What a wonderful time I had at our family reunion just a couple of weeks ago! All of my brothers and my sister were able to be there. Most of the next generation was there too. Three of the four great-grandchildren where there as well. Only my granddaughter was not able to be there because she is still too young to travel.
We went to Gatlinburg, TN and staid in a large condo with rooms for all of us except my nephew; he slept on a couch. I had an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains.
I have often said to people on the Cancer Forums that I like to know my prognosis but only in order to set priorities for the things I still want to do with whatever time I still have left. One of those things was to hike to the top of Mount LeConte and stay at the cabin they have up there ( http://www.leconte-lodge.com/home.html ). While I will never be able to do that, I was able to do the next best thing… hike part of the way there. Due to my balance problems and right-sided weakness, I would not dare try to hike all the way; at places the trail is not more that a foot's width wide. Nevertheless, with my youngest brother (John), I did hike about 2 miles in and back out which is about all the time we had.
In just a few minutes, I go to complete another of the items in my "bucket list"; I will be going with my son to his freshman orientation at the University of Kentucky.
View of Mount LeConte from the house we rented.
