“Yes, he has always had his father’s eyes”, she murmured through her tears.

Karen Camerino, 2016

Christmas 2017: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

11:00 am

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends,

For the third year in a row we’ve had a reluctance to begin writing our annual summary of the life of the Camerinos. Last year’s events gave us pause … and hope that life in this world might improve and peaceful events would transpire. In previous years there was war in Iraq, the Ebola virus and Crimea (and before that Bosnia and even the Y2K bug) to give us existential concerns. In 1987, the first year for our computerized letters (there are some typed ones in the more distant past), we did not have such international concerns to worry about.

Thirty years ago we opened with Karen’s work for the Family Life Office of the Diocese of Galveston-Houston, with Pat’s administrative position at Baylor College of Medicine and his ministry as a deacon at Christ the Good Shepherd. Deb was a coordinator at the Convention Center in San Antonio, Ken was working in a Houston psychiatric hospital and Christopher was a teaching assistant in Austin!

Now our kids are married; Deb is enjoying being the Branch Manager of a library in San Antonio; Ken continues with his work as a Correspondence Manager with United Recovery Systems; and Christopher has retired from his school administrative position in The Woodlands. Their spouses (Frank, Tracey and Kelly) continue without significant changes in what they do.

Now it’s time for the following generations: Jordan (with Samantha and Claire) lives in College Station; Dillon (with Caroline and Brantley) resides in Houston; Kirby (with Stephen) is now teaching mathematics in a classroom next to her Mom’s; Kennedy is a neurology nurse at Houston Methodist Hospital (Willowbrook); Christina and Cristian Araujo are the new, proud parents of Elijah David; Thomas and Victoria are planning what their post-school futures might hold; Olivia, Damien, Joseph and Gabriel are continuing with home-schooling. This should account for our eleven grand-children and three (current) great-grand-children.

Pat and Karen now have expired passports and no plans for foreign travel (or travail). We have all those vacation videos, which we’re very happy we made, to help renew those fading memories. If only those aches and pains of eight decades would fade as well. We continue to maintain we made the right choice of moving to our retirement community a dozen years ago. Although we live across the road from Barker Reservoir, which poured flood waters on downtown Houston, our apartment building and grounds were not damaged by Harvey. The surrounding community was not as fortunate as you’ve heard and seen in the news. The Cenacle Retreat House was destroyed; Karen has been forced to cut back her interactions with it. After all these years we have transferred our membership from Christ the Good Shepherd in Spring to Epiphany of the Lord in Katy which is much closer to Eagle’s Trace. In our personal lives, what we do has not changed over the past year, but how fast we do it has slowed down.

If only national and international events would do the same: slow down or even cease to be so vexing. We continue to hope and pray that what was once peaceful (civilized) and normal might return. We wish our focus could be as it was in the “eighties” while we remain happy in our own “eighties” – a focus on life and values that bring tranquility and happiness to all people.

We closed with a wish for peace and happiness in our 1987 letter; we once more offer it with renewed hope — for that’s still left in 2017. (Besides, if Houston can be dusted by snow in December, hope remains viable.)

May you have a blessed Christmas.

Silent Night

Silence – stillness – peace.
Waiting – pondering – listening.
These words greet us in Christmas carols.
They speak of an agricultural time, a time of shepherds, camels  and   journeys by donkey.
At this time of the year, my heart yearns for silence, for stillness.
The air is filled with traffic noise, machinery, “Jingle Bells” and chatter.
Parties, shopping and busyness surround me.
It is difficult to ponder, to listen in stillness.
And yet — deep in my soul there is a quiet place –
A place of starry nights and the bleating of sheep –
A place where the air is filled with a baby’s cry –
A place of soft voices, lullabies, and joy –
A place of peace.
“Silent night, holy night, all is calm, all is bright.”
If I seek the stillness within and if I listen with every part of my being,
There is Christmas.

