In the morning, we drove to Ogden, to the foothills I grew up near. We hiked to "Castle Rock," a little rock formation not far from the road that I spent many hours climbing around throughout my life. It was fun for me to share some of my past with my family and to watch my kids get excited about the same things that I got excited about when I was a kid. They found little caves and high ridges and lots of fun places to explore. They all thought it was amazing. We spent about an hour there, then we drove to Kneaders restaurant, where we all had all-you-can-eat cinnamon swirl French toast with caramel syrup, fresh strawberries, and whipped cream. Whoa! Talk about delicious and totally rich!
We went to the Ogden cemetery to visit Nanny and Grandpa Smith's graves. While we were there, we saw a sweet old man sitting in a lawn chair by his wife's grave, playing the harmonica. It took me a while, but I finally recognized him as Wayne Wahlquist. The Wahlquists were practically the first neighbors and friends our family had when we moved to Utah from California. Wayne's wife, Elsie was my mom's best friend. Their daughter was our special favorite babysitter/second mother. They attended my marriage. They really are a special family to us! I was so pleased to be able to introduce Wayne to my two daughters and to visit with him for a while. He sure seemed old, tired, and lonely compared to how I remember him. That's because he is old tired and lonely compared to how he was when I was a kid. He told me that he wanted to play some music for Elsie because she always loved it so much. Very touching. He left a few minutes later, but I thought about him all day.
I can't really remember much about the afternoon. That probably means David and I were painting while the kids took naps and/or played in the neighborhood. That's usually what happens around here.
That evening, David made the best hamburgers I think he's EVER made! And he's made some pretty darned good ones in the past too! I'm telling you, they were off the charts! The meat alone was tasty and juicy, but with the fancy buns, the cheddar cheese and thick sliced bacon, the lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, and other fixin's you could NOT beat it! We ate in the back yard and spent some time after dinner just playing and enjoying the warm evening together as a family. It was great! School only had a few days left and we were feeling ready for summer!
Aw... that story of your old neighbor playing the harmonica at the graveside of his wife brought tears to my eyes. That's so sweet!
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