Whirlwind Tour of New Jersey

My mom came into town last Thursday. We got up early Friday morning, loaded the car and headed to New Jersey to visit family. When the trip started we thought we would just visit with my grandparents and maybe a few aunts and uncles. By the end of the trip we had seen 35 people! Natalie was great. We had a wonderful time being together and got some really special time with our family.

Like I said the trip was originally intended to visit with my Chief (my dad's dad), his lovely wife Fran, and my Grammie (my mom's mom). Chief and Fran are doing wonderfully. It was so fun to watch Natalie interact with them. We had not been at their house for five minutes and Natalie had made a new best friend in Ms. Fran. She had Fran pushing her baby's stroller around and changing her baby's diapers. Natalie had so much fun watching Chief feed the birds, helping him take the trash out and leading him around the house. Like I said, a joy to watch. The other really fun part of staying with Chief and Fran was watching Natalie run around a house that I treasure from my childhood. We always spent Christmas time in New Jersey at my grandparents' home. Natalie was playing on the stairs that I remember coming down on Christmas morning. What a joy! She was running through a house that I ran through so many times. What a delight for my heart.

We also visited with my Grammie, who is not doing so well. She is 91 years old, nearly 92. She has lived a long, wonderful life but her time here on Earth appears to be running out. She is still able to be in her home with the 24 hour care of an angel named Zoya. She is an angel. She takes such wonderful care of my grandmother. She provides the care that I wish that I could provide. She lovingly feeds her and cares for her every need. Even though my Grammie is often mean to her (Grammie's mind and personality is not what is used to be) she is so incredibly patient and kind to her. My Grammie is still in the only home that my mom ever lived in. She is still in the bed that she shared with my Pop-Pop for over 60 years. She is still able to snuggle with her beloved cat Susie (who is the meanest cat ever!) who never leaves her side. My mom got to spend good time with Grammie. I got the few brief moments that Natalie would allow me with her. I got to kiss her and tell her that I love her. Natalie kissed her and told her that she loved her. So sweet! Grammie may fool us all and go on living for a while but even if she doesn't we all got to give her kisses and show our love. It was worth the trip for that!

Now, here are the more upbeat and fun highlights from the trip:

• Pizza night at Chief's house with my Aunt Jeannie, Uncle Gary, Uncle John and Uncle David
• Playing shuffle board until 1:30 in the morning with my Aunt Jeannie, Uncle Gary and Uncle David (Uncle David and I won)
• Taking Natalie to Verona Park (another childhood memory of mine)
• Real NJ bagels
• Dinner with Aunt Joannie, Uncle John, Johnnie, Anna, Gary, and Jessica
• Watching Natalie play in the pool with Anna (my 16-year-old cousin)
• An afternoon with my maid-of-honor, Jen, who took the bus in from NYC to visit with me
• Visiting with my Aunt Barb and cousins: Joey, Kristin, Jessica, Keith, and Kristine
• Feeding the ducks at Verona Park
• A pool party at my Aunt Pat and Uncle Ken's house with lots of cousins and friends that I hadn't seen in many years. Some of them I hadn't seen in four years, some probably 10. I got to meet their children and briefly catch-up. So fun! Here is the list: Aunt Pat, Uncle Ken, Robin, Anthony, Samantha, Kenny, Laura, Caroline, Little Kenny, Kevin, "Aunt Joyce", Tammy, Morgan, Shelby, Sidney.

We arrived home safe and sound at 7:30 last night. We had a great time. Again, not enough pictures were taken! So many fun memories. My mom, Natalie, and I are a mean road-trip team!