1970

THE SCHLAVER CHRISTMAS CHIMES

Dec. 25, 1970 - 400 S. I-Oka Ave. Mount Prospect, Ill.

This annual edition of the Christmas Chimes expresses our sincere wishes to friends and relatives for a Merry Christmas and Happy '71.

Highlight of 1970 for us was our first European visit to see David and tour some eight countries—2,800 miles in a VW with our CSC son as chauffer, interpreter and guide. Sights and days to remember: The famed Notre Dame Cathedral and the artists' stalls along the Seine River in Paris on Good Friday... Basel in Switzerland on Easter Sunday... The towering Alps, sometimes furrowed by the avalanches of snow... Neatness of the Swiss and the Bavarian farms... Castles high above the vineyards on the slopes of the Rhine where the barges carry on ceaseless commerce... The great shops of Munich... Cozy coffee houses and tempting pastries in Vienna where museums house memories and art treasures of the Hapsburg royalty... The hospitality of the Nauwens in their second home in Switzerland... Bicycles, windmills and water everywhere in Holland where the good sisters at Dijnselburg served us coffee on our departure morning and wished us "Good Journey"... The incredible smoothness of the Atlantic flight and our desire whetted for more travel in retirement years.

1970 was a year, too, when C.O. and Betty underwent succesful surgery and have had continued visits to friendly Dr. D.W. Tarun, who has prescribed diet as major medicine... A pleasant experience in October was the family reunion at the Louis Schlaver farm which was established at Sparta, Wis. 101 years ago.

David, after studies in Holland and a summer working in a large hospital, is spending his second year in the Netherlands as an assistant pastor in a parish near Utrecht. His fluency in Dutch enables him to share in the high and low moments in the lives of the people there, through preaching, baptizing, teaching in two grade schools, visiting the sick and the daily individual contacts of a pastor. He expects to return to the U.S. next summer.

We had Paul, Diana and her children with us part of the summer but now they are homesteading in the Far West and often out of communication but not out of our thoughts.

Nearest in proximity is Marcia, bubbly as ever and happy with housekeeping in the Rogers Park apartment where she and Mark reside after marriage a year ago. The big news is that they will present us with our first grandchild next spring.

May remembrance of the little Babe in the Bethlehem stable fill the hearts and mids of all with His truth and Peace supplant violence in all nations.