Carolyn and Jeff

I first met Carolyn at the Unitarian Church in Bethesda around 1983
and learned that we were neighbors in Chevy Chase. Our friendship has
grew out of sharing many interests, values and political views,
including a liberal arts perspective and mutual affections for
art history, antiques and European travel.

This blurry photo of her is not at all flattering,
but, it's the only close-up I have.

Click on images to enlarge.
(Sorry, these photos are not sharp... I photoed old photos.)

Carolyn is a writer, with a background in anthropology and nursing.
For the past few years, she has worked as a writer and editor for the
Division of Kidney, Urologic and Hematologic Diseases (DKUH)
at the National Institutes for Health.

Among the many other things this nifty woman has done
was a number of years spent as an antique dealer.
She has relatives in England, so, she keeps up with things English too.
She is shown performing her magic at the kitchen stove below.

Click on images to enlarge.

Carolyn and I also share the good fortune of being married to great guys
who "get it" where women's issues are concerned.
Like Tom, Jeff is a physicist by training. He is shown carving a turkey above.

Jeff retired a few years ago from the federal government,
where he oversaw research and design programs for the US Navy's ships.
He was Program Manager for the Advanced Enclosed Mast/Sensor (AEM/S) System,
at the Naval Surface Warfare Center in Maryland. He was a Naval Officer way back when.
Since retiring, he has been doing a lot of consulting in Germany.
Carolyn has gone along on several of his trips.

Shown above and below are their German friends, Andreas and Brigitte from Frankfurt,
newlyweds who visited Carolyn and Jeff for Thanksgiving last year.
Jeff was Best Man at their wedding.

Click on image to enlarge.

Click on images to enlarge.

Carolyn and Jeff's most recent vacation in Europe was a 35th wedding anniversary celebration.
They went to France, with part of the trip being a wonderful Viking cruise on the Rhone River,
from Chalon-sur-Saone in Burgundy to Arles. She wrote me that the cruise was "truly magnificent."
They then rented a car and went to Carcassone in Languedoc and to the Dordogne River Valley,
where the main objective was to visit the caves that have paintings of
wooley mammoth, bisons, bulls, etc. from 40,000 years ago (14,000 B.C!).


Click on images to enlarge.

The wall paintings of the caves in Lascaux are something we art history buffs studied long ago.
It must send shivers down one's spine to be somewhere sooooo old and ...
to see the evidence of human artistry way back then!

Being there, Carolyn said was "exciting and spiritual."
They also enjoyed touring medieval castles and paddling a canoe on the Dordogne River.
What a marvelous trip!

While in France, they hit the notorious French Heatwave of last summer.
But, they said it "felt like normal." to them... i.e., no worse than living in DC!
The only issue was not having air conditioning in a few spots.


For those concerned about US relations with France and Germany
since the Bush team has all but demolished them,
I add Carolyn's following comments:

Although we went for our own pleasure it was also a great feeling that we were protesting
the ridiculous conservative Republican ideas that France should be punished for taking a stand.
In fact, someone at Jeff's work is angry with him for going.
What ever happened to the idea of free speech and tolerance of dissent?
I'm ashamed of these mean-spirited, small-minded Americans.
Not one person in France mentioned the rift. Their manners were impeccable
and I have great respect for them. Our German friends have been similarly respectful.


Carolyn and Jeff's Son, David, and his family

Click on image to enlarge.

David has just completed his doctoral dissertation at Michigan State University,
in the field of Computational Fluid Mechanics. It's been accepted,
so, he will be awarded his doctorate soon. He currently has a 3-year fellowship in astrophysics.

David's wife Moira.... awaiting up-date from Carolyn.

They have recently had their second child, a beautiful little girl named Jaclyn, born on September 3, 2004.
Above, they and their precocious son, Isaac, are celebrating the event with the traditional cigars!

Click on images to enlarge.

Click on images to enlarge.

Where's Jenny?!

Carolyn and Jeff's daughter Jenny graduated from Oberlin in Ohio a few years ago.
Since then, she has had some great adventures. But I seem to have lost the e-mails about them....

to be continued when I get an up-date from Carolyn and, hopefully, photos.

We last visited Carolyn and Jeff in November 2003,
while in theWashington area for one of Tom's conferences.
It sure would be nice if we were still neighbors. We really miss their friendship up here!

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