Nori's Day, My Companion is a Year Older

We celebrated Nori's birthday in Istanbul.  It was a spectacularly beautiful day and one of the best days ever!  Maybe not for Nori cause after all she is now a year older, but she is just as beautiful and special as she was when she was younger.  Still my trophy wife.
We had visitors from Moscow all day.  The Colton's, our boss, the couple that oversees all Humanitarian activity and approves projects for Eastern Europe.  They came to make sure we were in line and to address some serious issues that we have found to exist in the procedures in Turkey.  Unfortunately many legal procedures have not been followed and we created a report that has everyone concerned and finally anxious to resolve the problems.  We are now being told that this must be why we were assigned to Turkey.  After all no one seemed to fully understand the ramifications and requirements of the official Charter of the Church which resulted in full recognition in Feb. last year.
We found a list of discrepancies that were just plain scary and need to be fixed.  We have been instructed to focus on the resolution of compliance.  Great, now this is a business orientated assignment, but oh well.

Forget business, let's do the day.
First we met and reviewed our work.  Then we took the Colton's to meet the Little Sisters of Mercy.  We needed to show the sisters what we had found to help the non functional old people in the home.  We had pictures of bed tables and chairs that would enable the people to stay in their rooms and get help when their health deteriorated to needing in room care.  Mother Superior was over joyed with our proposals and excited to be able to get the help.  We also took back some pictures that we had taken of some of the residents to give to the people.  That was a special treat.  They were so grateful for the photos.  Simple things.

These are the forgotten old people of the area.  Various religions, different ethnicity, but no family to care, visit or support.  The only qualification is that they have no one and no real ability to support themselves and are over the age of 65.  The age thing is easy for most of them.  We have met several that are approaching  100 years and have been in the home for over 30 years.  You would never believe how well they are cared for.  These little nuns are so amazing and so caring.  They also have such a tremendous sense of humor and a recognition of reality.

                                                            These people just love to be visited.

One old man, laying in his bed recovering from a stroke was so enthusiastic that it made me ashamed for any of my personal feelings of complaint.  He is 99 years old and can speak wonderful english.  He has kept a diary for over 50 years with a daily entry up to the day he suffered a stroke two weeks ago.  Can you imagine the history.

Then we took took the Colton's for a typical cafeteria style meal where you choose your own poison, excuse me, your own food.

Yes that is diet coke, but who knows what else is there other than the cauliflower.

Then off to the old part of Istanbul.  The weather was in the upper 50's and a wonderful sunny day.

We walked the Grand Bazar, visited the Hagi Sophia, the Blue Mosque and wound our way to the Spice Market.  We were trying to wear out our guests and let them sense the beauty of our current home.

The light had faded and we did not get a great shot of the Blue Mosque, but the Hagi Sophia at the beginning of this post was well lighted by the late afternoon sun set.

Nori celebrated her day by buying a hand painted Turkish plate at the bazar.  It is truly beautiful, expensive and totally impractical, the perfect gift.

We wrapped up the day with a total splurge with Nori eating a New York cut steak.  She never volunteered to share a single bite.

We think the Colton's were impressed with what we had put into play and all the contacts we have made.  They were certainly overwhelmed by the beauty of Istanbul.

Thank you all for your comments and especially for your e-mails.  We love hearing from everyone.  Oh yes, the most remarkable of all, Nori got a birthday card from the US exactly on her special day.  Thanks Sandi for thinking about us and for the miracle of getting it delivered on the very day.  You must have some real connections.