Copyright 2003 - 2019 Ted Louis

This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously and any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, events or locales is entirely coincidental.

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Joel VIII

Chapter 30

All of the family will be here this weekend. They are making a big deal out of my 85th birthday. I guess it is, but I would rather remember the day as being some 55 years since the loves of my life came to live with me. It was not always smooth sailing, but we muddled through. I am so proud of all eight of our children and what they have become. I just wish that Donald were here to enjoy the festivities with us. Unfortunately, he passed away a little over six years ago. His heart just gave out.

We did have some 45 years together. Although marriage had been legal for us, we never felt the need to go that route. Our love and respect for each other had been enough to keep us together, not some legal tie.

I have been remiss in keeping the diary of our lives up to date. I was very good about it for five or so years after the boys came to live with me and then it kept being swept aside for more important things.

It's time to chronicle the times in between then and now, or at least the events in our lives that led up to this weekend.

Donald and I amassed a great deal of wealth over the years. Mine was mainly in the apartment complexes and other property that I owned. I also had large holdings in shares of stocks. Donald's wealth was in the vast business holdings of Rekab, Inc. Before he died, he placed nearly everything he owned into several trusts that support a number of charities. I have done much the same thing with my assets.

I still maintain the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the charities that I began all those years ago. I gave up my board membership of Donald's companies twenty years or so ago.

I have lost track of the number of the family who will be here this weekend. Maybe if I start down the members, it will refresh my memory.

Joel Jay Johnson, the love of my life. I can hardly believe that the poor, mute, little waif would become the successful man he is now. He received his BS degree with honors from Rice University. His major fields of study were Mathematics and Computer Engineering. He immediately enrolled in the graduate program at Rice and began study for his Masters.

His life changed after receiving his bachelor's degree. He and his boyfriend, Jimmy Potter, decided to live together in the townhouse. Jimmy also was entering graduate school at the University of Houston to work on his MBA. I was a little surprised when Jeremy Collins, Joel's roommate, asked if it would be okay if he and his girlfriend Beth Ann stayed on in the townhouse. He was going to enter graduate school at Rice to get his Masters in Electrical Engineering. He and Beth Ann were getting married and they would like to share some of the expenses on living in the townhouse. We came to agreement that satisfied both of us. In fact I was happy that he wanted to stay on. I had worried that they would be uncomfortable after Jimmy moved in.

Joel received his Master's Degree and began his PhD. Jimmy got his MBA and started working for a company in downtown Houston. While working on his MS, Joel met another student, by the name of Hal Durbin, who was interested in animation also. They put their heads together and came up with unique hardware that simplified the process. In fact, they submitted a US patent application for it. It was the start of a small company they created, using some of the money in Joel's trust fund. At the time he was not yet 25, so I had to approve it as the trustee. I would have backed it myself after they explained the process to me, but Joel wanted to do it on his own. His share of the $50,000 investment money was 80% with Hal contributing the other 20%.

By the time Joel received his PhD, the company was beginning to grow. They had just about cornered the animation for the advertising markets in the Houston area and were getting request from Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and San Antonio. The administrative side of the business was taking too much of both Joel's and Hal's time. Joel convinced Jimmy to quit his job and take over the administration functions while they handled the technical. Within two years, Johnson-Durbin LLC had tripled in size and was drawing interest from a Hollywood studio that had produced several animated features. Six years later, they sold the company and its 15 patents to a Silicon Valley company for $250 million.

When it had become legal for same-sex couples to marry, Joel and Jimmy did so. The wedding was held at the house in a very simple ceremony with only immediate family and friends in attendance.

After the company had been sold, Joel and Jimmy found that something was missing in their lives. Looking back on his own experience, he approached Jimmy with the idea of adoption. It didn't take much convincing and they began the process of being certified as good candidates for adopting. It took several months, but finally CPS asked if they would be willing to take two brothers who had been removed from their abusive parents. After meeting the boys, aged five and seven, they were hooked. I remember the feeling. To complement their family, they hired a retired nurse, Sara Little, to help look after the boys. She and her late husband had fostered several children over the years. She was also an excellent cook. She reminded me of Hildy when the boys first came to live with me. It didn't take long for Phillip and Connor to adjust to their new surroundings.

A couple of years later, CPS asked if they would consider adopting another boy. Denis was four years old and had been severely abused to the point that he suffered brain damage. He and Jimmy talked it over and decided to meet the boy. He was such a loveable child, that his speech problem and fairly obvious developmental problems were quickly over looked and they took him home. Soon he was their adopted son. Phillip and Connor became Denis' protector. One or both of them were always with him when he was playing with other kids.

