Many times a funeral or a memorial is the only time when long lost relatives get together.  It has been quite a few years since I had seen my aunts and cousins.  My uncle, Ron Adle passed away and his memorial was on January 22nd in Phoenix.  The last time I saw Ron was about 6 years ago in Cozad, Nebraska for his grandson graduation, Brandon Hudgins.

I took a direct flight from Seattle to Phoenix on Alaska Airlines and made sure I had a window seat because of the fantastic scenic views at 30,000 feet.  I landed on a warm sunny day and not a cloud to be seen.  The memorial was at Bonnie’s house, Ron’s wife of nearly 50 years.  My aunts, Lucille and Gladys showed up a little after I did…..they didn’t know I was there, they were pleasantly surprised.  We watched videos of years past, it brought back many good memories.  I stuck around until 1:00 a.m. and then Brandon and I took off to Kim’s and Darren’s house.  Kim Adle is Ron’s daugther and she just recently married Darren Potter in July, which she was fortunate to have her father attend before his death.  After seeing the house, checking out a few guns and another cocktail or two, I took a cab back to my hotel.  I finally hit the sack around 4:00 a.m.

The next day was another warm sunny beautiful day.  Darren, Kim and Aunt Bonnie picked me up in my rental car and we went back to Darren and Kim’s house for lunch and lounging around in the sun.  I had a 5:00 p.m. flight, but it was delayed and I landed later then I wanted to.  I made dinner reservations for Linna and I at the Waterfront Seafood Grille for 8:00 p.m. which I wasn’t going to make with my delayed flight; today was our seven year anniversary.  I met Linna at Miyabi’s after I landed, our favorite sushi restaurant.