Rachel's Graduation - The Day After

It was kind of weird staying at Barbara's mother's house this time around since Barbara's mother had passed away a few months back. A lot of things were still the same, but a lot of other things were different, for instance, the phone and cable had been turned off.

One of the things that stayed the same is that a lot of people gathered at the house last Saturday. Barbara met with her other six siblings to divide up some of the books and the jewelry. Being of sound mind, I met up with an old friend and went out to breakfast. My friend afterwards took me around downtown to show me what was new since my last trip. The Union Pacific Depot is now part of a downtown shopping district. I explained to my friend that I had a lot of memories about the depot, since I had gone on a number of train trips as a child to Milford and points west.

I got back in time to see all of the in-laws busy at work deciding who got what. James, Emily and the boys had stayed over at the house also. Rachel drove up from Provo to spend the day with us. My brother Richard came in with my mother around noon for lunch and visiting. He helped his son and daughter-in-law move things to Idaho Falls, where of course James and Emily currently reside, and then Richard came down on the bus to visit for a couple of days. I believe he flew back up to Portland Sunday evening, after Barbara and I flew back to Austin. It was nice to visit and to show off my beautiful grandchildren.

That evening all of the Murdocks present went to dinner at the local Sizzler Steakhouse. Grandpa was pleased that the boys were on their very best behavior, and great-uncle Richard was very impressed. A good time was had by all.

Rachel stayed over on Saturday night, and the next morning before we had to go to our separate locations, Helen and Joan came over and treated us to a nice brunch. Emily was surprised to discover that one of her brothers was going to be in town, so he came over for a short visit also.

There is something about that house where people seem to connect. I am going to miss visiting there. It is fun to fantasize about Barbara and me buying the house and moving to Salt Lake City to be closer to family, but from a practical point of view it doesn't make a lot of sense. To modernize and 'John proof' the house would require a substantial amount of time, effort and money. I joked with James and told him that if we bought the house he could could come down every weekend from Idaho Falls and help us remodel. The joke is of course that I would have no clue what to do to remodel a home except write the checks to pay for someone else to do it.