254...

... well, actually: I have no idea. I just pulled that number out of thin air...I've been traveling, but I'm pretty sure 254 is an overestimation of how far I drove when I was tooling up and down the interstate yesterday (getting 47 mpg!).

But I did take a little road trip on Saturday, driving up to Decatur to spend the morning with Daughter #1. Getting some tech support as she helped me transfer photos from phone (arrggghhh) to computer, so she could then wiggle them into blog. I'm such a poor subject for all things technical: I'm continually looking at what people can do with computers and cell phones and thinking, in the manner of the joke about the Thermos: 'how do it know'?

What I really want to do here is praise the cousin who lives in Decatur. FL is the most caring, thoughtful, compassionate person in my life. I can't think of anyone who is more willing to devote their time to those in need. When my dad's health began to fail, she was the person who was willing to help me with his care. She was the one who made herself available to stand with me in that gap, when parents got to the point that they could not manage their lives without assistance.

She was such a huge blessing to parents, and to me, when she was so willing to actively participate in their care and well-being. When it was obviously far more than I could cope with, she was the person who stepped forward and offered to prop us all up. I do not know what would have happened if she had not been so supportive, open-handed, open-hearted and willing to make herself available. They would certainly have been in dire circumstances - but thanks to her, and her capable care, my dad was able to stay at home, and be comfortable in the house he built with his own hands, and had lived in for over fifty years.

More than a friend: as close to a sister as I will ever have. 

I drove up to see her in Decatur on Saturday, and say 'Happy Birthday, Solstice Baby' with lunch at Figo's. I'd written to ask if we could go out and eat some place and talk about things of little consequence. It seems like there have been so many times in the past that have had to odor of 'crisis' when we have been together. Someone having a problem. Some relative with health issues that got completely out of hand, snowballing down the hill, and she was the one called to come to the rescue. Which, as you might guess, is something she is very adept at managing.  So to have time to spend together and chat about trivial matters, inconsequential, mundane topics is a real novelty.  That's what we did. And it was a good day.