Virginia Beach, VA 2004
The unpacking is almost finished after a very long week. Tuesday, we did get into our apartment and I won't even bother to go into the rest of our glitches......anyone out there watch the Olympic hurdles?....that was the Mullaneys just after we thought we had got over the last hurdle another one was in our path. (No one said that this traveling business was going to
be easy :-)
All 5 of us really like VB. We have already seen a couple of friends that we made the last time we were here. Who knows? perhaps we may end up back here. It is good to be here and Dan is working days and coming home with more humorous stories from Maryview Hospital. Time will fly here so I best get to bed. Perhaps I will make sunrise down at the Oceanfront tomorrow.

The James Madison Hotel
a Clarion Hotel in Norfolk, VA
Again we have yet to find any routine in our travels - it is always an adventure. We arrived in Norfolk at 9:30pm Friday (August 20th) night. Thursday afternoon we found out that our apartment would not be ready until Tuesday. Oops!
Sine we were all set to roll out of Tilghman for Friday - RN Network would be putting us up in a hotel from Fri - Tues.
Our housing person mistakenly booked us at a place that didn't allow pets. So at 945pm we started making phone calls. God seems to always be upgrading us to compensate for our "troubles." (I put that in quotes because I know that life usually doesn't go as planned and compared to some troubles, our are just mere inconveniences.) At 1130pm we checked in and hit the hay.
We are staying at The James Madison in historic downtown Norfolk. Originally built in 1906 as The Lynnhaven Hotel, Norfolk's first high-rise with a "lift." It is a little tight in the room but we will, as usual, make the best of it. (Katie came across a great quote, "Flexible people never get bent out of shape.") Michael camps out on the floor and we generally are able to manage our living quarters with a big dose of humor.
I must say that I was a little bummed about having to go to a hotel this time since we only had just over 200 miles to travel. Today, is Katie's 13th birthday and we got another upgrade this afternoon being moved into an even bigger room with 2 w.c. (bathrooms ie water closets) and not tripping over the dog and one another constantly. Thank God for these blessings.
Yesterday, we did have the opportunity to drop off our boxes to our new apartment and we look forward to getting in on Tuesday. Our children are truly fellow pilgrims.

Leaving Our Mark
Maryland like other places we live do things within the county. Talbot County is the one we have been living in for the last 3 months. Like each place we have gone, we search out the area for the Library. Talbot Free Library has 3 branches one on Tilghman Island, one in Easton and one in St. Michaels.
St. Michaels' library has been temporarily housed at the old fire station down by the harbor. The friends of the library were helping raise funds for the new building by having patrons be able to buy bricks to be laid in the courtyard. At first we were thinking about doing just one big brick for our family. Then Dan and I got to thinking about doing a brick for each of the kids and not telling them. The library is nearly finished and the construction guys let us bring the kids onto the site today. We will be leaving before the grand opening at the end of the month. So, our children have a permanent mark left here. Each of their bricks have their name, the chapter and verse of the scripture we use for each of their blessings and the words "fellow pilgrim." It was something fun to do, surprise the kids with and at the same time give to the community. Hopefully we have left the mark of Christ in this place as well upon the people we have encountered here.
Moving on
Just a few odds and ends to pack up. Most of the cleaning done. Mullaneys will be pulling out of Tilghman, Maryland on Friday. The children have been more and more helpful with each move. Right now they are next door at Maria and Kevin's taking a much needed break in the pool.
Yesterday, I had a great visit with Maria. It was just what the doctor ordered. I believe that our conversation was a divine appointment and it is so helpful when people are just straight forward and honest about life. I am just sorry that I didn't spend more time with Maria. She is a real sweetheart. A new friendship begun and we will stay in touch. Time to chill out and get ready for bed. Good night.

On August 11th I wrote the following: (I realized that what we experienced is practically nothing to what our friends and relatives in southwest FL are experiencing now)
I am sitting here in the dark. It is Grace's 15th birthday and we had one doozie of a storm that has left us without power. My laptop has a battery so I am using it. Everyone including Dan has gone to bed. The children are bunking out in Grace's room. We will be leaving here in just over a week. The packing is coming along.
'we just returned from York, PA where we visited with my cousins, aunt and uncle. It was good to be with them. We really did enjoy fun, food and fellowship and fireworks. Shelley even had fireworks for us the first night we were there. Aren't we special?!!
I think I will hit the hay too. I will write more later after changing my address with different folks and packing some more oh, and finishing the birthday shopping for Katie.
BTW I am not old enough to have a 15 year old, right?
Dan celebrated his 41st bday in PA, today Grace and Katie will be on the 22nd.

