So this past week and a half was a bittersweet - my Father-in-Law (David's mother's husband) passed away on September 10. He had been rather sick for a while. He was a very good husband to my Mother-in-Law, a great Papa to my kids, and always easy to talk to and be around. He and Smith would always talk history - he was a high school history teacher, and would say (before he retired) that he had been in school for 62 years or something crazy - from kindergarten until retirement. One of his other quotes, which is a favorite of mine, is, when you see an 'unusual' person walking about, he would say, "Well, there's a seat for every ass!"
The GOOD that came out of this past visit to Rhode Island was spending lots of time with my mother in law, and David (and all of us) seeing two of his other favorite people - his Aunt and Uncle that were almost like second parents to him. I've spent a good bit of time with them now, and definitely agree - they are good people.
We spent some time as family, gathering sea glass, walking along the shore, hunting around tidal pools, walking through parks, and, sadly, going to a funeral. The day after the funeral, we happened to see hearts in trees! Natural bark formations, and even a leaf, all that looked like hearts! We figured it was Papa, telling us he loves us. Every time we saw one, Smith would yell out, "We love you too, Papa!"
Family is good.
