It seems as we get older, our family continues to change and expand. Through these photographs we are introducing Kris and Annie Kraemer. If you know Pat Cretilli, really well, you know that she was a Kraemer. Her first husband was Peter Kraemer. And you do know Kim -Pat and Peter's daughter. When Kim's dad re-married, he had three more children, which gave Kim four siblings, including her stepbrother, Ollie Bauer. Her other three sibs are Eric, Kristopher (Kris) and Andrea (Annie). It has been great have the opportunity to get to know Kris and Annie better and a joy to have their regular presence at family events. Sadly, their increased presence in our lives is in part the result of a series of sad events events in theirs. First, Eric died tragically and suddenly in 1999. Erics death is an example of how random death can be and how fragile life can be. As some of you know, Kim's dad, Peter Kraemer died in 2003 and four short years after that Kris and Annie lost their mom, Charmaine. Reciting these events with out more detail does not do justice to the way in which Kim and her brother and sister responded to the death of their dad and to the support and care they provided Charmaine during her treatment for cancer. Suffice it to say, we have been proud of how she has shown her love and generosity for her family. For Pat and I and, I suspect Ollie, a gift from these losses has been a greater presence of Kris and Annie in our lives at Christmas, Thanksgiving and other times throughout the year.
Hopefully, you will get to know them better but for now I've posted a few pictures from recent holidays. Kris is 26 and lives in St. Paul and Annie is 22 and lives in Madison WI.
Photo #1: Ollie, Kris and Annie with their best punk band pose, modeling gifts from their big sister (Christmas 2008)
Photo #2: Kris and Annie (Christmas 2008)
