Returning Home, Memories

1.Returning home to Fincastle always gives me great pleasure.

While in New York, I stay with my 87 year old mother. She still lives in our family home which was built in 1952. It is chock full of memories.
1. I find some old cassettes and get them to play in my Dad's stereo. My parents were musicians and these cassettes are recordings my dad made of them playing their music and singing. Chelsea and I decide to bring them home and see about having them transferred to CD's.
2. My dad rarely sang, although his voice was very good. I find a song he sang, "How Deep is the Ocean". It is a love song to my mother. Of course I cry, but I am so happy to hear his voice and I miss him.
3. Another cassette is from 1947, the year my parents married. I hear aunts and uncles who have long since passed. Their voices are young and strong, singing and laughing.
4. I find a scrap book of my dad's from the 1930's and 40's. Photographs and WWII memories.
5. Uncle Tony treats us to stories of his childhood. He is 95 and Aunt Marie is 92. They are sharp and funny and we spend hours listening to him tell of life growing up in the city in the 1920's and 30's. His stories are vivid and I feel as though I am right there.
6. Tess and I do a little shopping at stores we don't have here in Roanoke. It's our little treat.
7. Dinner out on Sunday with my sister, Candy, her family, Mom and Tess. We enjoy a bottle of Chianti and laugh over dinner.
8. I stop in twice to visit with Steve's parents. Pete shows me around the house and yard and we catch up on things over coffee. He saved me a piece of his homemade apple pie. I generously share it with Tess even though I'm sure she's already had a piece.
9. The kids and I did some yard work for my mom. We cleared out an overgrown flower bed near the back door and I filled it with bright yellow marigolds that are so bright, my mom can't miss seeing them.
10. The Lily of the Valley that I transplanted to my mom's garden 40 years ago are still thriving!
11. My mom and I work in the kitchen together, me cooking and baking, she cleaning and fussing. I tease her to keep out of my way.
12. She longingly mentions bread pudding and asks do I ever make it? The next morning I present her with a warm dish of it. She eats it for lunch, dessert and breakfast the next day.