Most of you may not know but our good friend Mrs. Joan has had her granddaughter in the hospital for an operation, mother in law not doing well at all, and her son in law's father having major problems.. Joan will have operation on her arm as soon as she gets everyone else taken care of. drop her a line or call, iknow she would like to hear from all of you. Trav

Boy my life sounds like the pits. :) Yes life does get in the way of fun lots of time but that just gives me opportunity to rise to the occasion. I do appreciate all of the care and attention you guys show me. It is good to know that the friendships extend beyond just the knife aspect. I enjoyed the time I got to visit with several of you at the Blade Show. Once a year just is not enough to catch up with everything.

Ron Newton and I spent a while talking and I found out both his girls got married last year and he and his wife are hoping to hear they will be grandparents in the near future. I also talked with Koji Hara and found out he has joined me in the grandparent world. John Horrigan and I share a bond of "loss" and always spend a few minutes encouraging each other. Ed and Tanya were there and I got to enjoy a short visit with them as I also did with Tim Scholl. I ran up on Alan and Mary before we had to dash out and found him loaded down with items for others in the Guild. With all this, I still found time to pick up a couple of treasures for Avery, Emmie, and Micah. I am trying to make time to get some pictures of them and when I do I will post them.

I do appreciate how all you guys continue to make sure I know I am part of it all. Between your guys and the Georgia Guild, my "family" is large.

Sorry to hear about all the difficulties Joan. Your positive attitude never ceases to amaze me. Hope all works out well!

Joan! How did I miss you at the show?! I hope you're well. I missed Bob and Rebeca as well.

It wasn't hard to miss me--I was only there a few hours on Sunday. Frank, Melanie and the two younger grandchildren (Emmie and Micah) came with me. We got the word on the way to the show Frank's dad had been taken to the hospital. My son-in-law is the greatest. He would have stayed as long as I wanted to but I knew he really wanted to be with his dad so I went thru quickly, visiting and picking up a couple of items so he could get back. It looks like all will be well with Frank's dad. He had surgery today and as soon as the pathology reports come back he will be home and back to being the patriarch he is.
Maybe next year there will be more time for all I want to do.

Mrs Joan, I hope things get better for you,sorry to hear of your situation.