I loved having the boys visiting Donald and me. When they would arrive at the house, Denis would run and jump into my arms, yelling, "Gampa!" I never got tired of it, even when he got older and bigger.

Joel still loved to play golf and had built a large house on a golf course in The Woodlands, north of Houston. Jimmy was never interested in learning to play, but Phillip and Conner were. They took lessons from the pro at the club. When he thought they were good enough, they joined their dad to play a round. After that it was a regular occurrence to see them on the course. Usually, their next-door neighbor would fill out the foursome. Denis was content to shoot baskets with Jimmy on the basketball court they had installed behind their house.

All of their boys are grown now. Denis still lives at home with Joel and Jimmy. I don't think they would have it any other way. Phillip and Connor are both married with children. Phillip has two boys, Roy Dean and Andrew Jay, and Connor has a boy, Calvin Bruce, and a girl, Collene Margaret. I'm not old enough to have great grandchildren. Then I realize that all four of them are in high school.

Christopher Mathew Johnson and Linda Bennett were married a week after they both graduated from Texas A&M. It was a much larger affair than Joel's and Jimmy's wedding. There must have been at least 150 people in the church and even more at the reception. They spent their honeymoon in Donald's hotel in Cabo. Linda moved into the condo that I purchased for Chris when he enrolled at A&M.

Both of them had majored in Business Administration with minors in Accounting. They graduated in the top 10% of their class. They were accepted into graduate school and studied for their MBA degrees. After graduate school, they both went to work for one of the major consulting firms. After working there for several years, they were dissatisfied with their jobs.

I received a call from them one day, asking if they could come and talk to me. Of course I agreed. I didn't get to see them that often with their home being in Dallas. After they had brought me up-to-date on their lives, the real reason for their visit was broached. They wanted my advice on whether they should go out on their own. I got them to talk it through, discussing the pros and cons of what they were considering. I could tell by the way the conversation was going that they had pretty much made up their minds. They just wanted confirmation from someone else. Since they both had passed the CPA Exam, I was sure they could make a go of it in the long run.

They knew there would be a few lean years until they had established themselves and built up a client base. Chris had never used any of his trust fund and I pointed out that it would more than last through the lean years with a lot left over. They also wanted to have children. It was then that they revealed Linda was three months pregnant. How wonderful, a grandchild on the way. It would be the first grandchild born into the family.

They started their business in Waco. It took a little over two years for it to become profitable, but the most important thing was they were happy. Their daughter was a beautiful little girl named Samantha Anne. She had her grandfather wrapped around her little finger. She was a runner. As soon as she learned to walk, she was off and running, much to her parents chagrin. She soon had a baby brother they named Carl Albert.

It doesn't seem possible, but Samantha will be graduating from college next year and it won't be long when Carl follows.

It's hard to separate the lives of the twins. They have always been very close and you didn't see one without the other. Lawrence Jay Johnson and Leonard Jay Johnson enrolled in the University of Texas at Austin. I had managed to find a two bedroom condo not too far from the campus for them to live in. It needed updating, so I hired a remodeling company to bring it up-to-date. It came with space for two cars in an underground garage. I might as well have bought a one bedroom unit, because they both insisted on sleeping in the same room, although in different beds.

They both excelled in their classes. They were taking classes that would prepare them for law school. Graduating with honors, they were accepted at the University of Chicago Law School. I wondered how they would deal with the winters in Chicago. It turned out they loved the snow and would learn to ski with friends from Wisconsin. On many winter weekends, you could find them skiing at resorts in the Wisconsin Dells.

Completing their Juris Doctor, they decided to stay on and get a Master of Laws degree. I was beginning to wonder if they were going to settle down and get married. I was pleasantly surprised when they came home, after they finished their education, with their fiancées. They had kept this all very quiet from the rest of the family. Larry's fiancée's name was Ella Cramer. She had completed her Juris Doctor as had Lenny's fiancée. Her name was Carrie Edwards. They wanted to stay at the house and study for the bar exam. I thought it was a wonderful idea. The house would be filled with people again. Unfortunately, Gilda would not be cooking for us. She passed away the previous spring.

