So what are you all up to these days? Options

[Dr. Casey]

Life's been pretty interesting for me. My grandfather died last year, June 17th, at the age of 93; my grandmother moved in with me and my parents afterwards because she was rather deep into Alzheimer's (During June 2011 she was probably on the border of Stage 5 and Stage 6), and we've been taking care of her ever since. I was originally planning to move out last September, but I decided to stay a while longer to help take care of Grandmother. I'm probably going to leave around Christmas this year. I don't mind how things worked out, I was glad to spend some extra time with Mama and Daddy. I started going to the Tennessee Technology Center of McMinnville September 2011, a 20 month computer course at a technical school. I've gotten three certificates out of it so far - A+ Computer Repair, Networking, and Security - and should have six by the end. Hopefully it won't be too difficult to find a job afterwards.

What about you guys?

[Shiidou Hikaru]

Hihi! Yes, I guess that I dated myself there at some point. In the 60's I was very young (preschool age) so I remember very little of that time. However, (this is going to make me sound really old) occasionally I will go back and visit the old towns that I used to live in and do "nostalgia tours" with my mom. She's getting up there in years but is still in good shape physically and will take trips with me. We'll go around and look at the same neighborhoods and houses that we used to live in. We'll go visit relatives that still live in the area and visit schools and churches that we used to go to. We'll also visit the cemeteries where grandparents and other loved ones of the past are buried. None of it is sad, in fact there are a lot of good feelings for us still found in these places.

Compared to my parents, I guess I did have kids later. They are 18 and 21 now so it's hard to call them kids anymore, but they will always be kids to me. They both have jobs and work and are starting to become more independent adults. There's no prospect for grandchildren at this time, but I'm not going to rush them into anything like that. Really special things in life have to be carefully created with love, patience, and determination and cannot be rushed. Hopefully I'll see you again soon Casey-sensei, it feels good to have someone to chat with here in one of my old neighborhoods. Try not to get too busy!