October brings challenges and joys, as do other months. But this October’s blessings have been particularly abundant.

On October 6th, a Sunday, Michael officiated at the wedding of a dear friend from our days in Maine. Hannah calls Michael “dad” and their connection fits that title. She has blossomed since they met in nursing school more than ten years ago. Neither ended up being nurses, but the fact that they maintain close contact, despite distance and language barriers, testifies to the honesty of the name she has given him. We love having extra daughters in our lives! I will need to begin knitting a baby blanket.

We stayed at an AirBnB in Malden, a suburb of Boston. I enjoyed the stained glass, especially since learning about cabochon stained glass techniques from my dear friend Katherine, who is a docent at Trinity Church in Boston.

We lured her into picking us up at the airport and then whisking us off to the North End for lunch at the Daily Catch. We try to eat there if ever in the neighborhood, as they make food better than we do. That is high praise!

In exchange, she showed us the amazing library in Malden. Worth the walk! And this is from a person who is bone-on-bone in both knees. [The confusion of travel might explain how I missed getting photos of Katherine!] We slept well Saturday night. Getting up at 2 AM Saturday morning may have helped.

The bakery across from the metro station had jelly donuts filled with red mung beans! There is a large Vietnamese-American population in Malden. The French colonized Vietnam, which means stunning bakeries. The Communist regime wreaked untold agony on the Vietnamese and others. If there is no ill that does not also bring good, perhaps the bakeries and amazing people we inherited is that shining light in what was a very dark period.

I coaxed Michael into taking the train into Boston on Sunday as a dry run for our return trip Monday morning. Good thing too, as we were pretty clueless at buying tickets. We met so many kind people who helped us navigate streets and ticket machines.

We stopped at the Sea Dog across from Faneuil Hall for some calamari.

Then back to Malden and a Thai restaurant, where we hoped to (and did!) find some vegetables. The dip was lump crab in coconut curry. Yum. And yes, I gained about 4 pounds on this trip, despite all the walking.

More amazing food at the wedding! Just as well that the bakery was closed Monday morning. Back home. We love being home.

Especially since we got to celebrate Petra’s birthday. Hearing her sing “Happy Birthday to Me” while she danced on the tall chairs was a delight. Imogen was a drool monster. Cutting teeth will do that to a girl. We all wanted to hold her even so. She’s our last baby! Good thing we recruit more daughters into our lives. Love you Hannah and Quy!