The two couples took up residence in the two bedrooms of the addition. One of them had been Gilda's room. For the next six months, I saw very little of them other than at meal times. It was four, nervous, would-be lawyers who took off for Austin one morning to sit for the first day of the bar exam. The second day they appeared to be even more nervous, if that were possible. When they came home after the second day of the exam, they sat down in the living room with me and asked if they could have glasses of wine. It was the first time they had ever consumed any alcohol in our home. They were all adults of legal age, so I could hardly object. In fact, I joined them as they discussed the test. From the way they talked, you would have thought that they failed it miserably.

Donald had come home from work while the discussion had been going on and motioned for me to come with him. He told me of his plan and made a few phone calls. When we both reentered the living room where the four of them were still commiserating on how badly they had done on the exam, Donald told them to go pack their bags with enough clothes to last two weeks. He said they had two hours to get to the airport with their passports and board the corporate jet. They were to spend two weeks in his hotel in Cabo. The boys were all excited about going again. They had been there several times over the years. The girls were a little taken aback, but were soon joining in the excitement. A limo picked them up at the front door and whisked them off to the airport.

Needless to say, all four of them passed the bar exam on the first try. Their next dilemma was to figure out where to set up practice on their own or try to join an established firm. They tried to get Donald and me to tell them what to do, but we successfully dodged that. They finally decided for the four of them to set up their own practice in San Antonio. They planned to concentrate on family and civil law.

They finally decided to have a dual wedding at the house. It was a small affair. Other than the immediate families, there were few other invited guests.

After a few years they had earned a fine reputation for their legal expertise, especially in family law. They, also, became known for their advocacy for changes in the laws governing the foster care system.

More important to me was when both Ella and Carrie gave birth to baby girls within a month of each other. Larry's and Ella's daughter was named Katrina Sue. Lenny's and Carrie's daughter was named Coral Jane. Two years later Ella delivered twin boys, Benson Lee and Bruce Jay. Six months later Carrie gave birth to another girl, Dora Fay . I guess they figured they had enough children, because Lenny's and Carrie's youngest was the last of the children.

Their law firm had flourished over the years. They had expanded and had added five associates to the firm.

By the time their children were all in high school, Donald and I decided that living in the big house was a waste. We moved into a three bedroom condo in a high-rise complex in San Antonio. We still kept the house, but only used it on special occasions.

Timothy Jay Johnson was a surprise to me. During his sophomore year in high school, he developed a fascination with airplanes. He loved flying in Donald's corporate jet. The pilot would often let him sit in the right seat once the plane was airborne. TJ wanted to know everything about the instruments and what they did. The pilot was always very patient with him and did his best to answer all of TJ's questions. There was a private airport not too far from New Braunfels. He begged me to let him learn to fly. Since he had turned 16, I let him take lessons from the instructor. By the time he was a senior in high school, he had his private pilot license.

He applied for appointment to the Air Force Academy and was accepted. It was with mixed feelings when Peter, William and I drove him to Colorado Springs to deliver him to the Academy. TJ, on the other hand, was a bundle of excitement. I just hoped that it would last. It did. He graduated third in his class and was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in the US Air Force. He was immediately sent to flight school to learn to fly fighter aircraft.

Every time he came home on leave, I could hardly believe the changes in him. He was so confident. He still retained the same enthusiasm he had the first day he entered the Academy. While receiving his training to fly jets, he met his future wife. May Coronado was a strikingly beautiful woman, small of stature but one not to be messed with. They married the week after TJ finished flight school. His first assignment took him to Langley AFB near Hampton, Virginia. It was there that their first child was born, a boy they named Jayson Crane Johnson. They spent three years at Langley before being transferred to Germany. Their daughter, Elizabeth May was born there.

It was hard to keep up with them, they moved around the world so often. When TJ was sent to an assignment where May and the kids couldn't go, she would bring them to live with Donald and me. It was great to have kids in the house again. We opened it up to make a home for them, even though we had long since moved into the condo in San Antonio. Despite May's best efforts, Donald and I spoiled JC and Liz terribly.

TJ progressed through the ranks fairly rapidly. He had been sent to all the right schools the Air Force offered. Although, he loved to fly his jets, as his rank increased the requirement for him to fly them decreased. It finally came to a point where all the flying he got to do was to keep his wings. He ended up in a staff job in the Pentagon. He was now a Brigadier General and sitting behind a desk was not what he saw himself doing for very long. After 27 years, he submitted his retirement papers and left the Air Force.