PHILADELPHIA
The City of Brotherly love!! Well, I failed to mention that when my mum was here, Dan and I went to Philadelphia for a couple of days. As we approached I was like a little kid (only behind the wheel - Dan hates to drive in the city and he is not fond of being a passenger either), the sun was setting as we neared the Ben Franklin Bridge with the cityscape in the background made my heart pound with excitement. I was ooing and ahhing and Dan was saying will you please pay attention to where you are going. It was so good to be in a city. There is a certain humm to a city. It was very relaxing. Nice to just be together. While we were away, the children took very good care of Nana.
We did visit the historic district which now is equipped with its post 9/11 security. I really look forward to taking the children there some day.
Time to get packing.

Mornings with Lady (our Miniture Schnauzer)
Usually, I am the first one up so since we have been on this adventure I take the dog out for a walk which we both enjoy.  Here in Tilghman there is a park next to Knapps Narrows Marina.  I imagine that at one point this park was beautiful.  The only upkeep done is mowing the grass.  It use to have a majestic view of The Bay at one point.  The back of the park has a deck type structure, an overlook on top of a hill but the weeds and such have grown up to such a point that you can not see much of the Bay. 
This has become our regular spot.  There are a few other dog owners that have made it their regular spot too.  I only run into them when I get up or get out late.  Early in the AM it is just Lady and me.  The other things that crabs my attention are the boats that are dry docked at the Marina.  My favorite name of a sailboat is "Panic Knot."  My imagination takes flight, the captain of this vessel is perhaps an Englishman who is calm and stern, in the midst of high winds he may cry out to his passengers, "Panic Knot, I am at the helm and I have everything in control." At the very moment that he says the word "control" he is covered by the wave that has swept over the deck.   Anyway, I let you in to one of my morning musings. 
I do hope that I get to go back out on the Bay in one of the vessels around here before we pack up to go.  Yes, it is almost time to go....we are doing a short stop here (we are headed south...more on that later.) After we do FL from Nov. to May we will be doing shorter assignments hoping to get to see more of this great land together with our children, while they are still children. 
Have a wonderful day unless you have other plans.

"Where would I find cocoa?" 
This question and ones similar to that are upon my lips to the grocer in whatever town I find myself on any given day.  One of the challenges of traveling is learning the new grocery store.  I do my best to remain teachable and I do enjoy learning how to get around town find the short cuts and local favorites but what aisle is the tuna in...... (I want to know but I don't want to have to learn) 
The other day I went shopping and I was saying to myself, why am I dreading going to the grocery store?  It came to me as I was driving in the truck by myself...it takes me twice as long to shop because I am still learning where things are.  So, if this is my biggest challenge as a traveler than I will be doing great, don't you think?  And I will not starve my family . . . maybe I need to take one of the kids with me in the next place we move to so we can go for a trial run the first time, just get acquainted with the store and perhaps picking up a thing or two and map out the store.   
This is real life.....and no I don't want my own reality show.  Living it is enough for me.

Oh Captain my Captain!!!
Skipjack Rebecca with Capt Wade Murphy on Tuesday 13th of July, 2004   Michael started to hoist the sail but it soon became quite a work, a man joined him and moments later I found my hands upon the ropes.  It was a fine day for a sail.  My mother and Katie were among those enjoying the history/science lesson being giving by Capt. Wade while Mr. Dick took the wheel.  Soon we were sailing along.  Learning about Osprey and the Coastguard, the eco system of the Bay and the oyster crisis, global warming (sic) and the depopulation of the famous blue crab.....we had no idea that this waterman wanted us to know as much as he could tell us about what he knew concerning this body of water and the life in it within 2 hours.  I think he didn't talk for the last 10 minutes.  Michael took the wheel for the last leg of our journey.  Capt Wade was going to let him dock but since Michael had no experience he asked the captain to take over the wheel.  It was a relaxing trip and I hope we get to go out on the water again before we leave this place.

