A VISIT WITH DAWN.

Saturday morning, I drove to my brother's house in Valley Springs. Wild turkeys seem to have taken over his yard.

when I first moved to Calaveras County, nary a turkey could be found. Now, they are everywhere. Their predators have been pushed to higher elevations because of encroaching building and population in the foothills. Still, you'd think a wily fox or coyote might find a convenient meal. He claims they hang out under this tree and he can't figure out what they are eating?

We loaded into his van and drove to the Terraces Assisted Living Center where my sister, Dawn, moved two months ago. She has a nice, bright apartment and loves assisted living. However, she is being treated with radiation for brain cancer and being very brave about it. We worked for hours on the genealogy.  My folks moved around a lot before and after we were burned out in Michigan. As a result, Dawn attended 13 different schools in her lifetime. Less for Bill and I. We three are the oldest of our family of seven siblings and it was difficult to figure out where we lived when, sometimes.
At the Terraces, Dawn can reserve a room to have a family gathering. In this case, we had Sunday brunch.
Dawn's daughter, Debby, her husband Bob, and their daughter-in-law, Margaret and grandson, CJ are enjoying their buffet choices. Mimosas are served with Sunday Brunch.

Dawn's grandson, Jeffry, and newest great grandchild, Abbie, who was a bit camera shy and about to cry. She isn't quite walking yet. She is the youngest of Dawn's 6 great grandchildren.
Sometimes it is really tough to think of my niece as a grandmother. Grandparents don't seem to be as old as our grandparents looked to us.
After awhile, Abbie got a bit friendlier.

About noon, we left the Terraces but not before Brother Bill had to call Triple AAA to get us on the road again. He has a second owner "new" Dodge Van, and the battery was dead. The Triple A tech didn't have a new battery that would work in the van, but he warned that it needed to be replaced very soon.

We drove Dawn to Roseville and got her settled into her hotel near the cancer treatment center while Bill kept the van running. We decided to take Dawn to dinner. Bill conveniently parked by an auto service center in case the battery wouldn't go the distance.  The van died so we had our dinner in the service center waiting room while waiting the two hours to get to the Van.
I'm very admiring of my sister's attitude about her situation. She jokingly said, "My treatments only take five minutes. Somehow it doesn't seem right. I don't feel a thing. Shouldn't there be some dramatic price to pay? Like pain or something?"

We are grateful she has no pain, and so is she, of course.

I returned home to my pounds of mail. The next week will be very busy for me. Just try to go paperless. It is tough!