Well hello there, friends. My apologies for the lengthy absence. I'm not sure where time has gone! Still doing a lot of writing for work, the deadline is looming. Plus, things are just crazy hectic anyways since there was an every so important day on November 2 that has left a lot of things up in the air.
Last weekend I went to Lufkin for my cousin Nick's wedding. I know it's shocking, me attending a wedding. That's something I never do. It was great to be with family and friends, Nick just happens to be a year older than me and he married a girl that I have known since we were in the same fourth grade class. The happy couple was beautiful and the reception had some of the yummiest cookies I have ever tasted.
While I was in Lufkin, we also celebrated my Great Uncle Reginald's 78th birthday. Hard to believe he's getting that up there in age. I'm still convinced that he's going to out live us all. As with most families, my family has their unique characters. Reginald is definitely one of those characters. For at least the last 15 years, he has lived in Mexico for most of the year, making a trip back to Texas two times a year to take care of business. He lives at this little motel in some small town where he can stay for $15 a day. Originally, when he was in Lufkin he would stay at my Ganny's house. She wouldn't let him stay in the house though, he had to camp in her car port! Eventually she grew tired of his visits, and she shipped him off to our house since there's lots of space for camping at the compound. After a few years of camping out by the pool, my parents let him upgrade his living quarters to our pool house. That's where he stays now.
So every October and April, Reginald comes to visit. He used to come for a week at a time, but now his trips have stretched out in length. He's actually been here for four weeks. As he gets older, he's not sure how much longer he will be able to make the trip, even though he currently has no health problems. You might think October and April are odd times to make an annual trip, but it also coincides with Halloween and Easter. Reginald isn't very religous, nor is he into witchcraft. He is however, a huge fan of a bargain. And he loves to take candy back to Mexico, so that's what he does when he's here. He stocks up on cheap treats.
I tell you all of this because when I was leaving my parents' house on Sunday, Reginald had just returned from the birthday lunch my mom cooked for him at the lake. I had just loaded up my car and had a fun-size Snickers in my hand. I went to say goodbye to him, since I wouldn't be returning to Lufkin before he ventured back to Mexico. He told me to wait just a minute, he had something for me. This surprised me, because Reginald has only ever given me something one other time in my life. He goes down to the poolhouse and returns with two things: a bag of fun-size Snickers and a belt. I'm assuming the Snickers were because he saw me eating one. The belt, I'm just not so sure of. It was purple. And I'm pretty sure it was from a baseball uniform. I'm almost certain I had the exact same one when I played softball on the Phillies in third grade. This was not the same belt, Reginald had bought it for a dollar at a garage sale.
I'm not sure what inspired Reginald to give these gifts, I have noticed he's going a little soft in his old age. I am going to treasure that dollar belt forever, because I know it's probably the only time he'll give me a gift in my life, and goodness knows I can't do anything else with it.
