Saturday was a looooooooooooong day! We left early in the morning to drive up to Rockville so we could attend a memorial service for an old friend who passed away during the winter. Traffic heading up was light and no issue at all. I had picked up several new DVD's for the girls the day prior so they enjoyed them - they watched Astro Boy for the first part of the trip then the little one watched Chestnut - it looked like an innocent enough movie about a dog but half way through I had to give her a tissue to wipe her tears - it seems the landlord told the family they couldn't have a dog in the apartment anymore so the little girl took the dog to Central Park to let it go. It all worked out in the end as the dog saved the landlord and he changed his policy about animals in the building - our little one can certainly put herself in these positions and takes full ownership of a movie!
We arrived in Rockville and the teenager met some friends at Rockville Center - they had about 2 hours together so they went to the library, walked around and had lunch. I took the litte one and the dog (yes, we took the dog with us - ugh) to see her elementary school and our former house. The area around our former home is really nice - they had been working on upgrading the pond by the elementary school for a year or so - it was finished and looks so nice. They actually relocated the original pond, moving it up the hill a little bit, adding a boardwalk and basketball courts. The play area there has always been terrific but the upgrade to the pond area really enhances the whole area. With all of that said, while I greatly appreciate the opportunity we had to live in the Rockville area, today just reminded me that our quality of life is just so much better now.
We stopped at Jerry's for lunch then it was time to meet the teens at the library. We arrived at the church about 30 minutes early and had a chance to spend with so many of our friends that still live there. I also had the chance to see the new sign that took nearly 2 years for the county to approve - it really does enhance the church and it looks so much nicer.
The memorial service was so nice and so well done. I did feel so badly though - there was so much about this gentleman that I did not know; I'll have to certainly work harder on that aspect of life.
After the service we stayed for the fellowship. The banana pudding was cleaned out quickly - there was plenty of food and desserts! I had a chance to spend some time with the pastor as well as some of my closer friends. We made a quick run to the bookstore and then met the 'surrogate grandparents' for supper at their new apartment. These are the folks that basically adopted us during our time there - they came to my wife's graduation and they call me at least once a week to check on us. They are adjusting to apartment life after over 40 years in their last home. They appear to be happy in the senior's housing which is honestly very upscale. They fed us in the formal dining room downstairs then took us up to their apartment to show us around. They have a private balcony, huge bathrooms, big closets, a very nice kitchen and living/sleeping quarters.
The drive home was pretty good - the area where the beltway merges with I95 is always a mess and tough to navigate - a true chokepoint - but other than that, the traffic flowed pretty well. We got home just before 11pm exhausted and fell into bed - unloading the car can wait until tomorrow.
Day Forty Seven comes to an end, here's looking forward to Day Forty Eight.
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