Karen Camerino, 2017

 

Christmas 2018: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

10:00 am

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Christmas Letters

,

Dear Friends,

Once more we would like to begin our Christmas letter on a note of universal hope and peace. Again this is a real challenge. Nevertheless, we do retain a sense of personal hope, peace, and love; perhaps we can do the same on a larger landscape – one in which civility and harmony exist among all peoples of the world. This, after all, is what we really want to celebrate during this holy season: peace on earth to those of good-will. Maybe we can find a host of angels to proclaim it; it’s more doubtful that we would be able to locate three wise-men … or wise-women … to spread the Word. Yet we really do hope!

We now have a fourth great-grandchild, and another on the way. These events certainly give us hope (and joy.) Charlotte Helen was born to Samantha and Jordan in May, to add to the next generational gathering for that month. Brantley, son of Dillon and Carolyn, was the first of that next gen; followed by Claire, Charlie’s older sister; and Elijah, son of Christina and Cristian Araujo. Their parents and grandparents, Ken and Tracey, are surviving well in their expanded roles. Their aunts and uncles (Thomas, Victoria, Olivia, Damien, Joseph and Gabriel) are happy in their roles, too, as well as in all of the schooling and/or work they do both in and out of their home-base.

Christopher has retired from school administration and, to keep busy, has become an insurance claims adjuster for disaster follow-ups with hurricanes Florence (more of a training period) and Michael (a month-long deployment.) Kelly remains as a math teacher, along with their daughter, Kirby, at the same suburban high school. Kennedy, the “other daughter,” has a new position in pediatrics at the Texas Children’s Hospital in the Medical Center.

Over the Christmas holiday, Kirby and Stephen Whitworth will be vacationing in Europe (providing Paris is still available – as well as London and Bruxelles!) Earlier in the year Debbie and Frank had their own vacation in Paris and Venice. For us, our European travels have ended, our passports unrenewed. Foreign journeys will be left to the next generations.

Because of the holiday scheduling for the extended family, we will begin with a Christmas Eve on the 21st with Chris’ family and conclude with St Stephen’s (Boxing Day) with everyone at Ken’s house, since it’s impossible to fit the Camerino-clan into our apartment at Eagle’s Trace, even if our retirement community now exceeds 900 residents. Pat is looking forward to “seeing” our version of the Twelve Days of Christmas, even if his vision will be slightly “wonky.” He had cataract surgery in early December; although he sees quite well far away with his new right eye, the old left one, until mid-January, is useful only for closeups.

During the past year, Pat has continued to be involved with adult religious education both at Eagle’s Trace and Epiphany of the Lord parish. Karen has had to cut back with Cenacle work, since the retreat house and all of its facilities were destroyed by Harvey and physical recovery is not possible; however, she continues with her usual efforts with prayer groups at Eagle’s Trace. Both of us have also found a wonderful, new activity at Eagle’s Trace called “Legacy in Words.” Our group meets twice a month; meanwhile we are writing short essays in the form of “memoirs” to give to the next generations so they know what our life was like in the middle years of the last century!

For us, a major personal event of great joy was the celebration of our 60th wedding anniversary in June. Our three kids gave us a large, fancy jar stuffed with strips of colored-paper, each one bearing a line about memories of their growing up years as they related to us. It was a magnificent gift; the two of us spent a month of breakfasts reading them and recalling our versions of what Deb, Ken and Chris remembered – significant events they recalled but we had forgotten. It was truly the best gift we could have received.

And so it is: the best parts of the years, both the most recent and all those which have gone before, are the memories of family life and the hopes that the days ahead will be as fulfilling for each one of us (and you) as they have been in the past. May you have a blessed Christmas.

Stop, Look and Listen

“Stop, look and listen.” As children we were told to do these three things before crossing the street. I wonder if we do any of them as well today.

Stop. In our busy lives, we barely pause to take a breath, to eat a meal, to gather our thoughts, to ponder.

Look. So many eyes are turned downward to a phone or laptop. We seldom take the time to marvel at the beauty of nature around us or to gaze deeply at the people we love.

Listen. Do we truly listen – to nature – to music – to the person sitting across from us – to the sound of God’s voice?

Christmas is a time to stop, look and listen.

