As I was driving this morning, I thought about where I was when America was attacked on 9/11. I was working for Merrill Lynch in Texas supporting the financial advisors in half the state of Texas with their annuity and retirement planning. On this day I was headed for the Abilene office and was about half way between there and my Plano home. The news came on the radio of the first tower being hit and and then as I was driving the other attacks unfolded. I continued on to Abilene as it seemed it was a safer place to be then Dallas and at the time no one knew exactly what was going on. Once at the Abilene office we all gathered around the TV and just watched in horror as they replayed the morning events over and over. By afternoon the decision was made to close the office and send everyone home. I got back in my car and began the 3 hour trip back home glued to the radio for every bit of news.
The next three days were spend lying on the couch, watching TV, crying and listening to all the stories of those that were impacted so dearly. One of the Dallas managers was in the Merrill Lynch building near the towers in NYC and told the story of how several of them left the building on foot trying to get away from ground zero and walking uptown and crossing one of the bridges on foot. They found a place to rent a car and drove back to Texas from NY with a stop in Chicago to drop off one of the other managers that was with them. They were so happy to be alive and back home in Texas. And so was I.
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Today I had lunch with one of my baby sisters, Sandy. I was 10 when she was born and she was such a cute petite little one who hated to get her hands dirty or walk in the grass with bare feet! We had an awesome lunch, splitting a sandwich so we would have room for pie! A final celebration of sisterhood and a promise to stay connected. The afternoon brought a ride with Richard to the dentist to for his cleaning and then to West Hartford to the cemetery to say good bye to Mom and Dad and baby Gleason. In retrospect, I should have borrowed some tools and planted a mum at the grave that Debbie has so lovingly maintained. My special in-law sister, Barbara was not at coffee Sunday and wanted to be see Richard before we left so she invited us to join them for dinner at Rockledge Grill. We had good food, some wine and great conversation followed by more good-bye's. Each one gets harder and harder as the departure date comes closer and closer. Love you little brother and your sweet bride who was a bonus sister for me.
Today is our last Monday at the Homewood Suites in Manchester. We have a one bedroom suite here so there is a door between the main area and the bedroom and bath, but living in two rooms is getting old and I am ready to move on to our next place.
Today we had lunch with Doe and Josh and Finn and Sean at our favorite restaurant, Ted's Montana Grill in Manchester at Evergreen Walk. After a yummy lunch we walked to Baskin Robins and had wonderful ice cream! The boys played with soccer sized tennis balls and hoola hoops in the new green park by Baskin Robins.
Saying good bye to them was difficult for Richard and I. The hugs were long and tight and they promised to facetime and text to span the miles. I will see Doe later this week so I was saved from having to say good bye to her today! We will both miss spending time with the Kelly boys a lot! Richard and I went to Sunday Coffee at Sandy and Ted's this morning. All the siblings except Peter and Barbara and Debbie and Joe were there. Chris and Kathleen joined us as well! I am sure they were bored to tears with our discussion of all our medical issues, but there was spirited conversation, lots of memories shared and many laughs along with great coffee and treats. But saying good bye was difficult and although I don't have any reservations about our new adventure in Florida the parting was so very sad and pulled at our heart strings and caused my eyes to leak! I shall really miss the weekly gathering of all my sister's and brothers both the in-laws and the out-laws!!!
Today we went to see Richard's Aunt Beedee Karpinski. She is the surviving wife of his Uncle on his mother's side, She is 20 years and a day older than Richard. Any of you who got Canna's from me, they originally came from Aunt Beedee. She is an amazing almost 92 year old who still drives and lives by herself in Hatfield Mass where she has lived almost her entire life. She was sad to see us leave and we were sad to say good bye. But we invited her to visit us in Florida once we got settled.
We spent the afternoon today with the Kelly clan. Josh cooked awesome burgers on the grill but deferred the praise to Doe who provided the seasoned burgers! We had great conversation and then the awesome freshly baked brownies. Life is good. Richard and the boys walked to the park which was just a short way according to the boys but they neglected to mention it was up a big hill! They had a great time and meanwhile Doe and I had a nice chance to visit and talk about who knows what, but I am sure we must have solved some of life's problems!!
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Author: Penny
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October 2020
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