A Million Little Pieces Of My Mind

We were awakened in shock by two falling bodies, which turned out to be those of John and Betty Ann's youngest, Craig and Suzie, jumping off the banister and right on top of us! Suzie literally landed on Chris' stomach, knocking the breath out of him for a moment.

I hadn't planned on more than a brief stop, but John and Betty Ann had already planned a lunch and a get-together with my other half-sister, Shirley, whom I barely knew at all.

I don't think I've mentioned it, but John was a Methodist minister, and their home was actually the parsonage. One of the parishioners dropped by while we were there.

So we took a couple of shots of Chris and me with John and their kids. (I'm not sure why Betty Ann wasn't in them, unless she was taking them.)

Chris, Paul
Margie
Suzie and Craig

Suzie (on my shoulders)
John, Paul, Margie

Suzie (still on my shoulders), me, and Margie

Then Shirley arrived with most of her five children and their pet raccoon. Neither Chris nor I had ever seen a raccoon up close and thought it was great fun.

Shirley, me (holding the racoon), John
Margie, Suzie, Lynn, Laura

John, Chris (holding racoon)
Margie, Laura
Mark, Sue, Lynn, Craig

Craig (on my shoulders)
Laura, me, Margie

However, just a few months later, the raccoon bit the finger off one of the little boys; I heard his father promptly killed it but, um, have since been informed the poor creature was taken to a place called Space Farms (which is a real place; it's in Wantage, New Jersey).

So, our time in New Jersey was spent reconnecting with my extended family. There was the disappointment of not being able to see Billy—I mean, Walt—but also the unexpected joy of getting to know Betty Ann and John, and Shirley, and all the cousins.