Pastor Greg’s mother spent two weeks here visiting Greg & his family at Easter time. And she joined us for lunch one Sunday. It was good to be with her for a couple of hours. We met her and her husband Frank in 2007 when they were in Kenya on a mission trip, and we were living in a house on the grounds of the Presbyterian University of East Africa.

We joined a group arranged by the Darien Men’s Association and went to Groton. In the past, members have usually gone into New York City and wandered in historical areas. This year because of Covid, they explored several towns in Connecticut. Four in our group had worked in Groton many years ago, and they reminisced about what the town was like when they lived there.

John has just one sibling - a brother who is three years younger than him. He and his wife and their son live in Berlin and we hadn’t seen them in over a year. So we met them for lunch at the Griswold Inn in Essex, one of our favorite places along the Connecticut River. We have often had lunch at The Griswold before going to Goodspeed for a Wednesday matinee of one of their always fabulous musicals.

And then we celebrated John’s 86th birthday with his daughter at Scena in Darien. It was our fourth time to eat out in a restaurant after not having done that for over a year. It is good to be doing things again with friends and family now that we, and they, are fully vaccinated.