From Houston to Greenville

After leaving Houston, in a few hours we crossed the mighty Mississippi at Baton Rouge, and all we saw were steel girders. Our night in Montgomery was distinguished by the crummiest motel we ever stayed in, together with the worst Holiday Inn meal we had ever eaten. Our only high point was noticing on the evening PBS TV news, a conversation with Edie Rasell, a member of our church in Maryland and a good friend.
In Atlanta, we had lunch with Debbie and Ryan, Marv's niece and her husband. We had a wonderful conversation with them about their jobs, their aspirations and plans. I was very interested in the ride and drive she had in a racing Porsche. Ryan works for the Porsche division in Atlanta.
In Greenville, we had a splendid meal and we were all charmed by Samantha.
Here, Helen is, as always, playing teacher -- in this case to Samantha, her granddaughter. Fred, the always attentive grandfather, was interrupted by a healthy blow. Too bad my digital Kodak can't record sounds.
We visited Mom in Oakmont, but didn't take any pictures. She was attentive, communicative, and very interested in the colorful dogs on her blanket. When we mentioned them, she craned her neck up so she could see them. "This is the blanket that was here", she said. We also talked to Trish, a nurse, who said Mom eats every bit of food they put in front of her. Once, when she tried to take a plate away, she said, "I'm not through yet." How true. She's only 97,