Take a moment to stop, letting life’s turmoil move on without you. Be present in the moment of stillness.

Take a moment to look intently around you, taking in the beauty which is always there but seldom seen.

Take a moment to listen to song, to scripture, to wisdom, to love spoken and shared.

If we take these moments, we will find ourselves quiet and prepared to embrace the wonder of a child, a manger, angels and shepherds, magi and awestruck parents.

Take the time to stop, look and listen to Christmas this year. I hope to do the same.

Karen Camerino, 2018

Christmas 2019: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

9:00 am

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends,

We’re not sure why we continue to write an annual Christmas letter. Probably it’s because old habits are difficult to break. We began our series in 1980, three years after we moved to Houston, Texas. That was long before the days of Face Book and electronic communication changes of the last decade. However, our thumbs are not as fast as those of our grandchildren, and so our lives are not as ever-present to others as theirs are. As a result, these holiday letters serve us as a reminder of what has occurred within our (very) extended family. We send these recollections to friends who do not live in Texas and must endure weather that includes a lot of that white stuff, which we miss to a certain extent. However, it is pleasant to experience temperatures in the seventies as we prepare for the holidays.

Once again, we will celebrate the Twelve Days of Christmas, since the younger generations now gather in their own immediate families on December 25th. Our holiday calendar begins with Christmas Eve mass at our former parish of Christ the Good Shepherd, followed by dinner at the home of Chris and Kelly, along with Kirby, Stephen, Kennedy, Grandma Faye and a few of their friends – providing Kirby and Stephen are not visiting some foreign country and Kennedy can leave her work as a nurse at Texas Children’s Hospital. Yes, granddaughter Kirby appears to have our wanderlust genes and has seen places we once enjoyed, personally. Rumor has it that this gene may merely have been temporarily unexpressed in Chris who has plans to go with Kelly to Europe in 2020. He has done some traveling, mainly on his own, because of his work as an Insurance adjuster deployed to weather disasters areas in the Southeast.

We will celebrate Christmas Day at Eagle’s Trace with our friends and fellow residents. For the past year Pat has continued to be involved with religious adult education and Karen with prayer services in the community. In matters of health (or as a friend has said: instances of “organ recitals”) we have survived another octogenarian year. Pat is pleased with the results of his cataract surgery; Karen still grimaces with shoulder pain but her metallic knees continue to move her about quite rapidly.

Call it “Boxing Day” or the Feast of Stephen, we will be celebrating it with everyone who can make it to Oriental Garden for a traditional Chinese dinner, followed by a gathering at the home of Ken and Tracey. Once again, they have become grandparents during 2019. Christina and Cristian Araujo’s Elijah was joined by Lila Rose on March 23rd, twenty years after her aunt Victoria joined the family. Victoria and Olivia remain at home, completing school and working at jobs; Damien and Joseph merely work at school; Gabriel joins them and continues to do well, despite his genetic challenges. Jordan and Samantha, along with daughters Claire and Charlotte, reside in College Station, where he is a plumber. Dillon and Carolyn have moved to another home with their son Brantley, since Dillon is an assistant manager at a nearby restaurant. And not to be forgotten, Thomas has his own apartment and is with Peli Peli, another great restaurant in Houston.

In January we will be gathering with Deb and Frank Brantley (and available relatives) at Brookwood Restaurant near Houston. We usually meet our daughter and son-in-law somewhere between Houston and San Antonio, but they decided it would be nice if they drove the extra miles for this annual gathering. It will be a magnificent way to complete our extended Christmas-New Year’s-Epiphany Twelve Day celebrations.

Although the formal holiday celebrations end in January 2020, we hope and pray that the days which follow will also contain their own share of happiness. We once looked forward to the new millennium that started in 2000. It’s hard to believe twenty years have passed and we are beginning the third decade of the third millennium since the birth of Christ. May we someday find the true Peace which began ‘way back then!

Advent

Advent marks the end of the calendar year and, for many, the beginning of the church year.
The word comes from the Latin and means “to come to” or “coming.”
Advent is a season of waiting and anticipation.

