Dear Jack and Flora,	August 18, 2008

I am so sorry for taking so long to write to you. Sorry also for the computer instead of my usual scrawl! It has been a busy year so far indeed, (as has yours), I had been intending to write many times, but Aunt Ede couldn't find your letter and I couldn't remember who had passed in addition to your beloved brother. She finally found it and then another letter came with tales of your latest adventures in the hospital. I then determined to sit my fanny down and write to you, no matter the medium, no more time should be allowed to pass!! I am so sorry to hear of your losses, I remember Archie well. It is always so hard to lose a family member, but even more so when there is a special affinity.

I am glad that your valve replacement went so well Flora, that's the one that mom had a couple of years ago. Is it a pig's or a cow's? I have to tease mom that she occasionally moos! I don't recall knowing that you were in hospital Jack, but now that I've made it to 52, there seem to be more and more things that I don't remember! Sounds like you are both on the mend though, how is everyone else? We really didn't have a chance to see much of anybody when we were there. Steve and Myriah were so happy to meet you both, and your hospitality was as generous as ever. They had a really great time. I am toying with the idea of a trip to the isles next year. This April I went to Italy with my friends Matt and Sue and their daughter kiara and my friend Judy. We had a great time. It was unusual for me to travel with others, preferring to travel alone, but it was great fun, as was my time with my brother and my niece. I have a friend – Helen, she's from Wales originally, and she used to work for me. We have dear friends – Donald and Vera Muggeridge - from England as you might imagine. He is 91 and she is 92, we visit with them and they have me interested in the Scilly Isles (sp?), I've been toying with the idea of a trip taking me from some Scottish Isles to the Lake district,(which I didn't get to see with Steve and Myriah), finishing in those southern Isles. Sounds like a unique adventure, and needless to say, if it works out, I'm afraid you would be stuck with a visit from me. It had been quite a few years since I'd been back to Britian and it really reminded me just how much I love it. Feel like I should put in some sort of stop to Wales as well, just have to figure out how to plot it all out. It really isn't very big, not that you would know it from the 12 ½ hours it took us to get from Windy Gates to London! That's what you get for traveling on a school holiday! My job is pretty taxing, I manage a couple of gourmet markets in San Francisco. Lots of bouncing back and forth. It's a challenge, but we're seeing great success and that has it's rewards. Mom and Aunt Ede are o.k., both having their share of problems, mostly pain. Lately, Aunt Ede's wrist and hand were swelling up like crazy, I thought she'd had a bad sprain or even a break. Turned out to be a very serious infection of the deep layer under the skin called cellulitis. I got her to the doctor and it was a good thing, a few days more and she would have been done for as it spreads through the lymphatic system. Thank God for antibiotics! Though they have left her so weak that she can't even lift a tea kettle, an interaction with other drugs. Now that the antibiotics are done, hopefully things will stabilize and some strength will return. As we say here, growing old ain't for sissies!, even at my age I'm learning that. It is tough to see such independent women so dependent, but I am glad to do for them as they did for me – God knows I was a handful!

Well folks, you can see another danger of using the computer to write my letters, it allows me to blether on even more than usual! I am so sorry really though for taking such an absurd amount of time to write, Once upon a time I was a pretty good correspondent. I guess that the daily grind caught up with me.

I do hope that everyone is well, and that if I make it back to Windy Gates in 2009, I will get a chance to see some of the folks and spend a bit more time with you.

Be well and take care of yourselves, all my love, Richard

Richard Williams

2008-08-19T19:49:00

Richard Williams