We were very pleased to settle into Bellbrook, a suburb of Dayton Ohio, for several days of great visiting with Dick’s family.
We were graciously hosted by Dick‘s brother, John, and his new wife, Beverly. We were so happy to finally meet Beverly. John and Beverly went to the same high school many years ago, although were in different classes. They reconnected after both of them had lost their spouses to illness, and were surprised to fall in love. It was very nice to be able to meet Beverly in person. It was very nice to use their home as a home base for several days of family visiting, catching up their lives, and catching up with their perspective about the world.
During all three of these evenings we were able to have dinner with various parts of Dick's family. The first night we met our nephew, Brian, his wife Laura, and their kids, Ian and Alena. It’s so fun seeing these kids grow up having known them since they were tiny. We had lots of great conversation both at a local deli, and then back at their home. It was fun for Dick that their house is literally a block away from the home he lived in for seven years. He remembers this neighborhood fondly.
On Tuesday at noon we were pleased to be able to join Dick's brother, John, sister, Marti, and their longtime family friend, Gere, for the regular weekly Zoom call that Dick has been having with them for nearly the last year. This time rather than Dick talking on Zoom from California, Dick and Patti were on one computer in the kitchen while John and Beverly were on another one in their office in the same house. We all enjoyed the far-ranging conversation, and especially some interesting discussion about our visit to the Amish community here, because Gere, having lived in Pennsylvania for most of his life, has had a lot of interaction with the Amish community. We pooled our information and enjoyed sharing and connecting with one another.
The second evening was time with our great-niece, Caetey and her husband, Tim. Due to Covid we also missed their wedding and reception last year. which had to be cancelled. And their rescheduled reception happened earlier in the summer, and we missed that, also. So there were lots of things to catch up with for the two of them. We got to see their home which they have done great remodeling with. And then went out to a local restaurant, which we ended up closing down at 10:30, and then talking for another hour out in the parking lot. Lots of great conversation and catching up with these two young people.
Then, our final evening included a very fine dinner at Red Lobster with John and Beverly, and our niece, Courtney and her husband, Steve. Several of us had the "endless shrimp" dinner and ate until we couldn’t eat another bite. Very delicious! It’s always nice to catch up with Courtney and Steve, who just returned from a vacation down in Sanibel Island Florida. This is one of Dick's very favorite places, so he enjoyed exchanging information about Sanibel. After finishing dinner we were pleased to pull out our cell phone cameras and take some lovely photos together and with each couple. We all clean up pretty well.
It had really been too long since we had seen this part of the family. We had planned on a road trip to this area last summer, but Covid kept us apart. So nice to be together with family again.
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