Deciding to Stay

09/06/-09: There was a little talk of going down to Newport for next weekend to see the tall ships - and be crushed by tourists with ice cream cones who were there for the same purpose. Kristy and I would have to rent a motel room because the upstairs apartment in the Newport house has a well-paying tenant, so we scratched that idea and decided to stay put for our entire visit. It made me glad. I have no desire to drive 4 hours down to Newport after the long trip to get here from Georgia. I want to be with my family. They are a source of healing for me, an I think they understand that this needs to be a retreat for me as well as a vacation. Poor Chad feels he needs to be entertaining us. It's his nature to be doing something all the time, and tried hard to recruit us for Yahtzee and croquet and some game called corn hole. That one sounds gross to me, so I'm happy he hasn't actually been able to buy one yet. I think we convinced him that sleeping until 10 and lounging around drinking coffee and knitting or writing for a couple of hours is all the entertainment we need. I slept late and feel as though I'm about to recover from the trip. I'm thinking about Clint almost constantly. I'm so grateful he was able to come up last year, even when the work was in progress and he had to come through the back door rigged up with a ramp for his wheelchair. He got here, Goddamnit. He got to eat meals at the table on the porch and enjoy the vies. And he was so proud of these kids. I miss him terribly.

Having decided that we women were fine without him, Chad moved on to more important work He turns 40 on the 2oth and is planning a huge party.