Sitting here with a final mug of coffee. Ruth and I are flying to Madison, Wisconsin tomorrow morning and will be gone for more than a week. If I can get my hands on the internet, I'll try to stop by, but that's unlikely. You folks will just have to keep the home fires burning until I get back. Even though I've gone back "home" countless times over the years, this trip will be different. My Mother isn't really up to galivanting around like she has for so many years, so our visits will be shorter and less strenuous. I have a son who lives just 45 minuts away, so we may end up seeing him a little more, and do more with my two older sisters. We're also looking at some day trips on our own, just to make it a vacation, as well as a family gathering.

I don't know about your family, but mine has always been held together by my Mother. Even when my father was alive, it was my Mother who organized the picnics and gatherings. After my father died seven years ago, I became the Patriarch of the family. There wasn't even an election. But, I can't be much of a Patriarch from 1,000 miles away. Even in my Mother's advanced years, she's still the one who has organized a family gathering when we're out there... perhaps more than one. When she is gone, I think that my sisters and their families will function independtly from each other and family gatherings will only happen when Ruth and I come out. There's a natural passing of the guard. I expect that's happened in your families, too.

But, it will be good to gather one more time around Mom. I inow how much she will appreciate seeing her family together. There just won't be a kitchen table, anymore. Not one you can sit at, at least.

It will be good getting back and seeing how you all have been doing..

Jerry