We have returned to a normal life - sort of. Sunday I took Skipper and Hank to the Zoo. The first trip in a long time. The boys made fun of me because I was scared of the sloth that was climbing over our heads in the tropical forest house. They have sharp looking claws.

I am busy at work and am spending some time on the estate. My mother was sloppy with her will (no witness affidavit) so we had to go to probate court, but things should now proceed smoothly. Sarah has taken on the job of getting her house fixed up and helping my uncle move in. It will be a quiet Thanksgiving. Mom's 80th birthday would have been the 28th.

Hank drew a book of pictures at school today. They were all different houses he knew and he described them to me. There was our house, there was Ben's house, and there was Grandma's house, but she died, so now it will be Uncle Gordon's house. This is true. Uncle Gordon (my mother's brother) will be moving to her house. This is good - for him and us.

Skipper asked me last night before he went to sleep "What is a spirit?" I gave a poor explanation.

We left them out of the calling hours and the funeral but took them to the cemetary and regular church the next day. They're thinking about it.

Carol J. Schaefer

SCHAEFER, CAROL J., 79, of Nisbet St., died Tuesday at the Philip Hulitar Center, after a four month battle with cancer. Born in Providence, she was the daughter of the late Peder August Johnson and Sophia Caroline (Sorensen) Johnson. She previously resided in Smithfield.

Dr. Schaefer was an Associate Professor of History at Rhode Island College, retiring in 1984. She was a graduate of Wheaton College and received her doctorate degree in Religious Studies from Brown University. Her expertise was in biblical literature. She also worked for several years at Progress for Providence, an anti-poverty agency. She was a member of the First Baptist Church in America.

She is survived by a son, Peder A. Schaefer, of Providence; two grandchildren, Peder and Henry; and a brother, Gordon L. Johnson, of Cranston. She was the sister of the late Stanley J. F. Johnson, of New York City.

Calling hours will be Friday from 4-7 in the Monahan, Drabble, Sherman Funeral Home on 230 Waterman St., Providence. A memorial service will be held on Saturday at 11 a.m. in the First Baptist Church in America, North Main St., Providence. Burial at Swan Point Cemetery will be private.

Providence Journal Obituary

The day after the emergency room ordeal, the doctor called me at work to tell me that the CT scan had determined that the liver cancer had returned, and there was no treatment available. He recommended a hospice, and she moved there on Sunday. She was conscious her first day but took a turn for the worse last night. The hospice doctor thinks she only has a day or so.

I told the boys tonight. "Grandma's doctor says he can't fix her." I said. "She will be dying soon. There will be a funeral." Hank was nonplussed. Skipper was upset. "What about her house?" he asked. "Can we get a new grandma?"