Bob and Debbie Conroy - Enjoying the Journey Together!

My mother, Merge Conroy, died October 20, 2011 in Phoenix, AZ. It was not an unexpected death and she had been preparing for it for several years. Merge transcended the sometimes stoic, and often painful, process of dying with a peaceful acceptance of the inevitable. Her powerful proof of personal courage was a final lesson and gracious gift to her children. Thanks Mom! Her passing was made easier for me by the company of my sister Deb and her husband Ray, my brother Dan and baby brother Bill. Deb and Ray spent many months in Arizona caring for Merge while we all were together most of the last five weeks. It was a special time that will always be fondly remembered and appreciated by us all. Dan, Bill and I also appreciate that our spouses, Bonnie, Toni and Debbie kept the home fires burning and a couple of businesses efficiently humming while we were away. Here is the obituary that was published in her hometown newspaper, The Daily Jeffersonian of Cambridge, OH.: ETHEL BASFORD CO...

I found a copy of some old blogs on a hard drive. Note that the links do not work. 23Oct2008 Finally posting some pictures from the trip to Omaha with Bill, Fay, Mikki, Aimee, Debbie and me to see Katie and the kids in September The Lucinda Williams concert was a big disappointment. She made a few rambling political statements and seemed to think better of it and then only made things worse. Many people felt insulted and started to leave early and Debbie and I were among them. It ruins her music for me. I found some articles that Fay has written since moving to Germany: http://www.kaiserslauternamerican.com/article.php?i=8355 and http://www.kaiserslauternamerican.com/article.php?i=8347. She has a lot of articles and photo credits on this page: http://www.21tsc.army.mil/ My first cousin Dave O’Karma is one of those people that make the world a more interesting place by his creativity and chutzpah. Here is a link to his profile on Wikipedia: span> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C...

Here are some old blogs from 2007: 31Dec07 We went with Mike and Linda to the New Years Eve event at Hilton Garden Inn. It appeared to be similar to past Val Air events. The modal attendee was a 25 - 35-year old that drinks too much – very sad to watch. 30Dec07 We are back from the road trip to Kearney NE. Mikki and Aimee went with us and with apologies to Janice Joplin, “we sang every song that driver knew”. It was great to see Chris, Katie, Jackson, and Allison. They are adapting well to their new surroundings. 25Dec07 It was a strange Christmas without little ones around. The Lanes went to Sioux City the weekend before Christmas and then spent Christmas Day together in Kearney. 15Dec07 oh no! The Val Air has been taken over by the dark side. Looks like a hip-hop/grunge/ metal event is replacing our big band and rock cover band. We have to find another place to go on New Year’s Eve. 14Dec07 We just got back from a week in AZ with Merge. She is doing well, i.e., she is in be...