Dear Friends,

On a sad note, Linda’s mom passed away.

On Saturday, December 10th, we hosted a Thanksgiving/Christmas dinner for sixteen members of Linda’s family at our home in St. Peters, Missouri. Though her mother had been experiencing some medical issues, she was shocked to see the decline in her mother’s health in such a short period of time since just three weeks prior, she’d visited her parents at the family farm house in Mt. Pulaski, Illinois (which is just outside of Springfield, the state capitol and only a two-hour drive from our home). Betty was very frail and tired with no motivation to socialize and, if you knew her at all, she had the sweetest smile and was always so pleasant and outgoing. I, myself, was saddened to see Betty in this state. She had lost so much weight and was now hovering around 74 pounds.

Linda’s parents, Guy and Betty, left Sunday morning to return home. Two days later, Betty went to the hospital with a broken leg. Linda and her siblings all thought that being in the hospital was the best place for their mother; she would receive the proper medical care and rehabilitation to gain back her strength. However, nine days later on the 21st, her father called to tell Linda that her mother had passed away.

Betty’s funeral was held on Tuesday, the 27th of December, at Resurrection Catholic Church in Illiopolis, Illinois followed by the burial at the cemetery in Mount Pulaski. Betty had requested a fine piper which I was able to procure; Tom Ogilvy, from Springfield. Both the service at the church and cemetery were beautiful. During the drive from Illiopolis to Mount Pulaski, the procession stopped at the family farm house one last time. It was Linda’s idea to pay tribute to her mother who was born on the farm and wanted to die on it – she got her wish.

Betty will be greatly missed by her husband of 61.5 years, her four children, several grand and great-grandchildren and me. I met her 25 years ago at Games in Batesville, Arkansas and always looked forward to seeing her smiling face there and at other games we both attended. As you can imagine, Linda’s grief is heartbreaking.

Here is wishing you all a Happy New Year and hope that 2017 is healthy and prosperous.* I will close for now, but will send another newsletter out in a few weeks. Just know that I am thinking of you and wishing you well.

Love,

Alex

* If it is a prosperous year don’t forget to check out the Beaton Store and take a look at my wonderful collection of CD’s and my triple feature DVD “Alex Beaton’s Scotland.”