Christmastime 2008

Here is our New Year's letter for 2008-2009. Our schedules don't allow for easy attempts at getting out cards and letters during December, but we think we can make an honest effort to touch base with our friends and family during the small lull after the festivities. Since the liturgical Christmas season runs from the evening of December 24 well into January (usually a Sunday or two after January 6, the traditional celebration of the Epiphany), we figure we're just keeping the Christmas spirit stirred up a while longer.

Jack Frost Branches in the Snow

A 2008 Playlist

Happy New Year to you! If our life's events were translated into a music playlist, what craziness would one expect? Certainly, a seemingly disjointed, eclectic & varied mix that somehow makes sense when you put it all together. So, here's a sampling of the details—along with their possible song titles—that have comprised our year:

January

The Bells of St. Mary's [Bing Crosby, et. al.] – both of us have been (and are still) in full-time ministry at St. Mary's Church {www.stmarygr.org}. Between the two of us, we take care of playing music for services (en español & English), directing the choirs, visiting the sick and homebound, leading prayer services, doing our parts of the day-to-day office work, teaching lessons & other duties as assigned.

Give Peace a Chance [John Lennon] – The monthly Prayer of Peace held at St. Mary's is still going strong. Kind of a pet project of ours, it has even birthed a web site, www.prayerofpeacegr.org.

(All God’s Critters Got) A Place in the Choir [Bill Staines] – We're still active in the local chapter of NPM {www.npm-gr.org}. Larry's on the board and serves as the "web-maestro".

Bangla Soul [Buddha-Bar series] – Almost every Tuesday, we get together with our "Tuesday night family", our dear friends Erin, Lauren, Tim, Fynn & Jim. Chill-out world-beat music, good food, time together. Since Lauren & Tim are very creative in the kitchen, we always have a great meal! (Need some wheat-free spicy coco-oat squares? Visit www.cafloogle.etsy.com.)

Get it Together [Seal] – Larry took a trip to Washington DC to attend an NPM colloquium for Catholic church musicians. Learning stuff never goes out of style. {www.npm.org}

February

The Devil is Bad [The W's] – A lot of our routine is determined by the church liturgical calendar. Lent started really early, but that came in handy later, when Easter and Pentecost therefore arrived early, eventually giving us what felt like an early start into the summer in May.

Wade in the Water [spiritual] – We were both part of the staff for the TEC #10 retreat. For better or worse, one of the most prominent memories of the weekend will always be that Kateri lodge was flooded by the snow/ice/rain melt. {www.nextgenerationtec.com}

Reviewing the Situation [Lionel Bart] – We enjoyed seeing Rockford HS present Oliver! in February, which included our niece Kelsey.

March

We Can Make a Difference [Jaci Velasquez] – Preparations for DYMO Camp picked up speed as the volunteer staff—including Larry and Erin—began meeting regularly. It takes a whole lotta work to put together the one-week event for each June.

Victimae Paschali Laudes [Latin chant] – Because we are staff and musicians for the church, Holy Week and Easter are central parts of our calendars. Kinda like tax season for accountants, or the end of June for fireworks sales, or the weekend after Thanksgiving for retail stores, but completely different.

April

Moving to the Sun [They Might Be Giants] – Lauren, who had been living with us for some time, landed an apartment with her fiancé Tim after an extended search. So, she moved away and the cats had less staff (for a while).

May

Time of Your Life (a.k.a.) [Green Day] – Lauren and Erin both graduated from Aquinas College. Erin even received a special award. We were thrilled to host the party at our house.

My Girl [Temptations] – Erin moves back in with us, and the cats are happy to have the additional attention. (We're happy to have her around, too.)

Birthday [Beatles] – Lauren and Tim welcomed Fynn Krauss into the world on his first ("0", actually) birthday.

Knights of the Round Table [Spamalot] – the musical came to GR, and we were there, know what I mean, wink-wink, nudge-nudge?

Lay Your Hands on Me [Thompson Twins] – Roberta marked her first anniversary as a volunteer for Faith Hospice as a Reiki practitioner. Later in the year (November) she was initiated into Ama-Deus healing, complimenting her Reiki training.

