The first thing that comes to mind is more of a silver lining variety. My brother died in May, which was a shock to everyone, but the time family and friends got to spend together afterward, as we gathered in Minnesota for the funeral, was a true gift. And our trip out there included a reminder that there are still many kind, helpful people in the world, as we had car trouble and made an emergency stop in a town in north central Ohio, where, it seems, everyone we met steered us in the right direction and offered much appreciated help.
I guess the overarching common thread was the family visits. There were a lot of them, including the time in MN and WI, along with a trip to Connecticut for a family wedding, but mostly it was folks coming to us for stays of varying lengths.
There were a few day trips, several golf outings, some nice meals at a local favorite eating establishment, we gave our carport a bit of a facelift, finally tore down and replaced a storage shed in our back yard, and we survived five days of babysitting our four local grandchildren while their parents were off for a well-deserved vacation and anniversary celebration.
3 Cents' 