Annapolis MD part II
My mum came to visit.  Arriving on Saturday July 10, 2004 I failed to remember that I was living on the Eastern Shore of Maryland in the summer time.  Well, there was a 10 mile back up at the Bay Bridge to get home.  So we took a detour to Annapolis for lunch.  It was Katie, my Mum and me.  Since, there is really no rush on the ES, there was no rush to get over the bridge.  We dined at the Middleton Tavern and enjoyed some of Maryland's famous blue crabs.   Then it was back to the Kinte-Haley Memorial.  My mother appreciated this historic detour and once we got back on the road the traffic was much less congested.  Some of our best trips are the ones that our not planned and this was one of them.  
 

"Behold the only thing Greater than yourself!" Omoro Kinte

Do you remember the miniseries, ROOTS on TV in the 70's? .....I guess there is still controversy concerning this film today. Alex Haley the author of Roots died in 1992 and in 2002 the Kunta Kinte/ Alex Haley Memorial was dedicated in Annapolis MD at the city dock.

About a month ago we watched ROOTS with the kids. It is not easy to watch but it is a part of our history. This slavery business shows us how life has never been perfect and never will be.  Does not every nation and culture have things that they are not proud of and as human beings there are things in our own past that we are not proud of?  Some of us as individuals have things that are quite overt, no doubts.  Most of us have the more concealed faults of the higher nature, those are what Henry Drummond calls the "sin against Love may seem a hundred times more base"  than drunkenness, s-xual immorality and murder.  Nevertheless it is a part of our history.   We are molded and shaped by our experiences both the good and bad. 
 
Hopefully, we learn from our own mistakes but we are to also learn from the mistakes of others.  The old saying goes, "those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it."  The only things that I know about public education are a few facts from relatives and also from reading books by John Taylor Gatto (former public school faculty member in NYC, 30 years and teacher of the year).  What I have heard is that real documents, real books and the truth are NOT included in the curriculum.  History is rich, dramatic and gut wrenching at times.   
 
Kunta Kinte was a proud African who never lost sight of where he came from or who he was.  Why did he run?  Freedom was taken from him and he would not go down without a fight.  He was a free man in Africa and he remained free in his heart and his spirit.  He was able to live above his circumstances and he past on his heritage to his child and an oral history had begun. 
 
To Annapolis we went.  After a quick stop at the Visitors' Center where we ran into one of Dan's co-worker from Westborough State, we headed over to the oldest state house in the Union.  The skies opened up on us as we approached the building, which way do we go?  We ended up at the locked back door and it became torrential.  We huddled under the porch together.....after Michael and Katie got soaked.  As it let up we ran to the other side and they let us in even with our 2 aqueous adventurers.  Squeaking and dripping on the marble floor we took in the history, art and architecture of this historic building.   
Then we made our way down to the dock.  It was a somber occasion.  A story of pain, perseverance and fruit of not just one man's work but of thousands of men, women and children who endured passage to this country in a very inhuman way. 
What an opportunity........briefly the Kunta Kinte - Alex Haley Memorial starts at the Compass reminding us to remember where we come from, then to the statute of Alex and 3 children to remind us to tell our personal history to our own children as well as others and lastly The Story Wall which is to be a place of healing.  There are 10 sculpted-bronze plaques with words and images from Haley's Roots at the Story Wall.   (www.kintehaley.org)

I loved the feel of this city and just getting to places where we can learn and grow as a family.  The world is truly our classroom and experience is the more prolific teacher.     
 

Independence, Freedom, American
For 10 years Karen Mullaney and I celebrated our nation's birthday together with our kids. Usually Dan and Jimbo were working so we would go to Grandpa Mullaney's on Mellen St. Needham for breakfast, then the parade and flea market. It was a tradition ...we stopped doing after Grandpa sold his house...our last 4th of July in Massachusetts we went to Susie and Grandpa's for dinner followed by the Needham fireworks with Karen, Jimbo, Billy, Kelly and all the kids. It was good to be with them again on the fourth not knowing it would be perhaps our last in MA.....Last year we were on Virginia Beach, it was very patriotic...............this year we went to Easton which is one of the 8 best small towns in USA. We were thinking small town America, small fireworks NOT! It was one of the best fireworks we have ever witnessed. The grand finale last 20 minutes. We went in the evening, there was live music with the Vogues (www.vogues.com) they played oldies mostly from the 50's, 60's and 70's (which my kids remind me these are the old oldies). They were excellent but there final song was from the 21st century, with God Bless the USA by Lee Greenwood. Grace turned to me and said, this is the only country song I like....we started singing together and with many others we stood up to sing. This song was written to remember those who died on September 11, 2001 and those who would go on to fight in the war on terrorism, the war in Iraq and now we can also remember all those who gave there lives from the Revolutionary War onward....Grace and I locked arms singing this song....the police didn't stop us, in fact if you looked closely you could see the tear glissoning in his eye in the twilight as he remembered those NYC police officers who died that day in fact, he was singing along with us.
Grace and I listened to focus on the family yesterday where they were talking about Americans who have failed to registered to vote and even some of those who are registered fail to vote and that is to our societies detriment. Some people wanting to 'delete' God from the Pledge of allegiance....whether we like it or not our country was founded by majority of God reliant men. Who knew that without the hand of Providence, they were doomed to remain colonists under British rule.

"Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate for the government of any other." AND "It must be felt that there is no security but in the nation's humble acknowledged dependence upon God and His overruling providence."
JOHN ADAMS, 1798

We not only have the right but also the responsibility to participate in the process of our representative government. It is our failure to act that has gotten us where we are today. The program talked about the failure of the churches and their pastors to encourage us to be salt and light in this world. (by the way, I am a registered voter in FL and I will be voting via an absentee ballot)
I will not forget this fourth of July in smalltown America 2004. Nor will I forget that we are free to celebrate being America, anywhere in the USA. Traveling with our children, meeting watermen and eating blue crab on the Easternshore of Maryland. We are living in unsettling times and we are appreciating the freedom we still have.....

Puzzled
While our dear Lenoure was visiting with us, she said can we do a puzzle together. Well, of course. We chose a puzzle that we had started with Lenoure last year during hurricane Isabel. We didn't get very far, it is one of those puzzles that is shaped. It was too hard by candle light. A shaped puzzle is more life like.....most of life does not have sharp angled edges, clean and easy to see. Most of us don't see clearly what our life will look like at the end of 2004. What shape it may take. Our project "Lighthouses of USA." Our border is in the shape of a lighthouse.

It is human nature to want to have some semblance of control over our lives. We do not know where we are going come late August as we didn't know we would be in Tilghman until 2 days before we left Florida. Sure we can have plans, make them and prepare for them. Are we ready to adjust those plans, change them or just out and out do away with them? Its funny....the thought occurred to me, no one really knows for sure where they will be - come the end of August. We may have an idea but no one really knows for sure. (it has been said, "there are only 2 things in life that are guaranteed death and taxes"....I would add a third: joy, the joy of living if you are not careful) Just like we did not know if we would finish the puzzle this time.
We started the puzzle late Friday night, it was really just a start. On Saturday we started on it in the late morning then we took a break returning to it later in the afternoon. Each of us looking at it from different positions, to begin the work we started sorting out the pieces. Most of us start strictly by looking at the picture on the box. Others of us use the shape of the pieces along with the colors, others step back and take a look from a distance and offer to be of assistance to the other puzzlers, taking part in a more consulting way. There are those who give up easily and move on to other things. A few become very territorial, "I was working on this, this is MY lighthouse" They are not afraid to take on a place and be responsible for one section. These are also the same ones who are very neighborly, coming across a piece of someone else's "shore" or "window" and hand it over, saying "is this a part of yours?" More than half way through we become hunters, our mission is looking more and more like a picture and less like a puzzle. There are pieces we need to complete it. Sometimes if you stop hunting for a piece and just sit back, it almost seems to present itself without any effort on our part. This is what life is like, sometimes we must hunt without finding and have acceptance that it has not been found and trusting that it will come to us in due time. Like the old wise man said, 'for everything there is a season.' Some puzzlers will see it through to the end...everybody's work counts toward the completion. We pressed on and encourage one another and before we knew it we were finished before supper. It was a family effort. In life we need one another. We need people cheering us on, offering help, finding a piece that fits in our path and offering it to us. We need to find something to work on and work hard at it and see it through to the end. If it is not a fit for us we need to recognize that too and have the courage to move on.
These are just some reflecting thoughts....I hope they are not too puzzling ;-)