TJ wanted to go to work with one of the commercial airlines as a pilot, but May put her foot down. She and the kids had been dragged around the world while he was in the Air Force and much of the time he was away from home. She wanted him to settle down and have a normal life. A commercial pilot would be gone too much of the time. He got the message. It took him a year or so to find the right job. He was offered and accepted the presidency of a medium sized company in Phoenix. His management skills that he learned in the Air Force served him well and the company flourished. When it went public three years later, he got a sizeable amount of the company's stock. Ten years later, at May's insistence, he retired for good.

Peter Randall Johnson had always loved animals, Bandit in particular. With this in mind, he entered Texas A&M and began studying to become a veterinarian. There he met his soon to be bride. Nichole Jessop was studying to become a teacher and working on her Master's Degree. While Peter was working toward his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine, they got engaged. They married the week after he graduated. Nicki had taken a teaching position in the College Station schools while she waited for Peter to finish his education.

Tracy Smith had been taking note of Peter's progress and when he graduated, Tracy offered him a position in one of the four clinics he had. After talking it over with Nicki, he accepted and she applied for a teaching job in the Comal County school system. Peter loved his job. It gave him the opportunity to interact with the animals he loved. The clinic he worked in was on the north side of San Antonio, so the animals he saw were, by and large, small pets.

Several years later, Tracy wanted to retire and offered Peter the opportunity to purchase the clinics. After talking it over with his wife and me, he decided to make Tracy an offer for the business. A little bit of haggling later, Peter was the new owner of the four animal clinics.

Peter and Nicki had tried to have children of their own, but it never happened for them. After they finally came to the realization that they would never have any children of their own, they decided to adopt. Nicki had become disillusioned with the school bureaucracy and decided to be a stay at home wife. That worked out perfectly when it came to adoption. They went through the process of becoming certified as qualified adopters.

It was a couple of months later that a CPS caseworker called on them to see if they would accept a three year-old girl. They had a preference for a baby, but those were hard to come up with and they knew it. They agreed to meet the young girl. The next day the CPS caseworker brought Eloise Marie Stanley to the house for a visit. She was a shy youngster, but quickly warmed up when Charlie, their brown and white King Charles Spaniel, came racing into the room. Eloise and Charlie immediately bonded as they played on the floor. That settled it. They would try to adopt Eloise. They did three months later.

A year later they adopted a four year-old boy named Roger Lee Wilcox. Two years later they adopted another two year-old girl, Grace Larsen. CPS said the girl had no middle name. I asked them if they were going to quit at three, but they just smiled.

William Ray Baker was lonely after Peter went off to college. He and Lenore were the only children left in the house and Penny was the only one left at home in the Strasser household. Throughout high school, he had not discovered anything that really caught his interest. When he graduated from high school, Donald suggested that he take a variety of college courses that would help him decide what he wanted to concentrate in. He took an introduction to botany course at UTSA (University of Texas, San Antonio) and found his interest. He was going to become a botanist. He transferred to UT in Austin for further study. It took him five years to complete his BS since he lacked many of the prerequisite courses. That didn't stop him. He went on to receive his Masters and PhD in Botanical Science.

He met his wife to be as he was doing research for his PhD thesis. She was a Research Librarian in the UT library. She was instrumental in helping him to find appropriate material for his thesis. Pricilla Jo O'Donnell was a beautiful woman with fiery red hair and freckles. It was easy to see why William was attracted to her. She had no living relatives so when they were married Lenore served as her Maid of Honor. It was a small ceremony held in the house with only the family that could be there and a few of their friends.

William went to work at an Agricultural Research Center in California. Pricilla took a job as Research Librarian at nearby UC Davis.

Several years went by before they announced that a grandchild was on the way. Donald was beside himself with glee. He loved all of my grandchildren, but having one of his own was special. When the time came he loaded the corporate jet full of gifts for a baby girl and flew into the Sacramento airport. They already knew the sex of the baby. Donna Jean was born one day after Donald had arrived. She had her mother's hair. Donald told me later he couldn't believe how small she was when he held her.

Two years later they had a boy they named Donald Ray. Donald was beside himself, again. He could hardly believe his second grandchild was a boy and named after him. Pricilla remained at home to take care of the two children until they were both in school. She then took the Research Librarian job at Sacramento State where she remained until retirement. William retired at the same time. Their children were grown and had lives of their own. They decided to spend the next couple of years traveling. Donald would receive postcard from the places they visited. He had a thick stack by the time they got tired of traveling and decided to settle down. They bought a condo in Florida big enough for their children to visit, which wasn't often enough for them.

