2007 Christmas Letter


On January 30th new little Crossett grandson Caleb James was born to Jonathan and Alissa.. He is a beautiful little boy with the sweetest spirit and a very strong will. On the 31st he had back surgery to begin repairing damage from spina bifida.

During the late winter/early spring Bob’s mother began feeling poorly, at age 89. After many tests she learned in May that she had a very aggressive lymphoma. The day after learning she had lymphoma, which was the same day Bob started his 2007 Long Trail hike in North Adams, Massachusetts, Mother Crossett started chemotherapy. Pattie moved to her home in Barre to help her and stayed with her until her death on 21 June from chemotherapy complications.

The same week Bob started The Long Trail he received a telephone call from Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center notifying him that he had been selected to work as a temporary employee in the Computer Services division. He worked there until November when he was hired as a permanent employee in the User Support/Computer Help Desk servicing laptops.

The nicest thing about being a temporary employee was that his very good boss was quite amenable to his taking time off for a variety of activities. That being the case, he took Janus up on the invitation to join Janus in hiking Half Dome in Yosemite National Park, which they did the week of Labor Day.

While Bob was at Janus’s house in Layton, Utah, Pattie was feeling a little lonely (she and Robbie were the only family members not in Utah for a Labor Day barbecue at Christopher’s house) so she called Bob and asked if she could schedule a trip to Utah, to which he said, “Yes.” She planned to go out in late October and stay until early November to take in Halloween and Laura’s and Lauren’s birthdays.

On October 1, the same day Pattie had an endometrial biopsy to learn if she had a bad health problem (in addition to the diabetes she learned she had while staying in Barre with Bob’s mom), Pattie received a telephone call from her brother Bill in South Royalton telling her that their brother Lester had been found dead at his home on Busy Hill. A terrible shock as he was seemingly very healthy. Jessie, her son Jeremiah and his wife, Jennie, and Lester’s three children Mindy, Mitsi and Marshal and Marshal’s wife all came to spend a week in Vermont. If you are interested in the eulogy, Pattie will email it to you.

On October 19th, Christopher, along with Shellie Ford and her beautiful little daughter Taylor, came to spend the weekend with Jonathan and Alissa. While here, Christopher took Shellie to a beautiful spot by a waterfall and gave her a lovely diamond ring, proposal of marriage, and a gorgeous bouquet of roses. Later that afternoon, the three of them, along with Jonathan and family and Bob and Pattie, went to the Montshire Museum then boarded the Green Mountain train for a trip to Thetford and back to Norwich. Fun for all.

Pattie’s trip to Utah the following two weeks helped distance her from the pain of Lester’s passing and was a delightful time with Jessie, Megan, Janus and family, and Christopher. Christopher sold his house on the Tuesday Pattie was there and she and Laura and Anne helped move stuff during the days into Janus’s garage and Janus and Christopher moved the rest of the stuff in the evenings, and Christopher moved into Janus and Laura’s spare room as soon as Pattie returned to Vermont.

The first Sunday in November the Hanover Ward bishopric was reorganized and another great bishop was sustained. Bob was retained as first counselor so the free and easy church life is not going to start yet!. Late in November Pattie was called as the Temple Preparation Class teacher.

On a different note, during November Pattie became addicted to podcasts, both knitting and genealogy! She spends time knitting and listening to podcasts, well, until the excess knitting produced several uncomfortable body parts….now she knits less!

Saturdays in November and December have been spent looking at land as Jonathan and Alissa want to build a house, with a large enough piece of land that Grandpa and Grammie could build a house next door. A lovely prospect.

With love and best wishes for a wonderful, peaceful, joyous Christmas considering the birth, life, death, and Atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ and a happy, healthy, and prosperous new year.

Bob and Pattie

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