Catching up....Still, forever..Always

I've been terrible at trying to keep with things lately. The ranch is in forward gear and I'm struggling to keep myself from slipping into reverse. Oh well, such is life. A lot has been zipping. We had a wonderful holiday season. Shelly's family from Florida, sister and nephews joined us for the festivities. We were able to spend an afternoon tubing at Keystone. Tubing brings back many memories of my childhood. Near my hometown of Salida CO, is an old mountain pass that has the best tubing hill in the northern hemisphere. As a child I spent many, many Saturdays there with my cousins, aunts, uncles and friends. My Grandfather had a knack for finding huge inner-tubes. We'd pack nonsense food and Gramma's cookies and pile in Uncle Aubrey's El Camino or the old blue "Hippie Van" and head out. I've never been so cold and so happy at the same time. My memories of the good times were wrecked by tragic "now" times. Sometime after Christmas my young cousin, Josh was hospitalized with liver and kidney failure. He hung on for awhile but peacefully passed away on January 7th with family by his side. Just a short 10 days later my beloved Uncle Dennis passed away as well. It was fortunate that I was able to have a happy phone chat with Uncle Dennis a few days before his passing. For awhile now it seems the boatman has been collecting my family members in pairs. I've no idea the reason, nor will I ever. It seems that is just something I'm not to know in this life. I've no choice now but to remember the good times, the bad times, the ALL times.