In November we experienced...

the death of my husband's father, Joseph Russo. It was so unexpected because he was in good health, however he was old and has been moved many times, from care home to convalescent hospital...not good for someone who is older and very routine oriented. I won't go into the long story here, suffice to say he is missed, and I certainly will try to avoid the same thing for both my parents and someday myself (or my husband!).

At any rate, we had an influx of family as my husbands brothers and nephew came down right away, (and we were happy to be able to house them) and they were followed by the rest of the
CREW (as in sisters-in-law, cousins, grand cousins....or great nieces to Angelo and I-they're just the cutest :). I think I counted sixteen at one point! Even though the days were melancholy, it was still good to connect and talk...I enjoyed the early morning coffee and conversation with my b-i-ls, and it is too bad that Angelo had to work. We all gathered for big family style dinners in the evening, with a spaghettie feed on the night of the funeral-which was in a way a toast to "Papa Joe" or "Dad".

The day of the funeral was strange, somewhat surreal, and that feeling lasted until we all decided to grab lunch and head for Carmel-by-the-Sea (40 min. away, the town I grew up in.).

The weather that week had been awesome, warm and balmy for November. Friday was a gift, perhaps from Joe. The beach was beautiful, and surprise, we saw four dolphins trolling along the waves, just behind the breakers! What a gift. As was the time spent with family including my daughter and sons, and my lovely nieces and their daughters! All the boy cousins seemed to enjoy the time, even though one briefly suffered a cold!

I have included some photos of the day-I have no idea who the girl in the waves is, but the nieces are "K' and "V" however nicknames abound!