Snow in NC+Man from PA=Happy Me in VA

Remember that snow that fell in North Carolina a few days ago?  That, my friends, was the best snow that ever fell in that state.  Why?  Because...

My nephew Jacob, who lives in Pennsylvania, was supposed to play in a soccer tournament in North Carolina this weekend; and my brother David was going to go with him.  But because of the winter weather, the tournament was cancelled, so since he didn't have to drive all the way to North Carolina, my brother decided to just drive halfway and come to visit us here in Virginia.  I love impromptu changes of plans like that!  :)

Usually when we get together with our Pennsylvania family, it's for a reason: Christmas or Easter or something like that.  But yesterday's visit was different in that we had no real agenda.  We just hung out.

It was sweet.  :)

So what did we do with ourselves during such an open, relaxed day?  Well...

Uncle David crawled into the boys' clubhouse (which is this turned upside down), and paid his dues to be part of their club.

A penny a week was the original amount of the dues (which go to the eventual building of a treehouse, according to the club members), but then my boys had a quick discussion and decided they should raise it to a nickel a week for anyone over the age of seven.  Uncle David did even better: he paid A WHOLE DOLLAR.  ;-)

 What else did he do?  Uncle David held his little niece.  Moriah took quite a liking to him and often went over to him, wanting to be picked up.  Maybe because he's so tall.  :)

 What else did he do?  Uncle David played games with his nephews...

 ...Mexican train, as seen here...

 ...but also I Doubt It, a game of cards.  (Could also be called Who's The Best Liar?)  ;-)

 What else did he do?  He posed for the picture of the Davids that we always have to take...and what do you know? He also got photobombed by that Tobin Bear.  :)

Besides the things pictured, he also...
~ ate our simple lunch of potato soup with us,
~ burned his tongue on Jeff's salsa,  ;-)
~ spent time at my parents' house,
~ listened to Mother play the piano,
~ bought yummy, unique Russian desserts at a fundraiser bake sale for the girl who was hit in the road close to our house back on Labor Day,
~ walked through and looked around the building that was the first school that he and I went to, way back in the early 80s (that building is now a Russian Baptist church, and the fundraiser was held there, so it was a perfect opportunity for David and I to retrace our early educational steps--so much fun to reminisce!),
~ loaded some dishes into the dishwasher,
~ worked on getting a fire going in our woodstove,
~ ate sweet and sour meatballs and rice with us for supper,
~ and most of all, graced our day with his cheerful, patient, steady, loving presence.

As you might imagine, the main reason he made this quick trip was to be part of the family discussion about the next step in my mom's Alzheimer's journey.  He spent time talking with my dad and observing my mom and getting a feel for what life is like on a daily basis right now.  He composed and sent us a really wonderful email today, based on his observations.  Having a cool but caring head to share insights is so helpful on this journey.

The cherry on top of this special treat of a day was that my brother Doug, who is a truck driver who drives all across the country, "just happened" to arrive in our town yesterday evening; and on his way back up to Pennsylvania, David met up with him.  We can't remember for sure, but we think it's the first time they've seen each other since December of 2000.  That is significant.

And all because God gave North Carolina the unexpected gift of a snowfall.  :)