Claws, bellies and pokers
Yesterday we went to the Seafood Festival on "the Island" as the locals call it. Dan was working so it was Lenoure, the kids and me. Lenoure Mullaney is visiting us for the weekend. The kids biked over and since Lenoure has a bum foot at this time we drove over. The festival is to support the volunteer fire department of Tilghman.
Since I have been in Maryland nearly a month, it was about time I tried some Blue Crabs. I was told that if you like lobster you will like crabs. It has also been said, that if you grew up on lobster you will like lobster better than crabs and vise-versa. They were delicious but I am still partial to the larger crustacean.
Downhome kinda function...there was no fightin for a parking space, no pushin in line, everyone being helpful, plenty of crabs to go around. I know I have already said this before but I can't help it...Tilghman is small town America. The simplicity of life is a beautiful thing. No one around here is in any hurry. They just take life as it comes. These folks know how to live the principle, don't sweat the small stuff (or the big stuff either, for that matter).
What did we do besides eat? Some of the people there (probably the majority) enjoyed a live honky tonk band named Bird Dog and the Road Kings. I don't care for country but they are a very tight band, fine musicians. Michael entered the crab racing contest...his crab went the wrong way. When Michael tried to encourage his crab, the crab snapped at Michael's hand. There was no bloodshed. The girls and I just kicked back and mingled with some of the locals. It was a really relaxing afternoon down by the Bay. Later on Michael was in the parade on his bike with his friend JT.

City Girl in a Rural Town
Most everyone in Tilghman owns a pick-up and a dog, we are no exception but that is merely coincidental. There is no traffic here and this morning I woke to the sound of birds chirping outside my window. It wasn't long before I heard this distant sound of pick-ups getting on there way, some to church and others out crabbing and fishing.
This morning out on my constitutional (which I have neglected for the past 10 days) I walked down a lane, which was probably once a dirt road and now is gravelled. The first thing I spotted was a wild turkey and then a deer prancing through the field. I knew that this lane would lead me to a different view of the Bay. What a view! As I approached the top of a small hill, there overlooking the water was a small family cemetery, the Lomax family to be exact. It reminded me that there is a definite southern flavor to the easterner shore (or DelMar or DelMarva if you prefer). It looked to me that the most recent burial was in 1975. These people lived together and were buried together.
On my return home I spotted another deer, it may become as regular as seeing the Aninga in FL each morning. The state bird, the oriole also made his appearance this morning and I was grateful for the company of the creatures that God has created along with the morning sun, gentle breeze and the occasional pick-up passing by.

City Girl in a Rural Town
Most everyone in Tilghman owns a pick-up and a dog, we are no exception but that is merely coincidental. There is no traffic here and this morning I woke to the sound of birds chirping outside my window. It wasn't long before I heard this distant sound of pick-ups getting on there way, some to church and others out crabbing and fishing.
This morning out on my constitutional (which I have neglected for the past 10 days) I walked down a lane, which was probably once a dirt road and now is gravelled. The first thing I spotted was a wild turkey and then a deer prancing through the field. I knew that this lane would lead me to a different view of the Bay. What a view! As I approached the top of a small hill, there overlooking the water was a small family cemetery, the Lomax family to be exact. It reminded me that there is a definite southern flavor to the easterner shore (or DelMar or DelMarva if you prefer). It looked to me that the most recent burial was in 1975. These people lived together and were buried together.
On my return home I spotted another deer, it may become as regular as seeing the Aninga in FL each morning. The state bird, the oriole also made his appearance this morning and I was grateful for the company of the creatures that God has created along with the morning sun, gentle breeze and the occasional pick-up passing by.

Life Goes On
Declining 2 invitations for yesterday's date was hard for me. The first invitation was to the wedding of our dear Floridian friends' son's marriage to his dear maiden. These are friends we made while we were in Ft. Myers. It is always a great time for Dan and I to attend a wedding celebration. First, it is a wonderful time to remember our own wedding day and our ongoing commitment to one another. Second, we both love music and a reason to rejoice.
The second invitation was to our niece, Jamie's high school graduation party (in Massachusetts)!! Jamie is the 3rd oldest grandchild on Dan's side and it also means that our Grace is not far from this occasion herself. Not only do we always have a great time at a Mullaney gathering but we still haven't met the newest member of the clan, Joseph William Mullaney, firstborn of Barry (Dan's brother) and Mary Mullaney.
Last night we took the kids out to dinner and acknowledge our missing these two occasions, the former 1100 miles to the south of us and the latter around 525 miles to the north of us. So it is a good feeling to know that we are thought of and our presence is missed while we are traveling. It is actually more than that - - it is being loved by both family and friends.

