So many things are going on. The next generation is getting ready to head to college, and our nephew is relocating (much to our delight) to our end of the continent for work. It’s such a good thing to be able to get everyone together for a not-so-quick family picture. The only person we missed was Tom’s sister, who got hit with migranes late last night and couldn’t make it down for the family photo.
The birthday/Easter celebration went incredibly well, and I met so many of Deny and Maria’s good friends – many people that I’ve been hearing stories of for a long time. Maria’s memory may not be as good as it once was, but it was clear that her friends are so important to her, and she wandered the room, with Deny’s help, saying hello to everyone. The Easter Buffet at the Trapp Family Lodge was exquisite, and there was plenty of options for vegetarians, and even the Celiac’s among us.
Afterward family returned back to the house in Stowe and took some pictures, and had still MORE cake (Black Forrest – I didn’t get a picture of cake #1 a delicious peach cake at The Lodge) and fun conversations and lots of laughter. The very short run (about 40 minutes) that I managed to get in this morning can’t possibly have made up for the many delicious calories consumed, but I can’t say that I regret it much at this point.
Last night, as part of the celebration, a group of people, headed, I think, by Tom’s sister, put together several posterboards full of pictures from his mother’s life, starting with pictures of her as a child, pictures of her children and her grandchildren. What a great collection of images. There’s a great picture of Tom at graduation, looking quite young, handsome, and a little ironic, that I’m still trying to secure (will post later, I suppose). We also got an old picture of Tom rock climbing which I really like. Those old hexes really take me back.