Family Reunion

My trip west had a second act that took me through some pretty country on Highway 89 in Arizona's Central Corridor en route to Dewey/Humboldt.

I hadn't seen Barb, my stepsister, since my father's funeral in 1992.  We go way, way back to high school in El Paso, when she was a regular in my dune buggy.  Buddy, her boisterous rescue dog, is a handful, that's for sure.

Barb hosted me in her new home in the mountains 90 minutes north of Phoenix. We picked up right where we left off and never stopped talking the entire time we were together. There aren't many people left who knew both my parents.  She still hasn't lost her ebullience.

Before I flew home late Wednesday night, I met her son Brett in Phoenix for a cup of coffee and our "This Is Us" moment.

Now 39, he was 16 when I last saw him.  He and his friend Nick came to visit me in New York.  Brett was the grandson my father never had.  They adored each other.

After coffee, Brett sent me this photo of the three of us. Our matching hats advertise the successful appliance repair business that Barb's younger brother established in Rock Springs, Wyoming.

So many pre-digital, uncurated memories! 

More Barb & BJ:

Welcome Back To New York (2022)

Family  Reunion  (2019)

FLASHBACK:  Boys Will Be Boys (1996)

FLASHBACK:  The Lois Years (1975-1992)

FLASHBACK:  Andress Eagles