Family

Life has a way of intervening at times that causes us to change our plans at a moment's notice. Last week was one such case. Our initial Labor Day plans included diving into a list of chores that has accumulated over the past several weeks and spending some quality R&R time at home as a family. On Wednesday that all changed as we got an early morning phone call that my uncle Carroll Benedict had passed away after battling lung cancer. It was a call that although many in my family were eventually expecting, we certainly were not expecting the call this soon. Once we found out the news, Amy & I put our plan in place to get back to Kentucky to be with family.

After an afternoon of sorting out work obligations, getting the van serviced, and packing clothes, food, toys, twins and dog for the trip, we drove to Asheville that night to meet the Crumpton crew which was also making the trip from Charleston. On Thursday we all drove the final leg through the mountains and across the gorgeous Cumberland Parkway to Glasgow.

The funeral visitation, funeral service, and burial service were all very respectful and obviously very sad. Carroll was very active in the community as a businessman and as chairman of the hospital board and active in the Tennessee walking horse community as an owner and breeder. He will certainly be missed by his family and friends. Our thoughts & prayers go out to my aunt Karen, cousins Jane Layton and Spencer and family.

While it is always difficult to find happiness in situations like this, we did manage to spend some quality time together with family and friends. With Owen, Gus and Corinne together for the first time in Kentucky there was a sense of energy and new life that helped raise our spirits. Corinne was fixated on her older cousins as they rummaged through Matchbox cars and Chevron trucks (given to me many years ago by Carroll no less). Now that she is crawling all over the place she was determined to participate in the fun with the boys instead of sitting on the sidelines.

Similarly we got to visit with many people that we rarely get the chance to see. We got to spend time with aunts, uncles, cousins, my grandmother, many friends like the Downings & Wards, and neighbors on all sides. We got to spend a lot of time with Karen and talking about the path ahead. We watched a DVD of little Maren, the girl from Guatamala that my cousin Jane Layton is adopting.

Being together with family and friends gives perspective and helps get through the troubling times. I am glad that we were able to make the trip back to Kentucky to be together with family.