Trip to Corpus

We are very sad to say that Mamaw passed away this past Monday, April 10th. She lived to be a grand 82 years old (remaining young at heart). We loved her very much and she will definitely be missed. We found out on Tuesday, the 11th and I had to call Kevin and give him the bad news on our anniversary. He was in Lincolnshire for work, and was supposed to come home Friday evening. He managed to get a flight home Wednesday evening, and got in about 1:30 am Thursday morning. We loaded up (just like the Beverly Hillbillies) Thursday morning, and about 9:00 am left for Corpus. Since just about everything we do ends up including a good story, this trip was no different.

The kids were pretty good on the way there, just full of questions (particularly Emma)...."Are we going to stay in a hotel?...What floor is our hotel room going to be on?...Who is going to be there?...Are we going to have dinner in the hotel?..." Obviously all legitimate concerns for any inquisitive 5 year old mind. When we stopped in Refugio for lunch at Whataburger, I told Emma she had about 5 minutes to ask all the questions she could think of, and I would answer them, but then we were going to have a "break" from questions for the remainder of the drive. Remarkably, she could not think of anymore. Funny part about this story is the 2 men sitting in the booth next to us. There were no other tables large enough to accommodate our crew, so they were stuck sitting by us - although I noticed they finished their lunch in a hurry! =)

Later that evening at the funeral home, we were privileged to be part of what soon became a family reunion of sorts. I was introduced to a cousin who looked at me and asked if we had stopped for lunch at Whataburger today. I was a little hesitant to respond, quickly running through my mind what catastrophies may have occurred there...no spilled drinks this time...no food fights...no screaming (by us or them)..."Yes, that was us"! Ironically enough, this was one of the men sitting in the booth by us (who had quickly left once we got there). He not only remembered seeing us, but commented on how well behaved our kids were. I thought he was mistaken (ha ha), but then he also mentioned the conversation we had about the 5 minute allotment for questions. That was when I knew it was definitely us he was talking about. Funny how small the world can be sometimes. As it turns out, Kevin learned his cousin Dennis and his friend Richard did not live too far from us. Hopefully this is one of several family members we can keep in touch with on an ongoing basis. -- JM