For what do we wait? For whom do we wait?
Children wait for Santa, candy and sweets, presents under the tree.

Some of us wait for time off to relax from the day-to-day grind.
Some of us wait for sales, shopping, and gift-giving.
Some of us wait for family celebrations, reunions and a chance to gather for a feast.
Some of us wait for crisp weather, decorated homes, and Christmas trees.
Some of us wait for carol singing, church services, and shared communion.
Some of us wait for the birth of a child in Bethlehem, born again to us each Christmas after 2000 years
Some of us wait for the second coming of Christ and the end of time as we know it.
Some of us wait for peace on earth and good will toward all in the midst of a world caught up in misunderstanding and division
Some of us wait for a Merry Christmas – others for a holy Christmas.

For what do you wait? For whom do you wait?

Whatever this season of waiting means to you, may you be blessed and may all of your wishes come true.

Karen Camerino, 2019

Christmas 2020: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

8:00 am

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends,

In January of this year we were looking forward to one with perfect twenty-twenty vision! Ha! Little did anyone expect that this disastrous year is one that no one wants to remember, since it has been replete with illness and with climatic, economic, political, and social misfortunes we all want to go away.

For us, the blessings have been few, by the usual secular measuring rods. Yet, we continue to be grateful for those which have appeared. Our personal health has continued, thanks to the efforts of Eagle’s Trace, the retirement community which has protected all of us who have accepted isolation, social distancing, mask wearing, and hand-washing as a way of life. Of the 950 residents living in our own apartments, only a half-dozen have tested positive for THAT virus! Our gatherings were eliminated for many months; they are returning with restricted numbers. Masked highschool students who could no longer serve in our dining rooms, which had been closed, delivered meals to our doors. Staff even delivered the mail to our doors! The ET medical service also gave us our flu-shots in our apartments; they will be coming with other vaccines when they are made available to our “at risk” demographics. All-in-all we have survived Covid-19 better than many.

Ken’s family was not as fortunate. All those still living at home tested positive back in March. They have recovered. Ken is lucky enough to be able to work from home. The younger kids have continued home-schooling, with Tracey, as they have for many years. The older ones have had reduced hours of work but are still employed; they also have found supplemental ways to earn funds. (The boys inherited their repair/building skills from their father, rather than their grandfather!)

Kelly has joined Chris in retirement from teaching; she will now be able to accompany him, on occasion, when he takes their mobile home on the road for his part-time position making insurance adjustments, following the storms experienced in the South during the summer and fall. Kirby has moved to Atlanta with Stephen, whose company transferred him there from the Houston office. Kennedy, who had been a nurse at Texas Children’s hospital, has become a traveling nurse in Oklahoma! Everyone else remains in Texas!

There is a new great-grandson, Shiloh, who was born prematurely on his father’s birthday in February. We now have six great-grandchildren joining our eleven grandchildren and three “kids,” and their spouses. We don’t get to see them often enough, due to our varying degrees of quarantine. It’s almost like living in different states. However, we have been able to meet with Deb and Frank at restaurants, with restricted quotas, that are located between San Antonio and Houston.

Given the restrictions here at ET, we have set-aside our usual participation in ministry and pleasurable-social events. Pat has taken time to learn how to “blog.” He’s in the processing of transferring material written for our memoir group to a new electronic site: CameosAndCarousels.com, in case you might be interested in reading what he’s done.

Once more, Karen has created a poem to accompany this Christmas summary. This recollection includes another view of this strange year: 2020. We do have hopes and prayers that 2021 will be vastly better. May there not be a Covid-20! Instead, we pray that the “Peace on Earth to those of Good-will,” sung by those angels over two-thousand years ago, may be with us in the months ahead.
Have a blessed Christmas, everyone!

A Different Kind of Christmas

Stores are nearly empty and Christmas music sounds hollow.
Masks hide the smiles on every face.
Fist and elbow bumps replace hugs.
We hesitate to go to church.
We order gifts online or over the phone.
There are no holiday parties.
Families don’t gather for meals or celebration.
20/20 is here, but where is Christmas?

