Flash forward to 2008. Mom, my daughter Val and I took one more trip to Virginia in March to visit the relatives. Mom's uncle had just turned 100 that January. He was in excellent health, but really - how many years does any centenarian have left? We had a good trip, and of all the vacations I have ever been on, this was the one I would never give back. You see, only a few months later, my mom's aunt passed away at age 94. As I write this though, at 102, my great uncle is still going strong.

Someday, if you are lucky (or unlucky I should say), you'll be able to read my blog about all the details of the 2008 Virginia trip. In the mean time, though, let me tell you about a little delay in our travels.

Hopefully you read yesterday's blog, about how I got sick in 1972 on the way to Virginia and ended up in the emergency room in Cherokee, North Carolina. Well, if you missed it, you must go back before reading further.

You see, 36 years later I had the pleasure of discovering another emergency room in one of the east coast states. This time I was in Danville, Virginia, and it was my daughter who kept us awake half the night with severe abdominal pain and vomiting. We determined it had to be from food poisoning (darn that Kentucky Fried Chicken sandwich).

Val 12 hours after her ER visit, waking up from a nap at our cousin's home.