Letter to Emilie

Tomorrow we're having an open house for real estate agents - we're hoping that somebody will come to that!  It is really hard to keep the house ready for anything at all times - but we're getting better at it.  The first couple of times we were really stressed.  Now it's just kind of a ho-hum thing.  

Our GenFest reunion was a huge success.  It was a bad day - cold and rainy.  But it didn't matter - we all had such a good time.  The weather was not conducive to river sports at all.  We had an outdoor scavenger hunt between the raindrops, and the big hit of the day was Jana's "Not-So-Newlywed Game" where we found out how well we know our spouses!  The children always enjoy a golf cart tour (or three) around the property, and that was fun, too. While the 60+ set kept busy catching up on the latest family news, the younger set was downstairs playing cards and watching the littlest ones be so cute :)  We always have a picnic at one o'clock and a reprise at around 6, and then a campfire at night with s'mores.  By campfire time the rain had pretty much stopped, and everybody had jackets, so it was a successful campfire too.  I was very pleased that all of our offspring could be here.

Tom is still job hunting - he has a terrific resume and really good connections in many places, so we're not worried about him yet.  His age may work against him - he'll be 50 in October.  I'm not sure how much that counts these days.

Your cottage sounds like more fun than ever!  It's wonderful that both of your kids enjoy it so much - it's such a big part of your lives.

I just don't know what to say about Pam's situation.  It's tragic that she has to go through all of this in the prime of her life - with such a great husband and those two lovable boys.  I did not know that she's having a double - I know we're all hoping that everything goes well and stays well.  She seems strong enough to handle it all, but doggone it - it's not fair.  Thank goodness for the advanced medical procedures available now, and thank goodness for caring people who help patients get through everything they have to endure.