The following is from "Notes from the Road #1" that was distributed to some of our family & friends in Nov. 2005.
Sandra has been giving a lot of consideration to gratitude in recent years. Here are some the reasons Rod & Sandra have for being grateful:
1. That we're alive! We've heard of 3 deaths in the last few days: an 86-year-old woman who was Granny to Sandra's daughters, an old friend of Rod's in his mid-60s whom we'd hoped to visit in Redding and discovered he'd died last spring, and the 52-year-old younger brother of Rod's long-time friend Peter in the San Francisco area. The two latter ones have made Rod particularly conscious of his own mortality as he hasn't known too many folks in his age group who've passed out of this world; Sandra is all too conscious of mortality with her history.
2. That we're well! Our little aches and pains are small in relation to what so many folks are going through in their mid-60s, and we hope to keep it that way.
3. That we're blessed with family…. Sandra is so happy to have a relationship with both her daughters, Sheila & Laurie, her stepdaughter/friend Lissa & son Bryant, and we're pleased to have Sandra's sister and brother-in-law, Joan & Bev, as family/friends, along with their children & families.
4. ….and friends. We got to see some of them before we left and Sandra writes to others who are not nearby. We so appreciate having them in our lives. We've been left with some very happy memories to take with us, and we look forward to seeing more family and friends on our trip.
5. That we're having this trip/adventure together. Rod has done some RVing and had long-term trips before, but it's a major adventure for Sandra to have 5 months (!) of just seeing new places and meeting new people.
6. That our traveling companions are compatible/congenial: We're both grateful for each other's love, Sandra's grateful for all Rod's expertise at fixing things in the motorhome, Rod's grateful for Sandra's cooking, and we're both very grateful that Buddy's litter-trained on rainy days.
7. That folks in RV parks (including Wal-Mart, K-Mart & casinos) are very friendly: Sandra finds them like the boaters - 9 out of 10 are both friendly and helpful. Rod helps other guys, and one fellow helped him for several hours in Oregon, including taking him to a store to get a new battery and introducing him to a local mechanic for help. Sandra met a lively 82-year-old widow in the RV park laundry who is looking forward to her next RV trip. Rod reminds Sandra that most people on boats and in RVs are on holidays and enjoying themselves, doing something they want to do.
8. That Mother Nature is so beautiful. We're constantly awed by how lovely this world is that we're living in. There are still many fall colors about and such interesting changes in scenery between Washington state and California. It’s sunny and in the high 60s/low 70s F here (in Northern California), and we're finally out of the rain.
And I could go on and on. Anyway, that's enough for now.
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