Seacoast Maine and New Hampshire
Our daughter Molly, her hubby Tip, and our grandson Owen live in Virginia. Molly and Tip are local kids, having grown up on the Seacoast (southwestern Maine and the entire 13 mile seacoast of New Hampshire). Virginia has the temperate winter climate that we Mainers can only dream of. When it snows (they’ve had four inches in the Arlington, VA/DC area in the last two years), it melts the next day. December snow in Maine rears its ugly head (okay I’m not a skier.) through March.
Dan and Hannah’s picnic table
The down side of living in Virginia is that it’s 550 miles away when big events happen. Tip’s Aunt Pat died this past week. The Virginia Family Rawding is unable to come so Hannah and I are their surrogates. Woody Allen says that 90% of life is just showing up. And showing up for calling hours in Portsmouth is what we do.
A popular woman, Aunt Pat has the line snaking out the front door of the funeral home in Portsmouth, NH even after two hours of visiting hours. It’s important that Tip, his folks, and sister know that we are forever a part of their extended family. Family shows up. We hug, we meet Aunt Pat’s family, and just remind them by our mere presence “they are not alone.”
over60hiker 