What family means....

One of the main reasons we chose to spend roughly 7 weeks here in Sparks, NV while we worked at Amazon was the proximity of family.....not only the proximity of our kids just a few hundred miles away in SoCal, but the immediate proximity of my Uncle Bob, Aunt Jane, and cousin Lois (all on my mother's side) who live right here in Sparks.  Regretfully, circumstances over the years kept us apart (geography, etc.) and we just did not see each other until last November when we were passing through on our way home.   I wrote about our lunch with them in Carson City here.  After spending a few hours together both at lunch, and then back at our coach....Uncle Bob really wanted to see the Newell.....TLE and I began discussing the possibility of coming back to work at Amazon in Fernley....I should say I began discussing it.....TLE was not interested in spending 7 weeks in Fernley.  Over the few months we were home she began to warm to the idea and ultimately we submitted our applications to Joni (Camperforce co-ordinator at Fernley) requesting a start date the first week in November, 2014.

Just after we arrived here in Sparks for our tour of duty at Amazon we were able to have dinner with Cousin Lois, her husband John, and Chris, their son.  We had a lovely time with them, and made plans to get together again, and that was Sunday.  Around 1 pm we drove up to Lois and John's lovely home in the hills above Sparks where they have lived for 30 years.  We spent a couple of hours just talking about life, down sizing, living in an RV full time, etc. before heading just a few blocks down the hill to Uncle Bob's gated community home for an early dinner.  My cousin, Liz (Lois' sister) whom I had not seen since my grandmother's memorial service six, or seven years ago had flown up with her husband (Rick) that morning to spend a few days with  her father, Uncle Bob, before Thanksgiving, so that was an added bonus.  Additionally, Chris (Lois' son) came over with his son, Brady, to join us.  We spent a few hours talking and enjoying a great meal.  The afternoon just flew by, and before we knew it 5 pm had come and gone, and it was time to head home, knowing that we will repeat this performance in just a few days (Thanksgiving) when we meet again to give thanks, and share some turkey.

As I sit here this morning (Monday) writing about our time with family Sunday I am still basking in the warm glow of self satisfaction.  We had a lovely, wonderful, delightful time Sunday spent with family.  Do I wish all those years with almost no contact had not happened?  Of course, but we can only do better today, and today we are spending time as often as possible with each other, and that is all that can really count in the end.  My father was fond of saying "Clarke, it doesn't matter how you start out....it only matters how you finish".....so I'm not going to spend today regretting what happened over the years....I'm going to spend time being thankful for what is happening now....today.  At the end of the day, especially as we are living in the autumn of our time on this earth, family becomes more and more important, and to a large degree our ability to live this mobile, nomadic life is enabling us to spend time with family whenever the opportunity presents itself.

We were home by 5:30 relaxing, and watching some more football (Cowboys vs. Giants) during which I took a long 90 minute nap (only got 5.5 hours of sleep Sunday morning), and then another nap from 9 pm to 11 pm before actually just going to bed and sleeping another 8 solid hours.....not caught up by any stretch of the imagination, but feeling much more coherent, and lucid.  Near the end of the game Odell Beckham (receiver for the Giants) made a one handed catch for a touchdown that was the most amazing catch I have ever seen, and apparently a lot of people more knowledgeable than I think so too......here is a picture of that catch, which does not really do it justice, but here it is....

Thanks for stopping by!