April Was Family Month

Flung far south in Dallas, Texas, we don’t get a lot of opportunity to see extended family in the north. Our last Pennsylvania trip to see our son Jon, his wife Leanne and their children Hannah and Isaac was September 2010. Our last Midwest trip to see Candy’s Dad in Minneapolis, my Mom in Batavia, Illinois and our son David, his wife Rachel and their children Sam and Elizabeth was June 2011. What a treat to connect (well almost) all of these dots in April 2012.

We concentrated some important extended family interaction in just two weeks. Leanne and Jon, Hannah and Isaac came to Dallas April 2. I drove them to the airport early the morning of April 10 and Candy and I headed north that afternoon. Our purpose was to see my Mom as at 92 her health and strength are noticeably declining. As several days of prolonged conversation was just too exhausting for her, we headed to Milwaukee for a couple of days to see David’s family and give Mom a break. They had just returned from a trip even farther north that included a couple of days with Candy’s Dad in Minneapolis. They connected that last dot for us.

For mechanical convenience, I have posted about each part of this journey separately and chronologically. Thus, three posts follow this introduction.

• Exploring Together with the PA Stolpes
• In Solidarity with my Sister for our Mom in IL
• Serendipitous Side Trip to the WI Stolpes