Free to Be
Grace, Katie and Michael rode their bikes to the Tilghman Library which is found in the Tilghman Elementary School. I would have loved to have ridden with them but K's bike is out of commission so she had my bike. Their ride was so carefree on this sleepy little place on the Chesapeake Bay. On the way home I made it over the bridge before they did. So, I pulled into the parking lot on Camper Circle (the street we live off of) and I waited to watch them come over the bridge - all 3 of their faces indicated their happy surprise to find that they could still beat me home. "Let us go by you Mum!" Michael yelled out. Of course, I did. As I pulled out behind them, the tears welled up in my eyes. In my heart I asked the Lord to bless them with the memory of riding together onto Tilghman Island and Mum close by. Then I asked Him to etch this moment in my mind - soon they will ride off into the adult world with their Heavenly Father watching out for them instead of me.
These times are precious and are flying by. This place in MD is helping me to slowdown and drink in the moments that I am having with my children. Hopefully they are enjoying these closing days of childhood on a big adventure with Mum and Dad.

Tilghman, Maryland
Driving up route 50 we entered Talbot County, "Welcome to Talbot County" I read the sign on the side of the road, out loud. "Here is where we will be living." We drove through Talbot County into Queen Anne's County over the Bay Bridge to the Baltimore area. Dan needed to go into Baltimore to get his nursing license. We stayed the night and then it was back over the bridge to our new place. A house on the scenic penninsula of Tilghman is where we are doing our 'fancy camping' for a least part of the summer.
Our last 2 assignments were in good size cities, not unlike where we came from, but now we find ourselves in a very different place. In a small town in the Chesapeake Bay, smalltown America, beautiful,quiet and where you need to plan what day to go into town to do your shopping and do your best not to forget anything.
It was really hot when we arrived. The house has central air and we had it cranked until it quit on us. Our landlord sent someone out the very next day and they were able to fix it. Then a strange thing happened that does not occurred in the ratrace pace of Metropolitian America - the guy stayed for 1/2 hour visiting with us, he showed me pictures of his daughters and grandsons and then he was on his way.
There is not one traffic light in Tilghman. We have to go to St. Michaels to go to the grocery store. The nearest WalMart is 45 minutes away and the cell signal is very weak here.
By God's grace I got a different phone plan this time because there is no cable internet here. Instead we have DSL. So if you want to reach me by phone, email me (macsgrill@pilgrimhighway.com) and I will send you my new phone number. You can leave a message on my cell if you want and I will call you back.

Riding the Road
Since setting out from Ft. Myers Florida I have logged over 3,000 miles on my MPV 97 Mazda (often mistaken for a SUV, it is actually a Multi Purpose Van). We arrived home late last night. Home is wherever the 5 of us lay our heads together. I was thinking that some who actually say I am crazy may be right. Actually, it is just extreme willingness to go the extra mile (pun for your pleasure and comfort, to know that it's me).
We were hoping to be in Maryland the week before we were but that did not work out. So, we moved in on 20th of May and I pulled out and headed for Massachusetts on the 26th. It was great to see those of you who we had a chance to visit and for those who we didn't see hopefully we will see you next time.
Grace participated in Teenpact and thoroughly enjoyed it. Michael, Katie and I attended the one day Teenpact class (or "Teeniepact" as our friend Jerry Stobbe calls it) that includes parents. It was my first time touring the State House of Massachusetts...I am starting to see a pattern here. Last year, we visited Nantucket while visiting our dear friends the Marlborough Grays and we had never been there before either....hummmmmm
Learning about how our government works and how we can play a role within our system was just as much for me as it was for our children.
I observed some leadership qualities in Michael that I knew were there. Of course, I made him do Teenpact but he ended up loving it. Michael and 3 other young men dominated the time used to debate some bills in a mock hearing. It will be interesting to see where these qualities will take our son in the future.

Grace on the plane to Boston
I have never put one of my little ones on a big yellow bus, and I have no regrets about not participating in that part of American culture. Today, I put my daughter Grace on a plane from Baltimore to Boston. She is almost 15 and it seems the days with her in our home are flying by....(punn totally intended)
Grace is growing into a beautiful young lady. She was hoping I would be able to go with her but I could not, so we trusted that she would be well. Her 2 aunties (Shosh & Ellen) will be picking her up and she is going to have a whirlwind of a week with visiting and Teenpact. I can't wait to see her again. Katie, Michael and I will be driving up to MA in a few days. I am looking forward to returning to MA.