Farewell, Rebecca

Over the years, I've written many posts about David's Mom, Rebecca, including two recently which recounted celebrating her 99th birthday and our Hallowe'en celebration together. In high spirits, she spent a wonderful Thanksgiving with us just over a week ago and now … she is gone.

It happened quickly and we are all stunned. She went into the hospital for a routine UTI, subsequently developed pneumonia and then we watched helplessly as her health quickly deteriorated, till finally her strong heart could beat no longer. All the sibs were there, gathered around her, holding her hand. We told stories and shared memories aloud. We whispered “I love yous” in her ear. We reassured her while all the while we were not so sure of anything ourselves.

She was a grand, grand woman … tough and strong, yet caring and compassionate. Who could have known looking at this frail 99-year-old woman that she'd been the first female sergeant in the Denver County Sheriff's Department, paving the way for other women to follow in her steps?

She raised four kids who provided her with 12 grandchildren, numerous great-grandchildren and even a few great-greats! What a legacy! She loved us and enriched us and now she is gone and our lives will never be quite the same. We are thankful for the many years we had with her and the sweet memories she leaves behind. Bye, Mom … know you're loved … and no more broccoli!

St. Pete, Kids, Birthday and Home Again

We drove from the Melbourne gam across the state to St. Petersburg, Florida. It's not a long trip and not particularly scenic, but it avoided tolls (there's that budget kicking in again) and was pleasant enough as we chatted and re-lived the highlights of the gam, especially reacquainting with so many old friends. We arrived in St. Pete mid-afternoon and were welcomed by Brennan and Hannah, and our grand-dog, Olive. Olive's main preoccupation in life, beyond eating, pooping and sleeping, is “ball”.

The “kids” purchased their first home this past year in the “Historic Kenwood” area of St. Petersburg and it was our first chance to see it. It's a 1923 sweetheart of a place with lots of character and funky nooks and crannies which they readily admit might be a money pit. They've already done lots of work and the projects continue to roll on. In other words, they love it and so did we. We even had our own “parents” apartment all to ourselves. Quite the luxury!

We celebrated my birthday one evening with dinner at Gateway to India, an upscale Indian restaurant with great food. We're not a gift-oriented family for birthdays, but being with them to celebrate for the first time in ~20 years was pretty special … despite good-natured ribbing about my increasing years and parsimonious nature.

Even Google wished me a happy birthday! Talk about Big Brother always watching. Actually, it's FB since it wishes both us a happy b-day and David's is in July. FB snitched!

Having missed our daily morning walks lately, Brennan and Olive took us on a lovely 6.5 mile walk along St. Pete's Central Avenue down to the bay and back again. Street art is definitely alive and well in St. Petersburg's downtown artsy area. Though we missed the MFA and the Dali Museum (on the list for next time), walking by the galleries and decorated buildings was interesting and inspiring.

All too soon, it was time to head to Orlando and board the flight back to Vegas. We had opted for “low fares” when I made the reservations. We'd forgotten that “low fares” meant NO amenities whatsoever (including no reclining seats) AND two stopovers … one in Cinncinati and a plane change in Denver. It was a long, long day punctuated with long waits, too much coffee and sore necks, but we survived. The extreme turbulence arriving in Vegas prompted the passengers to hoot, holler and applaud as we landed. Our luggage got lost somewhere along the way, but Frontier promised they'd find it and deliver it … soon. Mary and Paul were there to meet us at the airport and whisk us away to the “big house”.

All is well. We're right back where we started from 10 days ago, ready to resume our morning walks on the golf course and prepare for the holidays and our next adventure. Where to next? Stick around … you know we love to share.

A House Divided

There are just some things you shouldn't discuss with family and friends whose opinions differ … politics is one of them. We are a “house divided” here in Las Vegas. It seems political discussions heat up and disrupt an otherwise peaceful household environment. I doubt there has been a more contentious Presidential election in the recent past.

We sibs disagree on several major issues and subsequently our candidate choice and political philosophies. We've managed to co-exist peaceably by “agreeing to disagree” and keeping political discussions short. We have found, however, that we do agree on some points.

1. In a nation of over 320 million people, some of them pretty intelligent, it seems the two major political parties could have found two better-suited candidates to run for President.
2. Our nation is great, but has problems that need fixing. Despite its problems, we are still proud to be Americans.
3. We are disappointed … no, infuriated … that our Congress is so polarized, it is ineffective no matter who is the leader. If the Democrats have a good idea, the Republicans shoot it down. If the Republicans have a good idea, the Democrats shoot it down. No wonder nothing substantive gets done.
4. The right to vote is both a privilege and a responsibility. You have no right to complain if you don't vote.

We'll be out of town for Election Day, so we did our early voting at the local Galleria Mall that had several banks of voting machines set up. Though it was quite busy and there were lots of folks voting, there was no waiting.

We haven't voted in person in the USA for many years. We've voted absentee ballot from South America, New Zealand and Australia, ticking off the boxes and mailing in the ballot via local snail mail. So this was a change for us as we checked in, received “chip” cards, voted electronically and cast our votes.

We've done all we can do and now will wait to see if the rest of the country agrees with our choice or not. Unlike Donald Trump, we will not keep you in suspense. We'll accept the results and hopefully move forward. There's always 2020!