Anniversaries

This weekend I remembered more anniversaries: It was a year ago this weekend that I was in Tallahassee hanging out at the hospital with Mom, who was a patient, having just had knee replacement surgery. Then, I realized as I walked the dog at the Pewee Valley (KY) southbound I-71 rest area late Saturday night that it was – by days of the week – eight years ago that night that I stopped at that rest area to sleep for about 20 minutes at 5 a.m. Saturday night. I was on my way from visiting Grandma and going to a wedding of one of Stephanie’s friends to meeting Stephanie and Vincent at Camp Dogwood Acres in NW FL and then on to teaching in Sarasota. After I woke up, I used the pay phone to check my answering machine in Sarasota and learned that Grandma had died a few minutes earlier. I called Mom and then decided to drive on to FL (and then flew back up for the funeral, missing half of the visitation). I honestly don’t remember if a few minutes later I was driving past my now office building through downtown Louisville are on the inner bypass near our now-house.

It was also a year ago this week that Vincent headed off for his month-long Denmark adventure/misasdventure. Today – in a less official trip – his girlfriend Samantha headed for Denmark – to stay with Vincent’s host from last year, with whom she seemed romantically involved, before Vincent and she were. Love triangle? Vincent went a month after the house arrest without seeing her – but they talked on the phone a lot. We’ll see how he does without seeing her for month (he survived for a week at Wellstone). This is a wonderful opportunity for him to get a lot of house work and school work done and to get a job. Unfortunately, he may just sleep and mope and get even less done (if such a thing is possible).

While I taste-tested chicken at the Yum! Brands headquarters Monday, Stephanie and Vincent had lunch with an old high school friend of Stephanie at the Irish Rover restaurant (pictured above) near our church.

-- Perry