July 10 Oakdale, WI - "Enjoy"

We spent today at the Oakdale Wisconsin KOA resting and relaxing before we head tomorrow up to the New Auburn Wisconsin home of our good friends Jim & Ginny Young. I got an "A" in napping (which is unusual for me) so we must have needed the rest.

I also noted today would have been the 92nd birthday of a very special lady in my life. My step mother, Vi, was such a sweetie and welcomed me with open arms when I left the home of my mother at age 17. She showered me with love and helped me develop a zest for life and what it would hold for me. Many a time I have repeated the phrase she always used when I left to go somewhere...just a simple word..."Enjoy".

She also lived her life in demonstration of that same enjoyment of life. She was the one who never could get her house cleaned without stopping to play the piano with her seriously arthritic fingers...just for the love and enjoyment of the music.

When she married my father I was just 16 and I remember vividly the transformation in him as he learned how to demonstrate his love to each of his children. What a gift she gave to him and to us. She continued to nurture him and us over the years and was always there to brighten the day. In 1993, she earned her heavenly wings and left us with just the sweet memories.

So today, I celebrate being blessed to have known the sweet red headed spit-fire of a loving lady, my step-mother, Vi.

"ENJOY"