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Saying “Hi” to Granddad (or, Waking the Dead)
My kidlings have never met their paternal grandfather. Sadly, he passed away long before they were ever the proverbial twinkle in their father’s eye. The Hubs tells stories about Granddad Fred, of course – anecdotes particularly – but whenever we visit Colonial Williamsburg, where my husband lived as a child, the stories tend to flow as he reminisces. We spent the Easter holiday back in the US, and the latter half of the trip with the Hubs’ side of the family. On our way home from a day exploring Colonial Williamsburg, I knew we’d be passing by the cemetery where Fred was buried and suggested we stop in. It had…
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And Then My Heart Stopped
Its been a shaky start to half-term hols. This morning, I loaded up the rental van (who names a car brand a “Seat”, anyway?) with my parents, Boo and Pea (the Hubs stayed home to puppy-sit and work) and headed south-west to Pembrokeshire. Let me start by saying that travelling is a challenge when your son has the bladder capacity of a shot glass. The challenge is compounded when you are travelling in what I would consider a pretty rural country. We made two pit stops in the course of a two-hour drive, one being, so proud to say, out the side of the minivan at the side of the…
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Happy Birthday, Dad
(Ok, so this post is going up a bit late – I’m behind on my blogging. The message is just as heartfelt as it was the day of his birthday!) My Dad turned 65 today! Given the fact that his birth father passed in his early 20s and his adoptive father also passed at a relatively young age, its a pretty remarkable accomplishment. And I think that living through a valve replacement last year gave him a different perspective on life. This morning we hopped in the car and drove to my parents house to spend the day with him. We took him to lunch, and had a really wonderful…