For believers, Christmas is more than family, gifts and Santa.
There is an abundance of time for prayer this year.

Isaiah and Matthew and Luke tell the story –
The timeless story of God-with-us.
An angel, a young woman’s ‘yes’, a dream, a marriage,
A visit to an older cousin, a leap of recognition,
A journey to Bethlehem, a birth in a stable,
A chorus of angels, and homage by shepherds and magi.

Christmas is here – in the story.

It is also a part of us, whatever the celebration or lack of one.

It is 20/20.

“God bless us every one.”

Karen Camerino, 2020

Christmas 2021: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

7:00 am

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Christmas Letters

The calendar claims it’s that time of the year for us to compose our annual Christmas Letter, if we’re going to continue our tradition which began 41 years ago when we moved to Texas. (Actually, there are a few more, dating back to 1963 and Corvallis, Oregon … but there were breaks during the Bethesda, MD and Amherst, MA years.) Part of our reluctance in writing this year is that Houston has had temperatures in the 80s for the last, several weeks! Our climate is certainly not conducive to holiday reflections, even if the TV commercials strongly suggest otherwise. However, the weather-folks tell us to expect a roller-coaster – with a few days in the cool 60s before returning to mid-summer.

Further reluctance for writing a holiday letter is due to the world … hardly the time to consider the peace on earth promised by a gathering of angels some two millennia, ago. What we see streaming on “social” media is not conducive to thoughts of peace! Yet there is hope that our secular roller-coaster will have more ups than downs, even if that may not physically be possible! One can only hope that the “downs” are neither deep nor in rapid succession. We’ve survived others over the last century; we pray we will, once more.

Our personal “success” continues a pace, or at least our personal life does. Our health remains relatively constant. Karen still has her shoulder aches and pains while Pat has recently developed his own knee and leg reminders of aging. (It’s debatable whether his renewed use of the exercise equipment provided by Eagle’s Trace has been more of a help or hindrance in attempts to counter some aspects of that ageing process. Karen has a peddle machine stashed under her desk for her own attempts.)

These Covid-19 days have also had mixed results for us. We have been triply shot, as have almost all of our 900 residents, so that we no longer are required to mask as we gather for meals and fellowship. We are still encouraged to engage in social-distancing and masking while outside our retirement community. On the other hand, our staff at Eagle’s Trace Living Community has made the past months very acceptable, even when Houston did have snow and freezing weather for the month of February. (Who would maintain our Gulf Coast weather is consistent!?)

Although the medical situation of the coronavirus, regardless of which Greek letter is used!, has improved, we have not readily returned to as active a schedule as we once followed for our retirement living. However, Karen has continued to be a member of a well-rehearsed singing group that has been well-received at ET. Pat has renewed his focus on writing for his on-line blog: CameosAndCarousels.com. We continue to enjoy following the lives of our children and our children’s children, as we rejoice in seeing the actions of our great-grandchildren that bring back fond memories of prior generations.

This, we know, is really what the Christmas season is all about … young children and old memories. As our own three “kids” and their spouses participate in their own retirement years; as the next generation matures into lives initiated by our “kids,” and as the youngest ones laugh and grow throughout their own childhood, we “originals” hope, pray, and rejoice about everything that really matters.

Perhaps we should stop “streaming the news” and recall the news proclaimed by those angels: “Peace on Earth to Those of Good-Will.” We need to remember that the Peace they promised was to those of Good-Will, those who trusted in the coming of the Christ-child, those who trust that He will come again – with a joy-filled Advent and Christmas! Yes, that’s the real gift we want this year: trust in one another, trust that our nation will survive, trust that Christ will come, again!

Christmas 2021

Christmas comes for hearts and minds in its many forms and kinds –

Hanging on our festive doors and bustling through department stores.

We do take the time to pray and we do so every day,

But gifts and cards sometimes invade the quiet space that we have made.

In this card we wish you well. We love you more than rhymes can tell.

You are in our thoughts today and so we take the time to say:

COVID scares have passed us by though we’re not so young and spry.

