From Days Gone By

My dad sent this picture to me yesterday..it is on a side angle, but it is the house that my dad grew up in. This is in Warwick, New York...my dad was born in Warwich and two of my brothers. I have memories of this house...not many, because my Nana died when I was almost eight. I still remember the stair case and I remember a Christmas tree one year. I would love to go back there and look through the house...I wonder if more memories would come back. My Nana was the best. I still remember going to visit her during the summer. By then she moved to a retirement apartment...but we used to play cards with her friends (I learned the game steal the old man's pack, but can't remember how to play it) and she used to let me sleep in her bed. I still remember her telling me that I kicked her in the middle of the night and if I didn't stop I wouldn't be allowed to sleep with her...but she never did kick me out! And because of her prayers I believe that is why I have such a wonderful relationship with my saviour. One day when I meet her heaven again, what a day of rejoicing it will be!

So, back to the house...on that side porch my dad sat with his dad on July 22, 1975...My mom was pregnant with me, due in a few weeks. For one of the first times, my dad sat and talked about old times and life with his dad. And during that conversation, my grandfather was the first to say, "you are going to have a girl." My dad already had two boys, so a girl would be different. My dad still cherishes this conversation with his dad, because a little more than a month later my grandfather died. So these few words from him are my only connection to him. I was born a month after his death...the second of my grandfathers to die. I never knew either of them...which makes me cherish my father and father-in-law in the lives of my children.

When my dad was talking to me about this, we came to the conclusion that you only live once and live it with vigor. Live life to the fullest, so that you never live in regret.