Lenore Larraine Baker was the last to leave our household. During her summer vacations in high school, she would go to work with her dad. She would make herself useful in the various departments of her dad's business. This also went on during her college years at the University of Texas where she received her BS and MBA. She applied to and was admitted to Harvard Business School where she earned a PhD in Management.

After graduating from Harvard, Donald insisted that she take six months to a year traveling and decompressing from the rigors of her studies. She argued a bit, but Donald was adamant. She did spend three months traveling throughout Europe. Her fluency in French and German made much of her travel easier.

She came back after the three months and demanded that her dad put her to work in the company. He relented and made her his Executive Assistant. By this time the writing was on the wall. Donald was beginning to show signs of his heart problems, but he insisted on working a full week. After about six months it was apparent that Lenore was running the company and Donald was slowly easing out of the President and CEO positions as Lenore absorbed more and more of those duties. Finally, Donald gave her the titles and became the President Emeritus.

Lenore was an astute businesswoman. When she saw business opportunities she took advantage of them. Under her leadership of the business it grew rapidly. Donald loved both of his children, but there was a certain sparkle in his eyes when he talked about Lenore. His only concern was that she had never married. It was not until a year before Donald died that she found a husband. Conrad Bright was also an entrepreneur. His business was not as large as Lenore's but it fit very well into the merged corporate structure. They never had children. By the time they were married, Lenore was in her early forties and didn't feel the need to raise a child. Their corporation was their child.

Luke Adrian Strasser followed in his uncle's footsteps. Out of high school, he received an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point. He did well at the Academy and received a commission as Second Lieutenant in the US Army. His uncle Mel was there to pin a bar on one side of the new officer's uniform while Manfred was on the other side. His first duty station was at Fort Benning, Georgia. After several different assignments in various parts of the world, he was sent to one of the hot spots in the Middle East.

Donald and I had been spending the day with Manfred and Hildy. We had planned to grill some steaks and baked potatoes. Penny was the only one of the girls at home since Ginny and Jeannie were both in college. When the doorbell rang, Manfred went to answer it, muttering about who could it be. The next we heard was a loud, "NO!" We rushed to see what was happening. There was an Army officer holding Manfred so he would not fall. We immediately knew that it was bad news. Captain Luke Strasser had been killed in a bomb explosion in Afghanistan. Now Manfred had lost both of his sons.

Luke's remains were returned to the US. Manfred and Hildy had decided the he should be buried in Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery. He was buried with full military honors, after which a folded flag that had covered the casket was presented to them. It took a long time before Manfred returned to his old self. Hildy, the stoic German, did not show her feelings as much as her husband. Knowing her as I did for so many years I could sense that she was grieving as much as Manfred.

Jeannie Sue Strasser graduated from high school and enrolled in Sam Houston State University at Huntsville to pursue a degree in Education with the intention to teach school at the high school level. She met her husband after taking a teaching position in the Katy school system. Both Manfred and Hildy were very proud of her, but wished she were closer to them. She and Brandon Caulfield were married after her third year of teaching. The ceremony was held in the small church that she and her family attended in New Braunfels. It was the first female to marry in our extended family. Donald offered the use of the honeymoon suite in the hotel in Cabo and they graciously accepted his offer.

Five years later Jeannie gave birth to a boy they named Joseph Manfred Caulfield. Manfred was delighted. You could almost see the old Manfred reappear. He still grieved over the loss of Luke.

Virginia (Ginny) Marsha Strasser was next to graduate from high school. She wanted to be a nurse. She enrolled in the University of Texas School of Nursing in Austin. This pleased her parents because she was so close to home. She received her BSN and continued her education to become certified as a Nurse Practitioner. With this certification, she was able to perform many of the things that a medical doctor did. Her patients loved her. She had joined the practice of Dr. Mike Potter, the same Mike that tried to teach her how to swim all those years ago. She never married, but later she became a world traveler volunteering with various charities providing medical services to poor countries in Africa.

Penelope Lorraine Strasser was the last of the children to leave our homes. She decided to follow her sister in nursing. She did not, however, go on to become a Nurse Practitioner. Manfred was proud of all his girls, but there was something special to him about Penny and she reciprocated. It was a sad day when Manfred passed away during her junior year at UT. We all felt a great loss at his passing. Since he was retired from the Air Force, he was buried next to Luke in the military cemetery.

