All my relatives are favorites, but they are most favorite when they are visiting me. John’s sister Barbara and Thom were here for a night, between visiting his brother in the middle of this state and one of their children in Maryland. It was wonderful to see them and catch up on their news. We talked a lot the evening they arrived, and we continued as we walked to the stop sign the next morning. I forgot to take a photo of us there; it was much easier to remember to take pictures at the creek. Thom did the honors with a selfie at the house.

I loved the roundup of news. Here are the brackets. Their youngest grandchild is three years old and has an amazing vocabulary. The oldest has a job in California, but she lives and works remotely in Manhattan. If I didn’t know better, I’d think she was COASTing along.

As Barbara and Thom left here, they were heading to see two of four grandsons playing soccer in Maryland. They would have time to be together after the games, and the trip home to Long Island the next day would be a familiar one. Knowing them, they will hit the ground running. We didn’t have a lot of time together here, but we made the most of it. I enjoyed every minute.

After they left, David and I had a good laugh about the beginning of my day. Right now the easiest way to accommodate guests is for them to stay in my room, and I sleep in David’s room. I must have been reaching to shut off the alarm when I felt myself slipping off the lower bunk. On the way down, I told myself not to make a noise, and I didn’t scream. I didn’t even groan, but I did land with a thud. I looked toward David’s bed and didn’t see any movement, so I thought I was the only one who knew I’d fallen out of bed. David’s story? He heard a thump, raised his head, asked softly if I was OK, and after no response from me, put his head down again. He saw me moving and knew I was fine. Without hearing aids, I thought the room had been totally quiet. Just now, to satisfy my curiosity, I measured the distance from the top of the mattress to the floor. It was only 18 inches. I DO know better than to fall out of my bed. The fall there would be 33 inches.