We had a very different Christmas celebration this year. In the past we’ve normally celebrated Christmas at home, with the exception of a few years in a row when we went up to Mom’s house in New York. Staying at home was the preferred option as the Charest family is currently spread out from Washington, California, Tennessee, Northern Virginia, and on out to Wales. However, this year the stars aligned and we all descended upon Tennessee for a very Charest family reunion Christmas celebration.
Category: <span>Family Stories</span>
It’s Thanksgiving day again; another year passed remembering the good and the bad. Thanksgiving continues to be my favorite holiday, and one thing I’m thankful for is that this holiday has remained relatively commercial-free. This is and should be the one day each each when families and friends come together to celebrate, reflect on the year passed, and give thanks for their many blessings. Then eat a lot of turkey-based foods.
Back in 1970 I had just landed my first job as a newspaper delivery boy for the New York Daily News. It was a big deal for me, getting a job at the ripe age of 13, as it meant I had money in my pocket. On a good week when I finished collecting and paid my manager his cut I might actually have as much as $15 profit for delivering 60-80 newspapers each morning, seven days a week.
The first thing I used my new-found wealth for was to invest in a radio cassette tape recorder. I wanted to listen to music and be able to record it. With the wonders of then-new solid-state electronics, all kinds of gadgets were becoming available. So I found a sale on a quirky portable AM/FM/Cassette recorder that was within my budget, and with Mom’s help driving me to the store I became a proud new owner.
I’ve been traveling for business on an average of one week per month for the past six years. Include personal travel, and this means a lot of time spent in airports. With airports come the TSA security checks and all the related security theater that comes with the TSA. I have never said or written anything nice about the TSA in the years I have been dealing with them; until now.
I was up at Mom’s house in the Hudson Valley region of New York this past weekend, and had a chance to spend a few hours kayaking. I chose to paddle the Bashakill (from the Middle Dutch kille, meaning “riverbed” or “water channel), and it turned out to be a great choice!
My brother Howard and his wife Pam dropped by for a visit this past weekend. It was a particularly special event as they live on the left coast, in the Great State of California, city of Los Angeles. As best as we can figure, it’s been five years since they were last here, although I’ve visited them several times when I was on trips to Los Angeles.
So after 18 years, 4,410,036 words printed across 10,173 pages in 14 books, the end is here. Trollocs and Darkhounds and Channelers; Myrddraals and Draghkars and Gholams; Darkfriends and to’rakens and more! All finished, the good guys won, and the survivors get to start the fourth age of man.
I am talking of course about Robert Jordan’s “The Wheel of Time” epic, a Fantasy/SciFi epic which I started reading in 1996 and finished this past Friday night.
I am sad to post that another family idol passed last week. Our Aunt Therese (fondly known as “Aunt Terry” to those of us in the family who are French-language challenged) was found dead in her apartment last Tuesday morning, July 8.
So after a two week trip exploring the exotic sights of Europe, I was back home for one week then traveling again. This time, I explored the exotic sights around Seattle, Washington, and San Diego, California. It’s a job.
Winnie and I returned home Saturday afternoon from our two week vacation. It turned out to be a great vacation, and we accomplished just about everything we planned on doing while still having a relaxing time.