Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from the Sharritt’s!
The house and garage/barn are decorated with fresh wreaths and lights for the season. Bev loves having plenty of lights in the winter. She assumed this is what folks driving by would notice about our property in December, but discovered otherwise when a car slowed, then stopped while she was walking out to bring the trash cans in.
“You have a lot of moles.”
While true—so many holes out by the mailbox due to a warm late November-- Bev was a little flabbergasted with how to respond.
“Yes. Moles,” came out as a weak reply–(so many cleverer responses thought of while walking back to the house minutes later.)
The couple quickly explained that they drive by frequently on their way to a restaurant in Pendleton and had stopped last spring to buy ranunculus. Bev let down her defensiveness after remembering their large purchase and generous tip. They had a nice chat about good barbeque before the couple drove on, and Bev took a detour through the yard to roll over some of the mole hills with the trash cans.
So much depends on where you aim your line of sight—you can focus on the moles or the pretty porch just beyond. Here’s our lens to show you our year:
Roger crossed the 60th year threshold. When he spins the “date born” wheel on an internet application, his thumb has been cramping. Way back in April, Roger also began complaining about his hip. It hurt all the time. It was difficult to get a good night’s sleep. After going to the doctor and getting an MRI (not a fan), the doctor said you need a new hip. Roger responded that if it wasn’t for flower farming, he would follow the doctor to the operating suite right then, but November 8th was penciled in. The procedure went great, and Roger woke up with 9 inches of staples in his leg and a walker to use to get home. Bev was a trooper. She mapped out the medicine and put the compression socks on over Roger’s gnarly toes. Roger left the walker behind after the first day, and has recovered well.
Quinn Asher Low-Sharritt was born in a Cincinnati hospital on May 25 to Ben and Lisa. As of this writing, he is already crawling around and causing grandma considerable angst while standing in his crib taking a selfie. These kids and their phones these days. Ben and Lisa are doing great. Lisa completed her PhD in poetry in the summer, then they loaded up the truck and moved to Chicago, still close enough for monthly visits from Grandma. Ben is teaching in a school only blocks away from their place in Little Village and can walk, bike or skateboard to work. Unfortunately, the winter weather conspired to delay Christmas in Ingalls. Fortunately, Quinn has wise parents and they stayed safe in Chicago.
We rejoiced with Grace as she finished seminary this year and was ordained as a pastor in the Disciples of Christ Church. She took a position at Bread for the World where she is a lobbyist and community organizer for the state of Indiana to end hunger. Chris continues his work as an attorney and has joined the Worship and Wonder team at church, much to Maggie’s delight.
State rules kept us from writing much about Victoria and Nevaeh in our Christmas letters for the last few years. That changed on July 14 of this year. The state granted guardianship after placement with us as fosters since 2018. They have been part of our lives for 6 years total. We are grateful to God that they have become a part of our family. We are also grateful for all the folks he sent our way to help guide us through some tough transitions. Liberation from monthly check-ins with DCS has made us all breathe easier, and helped the girls move forward. The girls have also been able to begin to reestablish a relationship with their dad—an answer to prayer as we were anxious about how this would play out after guardianship.
Viki and Vaeh are doing great. They are becoming good students through a combination of hard work, stability and figuring out what motivates them. “I don’t want to work at Steak and Shake when I am 30” is a good motivator. Viki is a senior and is leaning heavily towards becoming a dental hygienist. We are waiting with bated breath for the IUPUI acceptance letter in the next couple of weeks. Vaeh is looking at the possibility of one of the trades, maybe welding, but still has a couple of years to explore. She is a sprinter for the track team, and Roger is recognized by all on the team as the dad who wears the fluorescent orange jacket and yells the loudest, “Run, Vaeh, run!”. There are love interests. Roger is recognized by them as the one scowling directly at them. With two drivers, there are negotiations for keys. There was a new car, a wrecked car, a totaled car (same car) and then another new car, all with the hard lesson on questions like “what’s a deductible?” They are both doing well, and we are so proud of the young women that they are becoming.
We celebrated guardianship prior to the fact by taking the girls to Maui for spring break. It was their first experience flying and our first experience looking for the best shaved ice for 9 days straight.
Dirt continues to fly at Flying Dirt Farms. We were fortunate to find several part time field workers this season to help with our expansion into another farmer’s market and growing 40% more flowers. It made quite a difference from changing our usual October prayers begging God to bring on the frost to being able to enjoy a beautiful autumn. We even worked through November with the addition of heirloom mums grown in the hoop house for Thanksgiving sales. Grace still helps a ton with managing social media, creating many of the wreaths we offer, and selling at the Garfield Park Market. Maggie and Grandma Bev continue to love their Saturday market time together getting their weekly treats and exploring the park, pool or library. We are expanding for 22/23 with the construction of a 90 by 30 ft greenhouse. It has no supplemental heat, but the sunny but frigid Christmas day had the inside temperature up to 50 degrees when outside it was a high of 12. You are invited to bring your beach chair on a sunny February day and get to work on your tan.
The lovely Miss Beverly ponders retirement as she reaches the rule of 85 for her teaching pension. She is working on a plan to combine PATINS, flower farming, and mom to the girlies as they launch, while sprinkling the delight of visiting grandkids into the mix. Then in a couple of years, she’ll be happy to be an empty nester flower farmer.
We’d love to see you at the end of our driveway in 2023. You don’t even have to tell us you’re coming. The moles will be there to greet you, and we’ll pull out the leftovers or order take out from that great barbeque place down the road. If you’re lucky, you’ll experience a teenager sighting as the elusive creatures dart downstairs for food, and we’ll hand you a bouquet as you head out the door.
Much love and peace,
Roger and Bev
