Post Scripts: Family and friends

Let me bring you up to date on family matters. Kathy is recovering from a hard fall which occurred when re-entering our apartment after going outside to get the evening newspaper. A headline caught her eye as she was coming inside the front door and one foot became entangled with the leg of a chair and she plunged across the living room floor, gradually descending until her forehead met the corner of the coffee table.

Fortunately she suffered no damage to her artificial knees, or shoulder, but I took her to the emergency room at the nearby Medical Center with a cut on her forehead which required six stitches to close. For the past three weeks she has had a black eye with severe bruising both above and below her eye to the cheekbone.

She’s a plucky gal and has taken all this in stride, not missing a bridge game or her appointments at the beauty parlor, nor church or Sunday School or the "gab sessions" in the clubhouse here. I just about had a heart attack when I heard her call me, yelling: "I’ve fallen down!"

Next, let me bring you up to date on our daughter, Cindy, who lives at Niceville, Florida, and who survived the recent hurricane without serious damage but with lots of inconvenience. She and Wayne were without electricity for six days and, of course, lost all the food that was stored in the deep freeze and refrigerator. There was some minor damage to their roof with a number of shingles missing and/or damaged.

Their yard became a depository for blown down tree limbs, and their swimming pool in the backyard had to be emptied of debris of all kinds. We worried a lot about her during that time and she did lose several days work since she has to drive across a seven-mile bridge to her work at Wal-Mart. With all that gale-force wind she decided not to try it and it was just as well since Wal-Mart was forced to close. This hurricane was the second one she has experienced since living in the Florida panhandle.

Still another personal item. We love company and some weeks ago we had the pleasure of a visit from the Brian Richards family. Brian, of course, is the son of Donna and the late Larry Richards of Gallatin. Brian was accompanied by his wife, Claudia, their three children, Carla, Nicole, and Jessica and Claudia’s mother, who was visiting from Bogota, Columbia. We had a delightful time with all of them.

Both Claudia and Brian are teachers in the Odessa, Texas, school district. Odessa is located in far west Texas, not far from the corner of New Mexico. Odessa is surrounded by some pretty desolate country but that desolation boasts a lot of oil wells in addition to tumbleweed. The Richards family is a joy to have around and they assured us that Donna, who lives near St. Louis, is doing just fine. We all miss Larry, of course, who was taken far too soon.

This last weekend our nephew, Bob Alber and wife, Judy, drove 700-plus miles here from Lee’s Summit, Missouri to visit us a few days. We do appreciate such visits so very much. Please know that the welcome mat is always out for such visits. We miss Gallatin so much and we grieve over all the friends we have lost since moving here over three years ago. Please know our hearts will always be there with you! As for ole Joe, its just a matter of less hair and more tummy!