First things first. I e-mailed “Beto” last Friday because we hadn’t heard from him lately about his pneumonia, and we were worried. Here are his replies:
“Hi, David.
Thank you for your message, that’s really kind of you. As I said on the blog, I got bacterial pneumonia on March 15, and indeed it took a while to fully recover, but I’m OK now. I’m glad I can take a deep breath again without coughing to death, and no longer have to deal with bizarre stuff like sneezing blood.
I’ve been thinking about you guys too, hoping you’re all safe and in good health. Take care there.
Hugs and all the best, Beto.”
And from Beto later:
“Sure, feel free to share. By the way, Lelê and my relatives are doing well too. And I’m not taking cold showers anytime soon, no matter how hot it is. 🙂 ”
I also e-mailed “Brad” – just because we hadn’t heard from him recently and wanted to know if he and his family were doing o.k. Here’s his reply:
“Hi David and Ben!
I appreciate you checking in with me. (I am the one who should be reaching out to let you know how I am.) Life is a box of chocolates according to Forrest Gump, and I totally agree. You never know what you are getting. 2020 began well, and life was good. Hubby, Yaris and I were happy and preparing for a good year. Then Hubby faced several small health challenges dealing with his diabetes. Nothing too serious, but a series of “setbacks” that required more visits to doctors and labs. Suffice to say, I had little free time. He is doing much better now.
Since we have been under a stay-at-home order, we are finally getting caught up and getting more free time. Needless to say, I will have more free time to enjoy things like URD! Please let the CCC guys know that I have been thinking about them and you guys in the Northland and hoping everyone is doing well, especially now!
Look forward to my return to URD soon. Hopefully, early this week… Thanks again for your email and concern for me. It is truly appreciated and shows that you two make URD a very special blog…more like a family!
Love guys! Brad”
So – that’s the update on two of URD’s best buds. With this COVID-19 thing going on, we worry when we don’t hear from our friends for a while… and appreciate the updates!

We had a wonderful Palm Sunday reunion here at Table Rock, and want to bring you up-to-date. We had planned a big Sunday brunch so when the kids got up yesterday morning, we gave them some Carnation Instant Breakfast to hold them over. We were all at Rick and Keon’s cabin with the omelette pans and ingredients ready when Scott, Denise, Cal, Alex and Raef arrived. The kids were surprised – and we were all just so very happy to be together again. When Bella saw them she squealed “Daddies” and ran to Cal and Alex for hugs before moving on to Denise and Scott. She was jabbering about a million words per minute! Chance, on the other hand, just stood looking – with tears running down his cheeks. When Chance and Alex saw him, they ran over and wrapped him in hugs. Chance couldn’t quit crying. Cal looked him in the eyes and said “Bud. What’s this crying about?” Chance finally said “I was afraid I wasn’t ever gonna see you again.” Cal gave him a big kiss and said “We’re never gonna be separated again. I promise.” He then wiped away Chances tears with his thumbs. Then, the most amazing thing happened… Chance moved his thumbs to Cal’s face and wiped away HIS tears. They weren’t the only ones crying.
Within a few minutes, though, the tears turned to smiles that were mirrored all over the cabin 🙂
Brunch was a joy. We had “pick your ingredients” omelettes and Carol’s home-made buttermilk biscuits with ham and bacon and lots of fresh fruit.
We’re all together at the Lake now – except for Ty and Damien who hope to join us in another couple of weeks. We don’t know how long we’ll be here – but we have a good store of supplies (yes – including toilet paper) and we’re fortunate to be sharing our isolation with our loved ones!