DeKalb

Doug was up early this morning so that he could meet his dad for breakfast.  He really enjoyed his visit and was able to see Uncle Ray as well.  Uncle Ray had moved into Oak Crest last spring and although unsure at first, had really come to enjoy living there.  I wasn't surprised to hear that as I know that Carl and Marina really like their new life in the senior living community.  

While Doug was busy, I appreciated the extra time with Cal and Maggie.  I was also thankful that they could take me to DeKalb to meet Doug so that we could leave for home from there.  Doug and I offered to give Maggie a tour of DeKalb since she had never been to Doug's home city.  She got to see Inboden's, our favorite butcher shop that was a highlight of our family's many trips to visit Grandma when she was sick.  She also got to see St. Mary's Church and visit Jeanette's gravesite.  As nice as it was to share our memories of those sites with her, the best part was taking her to Doug's childhood home.  The new owners were in the driveway when we went by, so Cal stopped and asked if we could walk around.  They were incredibly nice and we all had so much fun talking about all of the good times that we had shared in Grandma's backyard - from our wedding rehearsal dinner, to the garden, to the pine trees that Doug watered every day when they moved-in, to the clubhouse that Carl built, to the bench from the golf course that Dan brought home, to the back porch, to the place where Apache was buried - it was a wonderful walk down memory lane and I appreciated Cal and Maggie taking the time to share it with us.

After our tour of DeKalb, Doug and I went to a cousins' gathering at Dan's.  It was very nice to see Doug's cousins and catch up with so many of them.  Doug hadn't seen a lot of them since Uncle Jim died four years ago.  It was also nice to visit with Addie and Morgan.  They have had some major life changes recently and it was fun listening to them talk about their futures.  We weren't able to stay very long but really enjoyed the visit.  It was a little bittersweet without Jeanette, but extremely nice just the same.