A little family get-together

Today, my brother, Charlie, threw a party at his house. In the space of three days, my sister-in-law, her grandmother and my other brother, Al, had birthdays (my brother Al's was today).

So Charlie had a barbecue and invited me (and Marc, of course), our brother, as well as my sister-in-law's family and some friends of theirs.

In addition to my brother Charlie, his wife and son, our hosts included the lovely Rudy...



(In case anyone cares, Rudy is a female dog, despite the (usually) male name. Yet another long story.)

Rudy was a fine host, although she occasionally needed to take a break to run around the yard and bark when she spotted a squirrel running along the telephone line behind the house.

It was a lovely fall day, and I had a nice time, relaxing with my family. We're a smaller family after the sad events of earlier this year, but life is going on. The kids are growing, and we're enjoying these good days as much as we can.

I guess that's what the focus needs to be--the good things. Life can be hard, but it has its sweet moments as well. Those sweet moments need to be cherished, for they are really some of the best things in life.