Dear Folks, Early this evening as I was curled up with my book and my cup of after-dinner coffee I heard a knock on my door. I didn't have a clue who it could possibly be. Me and my walker made our way to the side door and even though I could see two of them plainly I still didn't have a clue who they were. The closer I got to the door I realized that it was my grand-nephew Mike and his girlfriend Sabrina. Oh what a joyous hug Mike and I exchanged! We hadn't seen each other in about two years. (He's my niece Deb's son.) I invited both of them into my kitchen and we sat down at the table and talked our heads off. They had just come from a weekend touring the wine country of New York and when Mike presented me with a bottle of Bully Hill red wine, I recognized the vineyard right off the bat. It was from the Finger Lakes region. I never thought that Mike and I would ever have a discussion about wines and oak barrels and such, but he and Sabrina and I had a great discussion. I must admit it took me time to mentally adjust to the fact that Mike is now 25 years old and is now an adult. But it seems that during the time the two of us sat at my table, Mike and I covered a lot of territory about his growing up years and even to the trouble he had gotten into. Mike really opened up to me as he had never done before. He now smokes cigarettes and he knows that I've given the one and only lecture about it being hazardous to your health. Now that I've lectured him I allowed him and Sabrina to feel free to use my ashtray. We got into the subject of his being brought up Mormon and his anti feelings about the religion. I knew where he was coming from and I didn't lecture him on the subject. At the same time Sabrina was curious about what the restraints were of the religion. Both Mike and I tried to tell her as simply as we could. By the same token Sabrina told us about her Catholic upbringing and from there we had a marvelous intellectual discussion about the different forms of baptism and christenings and taking Communion in church. The three of us agreed that even though we worshipped in different ways, in the long run no matter what our religion was we respected all religions. Sabrina is such a soft spoken girl but she had a lot to say that surprised me. Along with her soft voice, she has a brain that just won't quit. She and Mike have been together for over a year and I hope it eventually becomes permanent. I have to tell you this part of our visit this evening. I brought up the subject of the book I'm putting together about my stories and the first thing that popped into Mike's mind was the book I had written about the history of the Town of Porter back in 1993. He told me he read it and treasures it and keeps it safe and sound at Deb's house along with his high school diploma. When I continued on about my new book, I told them a couple of the stories, especially about Mother and the hippies. It took awhile for us to figure out what relationship he has with my mother and after both of us pondered over the subject we came to the conclusion that Mother was his great-grandmother. Early on I told him that when my book was finished I'd be happy to give him a copy. At that point he didn't seem to be interested at all; however, when we gave each a big hug when they were leaving, he let me know that he'd like to have a copy. That earned him an extra big hug. I'm looking forward to their returning and toward the three of us having another meaningful conversation. Our conversation this evening was so refreshing and exciting. vee