Nate had a fantastic time in New York and came home telling of several adventures he and his friends had on the trip. This is the class trip DA makes available for the juniors each year and it is the most popular class trip (well, maybe second to the sixth grade trip to Disney World). The teachers who chaperoned told me this was one of the best groups they had taken.
I can now say the Christmas break is over for all of us. Vicki and I were the first to go back to work after we returned from Florida. Nate and I are in our fourth week of classes already, Ben went back to school last week, and Jenna has begun her nursing studies this week. I'm glad for her that she had the longest time off. This allowed her to go back to Trevecca and visit most of her friends who are still there, many of whom have this last semester before they graduate. (By the way, Jenna's graduation ceremony is in May.) Still, I think she is more than ready to get on with it. She has already impressed me as being far more studious than I ever was. Hopefully I was better about that than I remember.
I recently ran across a bunch of cassette tapes, many of which came from Mom's house. Since we didn't have a home movie camera and camcorders were years from hitting the consumer market these tapes are my equivalent to the home movies we have of our kids. Most are labeled, but not all, so I am listening to them to find out what's on them. Some are of me, some of a Bible teacher (Venita Whittemore) whose class Mom used to attend, and some of church services.
I ran across one tape the other day of me and Brent Freeland as we were playing one day. I remember the details clearly, but to be brief, Brent and I were pretending to be co-captains (neither of us wanted to outrank the other) of a submersible that was diving deep for sunken treasure. We went on for 18 minutes telling this tale of our collecting treasure from the bottom of the ocean complete with sound effects. We had a fire onboard and had to do an emergency surfacing. Our imaginations from that day completely amazed me as I listened to the tape. All this was made up from playing with a little Cartesian diver toy (Sea Diver by Parker Bros.) I had. My kids had active imaginations growing up, but I don't recall them playing and making up tales quite like this, but as I recall, this was normal for us when we were kids.
To change the subject before bringing this to a close, yesterday was the tenth anniversary of Pauline's passing. So hard to believe it has been that long. We certainly miss her very much. Vicki's post on Facebook yesterday really spoke to my heart.
Mama’s been gone for 10 years now. It’s odd how time seems to fold over on itself...sometimes it feels like a long time and sometimes it feels like yesterday. Today I remember her and I’m glad to have had the privilege of being her daughter. I wish she could’ve been here longer so her grandkids would have had more time to know her. She was good and kind and enjoyed just being around everyone in her quiet way. She also had a knack for knowing how to love each person she knew the way they needed to be loved. She is missed and I shed just a few tears... per her instructions to cry for just a little while. Her life’s ripples continue. [Heart emoji]
Well said, Vicki. I miss you, Pauline.
Joe
