I've written a few times about a family in France who adopted me as Aunt Alice over 20 years ago. As most international families, they are scattered around the world and it's been several years since they were all together. Greg is married and lives in Dallas with their 1 year old son. Heather and her husband from Tahiti live in Minot ND. Geoffrey and his bride live in France and Jeremy, the youngest who just received his baccalaureate (i.e. finished French high school) still lives with Mom and Dad in France. All 10 of them gathered for several days of fun at Grandpa's house on the lake. The blessing for me is that Grandpa lives about an hour away from the Twin Cities so I was able to join them for a day.

None of what we did together really makes for a very good story. We just ate too much, took a snooze on the couch, told stories, were completely entertained by a one year old who can't talk, dropped Greg and his family off at the airport, spent several hours at the Mall of America where the main attraction was a few rides in Nickelodeon Universe. Then we ate some more with at least 3 conversations going on at once around the table. It was just an ordinary day (except for Jeremy getting sick from a lack of sleep combined with a Red Bull and too many amusement park rides). Yet I thoroughly enjoyed it and willingly stayed up past my bedtime to make it last a bit longer. Sometimes it's good to just catch up with what is happening in the lives of those we love, to hear where progress has been made and of future plans and dreams. I am currently in a situation where I'm meeting lots of new people and it was wonderful to spend a day with friends with a long history and nothing needs to be explained.