Bittersweet Memories

After our trip to Washington this summer we took a detour and spent several days in Lake Tahoe with our good friends. (I'll post those pics someday.) We stopped in Klamath Falls, Oregon en route to Tahoe. I was born in Klamath Falls and lived there until I was 9. I haven't been back there since I was 12, I think. It was really fun to show Jason and the kids my old neighborhood. I showed them the house I grew up in and my elementary school. Jason enjoyed the little trip down memory lane; I'm not so sure the kids did. I don't think they actually believe I was ever a little kid . . . or maybe they just really wanted to get to the hotel pool. :)

My house when I was a little girl; there's a great plum tree in the

backyard that made the best forts!

I also had the chance to stop by the cemetery where my brother Johnny is buried. He died while we lived in Klamath Falls. I was 8; he was 17. He died suddenly of a rare heart defect, and I'm not sure my dad ever fully recovered from his death. He was my only sibling. It was a very special thing for me to visit the grave site. I know he's not there, but it was a great chance to remember him and to tell my kids about the uncle they never knew. I have very sweet memories of him, and I hadn't been back to the cemetery since we moved to California in 1984. Being there brought out emotions I didn't know still existed, but I am so thankful I got to share him with my family.