Nearing au revoir time for family. Filled with gratitude
My family members (sisters Maureen and Jean, brother-in-laws Bernard and John) will return to the U.K. tomorrow. Their time here has been simply wonderful. It's been so much better than I expected, and it exceeded their expectations far beyond their hopes. They have enjoyed SRQ to the full. They have a deeper understanding of why this has become my home. We have enjoyed each other very, very much - with some useful serious conversations; with an enormous amount of humour; and with fond and funny recollections of family memories. (Maureen, Jean and I are part of a family with ten children, so we have many memories). * Jack and Donna Chrisman were gracious hosts as we enjoyed a splendid dinner at their home. 'Twas such a sweet and joyful evening. *Fred and Diana Emrich "treated" us to a lovely lunch at the Dry Dock on Longboat Key. I arranged the seating so that the men were at one end of the table and the women at the other end. This enabled two discr...