June

Dancin' in the Streets [Martha & the Vandellas] – Our annual pilgrimage to the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts. We’re in it for the food and music. And more food. And more music.

I Can Only Imagine [Mercy Me] – DYMO Camp is a very intense, thrilling experience for both the volunteer staff and the high-school students. Larry and Erin invest a lot of time and energy into the week. Roberta even made a guest appearance this year and led a prayer session using a labyrinth. (No, she's still not ready to be on camp staff!) {www.dymo.org}

July

The Long and Winding Road [Beatles] – Erin took an extended trip out west in August, doing the plane, train and automobile tour of friends and family in Washington, California, Arizona, Colorado... and we lost track of where all she went.

How Can We Be Silent [Michael Mahler] – Roberta was interviewed by the GR Press for their "Spiritual Journey" feature. They took a photo and everything, so that seemed to make it a little more ~~real~~ surreal.

August

California Dreaming [Peter, Paul & Mary] – Larry traveled to southern California at the beginning of August to participate in a multicultural liturgy forum.

One More Circle [Peter Mayer] – Roberta celebrated her 40th birthday with over 50 people who visited the house party that night.

Pure Imagination [Willie Wonka Soundtrack] – Larry continues to lead his friends through chapters of the role-playing game The Seventh Seal. If schedules allow, they all get together for a weekend away to play games like Munchkin, Star Strike, Villains & Vigilantes, D&D and various other assorted opportunities for imaginative escapism.

Oye Como Va ("Listen to how it goes") [Santana] – St. Mary's parish International Festival is a big event for us. Logistics, setup, photography, coordination and cleanup are balanced out by the music, dance, food and fun.

September

Hot, Hot, Hot [Buster Poindexter] – sadly, the Little Mexico restaurant caught fire and burned thoroughly in September. We were frequent customers there, and miss seeing the friendly faces of the suddenly unemployed workers. We miss the food, too, of course.

October

Love and Marriage [Frank Sinatra] – Lauren and Tim got married on October 18!

Furry Happy Monsters [REM on Sesame Street] – our Halloween kids' party was wet, cold and... fun! Even so, we had just under 40 kids participate. Photos are at our family web site, www.bypureimagination.info.

Swamp Music [Lynrd Skynrd] – Our evening Halloween party was themed "The Haunted Swamp", decorated with plenty of spiders and snakes, and a resident swamp monster. Photos are at www.bypureimagination.info.

Theme from the Addams Family [TV series] – In the week before Halloween, Fox TV17 asked to walk through our "Halloween house" with a live camera as part of their morning show broadcast. Perhaps we DO go a little overboard in decorating for Halloween. We are grateful to the Fox station, though, for humoring us.

November

All Good Gifts [Godspell] – Once again, we were honored to be involved with the Grand Rapids Interfaith Thanksgiving Service. Larry served on the planning team, and Roberta played piano at the service.

December

Twist and Shout [Beatles] – Roberta expended another few minutes of her "15 minutes of fame" when her photo was used by The Yoga Studio (at which she is a student) for their December shout out in On the Town magazine. {www.gryoga.com}

Las Mañanitas [traditional] – the festivities for Our Lady of Guadalupe at St. Mary's were extensive, including one & one-half hours of music at 5:30 AM; followed by dancing, acting out the Guadalupe story, and Mass at 11:30 AM. And great food!

With a Little Help from My Friends [Beatles] – Roberta spent a well-deserved weekend away in Chicago with her dear friends Rémi and Alice. They cleaned up the evidence as best they could.

Let it Snow! Let it Snow! Let it Snow! [Bing Crosby (among many others)] – Christmastime brought less shopping than usual, more shoveling than usual, and the usual opportunities to visit with friends and family, which continues as we finish this letter. . .

We pray that your new year may be filled with many musical and memorable moments! God has blessed you —

Larry Barton & Roberta Lewis-Barton
(residing with Erin O'Lonergan and our felines Zephyr, Caliph & Ramesh)

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