Those visits with elderly friends and relatives are so important, and carry more weight, than visits of 25 or 50 years ago. On the occasions when I've been able to visit with very elderly friends and relatives every word is precious - there are so few visitors as people get older. The last time I saw my 94-year-old aunt in Connecticut (she lived very near Jerry Rasmussen, who knows many of the same places where he used to perform - small world!) I arrived at her nursing home kind of late because I'd been driving all day. She was finishing an evening bath when I arrived, and she told the attendants "This is my great niece, who has driven here from Kentucky!" (where I was living and working at the time) and it was clear that she would visit exactly as long as she wanted, no visitors hours were going to shut us down. And it was a nice long visit. You learn to take your opportunities to visit and let people know how important they are to you with each occasion. Funny, I don't remember much at all of the rest of that day, or even where I spent the night, but I remember that visit with Josephine.

There is an open invitation to any of you who are regular declutterers (so many have gone, since Katlaughing, and I fear WYSIWYG) who should ever find yourselves in North Texas - please stop by and plan for a couple of days at least for a good long visit. And in particular there are friends who are living in a conversion van and for the time being are in New England, and there is #PattyClink who is somewhere north of me now (Nebraska?) who are always welcome to spend time here parked in the driveway, a calm port in the storm of travels.