All the ‘kids’ and grandkids thrive and six great-grandkids are alive

With another on the way. What a picture-perfect day

When all of us can join in fun – to laugh and see and hug each one.

No more for now. Our wish for you is that good things will come anew –

That twenty-two will bring us peace, that all hostility will cease,

That Christmas blessings will abound and happiness will soon be found.

The Camerinos send our best with love and joy and all the rest.

Christmas 2022: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

6:00 am

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Christmas Letters

Dear Friends:

We could send a copy of last year’s letter without too many changes, since the current one would have the same information about our life at Eagle’s Trace Senior Living Community in Houston Texas, our seventeenth Holiday here. There is, however, a very valid reason for an updated version. On December 9, Karen had her right hip replaced at Memorial City Hospital and, on the following Tuesday, was transferred to Bayou Vista, the skilled nursing-rehabilitation facility at Eagle’s Trace, to continue her follow-up process. We are not sure when she will be able to return to our apartment in Pecan Grove, one of the current six private apartment buildings at ET. We are hoping that the event will occur before Christmas Day!

When she had both knees and a right shoulder replaced (at different times!) years ago, her body was not that of an octogenarian. So, if you plan to have surgery, do it when you’re younger! As a result of Karen’s continuing therapy, Pat has learned how to use the dishwasher, washing machine and dryer! However, it appears that gift-shopping, which has also been Karen’s personal bailiwick, will not be done this year, so kids, grandchildren and great grandchildren will need to depend on a more active Santa Claus – just how old is he, anyway, and how does he keep driving that sleigh?!

A year ago, the temperature along the Gulf Coast was in the high eighties. It happened again, this year. This week it will be in the fifties and, according to some, will be the forties on Christmas Day. Given that Chris and Kelly, being retired from high school education, have moved to Gadsden, Alabama, while Kennedy resides in Atlanta and Kirby & Stephen now live in San Francisco, different climates will be experienced by several members of the clan.

More important, our clan has expanded. Kipton Royce was born in San Francisco on July 19. His older cousin, Liam James, arrived on March 28, the same birthday for his father, Cristian Araujo! Weddings this year include Thomas with Michelle Areli on April 1 in Cancun, and Victoria with Ismail Sanchez on March 19 in Houston. (Ken, who now works for HPE, and Tracey currently have 21 direct descendants!) Dillon and Carolyn (with Brantley and Shiloh) are in the planning stage for a move to Tennessee early next year. It appears that the Camerino family will soon be known nationwide!

On the other hand, the traveling days for Pat and Karen have been greatly limited. The extent of our trips includes meeting Deb and Frank halfway between Houston and San Antonio. (Deb has retired from her management position with the SA library system but continues to volunteer with her local one and to be employed part-time with Palo Alto Community College.

Fortunately, we have fond memories of places throughout the U.S. where we have lived, and Europe where we have vacationed. Photos and videos are great assists to our memories, but we would prefer to see California, Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee in person rather than as virtual reality.

Karen continues to enjoy her participation with the ET chorus; Pat with writing for his blog: CameosAndCarousels.com. It’s good to slow down and relax with TV, so long as we avoid the news, an unlikely event unfortunately. We continue to be disturbed by events in Ukraine and other parts of the world. We continue to pray for peace but may need to be content with personal tranquility in lieu of a global one. We have received all four COVID injections and the one for flu, so there is hope that all we will need to contend with is Karen’s hip rehabilitation. Gone are the days when we were all “hippies” – in spirit if not in reality.

Holy Night

The angel choir disturbed the silence of the chilly night.
The sky was filled with glorious song as they hovered in their flight.
The shepherds stood in fear and awe, not knowing what to do.
The angels sang of peace on earth and a baby born anew.
“Get up, my friends, and travel now to Bethlehem this night.
Your God has chosen you to see this holy wondrous sight.
The baby will be found among the oxen in a stall,
But be not fooled. He is the savior born to free us all.”