Penny finished her nursing degree and went to work at the Children's Hospital in San Antonio where she still works today. She never married, but she did have children - all the ones she cared for in the hospital.

Hildy Ramirez Strasser seemed to age quickly after Penny left home. Donald and I finally convinced her to sell her house and move into an assisted living apartment on the north side of San Antonio. Once she was there she loved it. There were so many activities to do to keep her busy. I kidded her that there were a lot of "old ladies" she could boss around. I think she was happy there, but one morning I received a call that she had passed away. She had left specific instructions on what she wanted done after her death. She wished to be cremated and her ashes sprinkled over Canyon Lake. She had always loved the view from our back yards and now wanted to be part of it. Of course we honored her wishes.

The day was finally here when the family started gathering. Joel and his brothers had arraigned for a large tent to be erected on the boys' soccer practice area at the house. Since it was summer time, they even had it air conditioned. I was grateful for that. I didn't tolerate the heat as well as I did when I was younger. Joel and Denis picked me up at the condo to take me to the house.

I was pleased to see Denis. He quickly approached me, wrapped his arms around me and said, "Gampa." Just like old times, but I was thankful he didn't try and jump into my arms. His dad must have warned him not to. I hugged him back.

"Come, dad, let's get you to the car," Joel said.

I picked up my cane and started after him. Denis took my other arm and we walked to the elevator that would take us to the ground floor. Denis insisted that I ride in the back seat of the car so he could sit beside me. I told him he was a very special boy. That made him smile and squeeze my hand.

It looked like a used car lot when we drove through the gates. Cars were parked all over the yard. They had saved a place by the front door for Joel to park his car. I was thankful for that. Even with my cane, I can't walk very far before having to sit down. Joel led me through the house and out the patio door. We walked slowly to the tent. My sons each gave me a hug as we walked. I was grateful when we entered the tent and I could sit down. I was getting a little dizzy. Joel led me to a large comfortable looking chair at the front of the tent where I sat down.

The parade of friends and relatives began to file past my chair. My six sons plus William took up positions behind my chair as daughters-in-law, grandchildren and their wives and husbands, filed by to shake my hand, or give me a kiss. There were even some great grandchildren and their spouses who came by. Some of them I hadn't seen in years and others I had never met. It seemed as if there were thousands who shook my hand by the time they all had filed past.

The caterer announced that food was being served in the adjacent tent. It was to be served cafeteria style. Joel told me what was on the menu and asked me what I would like and he would get it and bring it to me. I was grateful for that. I didn't feel like standing in line, I was getting tired. He soon returned with a tray of food. TJ was following him with a small table he placed in front of me. The food looked and tasted very good.

As I was eating, the tent filled with people carrying trays and food and sitting down at the long tables that were on either side of the main aisle. Soon the tent was filled with sounds of laughter and chatter of happy people.

Later, after everyone had eaten, the caterer rolled in a cart with a huge cake on it. The writing on the icing said, "Happy 85th Birthday". I was glad that they had not put 85 candles on the cake. It would have burnt down the tent. Instead, there were two large candles in the shape of an 8 and a 5 that were lit. I had to stand and bend over the cake to blow them out. I was informed that I needed to cut the first piece, which I did. It was a chocolate cake with white frosting. The caterers cut and distributed the remaining pieces of cake.

By early afternoon, I was beginning to get tired. I motioned to Joel and asked him to take me into the house so I could lie down a bit. He readily agreed and he and Denis took my arms and led me to my old bedroom. An hour or so later I was feeling better and rejoined the festivities. There was a cool breeze blowing when I exited to the patio, so I sat down in one of the lounge chairs and watched the happy people of all ages swimming or playing tennis or just standing around talking. As I looked around, I was proud of what Donald and I had done bringing up such wonderful children. I would never have believed it 55 years ago when it all started. It brought tears to my eyes.

Later as it was getting dark, I asked Joel to take me back to the condo. I could have spent the night at the house, but it no longer felt like home. Joel and Denis delivered me to my condo and saw that I got settled in.

"Goobye, Gampa. I wuv you," Denis said.

"I love you, too," I said, giving him a kiss on the forehead. He had to lean down for me to do that since he was a bit taller than I was. "You make sure your dad behaves himself."

He laughed and said, "I will."

The following email message was sent to all family members:

Your comments and criticisms are welcomed and encouraged. I try to answer all emails including flames. Send them to tedlouis@tedlouis.com, please put Joel in the subject.