I'm home!

My vacation was truly wonderful. I am happy to say that after driving over 2000 miles through 8 or 9 states, I never saw one automobile accident and close to 99% of the drivers I encountered were driving sensibly.

I'm including a picture of those of us that met at the lake on my "ancestral" property! (See earlier posts). It kind of brings a tear to my eye looking at this picture. Those "old folks" you see. . . well, we were once just little kids (my cousins and me). Where does time go? (That's me on the far right in the white shirt). Most of those you see in this picture have roamed those woods many times over the decades. . . I am glad we were all able to arrange our schedules to meet up there again for a really fun day. I remember giving my cousin, Ken, a hug, the last time I saw him that weekend and saying, "We gotta do this again, Kid." He said, "SOON".

A few random thoughts as I look back on the last week and a half.

My cousin, June, and her husband, showed up after this picture was taken. She handed me a zip loc bag and said, "I found this when I was going through some old boxes. Thought you'd like to have them." All I could see was envelopes when she first handed me the zip loc bag. A closer look took me by total surprise. It was a half dozen or more letters that my father had written to his parents in the early 40's when he was in World War II. I opened one and read a few lines aloud to everyone else. We all laughed at some of the time worn news!!!

I think it is so very important to stay in touch with relatives. I know. . . it is so easy, in this rat race world we live in and with people scattered everywhere, to overlook people who we were once close to. But please make an effort to stay in touch with your family. I think you will be glad you did.

The South has the best and cleanest rest areas along interstate highways. . . they put the North to shame!

I ended the week by spending a few days with my son, John, and his wife, Jen, and "MY boys" (grandsons!), Kevin, Jake, and Andrew. Grandchildren are God's rewards for growing old. I have been extremely blessed with two wonderful sons, two exceptional daughters-in-law, and three of the greatest grandchildren anyone could ever dream of having.