[Magdalen] Still around

[Suzie Buchanan]

Just wanted to poke my head in here to let you all know that I am still
around. I mostly read Magdalene on my phone and hate typing on it - so I
hold people in prayer, but don't send out any kind of email response.  But
right now I find myself at my computer with a little bit of time.

I thoroughly enjoyed catching up with Christopher Hart at General
Convention.  It was a grueling quick schedule there, so I was very glad we
had a chance to get a meal in together.  I missed the last two GCs as I
moved around in dioceses (from NH to VA to WNC) so it had been quite a
while since my last GC listmeet with him. And it was wonderful to put a
face with Meg Warner's name.

I have been rector at St. James in Lenoir, NC (Diocese of Western North
Carolina) for 5 years now.  Next week I start year 6.  The first two of
those years my husband Rick was still in Richmond VA (where I had spent the
most painful 3 years of my priestly vocation) so the commuter marriage
stretched both of our time thin.  I did most of the back and forth travel,
and made good use of audio books during that time (5 hours drive each
way).  He moved to NC in the fall of 2019 and we sold our home in Richmond
and bought one here.  I'm so glad we were in one place together when the
pandemic hit.  And our new house ended up being pretty ideal for both of us
to have private work-from-home space.

My parish went back to in-person worship the Sunday after Easter in 2021,
but we have also maintained our online worship along with that.  I
currently continue to produce a pre-recorded service each week, as we don't
have a sound system in the church.  But we're working on that project now,
so hopefully before the end of this year we can begin to stream our
worship.  But we are committed to maintaining an online worship component
of our ministry.

Rick retired last October (second retirement - first was after 20 years in
the Navy, and this one was from the IT department of Union Presbyterian
Seminary).  I have a few more years before I can begin to consider
retiring, so hopefully a sabbatical next year will help recharge my soul
and help keep me going.  I'm weary- I think that's the best word to
describe how I'm doing: Weary.

The youngest of our children, my daughter, just turned 39 this past week -
time keeps moving on!  She and her guy Dave live in northern New
Hampshire.  Rick's three kids all live around the Boston area (2 of the 3
are married, each with 2 children - so 4 grands up there).  My son, his
wife and 2 kids live on the Big Island of Hawaii.

And now I am out of time!  I'm out here - quietly following this
now-pretty-quiet list.  Not at all like the old days of the fire hose!  But
I still love seeing your names pop up and hearing about what is happening,
and what you're thinking.  And most of all - holding you all in prayer.

blessings
Suz