This is My Forties

OK people, I'm too emotional (and tired and lazy) to describe who everyone is so forgive me but I am speaking to my family and everyone who knows them, knows their names.  I need to try and get this out before it stops making sense to me. I just got back from my niece Alexandria's wedding and I spent almost the entire six hour drive home pondering the events of this weekend, crying.  What started the waterworks?  A sudden memory that hit me and made everything come together.  A video of me at Tristan's age, refusing to dance with my niece Rachel when she was barely old enough to walk.  Fast forward to yesterday... I spent the entire reception dancing with Rachel.  I realized that as much as everything changes, it also stays the same, and sometimes the change is the best part. I remember being at that very Church for Michelle's wedding as a flower girl.  I remember our Dad giving her away to Tilden and my Mom crying in the front row.  There...

I had mentioned to Mom before we left two weeks ago that I had really missed apple picking since I moved away from home.  Not many states (or countries, for that matter) have apple orchards where locals are free to roam and pick to their heart's content.  Ohio is one of those magical places ;) Sunday morning we called everyone up and made plans to meet at the lake to get some pictures of the kids and let them play on the playground and then we'd be off for some apple picking.  The sun was in a bad spot so the pictures didn't come out like I'd hoped, but the kids had fun nonetheless. We stopped for a quick bite at Wendy's before we headed out to Hartford.  The orchard hit hard times the last few years.  The original owner had passed it down to his son, but his son didn't want to have anything to do with it so the apples got a little disfigured and eaten away by pests.  Thankfully someone came to the rescue and the apples are slowly making a comeba...