Last evening we got together with three other couples for lasagna, pasta with two kinds of sauces, salad, bread, cheese cake, angel food cake, strawberries, and there was more. We watched football, we ate, we talked about our lives, our work, our plans, and we talked about the world around us. We just hung out together for four hours.

Abbie (our college freshman) and Ethan (our high school freshman) went with Cindy and I. One of the other couples has a first-grade daughter who adores Abbie. The eight adults include an engineer, a school teacher, two who work for Standard Insurance, a bookkeeper for a downtown law office, an investigative auditor for the Oregon Department of Justice, a nurse, and a publisher. Cindy and I are by far the oldest.

This is my immediate family and I’m grateful for them.