A trip to Vermont...

Dear son,

Tomorrow, your mother and I and your uncle Matt and your aunt Erin will fly to Vermont to attend the memorial service of your mother's aunt Bibs. Her real name was Barbara; how she got nicknamed Bibs I don't know. Since she was your grandfather's sister on your mother's side (did I express that correctly?), I guess that would make her your grand-aunt, if there is such a thing. Your mom doesn't think Bibs liked her very much, but I don't think that's true. She was a nice lady with very firm opinions about...pretty much everything. She had three daughters, and she raised them all by herself, since her husband died shortly after their last was born. That couldn't have been easy, but she was very smart and made a lot of money. She died very quickly of lung cancer, but she did get to attend the wedding of one of her daughters and to see her first grandchild, your cousin Francesca. I know that's a lot of names to be throwing at you, and at the time of this writing, you don't even know your own yet. So, anyway, tomorrow, we're going up to Vermont, coming back the next day, and then heading out to Pennsylvania for your aunt Erin's fortieth birthday. I'm trying to look forward to it.

Love,
Dad