To Our Faithful Readers:
We are continuing to play catch-up with the reports of our retirement activities. Because we are still several months behind, the journal/blog will be more in the style of Look Magazine...lots of pictures (because we have those in abundance) and as few words as possible to give some continuity to the story.
The first half of the month saw us taking care of business as usual...looking after Mother on a daily basis, and taking care of Mother's house in Mineola, Our Little Lot at Holiday Villages of Lake Fork, and the myriad other responsibilities of daily life.
We began the month with our own special celebration on the 2nd, our 19th wedding anniversary. It wasn't a big celebration, but we did have lots of flowers, thanks to thousands of fresh Azalea blossoms on the bushes in front of Mother's house.
Activities the first week of the month included Barbara's visits to cardiac rehab in Quitman, my Monday night fishing on Lake Fork, and work on Our Little Lot, where we transplanted Crepe Myrtle plants that Addie, our next door neighbor in Mineola, gave us.
Sundays find us at Yantis First Baptist Church, where I have an opportunity to share the gift of music, and Barbara, her gift for photography.
With the birth of grandson Jack (Mike and Kelly's second child) on February 25, we started making plans for a trip to Virginia. Our first concern was about Mother's health and care, but she assured us that she was well enough and had enough good care at the nursing home that we should go to Virginia without worrying about her. So, we mapped everything out for a trip to Olathe to see Whitney, Jim, and Little Jimmy, and then a flight to Richmond (it is faster?).
After visiting with Mother on the 15th, we hopped in the car and started the trip to Olathe, stopping that night at the Best Western in Oklahoma, where we were surprised with an upgrade to the Presidential Suite.
The stay with Whitney and her family was short, but a lot of fun...meals at Greek and Italian restaurants that the kids like, early birthday celebrations for Whitney and Little Jimmy, and some rainy day fun for all.
The night before we were to leave Olathe, Mike flew in for a wedding; so after a hello, good-bye, and a photo, we all went to bed!
On the day we flew out of Kansas City, there was a huge storm that disrupted service and cancelled our flight. We finally managed to get a Delta flight from MCI to Atlanta and then on to Richmond, where Kelly, Ava, and Jack met us at the airport.
The next few days were the stuff that grandparents dream of as we helped Kelly take care of the kids until Mike came back.
Saturday, April 20 was Whitney's birthday, so we took time out from our busy schedule with Ava and Jack to recognize her special day with this "then and now" collage.
And then it was back to playing grandparent. It didn't take us long to get into the routine of the late night and early morning feedings for Jack, but it did require teamwork!
When Mike got back home, it didn't take long to determine that Daddy trumps Grams and Gramps.
One of the pleasures of visiting the kids in Virginia is that we also get to see some special friends. One day while we were there, we worked in a lunch with Rod and Ruth Kunkel, friends that we first met on a church-building project in Florida several years ago, and Carrie and Norm Foote. We were classmates with Carrie at Artesia High School many years ago.
After a fun time of visiting and eating (and we all enjoyed both of those activities), we said our goodbyes to friends and returned to our grandparent pleasures.
Our visit was over all too soon and then it was time for Mike and Ava to take us back to the airport for our return trip to Kansas and Texas. And, on a lark and a huge discount, we decided to upgrade to first class!
Jim met us at the airport in Kansas City and took us back to the house for a final bit of visiting with the kids there.
And then it was all over; however, we had packed a lot of living in just 14 days! With that in mind, we loaded the car and began our journey back to Mineola, taking care of Mother, and handling life as we met it.
"I love music of all kinds, but there's no greater music than the sound of my grandchildren laughing; my kids, too." - Sylvia Earle
From the lake country of East Texas,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams
