Coming Together

Joel's relatives are beginning to arrive for Nana's funeral. Two of his cousins that live in Kalispell, Montana arrived very early this morning. Their parents are flying in tomorrow.

Clint and Carrie and their little girl Addison "Addy" Knotts. She is such a doll baby. Carrie teaches 1st grade and Clint owns his own construction company. Addy will be 2 on Wednesday. She is a ton of fun and Raegan is enjoying mothering her.
Clint's younger brother Ben is our "world traveler". He is a free spirit that enjoys spanning the globe with just a backpack. He recently returned from Bolivia doing research for a school project. While he was there he taught basic computers in a prison. He will have some great stories to tell his children, if we could just find him the perfect girl..and get him to plant himself somewhere.
As I'm writing this (11pm) Joel and Ben are watching West Virginia beat Oklahoma in the Fiesta Bowl. Ben is going to hang out with Joel at work tomorrow. How cool!
What a wonderful feeling to reconnect with family and catchup on the events that years apart have yielded. Somehow our families begin to spread out over the globe like tree roots moving farther and farther away from each other. When we are brought together again, often by tragedy, we are able to remember and reminisce of days gone by; the innocence, the fun, the mischevious days of youth. Everyone has a story to tell and the stories flow like water from a spring as each one shares their memories. It is such a shame that this happens so few times in our lives. It is such a shame that it often takes the loss of a loved one to bring a reunion.