MERRY CHRISTMAS 2018
FROM THE ERBSTS
Our 2018 started out with a bang!!!! I went out to visit with Bryan in Ohio the
weekend of January 19th-21st. I flew out and had a great visit on Friday
night and Saturday.
I left Bryan at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, January 20th. Not more than 15 minutes after I returned to
my hotel room, I received a text from Jake that said, “Froedtert Transplant
Center thinks they have a perfect match kidney for me!!! They are calling me back after they confirm.”
On Sunday, January 21st around 9:00 p.m., Jacob
was wheeled into surgery to receive his miracle gift. I was able to change my flight back home to
land in Milwaukee and I arrived in plenty of time to celebrate with Jake and
Emily (and Andrea) before the surgery.
Praise God! Bryan was patiently
waiting and praying in Ohio and was able to call frequently from the Chaplain’s
office to check on the progress of both the surgery and the recovery.
Jake is doing fantastic!
He has had a minor hiccup within the first 3 months, but since then he
has been feeling strong and is back to working nearly full-time. Jake and Emily are enjoying being free from
the schedule of dialysis and commented how wonderful it was to have
Thanksgiving morning free to sleep in and share with family for the first time
since they were married! Emily was
blessed with a new job at the Clinic this year and is now an Administrative
Secretary in Cardiology. She seems to
really enjoy the position and keeps very busy.
Their three-year-old daughter, Hope, is a real joy. She has started taking ballet classes and loves
it.
Our daughter, Andrea, and her husband, JohnMark, are very
busy with work and church activities and two very active kids.
Abigail (Abby) is now 16 years old – how did that happen? She
is a talented musician. She plays
trumpet, ukulele, and piano and is in the school hand-bell choir. She has a beautiful voice and sings in the
school choir, too. She does very well in
her academic studies, too. Abby is the
sweetest young lady and has gone on her first foreign missions trip this past
summer with her daddy. She has done a
number of other mission trips within the USA, previously.
Tyler, is 12 years old and also a gifted musician, playing
drums, trombone and ukulele (he picked this up by himself) and can play piano a
little, too. He’s very bright and keeps
us all hopping attending his sporting events.
He loves to play baseball, football and basketball. It is so fun to attend these games and cheer
him on.
Andrea is an echo tech in Cardiology at the Marshfield
Clinic. She is studying for her boards
later this year. Andrea is on the
Worship team at their church and sings and plays keys. She is also part of a “band” called “The
Pointless Brothers” that play for fund-raisers in our community. It is really fun to watch her perform with
this great group of musicians.
JohnMark works at Counterform in the office as a drafting
designer. He is still active at their
church on the Business Team, the Audio/Visual team and Finance team. He plays softball on a couple of leagues
during the summer and balances his games with Tyler’s games. He is also usually involved in the sound
system management for Andrea’s band’s gigs.
As for Bryan and I, we are excited to look forward to 2019. This is Bryan’s last year of his prison
sentence. In January, I will fly out to
Ohio for one last visit and then rent a vehicle to drive him back to Wisconsin. Bryan will relocate to a half-way house in
Janesville, Wi for four months. In May,
he will be done with serving his sentence.
YAY!!!! We both are so looking
forward to building our relationship again and new beginnings. We have a lot of work ahead of us, but we
also know that God has a plan and we are excited to see what that will look
like.
I officially retired from Marshfield Labs on October 19th
after 42 years of service. I am enjoying
every moment of retirement so far. My
goals for the next few months are to organize and purge the house to get ready
for finding a new home, and downsizing, once Bryan is home. I keep busy with the grandchildren’s
activities and spoiling them as much as I’m allowed. I am on the Worship Team at our church and
enjoy the opportunities to praise God with my voice. I have been able to get involved in some
women’s ministry work and sharing with other women.
We are so blessed and so happy to share with you all what
has been an amazing year for us. We are
grateful for the support we have gotten and are thankful for God’s
blessings. You are one of those
blessings!!!
Merry Christmas to you all and we pray you have a blessed
New Year!!
Bryan (McFreedom) and Jeannie
