Monday, October 1, 2007

Golf tourney in Kansas



Spent the weekend up in Atchison, Ks, my hometown. Went up there to meet my dad (red shirt) for a gold tournament for his high school, Maur Hill. Had a great time with family and I absolutely love going up there. I'm not the greatest golfer, but it's o.k. to be mediocre at it around these guys, besides, my uncle Phil (white hat) carried us the whole way around the course. I'm in the picture with my uncle Mark, one of the funniest human beings on earth, along with my dad. We had a lot of laughs that afternoon.
This was my first trip up there since my grandmother passed away. It was odd in a lot of ways, but very special in a lot of other ways. I don't think my dad and I could bring ourselves to drive by her old house. It sold not long ago and it's hard to imagine someone else living there. She lived there for at least 50 years. My aunts and uncles are torn on going by the house. My uncles Ronnie and Mark said they passed each other early one morning driving by the house at the same time, just to check on it, like they used to check on Grandma. My aunts on the other hand, don't like to drive by there. I think I'm with them on that. I'm sure at some point I'll be ready for that, just not yet.
It was wonderful how conversation of grandma and her house would weave in and out of the conversation, sometimes as if she was gone, sometimes as if she was right there with us. It was fun to see pieces of my grandmother in all my relatives. My uncles definetely pick up the slack with her sense of humor and my aunts and cousins seem to have picked up her habits of catering to everyone.
more pics coming....
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1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Hi JB,

It was odd to me that I found myself reading this particular blog...a) because I've been to this website maybe three times total, and b) my sister and I were just having this exact conversation about driving by our childhood homes in North Texas. I'm sure it's not the same for everyone, but driving by the homes actually tainted our childhood memories of the homes. It's been years since we'd seen them, so much had changed; although, I know that most likely wouldn't be the case for you since her home sold recently. At any rate, we were regretful that we'd driven by because it felt like our memories were violated somehow. The new owners had changed the landscape of the homes so drastically that it's as if we were never there. Or, at the very least, that our memories were somehow less real. We both regret checking out our old neighborhoods, but I'm sure every person reacts a little differently, so I wouldn't want to discourage you...just thought I'd add our experience to the mix. Take care...