Family Get Together

Grandma, Grandpa and I took a day trip to Polk City today.  It was my first time driving through Groveland and Polk County.  I was amazed at the building that was taking place in that area.  Everyone that has lived in Ocala for a long time complains about the growth here.  I could see what they were talking about with all of the subdivisions and apartment complexes being built near us, and all of the road congestion from increased traffic.  After today's drive and our many trips to Orlando recently, it looks like that may just be Florida in general.  

As much as I enjoyed the drive, sightseeing wasn't our main objective today.  Grandma had made plans for the three of us to meet Bobbie, Garry and his wife Mary for lunch.  Garry had picked Country Angels as our destination and greeted us at the door as the "maître' D" for our get together.  The restaurant didn't look like much, but it had wonderful food, and they let us stay and catch up for as long as we wanted.  Although Doug, Cameron and I had stopped to see Bobbie last summer, I hadn't seen "Bud" since he visited Northern Indiana in 2017.  I had always enjoyed Bobbie and her late sister Karen, but ever since we started visiting my Grandparents in Arcadia in the 1980s, Bud had always been my favorite of my mom's cousins.  He has a never-ending number of stories, is always positive and makes everyone around him laugh.  This afternoon was no different which made the afternoon even more enjoyable.  

Today was also a nice reminder of how much fun we all had when my parents and I spent our holidays on Peace River during my middle and high school days.  After seeing everyone I realized that I will always miss my Grandparents, but days like these almost make it feel like they are back with us, laughing while Grandpa puts tapioca on his salad insisting that he loved it that way instead of admitting that he really thought it was blue cheese dressing.  I had a great relationship with them and although they haven't been with us for almost twenty years now, they still are such an important part of our lives.  Nothing can change that.