I have been writing regularly about all the good people and events in my life, and I will return to that theme tomorrow. Today, though, after spending the last few days thinking about my little sister, I wanted to highlight the best time of our lives together.

In the summer of 1980, Patsy married Robert Loganbill. In attendance were me (left row, furthest back) and Robert’s three children, Robert Jr., Larisa(next to me) and Heidi (only visible with her glove.) They married in a tiny old church which had just the lovely chapel shown above. Love abounded in the service. The children seemed to have made it through the trauma of their early life, and Robert had established custody of them, the first father in his county to be granted custody of children.

Tragedy on tragedy followed for this lovely little family. Robert succumbed in 2010 to Hepatitis C acquired from a needle stick at the hospital where he worked. Robert Jr. died in a car crash at 19. Larisa lost her struggle with heroin in 2008. And now Patsy has left this earth for her promised home. Only Heidi and I remain from this wedding party.

We never know what the future holds, thank goodness. We fully rejoiced that day as Robert and the kids joined Patsy to form a new family. And for that day, all was very very good.