I made a quick, spur-of-the-moment trip to Ft. Dodge Saturday night after work at 6:00. Stayed at Grandma Anderson's, then woke up at 7:30 to go to 8:30 Mass with Aunt Marilyn. That's the earliest I've been awake for a long time....

It was nice to visit some of the extended family, but both Grandma and Marilyn are miserable--Grandma because of her recent hospital stay and hip and back problems, Marilyn because of her five-week bout with the shingles. She said that she had a little talk with Him at Mass: "Okay, that's enough; let's work a miracle now."

Drove around town a little bit Sunday afternoon before heading back to CF. Went past Grandma's old house, then north to 1818 Foral Avenue to see what Grandma and Grandpa Naser's house looked like. Then I went to Corpus Christi Cemetery to see Grandma and Grandpa, Aunt Judy, and Fr. Ron.

I'm surprised with how much of the little things I remember: the drive into town from the southwest on Hwy 169; the old Randal's-now Family Video on the way to 1818; the inside of Sacred Heart Church, the art museum down the block from Grandma's apartment, Dodger Stadium and the surrounding neighborhoods of my grandparents' old homes. They're all in pieces; I don't always know or remember their relationship to each other. Now that I'm a little older, going back to a place which is both fragmented yet intimately tied up with memories of my youth is an interesting experience.