The angel choir dispersed and left the shepherds far below.
They looked at one another – stunned – but did not fear to go.
In stable stall they found the child and knelt in glad surprise.
The mother welcomed them with gentle lovelight in her eyes.
When they told them of the angel choir and the song the angels sang,
They left to tend their flocks again, but in their hearts there rang
The sound of Mary’s voice and the baby’s newborn cry –
As beautiful to them as was the angel song on high.

You never know when angels might intrude upon the night,
So listen and keep watch in preparation for the sight.
If simple shepherds were invited to that holy place,
Might not we too, be summoned to see the Master’s face?

                            Karen Camerino
                            Christmas 2010

Reissued Christmas 2022

Christmas 2023: Eagle’s Trace, Houston, TX

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June 27, 2020

5:00 am

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Christmas Letters, Uncategorized

Once again, we have arrived at the season of faith and hope. Faith, the concept of knowing the present without measuring; hope, the concept of knowing the future without worrying. However, this season both faith and hope do not come without challenges; perhaps more so than at any other time during the past six decades of our Christmas Letters summarizing the lives of our family. (Our first holiday letter was written from Corvallis, Oregon in 1963!)

Last year we were concerned about the war in Ukraine. This year has added the conflict in the Holy Land. Last year’s letter began with Karen’s hip replacement and recovery, which, BTW, has been fully accomplished. However, in August she did have an incident of a greater magnitude.

While eating dinner in the Eagle’s Trace Café, she choked on a piece of steak. Fortunately, our First Responders-Emergency Team was present within minutes and their CPR efforts brought her back to life! A few days in the local Methodist Hospital, with a follow-up in our own Health Care facility, completed her recovery. On the other hand, she still has daily pain from naturally fused vertebrae in her neck, a condition which may have contributed to her swallowing issues. Pat, however, has no major medical issues, other than natural aging with its accompanying slowing down of his actions.

As late octogenarians, we have given up extraneous travel, which is greatly missed, especially since our family has begun to move out of Texas. Chris and Kelly are now firmly established as retired teachers in Gadsden, Alabama. Kennedy has transferred her nursing career to Atlanta, where she has bought a house. Kirby, Stephen and Kipton have returned from a year in San Francisco to their home in Atlanta, where another offspring is expected to join them in May.

Although Ken and Tracey remain in Spring, Texas (some ten minutes from his work at HP Enterprises), Dillon, Carolyn, Brantley and Shiloh have moved to Atlanta, where Dillon manages a restaurant. Jordan, Samantha, Claire and Charlotte remain in College Station where he continues to be a plumber. Victoria and Ismael enjoyed working in Martha’s Vineyard over the summer and may move there. (We envy them!) Thomas and Michelle visited Thailand but will not be moving there! Damien has started his community college period while Joseph and Gabriel remain at home (with Zelda, a marvelous canine companion for Gabe.) Christina and Cristian, along with Elijah, Lila Rose and Liam moved to Magnolia, Texas and a new home which Pat, in his capacity as a Permanent Deacon (retired), blessed for them. Olivia married Sam Price in November and they have begun their new life together. On the other end of the matrimonial spectrum, Pat and Karen celebrated their sixty-fifth anniversary!

Deb claims she is retired but proceeds to find more to do with local libraries than she may have done when paid by one! Frank continues teaching mathematics at Palo Alto Community College in San Antonio, which is beyond the driving range Pat and Karen now allow themselves (it usually consists of the local parish and grocery store.) We do miss the ability to go farther afield. It is great that we have the memories and physical records, in the form of videos and photos, of all those journeys to Europe. Our only remaining activity is our participation in the ET memoir group, the results of which Pat confides to his blog: CameosAndCarousels.com. Because of the pain when she turns her head, Karen has had to give up performing with her ET chorus; she now limits herself to singing along with the music on TV and from a phenomenal memory of songs-of-long-ago.

Although this remains as the season for Faith, knowing without measuring, and Hope, knowing without worrying, it is also the season for the virtue of Patience: waiting with faith and hope for the return of Christ the Lord, who comes with Love and Joy. May all of these gifts, these graces, be yours!