I have to confess. My daughter and her husband leaving Texas with their family is causing me a bit of distress. They depart on July 9, heading to Virginia. He’s going to work at the Pentagon. I know it’s a good move, and it will be exciting, and it will be fun. But they’re going to be a long way off and I’ll no longer be able to get there in four hours to babysit or be there for the foundation guys or have them and the kids come here for a weekend and a dip in the pool or walk in the country.

On the upside, I get to go to Virginia, and I like Virginia. Heck, I like the entire east coast. There is a lot to see and a lot to do and I’ve done a lot of it already and want to do it again, and it’s fun doing it with children. Think about it. I can drive eight hours from my home and never get out of Texas. An eight hour drive from their new home in Virginia will get me to Portsmouth, New Hampshire and along the way I can see Baltimore, Philadelphia, New York, and Boston. Heading south I can get to Savannah, Georgia. Me and Sherman, marching to the sea.

So, I guess I’ll do what I always do in the face of change and disappointment, gut up and put on a happy face. Take the blow and move on. Because sometimes in the change you find something good, in fact, most of the time. And it’s odd how that works out. Maybe I’m predisposed to being happy, maybe I’ve learned how to be happy. I don’t really know. I just know day follows night, calm follows the storm, and beauty is definitely in the eye of the beholder.