Thursday
6
July 25, 2013
Making summer memories By Jim Ridolphi, Contributing Columnist The more things change, the more they stay the same. For the majority of us, a summer visit to grandma’s house evokes pleasant memories of days long passed, and sun-soaked days swimming and having fun. As a child, I spent most of my summers at my grandmother’s house. Granted, the activities were different back then. Nothing was more exciting than an adventure with my uncle who allowed us to run alongside his slowly moving car and collect bottles. When we returned to my grandmother’s house, we’d wash them, pack them in a wagon and haul them down to the local Safeway and leave with what felt like a fortune. It’s no different today. Parents pack their kids for summer camp and a thousand other activities, but that trip to grandma’s still stands out as the highlight of the summer. Having kids later in life means my younger kids never knew my parents, but they have a more than adequate and loving couple of grandparents in my ex-wife’s parents. And they have Aunt Becky, my sister, and her house is Grandma’s House on this side of the family. As I write, they are busy packing and repacking for their journey to Florida to stay with her in Tampa for three weeks. The excitement is
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almost – how do I say this? – overwhelming. There are few things that can make a 62-year-old man feel young, but seeing my kids excited and happy about an upcoming adventure opens a world of memories for me. For a brief second, I’m almost back in 1957 heading for grandma’s and their unadulterated enthusiasm and innocence is contagious. They have a slew of activities planned, and I don’t envy Aunt Becky trudging through Disney World or Lego Land. Uncle Steve will take Jack fishing and they’ll return home and fry up the catch for lunch. And they’ll play in the pool, meet new friends and have new adventures. And, they’ll enjoy the small things that make summer special – an evening sitting on a big swing listening to the endless symphony of cicadas or the smell of a clean Florida morning. Which all brings me to what dad will be doing for those three weeks. I’ve got enough work to keep me more than busy. As for emotionally dealing with the absence of my kids for 21 days, I’m not so sure. I’ve taken all the precautions I can, installing Skype on the computer and they will be taking a cell phone with them. You’d think see Memories > page 10
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Cantor welcomes Tea Party leaders
Photo submitted by Gena Villari
U.S. Rep. Eric. Cantor, R-7, recently welcomed Goochland and Richmond Tea Party leaders to Washington, D.C., to meet and attend IRS oversight hearings. “I was pleased to host community leaders from Virginia’s 7th District in Washington,” Cantor said.” Many of the Richmond and Goochland Tea Party members should be credited with coming forward and bringing to light the Obama Administration’s abuses of power at the Internal Revenue Service. The U.S. House of Representatives will continue its work to get to the bottom of the situation at the IRS so we can restore Americans’ trust in our government, and I appreciate the continued involvement of 7th District tea party organizations.”
Letters to the Editor Thanks for great celebration of 4th I am writing to you regarding Goochland’s recent 4th of July fireworks display. Although I do not live in Goochland, my family and I live in the Black Creek area of Hanover County, and we attended your fireworks display this year. Last summer I was with my Boy Scout troop at Camp T. Brady Saunders and could hear the fireworks on July 4th from our campsite and thought we should go this year to see them. I read about instructions for the fireworks on the county website and we drove over. Congratulations for a wonderful way to celebrate the 4th! Even though there were quite a
few folks attending, the parking was easy and we found great seats outside of a baseball field to set up our lawn chairs. The fireworks were exceptional and everyone around us enthusiastically enjoyed the fun, youngsters and seniors alike. One of the best parts was the easy out following the ending of the
display back to the interstate; the Sheriff’s Office and officers handled the traffic expertly and I was very impressed. Thanks to your county for providing a rewarding and free celebration on the 4th of July, you should all be proud! Rick Perry Mechanicsville
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