I've been trying for days to think of something that might be of interest to write about, but keep coming up blank--maybe a little more about Pop & Grandma French.

God chose my maternal grandparents very well. I feel so blessed to have had them as my Grandma & Pop as I always knew they loved me and would love me no matter how I may have disappointed them.

(I wish I could write more about my Kelly grandparents, but I never really knew them; I think Grandpa Kelly died in 1943 and Grandma Jeanne never went to see Grandma Kelly any more than she absolutely had to and of course we didn't go if she didn't.)

Only once do I remember Grandma French getting mad. It was one of the summers that we were spending in Montana with them. Us kids just kept singing, "the worms crawl in, the worms crawl out..." until finally she had heard it enough and hollered--what a concept, Grandma hollering--at us to shut up. Words and a tone of voice that shocked all of us. Unfortunately, I don't think any of my kids or grandkids would be shocked to hear me yell to "shut up."

Anyway as I think about Pop, he's the one who passed the love of baseball down to me. He had a desire as a young man to play professional baseball, but somehow in the fight with his brother that made him decide to leave home he injured his shoulder & that was way before Tommy John surgery. I don't know who his favorite major league team was, but I remember when he would listen on the radio to either the Tacoma Tigers or the Seattle Rainiers. When the game was going well, he listened, but if things would get a little tense, he would turn the radio off but he couldn't stand not knowing what was happening, so he would turn it back on in about 10 seconds. 

I was the same way in 1956 when listening to the perfect game that Don Larsen pitched for the New York Yankees (who I HATED) against the Brooklyn Dodgers (who I LOVED). I was stuffing envelopes at work and had a radio on my desk. It's a wonder I didn't wear the on/off switch out that day as I turned it on-off-on-off-on-off for practically every pitch in the 8th & 9th innings. Of course, I wanted the Dodgers to win, but I also wanted to hear a perfect game--what a predicament for a 17-year-old baseball lover to be in! Well, obviously I survived and I didn't have to replace my radio.

I spent last Saturday at the Farmers' Market in Puyallup raising awareness of Relay for Life; talked to a few people who are interested in joining a team or starting their own. Also heard a couple of heart-breaking stories. All in all, it was a wonderful day at the market--sunny, a bit breezy at times and time spent w/friends while talking to strangers as well. I told someone today that I would almost sell one of my grandchildren if it would buy a cure for cancer. Suppose the parents of whichever one I chose would disown me in the process, so it's a good thing there's no chance of that happening!! Besides that, I love my grandchildren and couldn't imagine being without one of them forever! 

It is that time of year, however, when Relay is my true passion! This is the 25th anniversary of Relay; our church has been involved for 18 years and I started participating in 2000. For the first few years I raised a little bit of money & walked some of it, then as I got more involved and realized how much RFL does for cancer patients, it has become more and more important to me. So far RFL is in 20 countries all over the world, has raised over 3 Billion dollars, 83% of which goes directly to research.

 Speaking of grandchildren, it's almost impossible to believe that Brendin is old enough to be graduated from college and Jessica from high school, but we know it's true. Guess that's where I'll end for today. Sorry I couldn't quickly come up with a pic of Jess when she was little, so here's one from her sr. year. The one of Brendin is when he had to have the brace during the process of getting his hip straightened out so he could walk and run without pain--what a brave boy he was!!

Warned you at the beginning that I couldn't think of much to say & it's sure a "hodgepodge" of ideas.