Snippets from the reunion

"I busted my ass earning every dollar. It only seems right that I work just as hard to avoid spending that dollar."

• R: "I plan to retire Dec 31, 2022"
• A: "What happens to the vacation you don't use?"
• R: "They pay me for it"
• A: "How much vacation do you get a year?"
• R: "Five weeks" (R is 69 years old)
• A: "You might consider retiring January 2, 2023 if they 'refresh' your vacation allotment at the New Year you will get paid for the five weeks of vacation they owe you."
• R: "Golly, I never thought of that"

"The day after I retired, Chrissy asked me to change the leaking faucet in the kid's bathroom.

Three months later, I was still working on it, having torn up 400 square-feet of flooring and sub-flooring chasing rotted pipes....and almost as much drywall replacing wiring..."

"The old men with little dogs lasted the longest. I would see them out every morning and afternoon, regardless of the weather. Walking their dogs. Complaining about their wives and kids.

Those little dogs gave those old men's lives purpose and a metronome for doing something every day."

"Greta lost her 87 year-old dad last year.

He dropped off the Buick at Discount Tire and saw a Wendy's on the other side of Van Dyke. He decided to sprint across the seven lanes of traffic and eat a Frosty. He didn't make it."

"I work until I am tired and then it is nap-time. I pick it up the next day"

"I have been volunteering at a project that takes furniture donations and uses them to furnish repo-ed houses that are rented to homeless people..."

"An anthology of Haunted Libraries? I can't imagine....well, OK, I can. I cannot tell you about how many patrons I wanted to throttle"

"The problem with the foster care system is that foster parents are given stipends for day-care for foster kids but those stipends are not available to their biological mothers. The court removes kids from their biological family because their mother cannot get a job and care for them...because she cannot afford day-care. But then they give the foster parents free day-care..."

"People with jobs are beaten to a bloody-pulp working sixty or seventy hours a week while people without jobs are given benefits that (sometimes) are more than what working people get."

"Miss W is kind of weird but she is cool. She doesn't freak out if you are having a bad day" overheard by a speech-therapist who works with middle-school kids. High praise indeed.

"To absent companions! (followed by a shot of 15 year Glenfiddich Scotch from the absent companion's stash)"

All of the out-of-town visitors swung through the facility and paid their respects to Mom, the de-facto Matron of the clan. Selfies were taken and will be loaded into  digital picture frame and shuffled for her future enjoyment.

One visitor commented that it is unusual for a family to bow their heads for 90 seconds while "Uncle Phil" said Grace before food was served. Uncle Phil didn't duck, bob or weave. He plowed ahead and laid a straight furrow which included frequent mention of "God" and "Jesus" and "the Holy Spirit" and "blessing" and such without hesitation or apology.

Three generations were in attendance and a fourth (Mom) was there in spirit.

A neighbor came over and took the group-photo.

It was not a blow-out, best-reunion-ever, but it was satisfying and renewed our family.